May 16, 2008
This month’s QSR subject is going international. Whether you’re big and already there, or small and thinking about it, I have some advice and stories about the days of McDonald’s first forays into markets outside the United States.
Interestingly, I never had marketing in any of the titles I held in my total 32 years at McDonald’s. I started as Assistant Advertising Manager in the Midwest Region, 12 states at the time. That meant I decorated flatbed trailers for Ronald in northern Minnesota in January and went bass fishing in Missouri because that was the licensee’s office. I was Advertising Manager there and then National Advertising Manager and Director of Advertising and Promotion in the corporation. So, what’s in a title? I think I was still decorating flatbed trailers.
Well, anyway, it was then that Fred Turner called me into his office and told me two things: First, he wanted me to run just the advertising for the company and make sure everything was integrated, and, second, he wanted me to get involved in the worldwide advertising for the same reason. I, of course, agreed—and my international career was born.
The first thing I learned was to find an agency native to the market. If you can find one connected with your U.S. agency, that’s great. But find one that totally understands the market, because you don’t. You will come in and make all kinds of mistakes in your business dealings. And, unless you are fluent in the language, you need a great interpreter. One of my first preproduction meetings was in France. They all spoke French, obviously, and I spoke English, obviously, and we all forgot about that. To this day, I have no idea what I agreed to in that meeting. The language barrier presented itself two other times that day. They took me to dinner in a French-speaking restaurant and warned me not to utter a sound or we would be thrown out. Did you ever eat an entire dinner without saying a word? And, later, as I was taking a cab home with my trusty French dictionary, I asked the cabbie to take me to a café for a coffee, and ended up at a bordello. I guess my pronunciation was none too good. Needless to say, I got another cab home.
Now, Fred put me in charge of making sure all McDonald’s advertising was within the family. Local customs are another area you have to be real cognizant of. I was in Hong Kong on a Sunday morning, in my nice Chinese silk robe, sipping a pot of tea, when the phone rang. Never answer the phone on a Sunday morning in Hong Kong. It was my boss telling me I had a half hour to dress and pack and meet a car downstairs. I was on my way to Rio.
Now, folks, Rio is halfway around the world from Hong Kong. Thirty-seven hours of flying and I was in Rio. Got off the plane, went to a meeting and to bed. My first taste of Brazilian custom was the next morning. I opened the drapes to discover I was living on a nude beach. Naked people as far as the eye could see. And then the real topper: The agency was going to impress me with their dedication to the account, so they filmed some commercials at no charge. They ran the film, and there on the big screen were beautiful girls eating hamburgers but missing half their swimsuits. You see, at that time, it was perfectly acceptable to have above-the-waist nudity in commercials. I explained that this might be OK in Brazil, but not in McDonald’s advertising.
Local customs put a few pounds on me in Germany. When asked what I would like to do after work, I said I would like to go to an authentic beer garden. They took me. Huge steins of beer, sausages, cheese, bread. I was stuffed. Then they took me to dinner in Bavaria. That’s the last time I asked for a beer garden.
And, people are clever all over the world. Don’t let anyone tell you that a country doesn’t understand capitalism. When we opened in Moscow, the lines were hours long. All of a sudden, the lines were getting shorter, but the amount of food being served was the same. Wait a minute. We studied the situation. The Russians had figured it out. The guy at the front of the line was buying a bunch of food, and then going to the end of the line and selling it at a profit. They understood capitalism.
So, just one more thought: Watch your supply lines. We had a boat going to and from Japan all the time with potatoes because we couldn’t get them there.
Roy’s Award
This month’s “Roy Award” goes to one of my favorites, In-N-Out. What a concept. Hamburgers, fries, and drinks served up fast, in sparkling surroundings, with a terrific, easily understood graphic package, no posters cluttering up the glass, and a crew person cleaning the drink station almost constantly. That’s in addition to plenty of trash cans on the lot, happy people, and great food. No wonder the lot was almost full at 11 a. m. on a Monday. Congratulations folks.
A Peaceful Life and Happy Trails.
