Culture, McDonalds HK and UK

McDonald's is one of the world's most well-known and leading brands in the fast food industry. However, this does not mean that the brand is marketed the same in every country. The way McDonald's promote their portfolio of products varies depending on the market and the culture of the country; therefore it is necessary that each form of marketing is delivered in a different way, in order to catch their target audience's eye.

One form of marketing that McDonald's use in a large amount of their advertisements is storytelling, which helps connect the audience to what they are seeing and engages them to follow the story and think about the products that they are selling.

In January 2016, McDonald's Hong Kong decided to promote their brand during the Chinese New Year period. This was a very wise decision as they used one of the country's traditions and ideologies to help bring an individual closer to the brand, by making them feel that the brand wants to connect to them and make the part of the company. The key message highlighted in the commercial was "

有你，就是最大祝福",which translates as "Having you is the greatest blessing".

The advert shows a child giving their mothers love, bringing them gifts and sharing food with them. Chinese New Year- McDonald's Avdert This may seem quite strange, as not once does the advert show an actual McDonald's product; however this is where the aspects of high culture comes in. In countries such as Hong Kong, China, Korea, Taiwan etc. the population tend to obsessively follow dramas that include storylines that include love, sadness and romance. The love that is spread in McDonald's advert is sweet and shows that family is very important; thus reflecting a value that they have in Hong Kong, especially during Chinese New Year. The use of these values and traditions is extremely beneficial for the brand, as it means they can connect with an audience, even without using any of their products in the advertisement.

Child sharing a sweet with his mother

This use of storytelling works incredibly well in Hong Kong, although this is not the same case in the UK. Storytelling is used in the UK commercials, but very differently, as McDonald's creates an approach that allows all consumers to know exactly where their food is from and how responsible the brand is in sourcing their products. This reflects the ideology of how important sustainability and the country's economy is.

The start of the A-Z story

The UK advertisement consists of a story of where all the ingredients come from, how they get delivered and who benefits from it. This helps connect their audience by engaging them in what could the next letter represents. This is using the concept of content analysis, as the culture's beliefs and mass communications are used to find repetitive values that are trending; which happens to be locally sourced goods, sustainability and a good economy. A-Z of McDonald's Advert

The UK advert would not work in Hong Kong, as the values and culture of the two countries are completely different; so it would be difficult to connect to an audience. Vice versa, the HK advert would not work in the UK, even though it has quite a low culture with many segments. This is because the concept of sharing and giving is not as important and Chinese New Year is not celebrated by everyone in Britain.

In conclusion, it can be correct to say the McDonald's mainly use a storyline to help consumers to follow a value  that the company and culture both believe in. However, it is also necessary that the story also links in with social structures, ecologies and ideologies of the countries in order to interact effectively with their target audience.