Day 048 - 08 Nov 94 - Page 11

     
     1        not receive any advertising until now, then yes, maybe we
     2        would introduce the ronald mcdonald character prior to
     3        everything else.
     4
     5        Typically -- to give you an example -- when we came to the
     6        UK, the first TV advertising was, the very first, first was
     7        Ronald, and then it was followed immediately by some adult
     8        advertising.
     9
    10        But it is part of that broad positioning of McDonald's as
    11        the family restaurant both for children and adults.  But we
    12        do not do it now, because we are everywhere.
    13
    14   Q.   We have seen that the figures in your statement indicate
    15        that the percentage of expenditure on advertising towards
    16        children is decreasing -- well, proportionate----
    17        A.  That is correct.
    18
    19   Q.   So you start off aiming mostly at children, to get the
    20        company known, and then is it fair to say that -- well, you
         are saying that, gradually, the company shifts away from
    22        that and towards more and more adult advertising?
    23        A.  And fairly quickly, as well, for the reasons that I
    24        have said earlier in my evidence, that, obviously, the
    25        adult market is the key part of our business.  So, as soon
    26        as we can, we move in the adult advertising.
    27
    28   Q.   If that is the key part of your business, then why do you
    29        not advertise to adults first, in the first place?
    30        A.  Because, from a marketing point of view, it is a
    31        positioning thing.  In any product, not just McDonald's,
    32        when you first introduce a product, you need to establish
    33        what that product stands for, what it means, and how to
    34        position it; and for McDonald's that is very much families
    35        and children.  So we begin with that route but, because we
    36        know that the adult market is very important to us, we then
    37        obviously extend our communications more so to the adult
    38        side.  But we do not then blur the positioning of the
    39        company as being a family restaurant.
    40
    MR. MORRIS:  When did you open in Scotland, the first
    42        McDonald's?
    43        A.  I am not sure, from the top of my head.
    44
    45   Q.   I do not think it was clear that, in fact, Scotland was a
    46        new area until this decade, virtually?
    47        A.  Certainly, it was some time in the last ten years.  I
    48        cannot remember the date.
    49
    50   MR. MORRIS:   I think that was why there was a bit of confusion. 
    51 
    52   MS. STEEL:  So as part of establishing the product and the name, 
    53        you concentrate your advertising on children?
    54        A.  For a limited period, that is how we have started our
    55        advertising, yes.
    56
    57   Q.   You assert now that the majority of McDonald's advertising
    58        is not aimed at children, or the majority of television
    59        advertisements are not aimed at children; is that right?
    60        A.  Yes, that is correct.