Day 258 - 07 Jun 96 - Page 03
1 out not to be the case no doubt Mr. Rampton will tell us.
2
3 MS. STEEL: It will be helpful if the Plaintiffs did check
4 whether or not, in fact, they have blanked out those
5 tables, and if so--
6
7 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I am sure they will because Mr. Rampton said
8 it is a matter for Mr. Atkinson, it will be Mr. Atkinson's
9 decision if it was done.
10
11 MR. MORRIS: If we go to the July 1991 final report, at the back
12 of AF6, if you go to page -- well, if we look at page 4,
13 please, there is a last paragraph in the middle of that
14 paragraph which says, "the rational reasons for using
15 McDonald's will not disappear but their value to the
16 customer could be enhanced by building up closer emotional
17 bonds which would in turn raise the worth of McDonald's for
18 customers."
19 A. Sorry, this is page 4?
20
21 Q. Yes, this is page 4.
22 A. Can you point out which paragraph again, please?
23
24 Q. I am sorry, it is the last paragraph?
25 A. OK.
26
27 Q. The first sentence reads, 'These findings recommend very
28 strongly that action is needed to strengthen the emotional
29 linkage between customers and the McDonald's brands'. Then
30 it talks about building up a close emotional bond. This is
31 part of the marketing strategy, yes, to increase that
32 emotional bond?
33 A. From 1992 onwards, based on this document, the strategy
34 would have been to take action, particularly with the tone
35 of the advertising, to achieve that. Yes.
36
37 Q. Right. If you look at page 24, probably an obvious
38 question here, 'brand personality'. If you look at the
39 second to last paragraph, it says, 'The most important
40 thing about McDonald's personality', that is its brand
41 personality, 'is its happy nature, it is active and busy
42 and is a clown. For some the personality of the brand
43 appears to be influenced heavily by ronald mcdonald'. And
44 is that where the advertising links in?
45 A. Links into what, sorry?
46
47 Q. Links into this whole emotional bond?
48 A. Yes, but ronald mcdonald, the reason why the research
49 company are reporting on ronald mcdonald's in this context
50 is that ronald mcdonald, who is the kind of lead character
51 of our children's advertising, is very much a focal point
52 within our children's advertising. The reason for the
53 research company commenting on this is that it would seem
54 here that, more than we would expect, ronald mcdonald was
55 having an influence upon the way that adults perceive
56 McDonald's.
57
58 Q. So, it does not just affect specific children, it affects
59 children's perceptions?
60 A. Yes.