Spiffor and other French Apolytoners: I need your help with a class!

[korn469]

I'm doing a project for my global marketing class and I have decided on France as the country I'm going to use, and the product I had in mind was Dairy Queen

so here is the project description

Based on extensive research, each student will prepare and submit a final paper including both a country environmental analysis AND a market plan for the product or service selected in the country chosen.

The 7-10 single-spaced page paper (normally 15-20 including exhibits) should include:
· A description and analysis of the geography, demographics, economy, culture, and history of the country chosen.
· A detailed description of the product chosen including why the he or she believes it will do well in the country chosen. This must include an analysis of the market size and type for that product or service, along with a description of the methods used for market analysis.
· A marketing plan developed specifically for the country and product/service. (Note: see attached market plan outline)
· A detailed bibliography and Internet web site list

so any insight you could give me into the french mindset would greatly appreciated

[DAVOUT]

In the absence of Spiffor, I feel an obligation to extend a helpful hand but I dont even know what a Dairy Queen is ! A fast food company, an american cake or what ?

[duke o' york]

It's a fast-food company.
You can expect a large crowd of angry farmers around your first restaurant before you've even started to negotiate with your staff's union reps.

I speak fluent French and thought that you might need help with some aspect of the language, but even I would demur from presuming to know the French mindset.

[FrustratedPoet]

DAVOUT: http://www.dairyqueen.com/en-US/Menu...nu/default.htm

[MikeH]

I'll be interested to see why you think that a Fast Food restaurant is a great idea for France. :hmm:

[SpencerH]

You picked the wrong country. China would be a better choice. Hell, Antarctica would be a better choice if you're serious about the proposal.

[Main_Brain]

I vagualy remember that Paris has a Wendy's.
and the most luxurious MCDonalds ever seen ;=)

[duke o' york]

They do have free video games downstairs in the McDo on the Champs Elysées, but that is far from my definition of luxurious.
No Civ though.

[Menlas]

Hi there . I don't have much time now, maybe I'll post a longer answer later. But, quickly, you have to know that there are mainly 2 fast-food restaurants companies in France : McDonalds of course, and Quick (a belgian one).

You might find some interesting facts about Quick here, in the "history" section (in french of course ). Indeed, as an outsider, they had to imagine other ways than McDo to seduce potential fast-food customers (salads, toasted hamburgers...).

I hope it will help !

[Menlas]

edit :double post

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Well, I'm not French, but I was in France this year and can tell you that at the two McDonad's I saw -- one on the Champs Elysees and the other next to the Sorbonne -- there were lines outside the buildings several meters long to get soft-serve ice cream (at these McD's, like the ones in Turkey, they serve ice cream at special windows that front the street, so that you don't have to go into the store to get it). Also, when we later went to a French ice cream parlor a friend recommended, the place was packed.

Nothing unusual about that -- except that it was February!

So, you might try thinking about Dairy Queen as a soft-serve ice cream parlor rather than a fast food chain; while the French famously loathe American fast food chains, they apparently are addicted to ice cream. That may be your route in. Just a thought.

[duke o' york]

Just don't direct your teacher here as the source of your information. I doubt it would do you much good.

Maybe your teacher already visits though.

[korn469]

here is my preliminary progress report that I sent to my teacher yesterday, please feel free to correct whatever points I'm wrong about

When I started on this project I didn’t truly have an idea of how I would approach selecting the right global market and corresponding product. My first was to select a technology product since that has traditionally been an area of high growth. However, after putting more thought into the project I decided against that since gathering information about a relatively new product could prove problematic. So after thinking of well established products I narrowed my choices down to fast food or beer. Both of these products have a global appeal, and often marketing or services are the factors that most distinguish one product from another. I have tentatively decided to go with fast food, and the chain I decided upon was Dairy Queen, which happens to be my favorite fast food establishment. Dairy Queen also happens to be a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc, Warren Buffet’s company.

The next decision I had to make was which market to choose. I quickly narrowed my choices down to France or Brazil. Ultimately I decided to go with France because my cousin had visited there once before, and I have an Internet acquaintance who lives there. Although I decided against going with Brazil I am still fascinated with it, and think that it holds tremendous potential for the future.

After deciding to focus on France the first thing I did was to see if Dairy Queen currently had any presence there. It didn’t, and in fact there is only one Dairy Queen in all of the EU, which is in Cyprus. I think that this gives Dairy Queen an excellent opportunity to take advantage of. Since Dairy Queen is a fast food establishment I did some research about the French diet. Ice cream and desserts in general are a common item, so it would take little to educate the French consumer about Dairy Queen’s primary product. I also research other similar establishments and found that McDonalds has done better in France in recent years than it has in the United States. The ice cream establishment Haagen-Dazs also has numerous locations in France.

Although the weather has little impact on my own personal enjoyment of ice cream, I know that it does have some bearing on the population as a whole. People tend to consume more cold treats in the summer and less in the winter. France generally has mild weather, and in the Mediterranean areas of France it has hot weather conducive to spurring ice cream consumption. Although France may not be the ultimate climate for Dairy Queen, its weather would not hinder growth either such as going into Finland might.

France is geographically the largest EU nation, and one of the largest European economies. France is also the second most populous EU nation behind Germany. This gives quite a bit of room to grow in both number of locations, and people served. While France is vastly smaller and less populous than the United States it is a major world market. Dairy Queen has over 5,000 location in the United States and less than 1,000 in the rest of the world. If Dairy Queen could reach the same market penetration in France as what it has in the US that could mean almost 1,000 new locations, which would outnumber all of Dairy Queen’s current non-US locations.

On Dairy Queen’s website it has a link to its international operations, and that document highlights the target demographic Dairy Queen seeks to capture, 18-34 year olds. I’m still in the process of researching what drives the French consumer, but it seems like Dairy Queen has some advantages over other fast food operations. From what I’ve learned so far the French are less interested in speedy service than they are in enjoying a meal. Since it is impossible to have many of Dairy Queen’s products ready before hand since they would melt, it seems this turns a potential negative into a positive. In order to capitalize on this, I’ve thought of promotions that bundle Dairy Queen’s “hot eats,” items such as hamburgers and fries, with their “cool treats,” items like Blizzards and shakes. This could encourage the French consumer to act on their natural tendencies to have a full meal, with a dessert which would increase the per order purchase amount. I’ve also heard that Europeans generally eat later than Americans, so it might be prudent to follow Wendy’s lead in remaining open late in France. Also fast food restaurants can sell beer in France so this will figure into my final strategy.

So far I have completed some primary steps such as selecting my market and product and beginning research on them. I have also started brainstorming both my overall strategy and the particular tactics suited for France. I am ready to move on to the next stage, unless you have any concerns about my progress so far. I feel that I should be able to find a suitable amount of research to help me make fairly good educated guesses on past trends, and that fact alone gives me some confidence about this project. I feel that more than the food, it will be a good marketing plan that could make Dairy Queen a success in France.

[korn469]

here's spiffor reply

Spiffor wrote on 11-10-2003 14:30:
Sorry, I can't give you too much hinsight at the moment, as I have much work to do for monday. But I've read your thread, and here are a few things (I can't answer you directly in the OT, as I have requested a ban until I'm sone with my work).

Please post the contents of this PM in your thread, so that other Frenchmen may comment, and if possible correct what I'm saying.

France is a highly touristic country, with about 60 million tourists a year for ca. 60 mio inhab. It is (or was until recently) the most touristy country in the world. As such, American tourists can be a significant share of Dairy Queen's in France, at least during the first years, when the brand isn't well known by the locals. This can be of great help to help stabilizing the brand, despite McDonald's strong competition.

A factor to take into account is McD's rule over French fast foods. McDonald's has become synonymous for "fast food" in France, it drove Burger King out in the 90's (Burger King has completely dropped the French market), and the only other fast food chain (Belgian "Quick") sure makes business, but cannot fight at all against McD's supremacy. Any fast food chain would be well advised to find a niche, rather than an outright competition with McD.

There is a strong demand in France for fast food in the general meaning. As the French economy is becoming more and more tertiary-driven, many people work in urban centers (rather than factories) and need flexible/quick lunch times. In Paris, there are throngs of shops serving food quickly: McD's and Quicks, but also Kebabhouses and Greek equivalents, Sandwich-shops, Chinese self-services, Salad shops. A subjective feeling of mine is that, with the increasing weariness towards the US and McD's, Kebabs have skyrocketed in recent years.

The general weariness towards the US, and towards a clearly American labeled fast-food is a problematic factor you have to take into account. I don't know Dairy Queen, but the least American it sounds, the better. Also, if Dairy Queen is clearly distinguished from McD's (proposes completely different products), it'll help it getting its first clients.

At least in Paris, there are two canals by which you can get the brand known: the cultural / middle class canal, and the "gangsta" canal. Both kind of clients are difficult to combine together, but each of these canals is very efficient in getting clients, if you play right. In both cases, it involves being fashionable by the cultural elites of each canal, so that they use their communication machine to spread the word. There are many intellectual/cultural outlets who can spread fashions in the whole middle class/cultural class. Whereas the Gangsta canal is an impressive fashion machine, whose followers consider brands as part of their gangsta identity. If Dairy Queen becomes fashionable in one of those circles, it will attract many people belonging to it.

Due to the lack of air conditionning in most French homes, there can be quite a high demand for ice cream, especially in summer. This summer-demand is even bigger because of the many tourists. Moreover, the French ice-cream market is not really covered yet. Much of the ice cream sold is of average quality, and there is much room for improvement. Unlike the German market, chere there are a great many of specialized ice-cream shops, most of Ice cream in France is sold by businesses specializing in something else (bakeries, fast foods, cafés). That's why a high quality icecream fast-food has a chance to find success, after a few years needed to get the brand well known and popular.