Executive Summary Problem Statement Chick-fil-A is a very popular restaurant in southern united states and is hoping to expand its chain to China. K8 Media understands that market saturation for fast food restaurants overseas is extremely high. While advertising in America has worked for Chick-fil-A in the past, ads overseas will have to transform to adhere to cultural differences in China. According to Hofstede’s cultural dimensions there are many different cultural values when advertising internationally. Power distance, individualism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, and long/ short term orientation are all important values when dealing with cultural differences. These are a few problems Chick-fil-A will face when expanding their chain globally. Competition Chick-fil-A is in a highly saturated market. Many quick service restaurants such as McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy’s, and KFC are popular choices in the US as well as internationally. While these restaurants have seen success across the globe, not all advertisements will resonate with a different market. Chick-fil-A must come up with different ideas based on the values and standards of the culture. Company and Consumer Chick-fil-A’s target audience expect good quality food and service when visiting restaurants. Chick-fil-A was ranked America’s favorite restaurant based on their attributes such as cleanliness, attitude and overall likeability. Industry and Cultural Trends Different cultures have different values. Chick-fil-A should shift its advertisements to accommodate the local values experienced in China. The localized ads are more focused towards local values and trends while the standardized ads are more focused on Universal values. A few universal values seen in every culture are love, self reliance, honesty, and friendship. The local values are different in every society. China has a low individualism score with Hofstede’s cultural dimensions yet America has a very high score. When shifting the advertising campaign to fit China’s values, Chick-fil-A should keep these ideals in mind. Campaign and Strategic Decisions K8 Media recommends that Chick-fil-a appeals to a middle-aged male demographic in order to gain more presence in China. Specifically, we believe that Chick-fil-a should target middle-aged dads. These men care immensely for their family and willing to find new ways to make sure their family will be well long term. Our advertisements will target the local and global values experienced in China and the United States.
Problem Statement Chick-fil-A currently has a huge presence in the Southern half of the United States. According to a survey on Statista, Chick-fil-A is the number one choice for many Americans when it comes to fast food restaurants. However, while they are a number one choice for many Americans they are less known overseas. The main problem Chick-fil-A is facing is trying to expand into the global market for a saturated market of fast food restaurants. China currently has the highest population compared to other countries and is an ideal spot to expand advertising efforts. While expanding would be a prime opportunity for Chick-fil-A, China has many different values compared to the United States. There are many different cultural differences when a company tries to expand to other countries. According to Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, there are many different values for every culture. Power distance, individualism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, and long term orientation are all values that can affect advertisemrnts between different countries. Power distance is one example of differences between cultures. China has a high power distance compared to the United States. This means that China accepts and perpetuates inequalities between people of different statuses. The United States has a medium score for power distance which is very different than China. China is collectivistic which shows that they have a very low score for individualism. Their ties between family members are stronger than other countries. The United States has an extremely high score for individualism. Every person must lookout for him/herself. Their family ties are not as strong as China’s which causes many advertisements to shift focus between these two countries. Masculinity is another value that is very different on a global scale. China experiences a higher degree of gender differentiation. Males tend to dominate a significant portion of the society and power structure. Males are seen as assertive and competitive. Womans values are drastically different compared to men's. The United States is around the same score for China with masculinity which means that their values are very similar. China has a low uncertainty avoidance culture the same as the United States. Cultures with these values are more tolerant of opinions different than what they are used to. Societies like these are less rule oriented. They readily accept change and are more willing to take risks. China has an extremely high long term orientation. They are realistic towards future rewards. These cultures have strong work ethics and are persistence. The United States is very different than China as they have strong short term orientation. They are more likely to buy small gifts or cards for one another. People in America think more short term than long term with their spending. This affects their advertisements and their buying habits. By understanding different cultures K8 Media can create advertisements targeted towards specific countries. Chick-fil-A can successfully enter the market when their advertisements are directed towards their local or universal values.
Critical Factors I. Competition Chick-fil-A is in a highly competitive market. The company faces intense competition both within the United States and outside of the country in its international markets. Specifically, in China, Chick-fil-A faces competition of all quick service restaurants, including McDonald’s, Burger King, and Wendy’s, as well as fast food restaurants that specialize in fried chicken, such as KFC. Chick-fil-A has seen great domestic success with its “Eat Mor Chikin” campaign. The company reported almost $2 billion in sales and its brand awareness grew 81 as a result of this campaign. Now, Chick-fil-A must make these same efforts to see international success. However, the same concepts, tactics, and strategies that are effective in the United States will not necessarily resonate with the same target audience in China. Chick-fil-A must come up with different ideas based on the values and standards of the culture.
II. Company and Consumer Chick-fil-A’s target audience specifically expect not only high quality food, but also excellent customer service. According the American Customer Satisfaction Index’s Annual Restaurant Survey ranked Chick-fil-A as America’s favorite restaurant based on food, restaurant layout, cleanliness, and overall customer satisfaction. Additionally, Chick-fil-A accepts a very small number of new franchises in order to maintain a consistent dining experience across restaurants. Finally, Chick-fil-A maintains its high quality food because, in 2014, it was the first restaurant within the United States to serve antibiotic-free chicken.
III. Industry and Cultural trends A. Power distance China has a relatively high score in this category with a score of 80. According to the definition, having a high power distance score means that China accepts and perpetuates inequalities between people. B. Individualism China has a relatively low score in this category with a score of 20. According to the definition, having a low individualism score means that China is more collectivistic. The ties between friends and family are very strong and the family is much more important than the individual. C. Masculinity China has a relatively high score in this category with a score of 66. According to the definition, having a high masculinity score means that China has more differentiation between genders. Males are more dominant in society and the power structure. Additionally, males are more aggressive, and wholistically different from women’s values. D. Uncertainty avoidance China has a relatively low score in this category with a score of 30. According to the definition, having a low uncertainty avoidance score means that China has a higher tolerance for variety and experimentation. They are less rule-oriented and more accepting of change and risk-taking. E. Long-term orientation China has a very high score in this category with a score of 118. According to the definition, having a high long-term orientation score means they value persistence, strong work ethic, and respect of tradition.
Campaign and Strategic Decisions
Chick-fil-a maintains itself as the premium alternative to hamburgers. However, according to Chick-fil-a’s case study, it is still outnumbered 15 to 1 in store count and outspent 60 to 1 in media by big brands in the fast food industry. Additionally, the company has a major presence locally in the southern parts of the United States, but Chick-fil-a is not well known overseas, specifically China.
Hofstede’s cultural dimensions charts showed a low tolerance for variety and a high value for family, long-term commitments and male dominance. Based on these key indicators, K8 Media recommends that Chick-fil-a appeals to a middle-aged male demographic in order to gain more presence in China. Specifically, we believe that Chick-fil-a should target middle-aged dads. These men care immensely for their family and willing to find new ways to make sure their family will be well long term.
In a market filled with strong competition and their vast budgets, Chick-fil-a needs to find distinct creative methods to ensure a higher presence not only globally in China but also locally in the United States. K8 media developed an advertising plan that will increase top-of-mind awareness and sales.
Campaign Evaluation is an extremely important step in the advertising process. Campaign evaluation allows agencies and advertisers to see whether or not their creative ideas and strategies, as well as media planning implementation will be effective in reach and persuading the intended target market.
K8 Media presented three different concepts for our creative concept implementation. We conducted attitude tests to discover the following: how memorable the brand is,how enjoyable the ad is, how well it communicates the intended message, the likelihood of making a purchase, and the engagement of the viewer with the ad and brand.
While conducting K8 Media’s focus group with two college-aged Chinese individuals, the agency was reminded how imperative it is to create localized ads that provided a true “family oriented pull.” Understanding this main concept helped K8 Media decide on a print ad that used a dual approach with using collectivistic and masculinity where “Dad knows best.” The print ad explains a family experiencing its fair share of the same old dinners together. Then, the dad comes home one night with Chick-fil-a bag. The still would depict a dad holding the Chick-fil-a bag and his family surrounding him in cheers of excitement.
On a global scale, universal values were the key to creating successful print ads. When K8 Media’s focus group was asked about standardized or global ads, love resonated the best because of the “emotional pull” and how it gives a “more than just food” feeling. K8 Media decided a print ad that would depict a man in a nice suit on one knee proposing to his girlfriend with a chick-fil-a chicken sandwich in a box with the tagline, “I do.”
Conclusion and Evaluation
Overall, K8 Media believes the key to gaining top-of-mind awareness and sales for Chick-fil-a on a localized and standardized level is by focusing on two distinctive print ad messages. On a standardized degree, the message should focus on the university value, love. On a localized measure, the message should focus on a dual collectivistic and masculinity approach based on Hofstede’s cultural dimensions. For the localized ads, Chick-fil-a should heavily consider its target audience to be middle-aged men and dads that emphasis heavily on family. K8 Media believes Chick-fil-a can achieve its objectives by following these recommendations.
References
Case Analysis - Chick-fil-A Case - Global Marketing & International Advertising http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/04/06/kfc-isnt-just-losing-ground-to-chick-fil-a.aspx
Charts from Statista
Moodle slideshow for global campaign- https://moodle3.lsu.edu/pluginfile.php/578799/mod_resource/content/1/16F_4040_W12_0414_I nternational%20Advertising.pdf