Audience, Part Four, Analysis Activity #3, PH663
McDonaldâs segmentation approach is very similar to the approaches used by health communication campaigns. McDonaldâs segments to different ethnicities, which is what health communication campaigns tend to do. Health campaigns also tend to target Latinos, African Americans, women and children. McDonaldâs provides information on their website in different languages so that their different target populations can access their menu. Health campaigns usually do the same thing with their brochures and pamphlets. McDonaldâs has a âculturally humbleâ approach when it comes to their menu items, often changing their menu based on what country it is in. I think this is something that many health campaigns lack. Health campaigns will usually provide their information in different languages, but donât change their message or how they deliver their message based on the target audience. I think the biggest distinction between McDonaldâs and health communication campaigns is how they target low-income audiences. McDonaldâs solution is simple and effective, while many health communication campaigns lack that simplicity. McDonaldâs will provide low-income audiences with low cost food that will keep them full for several hours. Health communication campaigns will provide low-income families with âskillsâ and knowledge on how to eat healthy, but they will not provide them with affordable access to healthy food options.
@globalcommunicationproject
An excellent analysis of McDonaldâs target marketing techniques. It is frightening to see what kind of skill, money and effort we are up against as health communication professionals! McDonaldâs clearly has far more resources than we ever would have to run any health communication campaign. Also with a profit motive behind their campaigns, there is a sense of urgency and the need for putting out their best to make sure the company has earned every possible dollar for their shareholders. On the other hand, it often seems that in public health, we do not share that drive to put out the best possible message out there. You are right that we often have well-intentioned but halfhearted approaches when reaching out to cultural minorities besides just printing things in a different language. We need to learn from McDonaldâs which develops whole new menus, uses new ingredients, works with cultural and religious needs of its global customers, and changes its advertising campaign completely to keep it culturally appropriate for where it is trying to sell its product. It doesnât just simply translate the âBig Macâ into Chinese. However, we canât be too tough on public health campaigns since they often donât have the same resources, often being part of government of nonprofit agencies that are frequently underfunded.
I agree with this analysis. Health campaigns do work at targeting all of these cultural groups, and also try to target groups of different income strata. They often also try to target these groups by offering information in various languages. I also agree that they try to address the issues of low income folks by giving them informational resources rather than tangible solutions such as low cost meals. The differences between the usual health campaigns and the sophisticated marketing offered by McDonalds using market segmentation do not stop there for me. McDonalds doesnt just offer food to each of its audience segments, it offers a way of relating to the brand that addresses income, values, and particular needs. For example, the website targeted for latinos offers scholarships.Â













