Managing Markets: Case of Kfc

Managing Markets: Case of KFC

Marketing mix modeling is a term of art for the use of statistical analysis such as multivariate regressions on sales and marketing time series data to estimate the impact of various marketing tactics on sales and then forecast the impact of various marketing tactics on sales and then forecast the impact of future sets of tactics.(1) Various companies have been using MMM or marketing mix modeling as part of their "secret formula" and most of them have been succeeding and their businesses are expanding. But one of the most notable among these companies is KFC, a leading food chain globally. What kind of good strategies that we observe in the KFC that we don't usually see in the other food markets? First and foremost is, the way the marketing mix modeling is being implemented in all their branches and outlets. Second is, the optimizing of budget by allocating spends to those activities which give the highest return on investment. If we look closely on the first aspect, strategists have been gaining competitive advantage for KFC due to the fact that almost all corners of the world have this company which specializes in serving tasty and crunchy chicken, spaghettis and many more. Of course, logic would tells us that if KFC is not well-received in one place, automatically its aura and salability to other places would be put into jeopardy. But this would not be true to a company such as KFC, where the theory on how to be more competitive and uplift more its service to the people are at the forefront. However, all these means of implementing marketing mix theory would be in vain if the strategist or marketing managers cannot and don't know how to implement them prudently and wisely. The time-frame and venues are of vital parts in considering the effectiveness of every business. In the early 80's a certain appliance company was at the peak of its popularity and almost all people would patronize its name and bought their appliances no matter how costly they are as long as they carry with them the brands name. Yet, and perhaps due to the marketing managers and strategists' inability to foresee the future and the consideration of the place, the once famous company went into bankruptcy and suddenly disappeared like bubbles in the air. Talking about venues and time-frame as great tools in safeguarding the salability and consistency of the market, KFC (most specific example is the Philippines), I should say, has been gaining advantage over the other food chain companies. And why is this so? Firstly, the strategists know full well that the Filipinos are grossly in love with eating fried chicken and other pastas as well. The strategists here considered two salient points: venues and time-frame. Venue because, Filipinos are fried-chicken loving country. And this "addiction" cannot be separated from them. Time frame because, eating fried chicken