McDonald’s Broke Retailing Rule #1: If You're Having A Special, Make Sure It’s Special

A McDonald’s double cheeseburger and a small fry “combo” for $2.50 – that’s their summer “special.” But just how special is that? Especially when you do the math. A Double Cheeseburger at Mickey D’s usually costs about $2. And a small fry? (When was the last time you ordered “small”?) I’m guessing it doesn’t feel worth more than 50 cents. Plus there is no drink with this combo. So most consumers realize they’ll have to add another $1.

So a double cheeseburger meal for $3.50. Yawn. Is this really supposed to jumpstart sales for the beleaguered burger merchant? It feels like what you would pay any day of the week.

You don’t fight apathy with apathy. Customers are smart, they know the difference between a “special” and an “ordinary” offering. If you are faced with declining sales and increasing customer apathy, you don’t entice them with uninteresting sales.

You don’t create value by taking value away. Customers have come to expect “value meals” that include a sandwich (medium) fries and a soft drink from McDonald’s. Downsizing the fries and deleting the drink so you can advertise a lower price isn’t offering value – it’s offering less, which customers know should cost less.

Doing the same thing you’ve always done and expecting different results is insanity. Most consumers will see this as the same food at essentially the same price as always. A formula which has kept McDonald’s on a losing streak for the last couple of years.

In short — If you are going to have a “special” make it special. Shake things up. Make the offer compelling. Give people a reason to try or re-try your brand. In this age of transparentcy,customers can see when you're just reshufffling the same deck. That's what we think anyway. How about you?