I’m Still Not Lovin’ It: Why Good Marketing Does Not Equal Good Product

I am not a fan of McDonald’s. Thus, I haven’t been in one more than twice over the past 15 years, and those two times were either:

a) because they lured me in with a free iced coffee (it was so-so but my mom swears by them)

b) my 3-year-old needed somewhere to tire himself. Their playgrounds do the trick.

So last week I was there and was impressed with the new decor (more coffee shop than grease pit) and the colorful posters advertising the new chicken sandwich and fancy card swipe payment method. I caved and decided to try the sandwich.

It was still a McDonald’s sandwich. And the fries were waaay too salty. So I kicked myself. Sure, Mickey D’s has a lot going for them. It’s obvious they put a lot of time and money into marketing. I’ll give them that:

• Their current campaign with Ronald McDonald is promoting healthy activity among children
• They’re offering more options than just fries
• They redesigned their stores to have an upper middle class feel
• They advertise online in smart places, like AOL’s IM bar
• They’re hip to podcasts

But no matter how much they put into marketing, they’re still a crappy food chain. And in my mind, not a very good one at that. Some of the less tech-savvy, greasier spoons are much better in my book, but that’s just my “eggspert” opinion!

So take this lesson to heart: you can pour your heart and bank account into marketing but at the end of the day, will people come back for your product? Only if you’re a major multi-bazillion dollar industry. Otherwise you might want to look to improving your product quality.