McDonald's India franchisee

McDonald's India franchisee to invest Rs 500 cr to ramp up presence

Hardcastle Restaurants Private Ltd (HRPL), which runs McDonald's outlets in West and South India, will invest Rs 500 crore over the next three years to double the number of restaurants in operation.

The company, which has been operating the fast food chain through a joint venture with McDonald's Corporation, also has converted the partnership into a development licensee model.

The recent change from joint venture to development licensee in India's South West is based on the corporation's view that India's economy will continue to grow rapidly and sustainably, creating significant present and future opportunities for the expansion of the McDonald's Brand.

According to HRPL, which plans to open 30 McDonald's outlets this year, the company's operations are profitable and cash-positive. Same-store sales have seen double-digit growth continuously for the last six years and the company has seen a total compounded growth of 35 per cent in revenues.

HRPL is a debt-free company and will fund the entire investment of Rs 500 crore over the next few years through internal accruals.

Development license:

The DL structure has been successfully employed in over 50 markets worldwide, including Latin America, Indonesia, the Philippines, Turkey and several countries in West Asia for over 20 years, McDonald's said.

Under the model, a licensee owns the entire business, including the real estate, and uses its local knowledge and capital to build the brand and optimise profitability over the long term.

In the past, McDonald's Corporation has converted about 1,700 restaurants in Latin America (18 countries) into a single development licensee under the leadership of previous joint venture partner Woods Staton. In 2009, sales of the Latin America business were in excess of $3 billion.

Customer relationship management

Business benefits of CRM:

Implementing a customer relationship management (CRM) solution might involve considerable time and expense. However, there are many potential benefits.

A major benefit can be the development of better relations with your existing customers, which can lead to:

• increased sales through better timing by anticipating needs based on historic trends
• identifying needs more effectively by understanding specific customer requirements
• cross-selling of other products by highlighting and suggesting alternatives or enhancements
• identifying which of your customers are profitable and which are not
  
  
  This can lead to better marketing of your products or services by focusing on:
  
  
• effective targeted marketing communications aimed specifically at customer needs
• a more personal approach and the development of new or improved products and services in order to win more business in the future.
  
  
  Ultimately this could lead to:
  
  
• enhanced customer satisfaction and retention, ensuring that your good reputation in the marketplace continues to grow
• increased value from your existing customers and reduced costs associated with supporting and servicing them, increasing your overall efficiency and reducing total cost of sales
• improved profitability by focusing on the most profitable customers and dealing with the unprofitable in more cost effective ways
  
  
  Once your business starts to look after its existing customers effectively, efforts can be concentrated on finding new customers and expanding your market. The more you know about your customers, the easier it is to identify new prospects and increase your customer base.

  Even with years of accumulated knowledge, there's always room for improvement. Customer needs change over time, and technology can make it easier to find out more about customers and ensure that everyone in an organisation can exploit this information.

The Superbowl commercials

Known for high-profile advertisements that air during its television broadcast in the U.S. is the Super Bowl, the championship game of the National Football League. Reaching more than 90 million viewers, prices for advertising space can typically cost millions of dollars; 30 seconds of advertising time during the 2010 telecast is expected to cost US $2.6 Million dollars.

The high price tag of the commercials promise that they will be spectacular and innovative in most cases. The commercials are often highly anticipated, generating much buzz even before the game is played usually because of their innovation or sense of humor.

Here are the best super bowl commercials of 2011

Here is one for 2012!