Branding 101 – The Law of Contraction
Posted on February 1st, 2008
The Law of Contraction is the process of shrinking the focus of what your company has to offer. This means instead of being a ‘one stop shop’ that you should focus on one thing you do well and only focus on it.
How many businesses have you seen expand their focus instead of shrinking it only to fail and then shrink it back? This week I have to pick on McDonald’s one of the world’s most recognizable brands for breaking the Law of Contraction again and again.
I am sure we all remember McDonald’s launched Pizza’s in the early 90’s. That day McDonald’s became the world’s largest pizza supplier. So why did they stop? Well it is pretty simple, McDonald’s is not a pizza company it is a company that makes fast food hamburgers.  Sales of pizza were not as high as McDonald’s had predicted and the food cost on each pizza was not enough to justify keeping it.
If you look at McDonald’s menu today there is close to a 100 or more items you can order on the menu. When McDonald’s first opened they offered hamburgers, shakes and fries. Do you think it is better that they now offer more or worse? Ask yourself this same question the next time your waiting 20 minutes in Drive-Thru.
Posted in Marketing Tips | | | Digg This | del.icio.us | Technorati
Related Topics:
Branding 101 – The Law of ContractionBranding 101 – Law of AdvertisingBranding 101 – ExampleMarketing 101: Less is More, More or Less?Business 101: Alternative Sources of Revenue
1 Comment
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
I miss the McDonald’s Pizza, or the “Pimma” as I always called it… Kind of a shame that it didn’t catch on. It was a nice change from the constant Hamburgers that every chain has.
20 minutes at a drive-thru? Wow. I don’t think I’ve ever waited more than 10 minutes, and that was on a hot summer day .