By McDonalds is one of the biggest brands in the world.
But how did it get there?
It started back in 1937 when Patrick McDonald opened his first food-stand selling hot dogs.
But it began it’s real journey in 1940, when his two sons joined the business and changed its name to McDonald’s Bar-B-Que.
Richard and Maurice, Patrick’s sons, were obsessed with efficiency. So much so that in 1948 they decided to re-design their kitchen to achieve the maximum efficiency when the store re-opened as McDonalds.
However, it turned out that it wasn’t efficient enough for them, and in 1952 they decided to improve it further.
So, with a piece of chalk, they mapped out their kitchen on a tennis court.
It was during this change that they decided to re-brand their restaurant and employed a local architect. This architect, Stanley Clark Mestion, helped them create the high gloss surfaces of red and white, the stainless steel brightly coloured sheet metals, and the now famous golden arches.
All that’s great, but it’s what they did with their marketing at this stage that really interests us.
We think we’re good at marketing.
And by “we”, I mean the modern world.
But we’re doing the same s**t these guys were doing half a century ago and calling it new.
Heck, they were doing it better than us, because they invented stuff that was so far ahead of their time it’s like a flying a plane in the 1300’s!
For example, back in 1952 they…
* Turned off the heating to prevent people wanting to stay too long
* Angled the seating so customers were over their food which promoted them to eat faster
* Put the seats further apart, making it a less sociable place to eat
* Used cone shaped cups so customers had to hold their drink while they ate, making them eat faster
That’s some clever ways of getting people in and out as fast as possible.
In fact, it was so clever that all the other fast-food chains started following suit.
Today, they do things like pump the air with a patented smell, which is why you always know when you’re near a McDonalds!
Imagine what they were told when they first suggested these ideas.
They were probably laughed at, mocked and told it would never work. But they went ahead and did it anyway.
Why?
Because the only real way to know if something’s going to work is by trying it.
And that means you have to take risk.
But I’m not talking about financial risk, although that sometimes goes hand-in-hand.
I’m talking about the risk of failing.
Without taking that risk you won’t know if your plan’s going to work.
And that’s why failing is the best thing you can do if you want to be a success!
Ciao,
Michael
P.S. If you’re not yet following me on Facebook, then why the heck not?
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