Dairy Queen vs Mc Donald's By Mansur Boydaş

Mansur Boydaşstrategy but it definitely lacks ethical merit.
  
The purpose of this report is to establish a comparison 
between Dairy Queen and its major competitor McMarketing-Dairy Queen
Donald's from the 4P's perspective that are; product,Product
price, place, and promotion in the customers' and 
producers' viewpoints.  From the producers' viewpointThe Dairy Queen brand offers a wide variety of
Dairy Queen has three different businesses DQ Julius,strategies for its product.  One of Dairy Queen's
DQ brazier, and DQ Grill and Chill. To conduct thisstrategies begins with the variety of stores.  The
research, a questionnaire was prepared and asked tosmallest of the stores is called the DQ Julius, in which
43 people of whom 24 men and 19 women. Theonly ice cream is served with very limited food options
questions are specifically measuring the 4P's of bothsuch as hot dogs and pitas.  The regular Dairy store
fast food franchises Dairy Queen and Mc Donald's.is called the DQ brazier, in which regular burgers and
Some of the most important conclusions of the surveyfood are served as well as a wide variety of ice
are as the following;cream.  Finally, the newest store creation is the DQ
- Mc Donald's is better at quality of the food products,Grill and Chill, in which food is cooked on a grill, the new
- Mc Donald's is better at quality of service,"grill" burgers are served, new menu items such as
- Dairy Queen is better at quality of ice cream,grilled sandwiches and quesadilla's as well as the
- Mc Donald's is better at overall rating,regular assortment of ice cream.  The design of all
- Mc Donald's is better at people's frequency of visits,stores is to provide quality fast service.  By doing so
- Mc Donald's is better at promotions.the stores offer a drive-thru, take-out, sit down inside
Generally, what we observe from these results is theor outside on the patio.  The layout of the store
image of Mc Donald's is better at peoples' mindsincludes the front counter, where a cashier takes your
because it is everywhere all around us, on the otherorder while another employee starts making your meal
hand Dairy Queen is mainly known to be as an iceeither in the back if the food is hot or right in front of
cream company. Mc Donald's also has a charity workyou if the order includes ice cream.  All of the ice
that has an influence on peoples' perception.cream products and toppings are located in a close
Recommendationsrange of the front counter to ensure fast service. 
There are many recommendations that we haveAlso to enhance quick ordering there is picture oriented
come up for Dairy Queen Corporation to get a betterdisplays as well as prices located on the display board
level to compete with its major competitor Mcfor customers' knowledge. The packaging of the
Donald's. They are; improving food products' quality,product also distributes the Dairy Queen brand by
lowering the prices of products, opening more shopsincluding the logo and sometimes the slogan.  Kids'
around where the potential of population is high suchmeal bags also include games about dairy queen
as teaming up with a big corporation, and finding newproducts.  The Dairy Queen Service is focused
ways of promotion and advertisement strategies to betowards families and children.  Many dairy queen
more in the minds of people.stores also offer a play palace for children.  To be
 competitive dairy queen must offer a quality service
McDonaldswhich they create through there slogan "DQ something
From the management's viewpoint, McDonald's differsdifferent".  Dairy Queen offers quality through product
from other food services by offering more varietyconsistency, proper presentation of the product is very
than any other fast food restaurants. From the regularimportant.  Dairy Queen actually weighs their ice
hamburgers to ice cream and milkshakes, from delicream cones and other ice cream products to ensure
sandwiches to salads and Chicken McNuggets,the customer is receiving the same amount each
McDonald's has everything that you could ask for fromvisit.  Another product that displays quality is the
a fast food restaurant. What McDonald's lacks in foodblizzard, turned upside down when served to the
quality it makes up in its variety and speed andcustomer to show thickness and preparation of the
efficiency.product, as it would not stay in the cup if made
The quality of the service is much greater then atincorrectly.  Another part of quality is the interaction of
many other fast food chains due to the fact there arethe employee with the customer.  The employee is to
strict guide lines in place setup by McDonald'shave consistency. The employee must creating a
Corporation for each of the franchises to follow.friendly environment, always saying please and thank
McDonald's employees must be trained before theyyou and have a nice day, also in the drive thru the
are allowed to operate any equipment on their own,employee must sound like they are smiling because
and are repeatedly exposed to the ideologies of thethe customer isn't able to see the employee smiling.
industry that fast food must be just that, fast food. 
Restaurants are designed to aid in the efficiency ofPrice
services provided to the customer. Efficiency hasPrices are set through Dairy Queen Head office and
become so engrained in the philosophy of McDonald'sare the same across all Dairy Queen Franchises. 
that it has even designed the seating area to becomePrices are determined by the cost allotted to the
uncomfortable to sit in for extended periods of time,actual product, the cost to serve the product as well
always allowing recently entered patrons theas to create profit for the franchise.  All prices are
opportunity to have a seat for a short time. Like mostlisted on the menu for easy visibility and to increase
fast food restaurants, McDonald's has designed theeasy and quick service.  Dairy Queen offers many
stores to provide service to the greatest number oftypes of transaction for easy payment by customers
people all at once. They have several tills for order atsuch as; cash, debit, credit and gift certificate.
inside, as well as drive thru and take out.Place/ Distribution
PriceDairy Queens locate themselves in areas in which
Price listings, discounts, payment methods àtraffic is abundant.  Most dairy queen stores are
McDonald's price lists are made available for the publiclocated on main strips of town, beaches, shopping
to view very easily from nearly all areas of the store.malls, the zoo, and overall in areas which are easily
The prices at McDonald's are designed to beaccessible to customers.  Dairy Queen promotes
competitive with all other fast food restaurant chains,their products and services to a wide range of
while still maximizing profits off of every sale.customers such as families, children, dating, soccer
McDonald's also offers coupons through the mail forteams and they also promote around the idea of
customers to take advantage of, while at the samesummer time.
time promoting their brand. Allowing customers a wide 
variety in payment methods is also for promotion ofAdvertising/ Promotional Activities
the brand due to there not being any restriction onDairy Queen offers a large variety of promotional
how to complete transactions, whether it is by cash,activities these include; television commercials, radio,
debit, or credit card.newspaper, flyers and signage.  Their advertisements
Placefocus on their slogan "DQ something different" and
Locations, Distribution, Age, Gender, Orientation (family,also commercials tend to be funny so that customers
date,...)à McDonalds can be found in nearly everyremember them well.  For example, one commercial
town and city in North America, and in many countriesdemonstrates a business man eating a flamethrower
throughout the world. Each chain focuses on theburger and when he goes to talk he blows fire.  The
demographic and gender ratios that are present in theDairy Queen symbol resembles lips with DQ imprinted
local area, as well as to any fluctuations in seasonalin the middle.  Dairy offers many discounts for
consumers. McDonalds also looks to provide servicescustomers such as; half price novelty sales, buy two
according to who enters the chain. McDonald's offerscheeseburgers for $2.99, Customer appreciation day,
children's meals including a toy, they offer breakfast tomiracle treat day, coupons, etc.  Customer
those who rise early, and they even recently startedappreciation day is a day in which all ice cream cakes
to offer healthy eating choices on their menu.and novelties are half price as well as some selected
Promotion Activitiesmenu items for only one day.  Miracle Treat day is a
Food promotion àMcDonalds takes advantage ofday in which Dairy Queen supports a fundraiser by
every method of advertisement that is currentlygiving all proceeds from blizzards to a charity as well
available. Their ads can be seen and heard on theas selling a balloon for a $1 that goes towards the
internet, television, and radio, as well as seen oncharity and the customer also receives a dollar in dairy
billboards and posters at crowded events. McDonald'squeen coupons.  Dairy Queen also supports local
even goes so far as to spend ridicules sums ofsoccer teams within their communities by supplying
money on advertisement during sporting events suchjerseys with the dairy queen logo and offering team
as the Super Bowl. McDonald's is promoting everythingmembers a free ice cream cone after their games.
they offer, from their food product, to their services, asCustomer's viewpoint
well as their charity work.From the customers standpoint Dairy Queen is an
Costumer's Viewpointoutstanding distributor of ice cream products.  They
Product-From the costumer's viewpoint McDonald'soffer a variety of ice cream treats such as blizzards,
offers the most in terms of variety, when comparedbanana splits, layered sundaes called parfaits, extra
to all other fast food restaurants including Dairytoppings on sundaes such as peanuts and whip cream,
Queen.  McDonald's is predictable, before evenetc. The complexity of the product decreases service
entering the restaurant the costumer knows that thetime and increases the price of the product.   
service will be quick, the burger will look the same asHowever since Dairy Queen only offers high quality
every time, the restaurant is dependable.  It is thisproducts, their products tend to be higher priced then
mechanized way of doing business that has enabledsome of their competitors.
McDonald's to remain on top of the fast food chainMany customers do not realize that Dairy Queen does
marketplace.  However, within that rigidity, there is anot just offer ice cream but that they also offer hot
certain level of flexibility.  According to this, it is meantfood.  Unlike Dairy Queens biggest competitor, Mc
that McDonald's enables itself to cater to most everyDonald's, Dairy Queen is not known for producing
cultural and religious desire inherent in the population ofquick, efficient, cheap meals. Since Dairy Queen is
interest.  In an area with lots of Hindu's they servemainly known for its ice cream and slightly higher
more vegetarian and chicken products.  They also tryprices, it is often over looked by customers when
to cater to all tastes and preferences; for instance intrying to decide where they should get their food.
New Zealand, McDonald's offer to upgrade burgersOther companies, such as Mc Donald's, offer desserts
with avocado.  Closer to home, the McDonald'ssuch as ice cream so after a meal customers tend to
restaurants on the east coast of Canada differentiateorder dessert from where ever they ate their meal
their menus by offering a lobster roll option to satisfyrather than go out of their way to a place such as
the surrounding population.  In conclusion, McDonald'sdairy queen. Since customers do not associate dinner
has just enough flexibility to cater to certain tastes andwith dairy queen, they choose to go somewhere else
preferences as best they can while remaininginstead.
mechanized, systematic, and efficient.Another main consumer of ice cream products are
Price-The prices at McDonalds are similar to all otheryoung children. Many of Dairy Queen's regular
fast food chains, they also accept all methods ofcustomers in the summer are sports teams or players
payment.  Not only does McDonalds take all majorafter they have just had a practice or game. Many
modes of payment, but they also offer the option offamilies and teams make it a ritual to come to Dairy
not even having to enter the restaurant.  Orders canQueen after they have won a game in order to
be either be called in or ordered online from thecelebrate and enjoy a cool treat. However, Dairy
internet, and then delivered to the costumer.  This isQueen does not offer a strong atmosphere for
where McDonald's separates itself from its fast foodchildren, whereas their competitor Mc Donald's does. 
counterparts; all other fast food restaurants, with theFor example, kids meals always come with a toy and
exception of pizza places, do not deliver.  This hasalmost every Mc Donald's has a play place whereas
the effect of allowing McDonald's to be morevery few Dairy Queen's do not.
accessible to a larger costumer base than any one of 
its competitors.  McDonald's also inundates theDairy Queen is known for their expensive prices and
market place with coupons and offers for deals onice cream, so when customers are deciding where to
their food products.  Along with these offers, theyeat food they think Mc Donald's and when they think
also offer a Monopoly game every year to drawice cream they think of Dairy Queen.  Therefore,
even more people in with the possibility of winningDairy Queen projects a brand positioning of ice cream
thousands of dollars just by eating McDonald's food.within the consumers mind but not that of a fast food
Place-This is where other restaurants should takerestaurant.
notice of the advancements made by the McDonald's 
empire.  The number of restaurants McDonald's 
operates is absolutely astounding.  Whether you live inSUMMARY
a town of 500 or 10 million people, chances are you will 
be able to get to a McDonald's in less than 10 
minutes.  McDonald's knows that in order to be ableFrom the producer's viewpoint Dairy Queen is divided
to have the greatest amount of market share it simplyinto three different businesses DQ Julius, DQ Brazier,
must be more accessible to the most amounts ofand DQ Grill and Chill that each have different
people, in order to accomplish this they have to haveproducts to serve. The set of the Dairy Queen stores
the most amounts of locations.are designed to serve faster for the convenience of
Promotion- Simply put, ask almost anyone in Northcustomers. From the customers viewpoint Dairy
America how to sing the Big Mac ingredient song andQueen is the major distributor of ice cream with its
over half would probably be able to accomplish saidwide variety of selections. On the other hand Mc
task.  McDonald's has snaked its way into every formDonald's from its producer's viewpoint it differs from
of advertising known to man; whether it is on television,other food services by offering more variety than any
radio, the internet, or commercials in the movieother fast food restaurants. Restaurants are designed
theatre.  McDonald's also makes it self-known atto aid in the efficiency of services provided to the
pretty much all major sporting events taking place allcustomer.
over the world.  They also make sure that not every 
commercial they air is targeted at promoting their food;In the franchise market Mc Donald's is far ahead
some commercials do not even mention that they selldominating the industry and it is known from the
food.  In these types of advertisements the main ideafamous jingles advertisements in movies, televisions,
being portrayed is the Ronald McDonald's charitableradios, and billboards and posters. Dairy Queen is
organization.  This is yet another area in whichknown for their expensive prices and ice cream and
McDonald's is paving the way in the fast foodwhen people want to have fast food there is a Mc
industry.  An important point to mention aboutDonald's around the corner that they can eat. Overall in
McDonald's is the fact that they target young people,product, place, promotion, and especially in price Mc
getting them hooked for life.  They do this with theDonald's is the leading franchise corporation in the
use of "play places" in their restaurants, unknowinglyworld.  Dairy queen need to upgrade its 4P's in order
making kids associate and having fun with going toto strengthen itself in the concept of concern.
McDonald's.  It is an incredibly strong advertising