Day 258 - 07 Jun 96 - Page 04

     
     1
     2   Q.   It would certainly be the key in terms of children's
     3        especially close emotional bond with the ronald mcdonald's
     4        character?
     5        A.  He would be one of the key elements, yes.
     6
     7   Q.   OK.  I want to see if there is anything else in this
     8        document we need to look at.  We are just checking for
     9        anything else in this document to look at.  If we go on to
    10        the AF7, 'brand audit research 1994'.  This is the same
    11        kind of exercise but done two years later?
    12        A.  That is correct, yes.
    13
    14   Q.   The broad drift of what was in 1992 would be similar in
    15        1994 would it?
    16        A.  Some changes would be apparent, as a result of the
    17        activity that we had taken based on 1992, but there was not
    18        a huge amount of movement generally in one set of results
    19        to the following ones.
    20
    Q.   Right.  So, we do not need to go into such detail.  In page
    22        2, 'management summary about the brand image'.  The first
    23        paragraph, 'In 1992 concern was expressed over the low food
    24        values associated with McDonald's.  This second wave sees
    25        encouraging increases in aspects such as mouth watering,
    26        delicious, wide choice and healthy.  Conversely, there were
    27        decreases in synthetic and not much for vegetarians.
    28        Indeed, in comparison with its competitors McDonald's were
    29        most tempting and most likely to be something you would
    30        have a craving for'.  Would that still apply today, that
    31        kind of overview?
    32        A.  That overview; but we did another one of these early in
    33        1995 and there is a much more marked decline in our
    34        perception of McDonald's as synthetic, or not a place for
    35        vegetarians, primarily as a result of activity that we have
    36        conducted since then.  Can I just clarify?  When it talks
    37        about low food values the context for that is, in 1992 when
    38        customers were asked to brainstorm about what they thought
    39        about McDonald's the food hardly featured at all in their
    40        thoughts.  So it is not referring to a low rating for food,
         it is people not having a top of mind perception of
    42        McDonald's relating to food, it related more to the
    43        experience, the service, the cleanliness that you remember
    44        from our examination yesterday.
    45
    46   Q.   Right.  This kind of tendency regarding the perception of
    47        the food, has that been improving since you came into your
    48        position or has it sort of gone up and down?
    49        A.  It kind of went down to 1992, and has been coming back
    50        up ever since. 
    51 
    52   Q.   Right.  OK.  There are a lot of similar charts for the 
    53        previous audit, which I will not go into.  Then if you
    54        look, they are not numbered, these pages, but it is the
    55        third table about 8 pages or nine pages in.  It says,
    56        'McDonald's profile, weight of usership'.
    57        A.  Yes.
    58
    59   Q.   Now, it is just probably something that will come up a bit
    60        later on in those charts but this thing here at the bottom