When we think of global brands, we can all agree that these brands are successful in gaining recognition around the world by just someone showing anyone the brand logo or mention the name. Regardless of the language, these brands have already set a clear picture in consumer’s minds. One of the brands that comes on top of mind when it comes to fast food chains would be McDonalds. Everywhere we can all agree that upon looking at the “M” or known as the golden arches, nothing would come to mind except McDonalds. The usage of yellow and red colour on the logo is also heavily embedded into our thoughts that even if the name is changed slightly, we still recognize it as the same brand.
As such an example of what McDonalds in Malaysia has done recently in line with their marketing strategy to continue localizing their products and services. We’ve known that McDonalds has since started some years back to localize their menu to suit each local taste buds, but recently they have taken a step further by naming some of their outlets nickname “Mekdi”. “Mekdi” is a nickname fondly known by Malaysians referencing McDonalds.
Although this case study is pretty much referring to a big global brand, the point here is that when you start building a brand overseas, brand identity is pretty important. Similarly while McDonalds Malaysia may have just adopted some of the stores in Malaysia as Mekdi, it still did not in its entirety by sticking to the brand colours.
Would this tactic have worked if say its by a lesser known brand? Would the brand lose its identity and would people be confused as to one being the copy cat of the other? Let me know your thoughts!
You can read up more on McDonalds Malaysia and Mekdi through Google.
