Week 8: New Product Development Process for McDonald's Smoothies


All restaurants in the fast-food industry are looking for an edge. It is a highly competitive market and restaurants release new products routinely. Some of them succeed with grace and ease. It is like they were meant to be together. Others, such as the Popeyes chicken sandwich, experience speed bumps along the way. 




In the fast-food industry, specialization of products is what differentiates yourself from other companies. Chipotle and Chik-fil-a will likely never sell hamburgers. But sometimes releasing new products can expand your customer base and grow an already large company. McDonald's did just that when it released smoothies and frappes.

McDonald's went through a development process. Starting with idea generation, screening, idea evaluation, development and commercialization.

Idea generation for the new drinks likely came from competitors. Starbucks and Jamba Juice were very large companies that specialized in frappes and smoothies. McDonald's had the resources to offer a similar product, so they wanted to add that to their already wide range of products.

In the screening phase, the introduction mit with consumer trends. Consumers wanted healthier options and the introduction of a fruit smoothie was just that. McDonald's had the reputation of being greasy and unhealthy. They needed to add healthier products if they wanted to grow.

In the idea evaluation and development phases, they were able to get a product that tasted as good as Starbucks or Jamba Juice but for a lower price than the competitors. They trained their employees, worked with distributors and were ready to release the product.

McDonald's released this in the heat of the summer, when more people would be wanting their new cold drinks. It was a major hit. According to an article posted by the Atlantic, McDonald's saw 5.7% increase in sales during that month it was released.

Nearly 10 years later, McDonald's still offers smoothies and frappes. They still release new products routinely, but not many products have had the impact that the smoothies and frappes had.



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