麥當勞無往不利的奧秘（下）

麥當勞的購買力

????以快餐卷系列產品為例，當時麥當勞的雞柳銷量剛剛進入平臺期，開發快餐卷就已經提上了日程。隨后，麥當勞的行政總廚、供應商和特許經銷商云集公司總部，商討如何提高香脆雞塊的銷量。新產品的定位和價格需要由廚師、食品科學家、供應商、菜單管理團隊和廣告公司共同參與，之后，還要獲得由150至200位消費者組成的焦點小組的認可。其后，新產品將在少數餐廳進行為期四到六周的試銷，來確定是否需要在人員配備和設備方面進行調整。麥當勞是制作“小圓面包”的行家，而針對快餐卷中的玉米薄餅，菜單研發團隊卻要做大量的工作：采用何種包裝？如何保證到顧客手中的面餅溫度適中？面餅的軟硬程度如何才算最佳？

????歷經18個月的研究和測試，快餐卷終于在2006年上線，這是麥當勞上線速度最快的一款產品。麥當勞的營銷策略在該產品上得到了最充分的體現：實施不同的價格機制，利用新聞公關策略贏得回頭客。 快餐卷的成功讓麥當勞意識到，快餐小吃市場潛力無限，而且喜歡餐間小吃的消費者越來越多，能夠在正餐時間之外增加客流量。另外，快餐卷還帶來一個額外的好處：產品研發團隊根據快餐卷的配方，把玉米薄餅的制作方法用于開發早餐產品，最終推出了早餐玉米煎餅（McSkillet Burrito）。這兩款產品采用同一種面餅，為廚房省去了不少工序。

????斯金納和每個人一樣喜歡開發新的拳頭產品。但他也表示，麥當勞在現階段不太可能產生“驚世之作”，因為據他判斷，現今的增長主要依靠規模化經營與執行。這決定了公司的經營重點在于“抓店面”，并且，終將成為一項長期的策略。斯金納還要求所有下屬，出差期間一定要到當地的麥當勞門店進行實地考察。麥當勞食品供應商北方食品公司（North Side Foods）董事長羅比?霍夫曼和斯金納是有30年交情的老朋友。他說每次和斯金納一起出差，他總要把自己拉進附近的麥當勞，喝杯咖啡，聊上半個鐘頭——當然，他走到哪兒都忘不了帶上備用的咖啡杯蓋。

????斯金納深知，餐廳是利潤的源泉。總部的想法可以天馬行空，但如果廚房的操作因此復雜化，那產品肯定行不通。然而，對于這種想法，財務高管們經常不買他的帳，斯金納曾經對他們說：“你們要知道，數錢容易賺錢難。”麥當勞曾經計劃推出美味三明治，但計劃最終流產。原因何在？原來，在55秒至60秒之內，員工無法及時制作出這款三明治。斯金納說道：“我們講熱情服務，講與顧客建立友好的關系，但現代社會，速度為王。”光臨麥當勞“得來速”餐廳的顧客可不是來和我們聊天的，他們可不想為一個火雞三明治等上足足兩分鐘。

McDonald's buying power

????Take the snack wrap, which came about when restaurants started to see a plateau in sales volume of its Chicken Selects. McDonald's executive chef, suppliers, and franchisees got together at headquarters to figure out how to ramp up the turn of the crispy chicken strips. After chefs, food scientists, suppliers, and members of the menu-management team and advertising agency weighed in on how to define the product and pricing, the snack wrap had to pass muster with 150 to 200 consumers in focus groups. It then went into a four- to six-week operational test in a handful of restaurants to determine if changes needed to be made in crew positioning or equipment. McDonald's had mastered the bun, but with the snack wrap, the menu-development team had a lot of work to do operationally around tortillas: What was the right packaging? How do you get them at the right temperature for the customer? What's the right amount of flexibility in the tortilla?

????Snack wraps made it to market in 2006, 18 months after executives began discussing them. One of the fastest launches the company has ever had, it accomplished what McDonald's has increasingly tried to do: hit another price point on the menu and offer some food news that gives customers a reason to go back into its stores. The process also helped McDonald's realize the potential of the snacking market -- the growing segment that wants to nibble between meals -- and the chance to increase traffic between mealtimes. An added bonus: The product team then took the same formula for the snack wrap and applied its tortilla know-how at breakfast to create the McSkillet Burrito. Both products use the same tortilla, so the kitchen isn't further complicated with another ingredient.

????Skinner likes a new hit product as much as the next guy, but, he says, at this point in McDonald's history another breakout blockbuster is unlikely. Growth these days is about scaling and executing. Hence the operational zeal, which has evolved into a strategy that places a relentless focus on the stores. Whenever his people travel on business, he wants them checking out the local McDonald's. Robbie Hofmann, president of McDonald's supplier North Side Foods and a friend of Skinner's for 30 years, says that whenever they travel together, Skinner always coerces him into stopping for coffee at the nearest McDonald's, where he spends the next half hour chatting with the crew -- after he's secured one of his back-up lids for his drink, of course.

????Skinner knows the restaurants are the only place the cash register rings. Headquarters can cook up any idea it wants, but if it overly complicates the kitchen, the product won't fly. This doesn't always endear him to his finance executives, to whom he's been known to say, "I want to remind you that it's a lot harder to make money than it is to count it!" At one time the company floated the idea of putting deli sandwiches on the menu. The deal killer? The crew couldn't get it done in 55 to 60 seconds. "We talk about hospitality, we talk about friendly relationships, but we live in a world of speed today," Skinner says. McDonald's customers at the drive-through don't want to be chatted with, and they don't want to wait two minutes for a turkey sandwich.