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McDonald’s zags with new concept store

By on November 21, 2008 in branding, creativity, innovation, simplicity

Quarter Pounder store

At a time when most companies are looking for ways to extend their brand to gain a greater share of the customer’s wallet, McDonalds has “secretly” introduced Quarter Pounder, a new concept store in Japan that sells only Quarter Pounders.

That’s right, you can get a Quarter Pounder, or a Double Quarter Pounder, fries and a drink—and nothing else.

No Egg McMuffins, McNuggets, McFlurry’s—and certainly no clown. In fact, there’s no McBrand, and until recently—no hint of the golden arches.

Here’s a shot of their homepage as of about a week ago, via InventorSpot:

Quarter Pounder store homepage

Simplicity is a powerful concept, and focus is always a good thing. But with such a limited menu, will the Quarter Pounder store ever be anything more than a novelty?

What do you think of McDonald’s brave new concept?

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While we’re on the subject. . .

Savage Chickens by Doug Savage

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  • sloane

    A press release from McDonald’s (at least according to a few other blogs) says that this is just to create buzz marketing for the Quarter Pounder (not yet on menus at McDonald’s in Japan) as it’s introduced.

    Dr. Tantillo’s just published a post on McDonald’s on his marketing blog, in which he praises McDonald’s for being so flexible and adapting to demand but prefaced this with: “The big things about McDonald’s cosmetic image (i.e., colors, designs, clown mascot) have never essentially changed. Neither has the basic serving and restaurant setup.”
    Guess they are even more flexible though… Tantillo’s full post

    Even though this is supposed to just be temporary/buzz marketing, I wonder if cultivating this sort of aesthetic wouldn’t make sense for them–a move to diversify their holdings (they own a significant portion of Chipotle, or did last I knew) and expand/diversify their customer base (Ex. their ‘unsnobby coffee’ campaign. Tantillo did a post on Starbucks/Dunkin’ Donuts mentioning McDonald’s coffee, too.

  • http://jeffstern.wordpress.com Jeff Stern

    In this case, it seems to be mostly a novelty, designed to introduce a new product for the menu, and similar to several of the temporary kiosk stores I’ve heard have been popping up in NYC. However, it could also mesh well with Asian culture. In Korea, it’s common for restaurants to have very limited menus – they do one thing and they do it well. Sure, everyone needs to be in the mood for chicken soup, but they know they’re going to get a great bowl of chicken soup when they go!

  • http://cindyking.biz/ Cindy King

    @Jeff, OK, in Korea, they do one thing and they do it well. But we are talking about a Quarter Pounder, a Double Quarter Pounder, fries and a drink. Nothing else.

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