Swot Analysis

FC's product strategies are categorized into two aspects. 1. To meet consumers' desire for novelty by introducing western style products like Mexican Chicken Warp and New Orleans Barbeque Wings. This means can satisfy young consumers who are more open and acceptable to the foreign flavors. 2. To cater to consumers' taste for traditional Chinese meal by offering Chinese style fast food from time to time, say, Old Beijing Chicken Roll, a wrap modeled after the way Peking duck is served, but with fried chicken inside and accompanied with green onions and hoisin sauce, and Sichuan Spicy Chicken which absorbs the spicy flavor of Sichuan dish. Chinese-style breakfast food, like porridge is also served since Oct 27, 2003 on the breakfast menu of all 59 KFC restaurants in Shenzhen. The breakfast choices are a blend of East and West, ranging from Chinese seafood and chicken congee, Hong Kong milk tea to Western burgers, potato sticks and orange juice (Adler, 2003). This measure can attract older consumers who are fond of Chinese food and in need of the convenience of fast food service as well. Based on its scrutiny and adoption of Chinese traditional culinary arts, KFC has developed a series of products which are specially designed for the tastes of Chinese consumers. Moreover, in purpose of maintaining its image of a U.S. brand and keeping consistent with its globalization strategy, most of KFC's Chinese side dishes are defined as short-term products and would be replaced by new products.

To represent the Chinese characteristics and increase the identification from Chinese consumers, KFC absorbs Chinese cultural elements into the arrangements and decorations of its outlets all over China. In 2003, KFC spent 7.6 million renminbi (equal to 900,000 US dollars) to redecorate the flagship outlet in Beijing, which is also the world's largest KFC outlet, with the Great Wall, shadowgraph, Chinese kites and other traditional Chinese symbols. In the Chinese New Year of 2003, all the statues of Colonel Sanders in KFC outlets in China were put on the Chinese traditional suits which are known as "Tang suits".

One feature noticeable in KFC's commercials is its preference on the representation of an ancient art form of China-Beijing Opera. It is interesting to find a U.S. fast food brand presents a declining traditional art and attaches pop culture elements with it. One of the commercials depicts a Beijing Opera actor in costume and with make-ups still on his face is about to have his KFC meal (figure 3.1). The second commercial exhibits the contradiction and later harmony of a father and son; the roles of father and son stand for two generations and serve as the distinct incarnations for traditional and pop cultures. The screen is divided into two parts: the father is singing Beijing Opera in the left room while the son is dancing with Hip hop music in the right room (figure 3.2). They finally get to the reconcilement by eating the Old Beijing Chicken Roll served by the mother. The third commercial starts with a background music which merges the Beijing Opera and electronic midi. The three commercials exemplify KFC's efforts to integrate Chinese traditional culture into the modern pop culture.

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Figure 3.1 Beijing Opera actor and his KFC meal

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Figure 3.2 Father singing Beijing Opera and son dancing Hip hop

3.2. Individualism and collectivism

Hofstede (1980) claims culture is a complex, multifaceted construct. One of the most basic dimensions of culture is the individualism-collectivism dimension. In Zhang and Neelankavil's (1997) discussion about the influence of the USA-China cultural differences on the choice of advertising appeals and strategies in China, collectivism/individualism perspective was examined as important indicators in their advertising content analysis.

According to Triandis (1990), individualistic cultures emphasize independence, achievement, freedom, high levels of competition, and pleasure; whereas collectivistic cultures tend to embrace interdependence, family security, social hierarchies, cooperation; and low levels of competition. China is considered to be a country with a collectivistic culture. As such, the Chinese society has historically focused on social interests and collective actions, and de-emphasized personal goals and accomplishments. In sharp contrast to the US individualistic lifestyle and resentment of conformity, the Chinese way of life emphasizes interdependence and conformity (Hsu, 1981). In China, harmony and conformity not only tend to govern all interpersonal relations, but also enjoy social and cultural approval.

Advertising, as a form of social communication, is particularly reflective, and indicative of culture and its norms (Hong, Muderrisoglu & Zinkhan, 1987). To the extent that advertising does reflect cultural differences, and there exist clear differences between distinct cultural patterns, advertising appeals, which are specific approaches advertisers use to communicate how their products will satisfy customer needs (Arens & Bovee, 1994), should manifest such differences across these countries. As a U.S. brand of quick service restaurants, KFC was confronted with challenges to adapt the dominant western fast food culture to an ancient country with the greatest potential market and at the same time, make efforts to maintain its consistent globalization strategy.

3.3. Family-group oriented

Collectivism involves: the subordination of personal interests to the goals of the group; emphasis on sharing, co-operation and group harmony; and a concern for group welfare (Zhang and Neelankavil, 1997). In KFC's commercials, concepts of family and group are strengthened as an evidence of KFC's adaptation to Chinese culture.

Family, as the key concept and basic unit in a collectivist society, is the representative of Chinese collectivism. Quite different from individualism which concentrates on a self-orientation, Chinese collectivism emphasizes on the interdependence among family members and cherishes the unity of family as a whole. 7 out of the 24 commercials are promoting the KFC bucket; among the 7 commercials the selling points of the product were shifted from great value to the communal enjoyment for the whole family, which fits well in the value system of China. The size of the family depicted in the commercials has gone beyond today's Chinese typical nuclear family structure which consists of two parents and one child. Instead, a big family with three generations