After a recent business meeting I stopped by the “Golden Arches” during the lunch hour. Sometimes a Quarter Pounder with cheese sounds too good to resist.
As a marketing consultant, I’m on the road a lot working at the client’s site. Most of these appointments are early in the morning or in the afternoon. This allows me a precious block of time during lunch to do some designing, content writing and catching up on emails on my laptop.
Like other small business professionals on the road, I search out a suitable location with decent food and free wifi access. Well, on this specific day the craving for a Quarter Pounder was in charge of my decision making process.
I was aware that McDonalds’s offers wireless internet access along with lots of electrical outlets to plug into. My plan was to satisfy my burger yearning and send a few emails and everything would be good with the world.
However, after sitting down with my burger I attempted to log onto their network and gain access to the net. Much to my surprise, the Golden Arches doesn’t offer this common service for free! They want to charge $2.99 a couple of hours of internet access!
My first thought was, ‘I should have gone to Panera!’ What a kick in the head.
Being the marketing junkie that I am, I started to assess the dynamics of the situation. Why would Mickey-D’s charge you for access when they are launching a line of coffees to shore up their market share? Obliviously, someone is disconnected with the marketplace.
Why are they charging a fee for their access when every other coffee shop and café offers the same service for free? Does they want to attract the independent business owner or not?
As I write this blog entry, I sit in a Panera franchise and can see 7 other people working on a computer. Many work-at-home professionals will set meetings at coffee shops and restaurants because they don’t have their own facilities.
Starbucks, Panera and many small local shops want you to frequent their store because you will buy something. The beautiful thing is that you can spend as much time as you want. It’s like a second office that costs you a cup of coffe to rent the space.
So why does McDonald’s charge for their wifi? I can hardly believe it is a profit center for each location. Aren’t they in the business of making food? Why wouldn’t they use it to draw more people in and sell more Big Macs?
Maybe they don’t want the mobile professional that takes up space. Making it less appealing to a certain segment of the market you find less than desirable is a common strategy. Sometimes it makes sense to exclude a market segment so you can better serve another makes sense when the market dictates it.As for me, it appears that I will need to get kiss the Quarter Pounder goodbye and become fond of the Fontega Chicken sandwich at Panera.
Until next time,
Coach Ron
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