Kfc in China

KFC in China
Introduction
In the 1980s, as China began to open to the world, an increasing number of
International companies entered into the Chinese market, hoping to capture a part of
the huge Chinese segment. McDonald's and Kentucky Fried Chicken, the most
famous fast food giants, also came into Chinese market during this period.
In the global market, compared to KFC, McDonald's is much more successful because
it has more than 30,000 outlets over 121 countries (Onkvisit and Shaw, 2004), while
KFC only has 11,000 outlets over around 80 countries. Meanwhile, the turnover of
KFC also falls far behind McDonald's. For example, in the U.S, McDonald's ranks the
first while the KFC only ranks the seventh. In most other markets in the world,
McDonald's is always the leader followed by KFC. Undoubtedly, McDonald's is the
No.1 in fast food industry within the world.
However, in China, one of the most important market with a population of more than
1.3 billion, KFC beats McDonald's to be the leader of Chinese market. On the one
hand, the number of outlets of KFC in China reaches to around 2000, nearly twice
than that of McDonald's (Patrick Chovanec, 2010). On the other hand, a survey
conducted by AC Nielsen in over 30 Chinese cities shows that KFC exceeds
McDonald's to be the first in the "mostly consumed international brands".
How can the follower KFC surpass its strong rival in such a vital market? What
attribute KFC's success in China? This essay will briefly introduce the development of
KFC in China and critically assess the marketing mix that they use to dominate the
huge market.
The development of KFC in China
In the year of 1986, KFC began to consider entering to the Chinese market. After very