McDonald's: Nuggets roll out

Fast food chain McDonald’s has a new entry on its Indian menu — Chicken McNuggets. Launched last month, this breaded chicken meatball snack is not new to McDonald’s customers the world over — it was introduced in 1983 and is sold in over 100 countries. So what made the company roll out the snack for its Indian customers now?

“A market pilot done on the feasibility of McNuggets in India, which also tested whether the product appeals to the Indian palette, gave positive indicators only recently. Moreover, our back-end needed to be in place to handle a nationwide launch. Unless our system is geared to deliver the product consistently with consistency in taste and quality, we do not launch products in the market,” says McDonald’s North & East India Director (marketing) Sanjeev Katyal.

The company claims that within a week of its launch, the customer response has been twice the projected sales figures. “Interestingly, we even had to airlift supplies to certain markets in North India,” says Katyal. To promote McNuggets, McDonald’s gone for a 360-degree television, online and viral marketing campaign. A 30-second television commercial, created by advertising agency Leo Burnett, is being aired.