Académique Documents
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Table of Contents
Brand Inventory .................................................................................................................... 4
Company .......................................................................................................................................4
Headquarters: ...................................................................................................................................... 4
Locations: ............................................................................................................................................. 4
Organization and Major Activities:....................................................................................................... 5
Subsidiaries: ......................................................................................................................................... 6
Brand History:....................................................................................................................................... 7
Financial Data: ...............................................................................................................................8
Key Personnel: .................................................................................................................................... 10
Recent News:...................................................................................................................................... 11
Category ...................................................................................................................................... 12
Category Definition: ........................................................................................................................... 12
Size of Category: ................................................................................................................................. 12
History of Category: ........................................................................................................................... 13
Methods of Distribution: .................................................................................................................... 14
Major Players: .................................................................................................................................... 14
Seasonal Factors:................................................................................................................................ 14
Regional Factors: ................................................................................................................................ 15
Legal Considerations: ......................................................................................................................... 15
Major Trade Publications: .................................................................................................................. 16
Major Trade Organizations in Category: ............................................................................................ 16
Products within Category ............................................................................................................. 17
Share of Category by Product: ........................................................................................................... 17
Product-Form Description: ................................................................................................................. 17
New Product Introduction: ................................................................................................................ 17
Benefits and Appeals of New Product: .............................................................................................. 17
Packaging:........................................................................................................................................... 17
Innovations:........................................................................................................................................ 18
Brand Analysis ............................................................................................................................. 19
Top Brands by Dollar and Unit Sales: ................................................................................................. 19
Growth Trends of Top Brands: ........................................................................................................... 19
Category Share in the United States: ................................................................................................. 19
Pricing Trends: .................................................................................................................................... 20
Recent New about Brands:................................................................................................................. 20
Consumer Profile ......................................................................................................................... 21
Demographic of Consumers: .............................................................................................................. 21
Frequency of Purchase: ...................................................................................................................... 21
Place of Purchase: .............................................................................................................................. 21
Heavy-user Profile: ............................................................................................................................. 21
Awareness and Attitude: .................................................................................................................... 22
Decision Makes vs. Purchaser: ........................................................................................................... 22
Normal Purchase Cycle:...................................................................................................................... 22
Brand Loyalty:..................................................................................................................................... 22
Media .......................................................................................................................................... 23
Category and Brand Spending: ........................................................................................................... 23
2
Seasonality: ........................................................................................................................................ 23
Media Employed by Top Brands: ....................................................................................................... 23
Spending Patterns: ............................................................................................................................. 24
Spending Compared to Market Share: ............................................................................................... 24
Promotions .................................................................................................................................. 25
Success of Promotions: ...................................................................................................................... 26
Digital Strategies .......................................................................................................................... 27
Ecommerce activities: ........................................................................................................................ 27
Social Media Activities: ...................................................................................................................... 27
Other Pertinent Information: ....................................................................................................... 29
Brand Value ................................................................................................................................. 30
Brand Value: ....................................................................................................................................... 30
Net Worth: ......................................................................................................................................... 30
Brand Exploratory ............................................................................................................... 31
Qualitative Research- Personal Interview ..................................................................................... 31
Quantitative Research.................................................................................................................. 33
Recommendations ....................................................................................................................... 34
References .......................................................................................................................... 35
3
Brand Inventory
Company
Headquarters:
Taco Bell, Inc., based in Irvine, California is an Amercian chain of fast-food restaurants serving a
variety of Tex-Mex foods, including tacos, burritos, quesadillas, nachos, other specialty items,
and a variety of "value menu" items.
Locations:
Taco Bell serves more than 2 billion customers each year at 5,604 restaurants, more than 80
percent of which are owned and operated by independent franchisees and licensees. These
locations are scattered through the fifty states including the District of Columbia.
Plus, there are 1,396 additional Taco Bell restaurant sites in 14 countries and territories around
the world.
Taco Bell’s international locations reach all around the world including Dominican
Republic, Guam, Aruba, Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, India and on AAFES military
bases in Germany, Iraq, Brazil, Guatemala, and El Salvador.
4
Organization and Major Activities:
Taco Bell is more than about providing great tasting food to their customers. The Taco Bell
Foundation is also committed to giving back to the community by empowering youth to reach
their full potential. This public charity helps America’s young people pursue their educational
goals and career aspirations. The foundation has reached more than 3 million youth across the
country and has awarded more than $60 million in grants and scholarships.
In 2016, Taco Bell and the Taco Bell Foundation launched the Live Más Scholarship, a program
aimed at empowering the nation’s next generation of dreamers, innovators and creators –
those whose passions don’t fall into the conventional “academic” or “athletic” qualifying
categories of traditional scholarship programs. In 2017, the Foundation has awarded more than
150 young people with $1.3 million in Live Más Scholarships. Also in 2017, more than $5 million
dollars have disbursed to 350 youth-serving organizations across the country.
5
Subsidiaries:
Taco Bell is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. along with KFC and Pizza Hut.
6
Brand History:
1954 Before Glen Bell created Taco Bell, he started Bell's Drive-In and
Taco Tia in the San Bernardino area.
1962 Glen Bell opens his first Taco Bell restaurant in Downey, CA,
serving what his customers called "Tay-Kohs."
1964 Retired L.A. policemen, Kermit Becky, becomes Taco Bell's first
franchisee, opening a restaurant in Torrance, CA.
1970 Taco Bell goes public with a total of 325 restaurants.
2015 2015 Taco Bell delivery arrives to select markets across the
country via delivery partner DoorDash. The new Tacobell.com is
born—including desktop ordering and The Feed.
7
Financial Data:
United States Sales
(IN BILLIONS)
8
9
Key Personnel:
Glen Bell founded the chain of Taco Bell restaurants, beginning with the first restaurant in
Downey in 1962.
Brian Niccol
Chief Executive Officer
Brian Niccol was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Taco Bell on January 1, 2015.
David C. Novak
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
David C. Novak became Chairman of the Board on January 1,2001, and Chief Executive Officer
of Yum! On January 1,2000. He was also Pzresident of Yum! From October 1997 to May 2012.
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Sam Su
Vice Chairman of the Board
Sam Su became Chairman and CEO of Yum! Brands China Division in May 2010, while still
remaining as Vice Chairman of the Board at Yum! Brands.
Richard T. Carucci
President
Richard Carucci was appointed President of Yum! Brands in May 2012 after serving as the
Company’s Chief Financial Officer since 2005. Reporting to Rick are the leaders of Taco Bell,
KFC, and Pizza Hut in the U.S.
Recent News:
Taco Bell announces a not-so-new $1 menu!
Taco Bell value has been embraced by its’ customers for over 5 years now, and Taco Bell
recently launched 20+ items to be added to this menu, making their customer happier than
ever!
FOREVER 21 X TACO BELL BRINGS THE HEAT WITH DEBUT IN FOREVER 21 STORES TODAY!
Taco Bell’s first-ever fashion collection collaboration hits Forever 21 stores nationwide. To
celebrate the launch of the collaboration, Taco Bell and Forever 21 brought the new Forever 21
x Taco Bell collection to life in a way only the two brands could.
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Category
Category Definition:
Taco Bell falls under the category of fast-food Mexican restaurants. Mexican food is known for
the variety of flavor and spices, and Taco Bell definitely offers this to their customers.
Restaurants that qualify under this category are any fast food chains that serve typical Mexican
food, such as tacos, quesadillas, burritos, and many more.
Size of Category:
There are a total of 37 restaurants that are under the category of fast-food Mexican
restaurants.
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History of Category:
7000 BCE- Mexican cuisine began when agricultural communities such as the Maya formed,
domesticating maize, creating the standard process of corn nixtamalization, and establishing
their foodways.
1200 BCE- Corn was domesticated and a process called nixtamalization, or treatment with lye,
was developed to soften corn for grinding and improve its nutritional value. This allowed the
creation of tortillas and other kinds of flat breads.
19th century- Mexico experienced an influx of various immigrants, including French, Lebanese,
German, Chinese and Italian, which have had some effect on the food.
19th century- Tex-Mex food was developed from Mexican and Anglo influences, and was traced
to Texas.
1972- The Cuisines of Mexico, an influential cookbook by food authority Diana Kennedy, drew
the line between authentic interior Mexican food and the "mixed plates" we ate at "so-called
Mexican restaurants" in the United States
20th century- There have been an interchange of food influences between Mexico and the
United States. Mexican cooking was of course still practiced in what is now the Southwest
United States after the Mexican–American War.
2017- According to the 2017 Harris Poll EquiTrend, Moe’s Southwest Grill is the best Fast Casual
Mexican Restaurant Brand of the Year, retaining the prestigious title for the second year in a
row. Moe’s is followed by Baja Fresh Mexican Grill and Taco Bell.
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Methods of Distribution:
Taco Bell is distributed through various channels of franchises and joint ventures. There is
currently dine in, to-go, drive-thru, and delivery.
Taco Bell partnered with on-demand delivery service DoorDash in July of 2015. The delivery
service is available in over 90 cities with more than 200 restaurants throughout the Los Angeles,
Orange County, San Francisco Bay Area and Dallas regions. Delivery is yet another example of
how Taco Bell is using technology and innovation to respond to their consumers’ wants and
needs, further evolving the Taco Bell experience for customers.
Major Players:
Major players in the Mexican fast-food industry include food and health organizations, other
competing restaurants outside and inside the category, and of course consumers.
Seasonal Factors:
Taco Bell has been a classic Mexican food chain in America, and is the to go Mexican fast food
place. Taco Bell always seems to be an appropriate choice whether you are hanging out with
friends or family and need a quick, affordable place to eat. The peak times for Taco Bell are
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definitely weekends, but sales have seen increases during the week once Taco Bell added
breakfast items.
Regional Factors:
The preference of consumers varies across countries most definitely, but it can also vary from
region to region, or one part of a region to another. For example, Taco Bell seems to be very
popular in areas with a higher Hispanic population, even if they consumers are not Hispanic.
Texas is a very popular place for Taco Bell franchises, and this may be because there is a high
Hispanic population in this region.
Legal Considerations:
Like any other food distributors, restaurants are bound to follow rules and guidelines
surrounding food preparation, food safety procedures (just about every restaurant’s restroom
has an “Employees must wash hands sign before returning to work” sign) and nutritional facts.
15
Major Trade Publications:
Some major publications of the Mexican restaurant world are Saveur, Ultimate Mexican, and
San Diego.
16
Products within Category
Product-Form Description:
Taco Bells products are pretty standard, but customers can customize it for their preference.
Taco Bell offers various meats, while a lot of vegetarian customers will substitute these meats
for beans. The vegetables are also customizable, as what is not wanted can be removed from
the order. A standard menu item typically includes the customer’s choice of meat, lettuce,
tomatoes, and cheese.
Packaging:
Most Mexican restaurants packing consists of a paper wraps for burritos and quesadillas or
plastic bowls for salads and mixes. One new idea taco bell transferred to was paper bags
instead of plastic bags, in hopes to help out the environment.
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Innovations:
One of Taco Bell’s innovations that can not be overlooked is their Doritos Locos Tacos. New
product innovation is always a good way to catch consumer interest, and this specific product
has definitely seen great customer reactions.
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Brand Analysis
2015 U.S.
SYSTEMWIDE SALES
SEGMENT (MILLIONS)
RANK COMPANY NAME 2015 U.S. UNITS
1 Taco Bell $9,100 6,121
The top Mexican restaurant in U.S., Taco Bell, grew in sales by 9.6% from the previous year.
Second runner up, Chipotle Mexican Grill, had a 9.1% increase in sales from 2014. They also had
an outstanding 13.2% increase in the number of units from 2014.
Qdoba reported in with an increase of 8.9% sales from the previous year.
And Del Taco flowed in with a 6.7% increase in sales from 2014.
7.60%
4.23% 18%
14.53%
11.65%
43.9%
Taco Bell Chipotle Independents Other Top Chains Qdoba Del Taco
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Pricing Trends:
Prices tend to vary a lot in the Mexican food industry, depending the the brand the company is
trying to set. For example, Taco Bell is known to be affordable whereas Qdoba can get a little
pricier. One thing that can be observed though, is that prices are still competitive based on the
quantity. For a filling meal from Taco Bell or Chipotle, price points tend to lie around the same
number. The only difference is, is that in Taco Bell you will be purchasing multiple smaller
items, and in Chipotle you will get one filling item.
Qdoba-
QDOBA Mexican Eats Celebrates Flavorful Food, Flavorful Places and Flavorful People
With over 20 years of serving craveable ingredients, QDOBA is reminding people of its fan-
favorite food combinations and inviting people of all flavor profiles to visit QDOBA restaurants.
Del Taco-
DEL TACO OFFERS A “TEN-DOLLAR BURRITO” FOR ABOUT FIVE BUCKS WITH NEWEST EPIC
LINEUP
Del Taco Restaurants, Inc. announced the addition of two new Epic Burritos to its menu. The
new Epic Burritos are now available at Del Taco’s more than 550 restaurants nationwide, and
for a limited time, guests can also enjoy a free medium drink with a purchase of any Epic
Burrito.
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Consumer Profile
Demographic of Consumers:
Although Taco Bell has a wide range of consumers, one segment it does not appeal to in
particular are older consumers because of health concerns. Specifically, Taco Bell consumers
include young adults with busy lifestyles and families with working providers. When it comes to
salaries though, there is no bias for Taco Bell. Taco Bell is known to be very affordable to the
general population. Across ethnicities, Caucasians are more frequent Taco Bell consumers, but
we see that many of these Caucasians live in areas that have a high rate of Hispanic population.
Frequency of Purchase:
It is estimated that 2 in 10 people eat Mexican food at least weekly. A larger portion of the
population also tend to be repeat customers, so the same families/individuals who consume
Mexican food are more likely to be going again.
Place of Purchase:
Mexican food can be ate dine-in, to-go or delivered. It has been observed that most customers
prefer to take fast food Mexican on the go with them, with dine-in being a close follow up.
Delivery has been implemented recently, but has not caught up to the other methods of
purchase as of yet.
Heavy-user Profile:
Heavy consumers of Taco Bell are as follows, in no particular order:
College students love anything that is convenient and affordable. Taco bell is always a good
option, since they have a variety of options, and most locations are open past a reasonable
time for the normal population.
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Families, with young children and working parents, also seem to be a big consumer of Taco Bell.
Taco Bell offers many locations, so most parents could stop by at on their way home from work,
with drive thru making it quick and convenient for them. Taco Bell also has a variety of smaller
items that are great for snacking on and is viewed as a healthier fast food chain compared to
many of the others in the market, making it an easy alternative to cooking.
Brand Loyalty:
Taco Bell lovers tend to be very devoted to the chain. It is statistically proven that Taco Bell
customers are mainly repeat customers, that come in more often then a loyal customer to
other fast food places would go. For some reason, people who like Taco Bell seem to love Taco
Bell, and would choose this as their to-go place to eat.
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Media
Seasonality:
With peak fast food purchasing during the Thanksgiving, Halloween, and New Year’s holidays,
fast food brands spend more attention to, as well as more money on, media during these
holidays. Taco Bell also seems to follow a pattern of releasing new products during these time
frames, especially Thanksgiving time, and heavily advertising on those (as seen in the picture
above).
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Spending Patterns:
Like with the seasonality of media, there is a trend with spending patterns. Peak seasons are
when there are certain holidays in particular and over the weekends for sure.
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Promotions
Fast food restaurants have certainly seen its share of promotions and specials in its day. From
package deal to special discounts for seasonal items, fast food restaurants give customers tons
of promotions for special occasions or just to keep up with competition. There tend to be
company wide promotions as well as location specific deals.
With fast food one thing we tend not to see are coupons. Fast food prices already tend to be
cheap, but to still attract customers and get them to buy more we see a whole lot of package
deals, especially with Taco Bell.
An example includes the Big Bell Box Meal, that includes a combination of products for less
than if they were bought separately.
Another example, that can be seen regularly with Taco Bell is introducing new products at
cheap rates, in hopes to try to get people to try it. When Taco Bell first introduced their, now
very popular, cheesy double beef burrito it was only 89 cents.
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Success of Promotions:
Promotions like these have proven successful- with variations for each deal of course. Since
Taco Bell does have a loyal customer base, these promotions more help promote that individual
product rather than the company as a whole. Taco Bell hopes that if customers like these new
products though, they will keep coming back for more.
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Digital Strategies
Website: https://www.tacobell.com/
Taco Bell’s website allows loyal followers to see what the latest Taco Bell happenings are-
Promotions, deals, menu options, and even the option to place virtual orders are available to
users among the ability to access other information concerning Taco Bell.
Ecommerce activities:
Just about everything that was once only available by physically going to a store location is now
at the touch of the fingertips. Since the dawn of Qi-FI and apps available to a large portion of
the population, customers are able to see the happenings of Taco Bell online. Customers love to
know what is happening, and ecommerce is a great way to get the attention of customers. This
only deepens the importance of online marketing and the need to make internet and app
purchasing available to customers.
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Other Pertinent Information:
Personal Interview with Taco Bell General Manager for DFW Region:
Aaron Rowlett
Restaurant General Manager/ Franchisee Owner
During this interview, I mainly gained insight into how Mr.Rowlett’s Taco Bell runs from day to
day, and the type of customers he sees. Taco Bells busiest times tend to be from 11:30-1:00 and
5:30-7, which could be expected of a fast food chain. His Taco Bell location is very close to
campus, so he says his main customers are college students, and these are the people who
come at odd hours. Because they are located close to campus, he sees many college students
walk in within an hour of closing and hears from his employees that students tend to start
banging on doors after operating hours are over. Other than college students a mass part of his
customers including adults, who he assumes are driving back from work. From what he can tell
many of these customers seem to be parents of young children aging typically from 30-40.
Overall, he believes Taco Bell is a great brand. As a franchise owner, he mentioned that he does
not get much of a say of what goes and has to listen to corporate for promotions and products.
Although he wishes he could put more of his insight into the store, he is happy with the way it is
run and feels like it’s less stressful because he trusts corporate to make the right decisions.
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Brand Value
Taco Bell claimed 34th position under NetBase’s Top 100 Brand LoveList for 2017.
Taco Bell has been working overtime to please the diverse tastes of its customers. By their
willingness to explore and try new things, Taco Bell is still one of the top fast food choices. The
graph below sows Taco Bell’s brand value in blue, compared to other popular brands. As you
can see the brand value of Taco Bell was slowly growing in 2012, and continues to follow that
same pattern now.
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Brand Exploratory
Qualitative Research- Personal Interview
Noah James
Pranav Thanki
Charlie Hooper
31
Juhi Lalwani
Namra Malek
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Quantitative Research
Here are some of the responses to the survey I conducted:
Yes No
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Recommendations
Taco Bell has proven to be a very strong brand. It currently leads all other Mexican fast food
chains across the globe. After conducting research and comparing what similar brands are
doing, the following are observations and recommendations that could help improve the Taco
Bell’s image, brand name, and value.
Based on former success with this technique, it is recommended that Taco Bell continue
to provide healthier options to their customers. The time has now come to a gluten-free
era. The market for this segment is on the rise with plenty of opportunity. Even those
who aren’t necessarily restricted to a gluten-free diet are opting to switch to healthier
alternatives.
Taco Bell does a great job advertising, but like some of the other Yum! Brands, I think it
would be beneficial for Taco Bell to do more celebrity endorsement advertisements.
Pizza Hut tends to have a lot of celebrity endorsements, and it has been extremely
successful for them. For the upcoming Super Bowl, Taco Bell could greatly benefit from
have an athletic figure support their brand.
With an estimated 908 million smartphone consumer base by 2020 (according to Cisco)
there is even greater potential for mobile apps in the future than there is now. This
means extending mobile app access to allowing orders online or other facilities would
be greatly beneficial to Taco Bell.
There are really no limits to social media and the benefits of advertising, keeping loyal
customers, finding new ones, and just being able to cue in and interact with customers.
People are not only using Facebook and Twitter anymore but the horizon has broadened
to sites like Pinterest and Instagram which have big followers and growing popularity.
Publishing special coupons and deals on these sites and encouraging social media nuts
to share them with their friends is simply a quick, easy, and virtually costless way of
advertising.
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References
https://www.tacobell.com/news/forever-21-x-taco-bell-brings-the-heat
https://www.tacobell.com/food/tacos
http://onboardly.com/content-marketing/setup-perfect-hootsuite-dashboard/
https://www.deltaco.com/news
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taco_Bell
https://world-food-and-wine.com/mexican-food-history
http://www.yum.com/investors/financial-information/financial-reports/
http://www.yum.com/
https://www.tacobell.com/company
https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=428779
https://www.business2community.com/social-media/taco-bell-winning-social-media-
marketing-01887555
http://www.hoovers.com/company-
information/cs/competition.taco_bell_corp.7cca61dc1dbeb4a9.html
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