Interview with Branislav Knezevic, President Western Division McDonald's Europe

Branislav (Bane) Knezevic, President Western Division of McDonald’s Europe was interviewed by Mike Dawson, editor of Lebensmittel Zeitung. Mike Dawson was looking for a fast food and global brand man’s view of food retailing in order to gain some cross-sector insight. Branislav Knezevic did not dissappoint.

Some Interview highlights:

Has the current crisis hurt the appetite of customers for fast food, how has it affected the way they eat, and how is McDonald’s reacting to this?

Every crisis also reshapes the sociological aspect of our lives, and I am sure that this one will be no different. In prosperous times it’s all about “me” and “I”, but in a crisis people become more sociable and eat in groups than before and get together closer. The time for being together becomes more valuable.

Friends tend to talk more because they are sick of hearing bad news about the crisis, so it’s self-defence. McDonald’s obviously needs to adopt to the crisis.

By lowering prices?

It’s not only about price, it’s also about how you follow consumer trends. You need to know the consumer. We do a lot of customer segmentation studies. So we know exactly today what teenagers think and what they want up to people of 60+. Obviously you can’t satisfy everybody at once, but at least you need to play your role in the crisis and to match customer needs.