Strategic Marketing Project

This project examines the strategic marketing plan for launching McDonald's Mc-Pizza in Ghana. It includes a PESTEL analysis, market entry mode assessment, market segmentation and targeting strategies, and Porter's Generic strategy application. The project provides insights into the challenges and opportunities of entering a new market with a new product.

Strategic Marketing

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This project summarises about the Ashanti Marketing Solution, which is a marketing
field company and provide marketing solution to various companies. The company is attracting
the customers by providing affordable price services to clients. In this given case company is
giving marketing solution to McDonald's for their new product Mc-pizza in country Ghana. The
reports includes the evaluation of internal and external factors which is done with help of
PESTEL and SWOT analysis. As segmentation and targeting will help company target potential
market easily.

Table of Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.............................................................................................................1
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
1. PESTEL analysis of organisation............................................................................................1
2. Assessment of market entry modes..........................................................................................3
3. Concept of market segmentation and targeting.......................................................................4
4. Porter's Generic strategy..........................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Strategic marketing is a tool which is used by companies to take competitive advantage
by use of their potential strength. This is a futuristic approach which mainly focus on the
achieving goals and taking competitive advantage. To understand this concept company, Ashanti
Marketing Solution has been selected. The company provides different marketing solution to in
various countries. In this given case, McDonald's is client of Ashanti Marketing Solution. The
PESTLE and SWOT analysis is being explained for this report. As there are different market
entry options for company which is being explained this project. As potential target market for
Cadbury is being evaluated in this report. Apart from this to take competitive advantage, Porter's
generic strategy has been explained.
MAIN BODY
1. PESTEL analysis of organisation
Macro environmental analysis is analysis of external factors which affect the organisation
directly and indirectly. This includes the PESTEL analysis which have impact on the
organisational activities. As McDonald's is planning to launch their first store in Ghana in
upcoming years. So for doing PESTLE analysis for new market McDonald's hired Ashanti
Market Solution for analysis of these factors. As it is very important for the company to analyse
the market factors before entering in new market. It helps in identifying the effect of factors
which could have positive or adverse effect on company's business. This analysis is very
important in for organisations to formulate plan and policies according to market factors. The
analysis are as follows:
Political:
Political factors are those which are related with political condition of country. As
political factors have the direct impact on the organisational activities. The political factors
includes fiscal policy, taxes, trade and tariff policy and political stability of country. Ashanti
Market Solution will have to analyse these factors for McDonald's in Ghana. An unstable
political condition of Ghana could lead to less profit for organisation. So it is very important for
marketing consultant of McDonald's, to analyse political factors effectively and then accordingly
provide the relevant information to company (Souitaris and Maestro, 2010).
Economic:
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Economical factors are those which are related with economic condition of country. As
economic factors includes the GDP, interest rate, deflation, inflation and unemployment rate of
country. It is very important for Ashanti Marketing Solution to evaluate this factor effectively
and efficiently so McDonald's can plan accordingly. As if there is low growth rate in the Ghana,
then McDonald's could leads to low profitability and high expenditure. As company should plan
of launching according to economic stability of Ghana (Cinquini and A., 2010).
Social Factors:
Social factors are related with society as a whole. It includes the taste and preferences,
demographics, social culture etc. It is important for Ashanti marketing solution to give proper
report to the McDonald's about the society taste and preferences of Ghana and their
demographics. It will help the McDonald's in deciding the whether the company should come up
with new product or not. If people of Ghana does not accept the product of McDonald's then it
could have heavy loss for company.
Technological:
Technology is very dynamic and changing day by day. It can have direct impact on the
organisational activities. So it is crucial for Ashanti Marketing solution to analyse this factor
properly in order to give the effective report to McDonald's. The company should use the new
technology in order to minimize their cost in new country and maximise their revenues. Being a
manager of marketing solution company, it is important to analyse which kind of technology is
available in market of Ghana and which technology McDonald's can adopt for its new country.
Environmental:
Environmental factors have direct impact on the business organisation. The includes
weather, climate and environmental laws and legislation of that country. As marketing consultant
of Ghana should evaluate the exact environmental condition of Ghana and give proper report to
the McDonald's. As it will help company to come with those products which can adjust in
environmental situation of Ghana (Molina - Azorin, 2012).
Legal:
Legal factors are those which are related with legal condition of country. This includes
the consumer protection laws, employment laws, copyright and health and safety laws. It is
important for Ashanti Marketing Solution to evaluate this factor closely as so that McDonald's
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can frame its rules and regulation according to country Ghana. As non following of these laws
can impose heavy penalties on McDonald's.
So this is very important to analyse these factors with effectively so McDonald's can
launch the new product in Ghana and can get success.
Opportunity and Threat for McDonald's
Opportunity Threat
Brand Equity of McDonald's People consider the product of McDonald's as
unhealthy food.
New market for company so can attract
customers by giving various offers (Greco,
Cricelli and Grimaldi, 2013).
Government regulation of food industry with
regards to health issues.
New healthier foods can be offered to health
conscious people
Foreign exchange fluctuations
As a recommendation company can come up with some healthier foods for health
conscious people. It will improve the image of McDonald's which is being made in market as a
unhealthy food.
2. Assessment of market entry modes
It is not easy to enter into new market for the companies nowadays. Markety entry is a
strategy which is used by companies to enter in new market for starting operation in that
particular market. As it is very important for companies to enter into new markets to get sustain
and take competitive advantage. Due to huge competition, earning more revenues and for
expansion of business, company use this mode. There are different ways to enter in new market
which are suggested by Ashanti Marketing Solution to their client McDonald's. The ways are
described below:
Alliances:
A strategic alliance is an agreement between two companies which have decided to share
resources to attain a specific mutually beneficial project. It is done for exploring new
opportunities in the market. The main idea behind the alliance is to give benefit to all parties in
short and long term. There are different types of strategic alliance which can be done by the
McDonald's like Joint venture, Equity strategic alliance and non equity strategic alliance with
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domestic or global companies (Priem, Li and Carr, 2012). The strategic alliance will be helpful
in improving current operations of McDonald's, changing the competitive environment and will
allow to get easy entry and exit from markets.
Merger and Acquisition:
Merger and acquisition refers to the consolidation of companies or assets with the help of
various types of financial transactions. It involves various transactions like merger, acquisition,
consolidations, tender offers and management acquisition. Merger refers to the merging with
other company and so the business with single name. In short, it is the combination of two
companies to form one. Acquisition refers to one company is taken over by the other company.
As manager of Ashanti Marketing Solution, the McDonald's can merge with other company of
Ghana or can acquire the new company in order to enter in market of Ghana.
Foreign Direct Investment:
The foreign direct investment is an investment which is made by the organisation or an
individual firm of one country into the business located in other nation. The FDI took place when
an business firm set up foreign business operations or acquire foreign business assets which
includes interest in ownership or controlling of foreign company. As FDI's are made in open,
developing or developed economies which provides skilled workforce and good growth
prospects to investors. As McDonald's is coming up with new product in new country which is
Ghana. Before making any investment company should analyse the growth of Ghana economy
and skill workforce of Ghana. And then according to company should make decisions.
The company should adapt the merger and acquisition mode of entry to enter into the
market of Ghana. As company should merge with local fast food chain who have good brand
image in the market. It will help company to built their own market in new country.
3. Concept of market segmentation and targeting
Market segmentation refers to process of dividing the large market or unit into various
small units that are similar to related characteristics. It is a marketing concept which make part of
market setup into subsets of consumer with same taste, demand and preferences. It is a marketing
startegy which is used by companies in order to achieve the goals of company. The segmentation
helps organisations to evaluate and analyse the need, income and taste of consumers. With the
help of analysis companies formulate effective strategy in order to attract the customers (Keupp,
Palmié and Gassmann, 2012). As a senior marketing consultant of Ashanti Marketing Solution
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can suggest advice its client McDonald'd to develop the strategy on basis of market need of
Ghana and grab more market share in order to achieve their goals. The environment is very
dynamic so to sustain in this environment company can use strategy like offers meals at
attractive prices and can give some discount to their customers. All these strategy can be adopted
by organisation to overcome competition in market and grab more market share. There are
different types of market segmentation which can be used by the McDonald's in order to sustain
in Ghana market. These are as follows:
Demographic:
The demographics segmentation is used by the company to develop product on basis of
Size, occupation, gender, income, marital status and occupation. These are basis of demographic
which can be used by McDonald's. These are described as below:
Gender:
The marketers divide the market into smaller segments based on gender of people. As
both men and women have different taste, preferences and interest so McDonald's should do the
segmentation accordingly in order to attract both segment of Ghana country.
Age Group:
Age group is important base of segmentation as it is a way to target the audience. As
McDonald's is a fast food company so they should target youth more who are age between the 10
– 45 years.
Income Group:
The segmentation should be done on the income group of Ghana people. As income
group is classifies into high income group, mid income group and low income group. They
should provide medium range products to all income group people.
Psychological Segmentation:
Psychology is related with mind of consumer like how they will perceive a new brand in
market. Companies should evaluate psychology of persons where it want to set up its business.
The Ashanti Marketing Solution should analyse lifestyle and need of customers of Ghana so they
can launch their product accordingly in market. The McDonald's should classify individual's
behaviour, interest and value into smaller groups (Hodgkinson and Healey, 2011).
Behavioural Segmentation:
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Behavioural segmentation is helpful in for organisations to launch new product and
services. This divides the market on basis of decision making patterns, usage and behaviour of
persons. As marketing consultant of Ashanti Marketing Solutions should evaluate attitude of
persons of Ghana to develop and launch their products accordingly. This will be helpful for
McDonald's to provide the products according to behaviour of customers.
Geographic Segmentation:
Geographic segmentation refers to the division of market on various geographical areas.
An organisation can not have the same strategy for individuals who are living into different
places. It is the responsibility of marketing consultant of Ashanti Marketing Solution to develop
its marketing strategy according to geographic situation of Ghana. It will help McDonald's to
sustain for long period of time in that country.
These are different types of segmentation which is used by companies to formulate
strategy accordingly in order to achieve the company's goals. As these segmentation can be
helpful for the McDonald's for entering in country like Ghana.
4. Porter's Generic strategy
The strategy was developed by Michael Porter in order to evaluate the competitive
behaviour that comprise successful businesses. It is a crucial part for both short and long term
success of business. As a sustainable competitive advantage is very helpful in for firm to achieve
new heights by overcoming their competitors. Porter strategy is about the cost advantage and
differentiation. The strategy is mostly used to evaluate the structure of industry in which they
operate and evaluate their strategy also. As most strategic challenge for big organisation like
McDonald's is to evaluate ways to take competitive advantages. The Porter's Generic strategy
can be used by McDonald's to take competitive advantage and earn more profits. There are three
strategy which are as follows:
Cost Leadership:
Cost leadership is a generic strategy which refers to the low cost production with best
quality products. Cost leadership means company is going to lead in market by controlling cost
in one way or other. The most of business sells its products at average price of industry and some
sells at below average price in order to gain more market share. In this situation, firm maintain
some profits while their competition suffers huge losses (Hill, Jones and Schilling, 2014). In this
cost leadership strategy McDonald's can sell their product at cheaper rate then their competitors
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or they can produce the goods at low cost to achieve their goals. There are some ways that firm
acquire cost advantages by improving process efficiencies, buying cost of materials at lower cost
and optimum utilization of resources. As McDonald's can succeed in cost leadership by having
following strength. These are as follows:
 Technology advancement
 Better level of efficiency and effectiveness in production
 Optimum utilisation of resources
 Use different inventory management technique like Just in Time to reduce their
warehouse costing
 The use of economies of scale.
 High level of expertise in manufacturing process Have enough financial resources.
Differentiation Strategy:
Differentiation strategy which refers to providing those products or services which have
unique attributes which are valued by customers and customers perceive better than or something
different product from its competitors. As the value added by uniqueness in product might allow
business to charge premium pricing for their products. The business expect that higher price of
product will be helpful in covering the extra cost which incurred in offering of unique product to
customers. The McDonald's can provide unique product to its customers and take competitive
advantage. The firm can apply differentiation in various function of organisation like in process,
promotion etc. As because of uniqueness of products McDonald's can increase the price of
product until customer does not get any substitute in market. As it will help company to achieve
break even situation as soon as possible (Hitt, Ireland and Hoskisson, 2012). There are some
ways by which McDonald's can succeed in differentiation strategy easily. These are as follows:
Access to scientific research:
As McDonald's should spend more on their research and development department in
order to create some thing unique for market.
High skilled and creative product development team:
There should be a high skilled team for innovation. It will help company in creation of
innovative products.
Strong sales team:
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The sales team is very important for selling the product. As strong sales team will be
helpful for company to communicate value of products to the customers and attract more
customers.
Focus Strategy:
The focus strategy mainly focus on the narrow segment of market and within that
particular segment try to achieve either cost advantage or differentiation. As company can serve
better by focusing on narrow market instead of covering broader market. The company who uses
focus strategy enjoys the high degree of customer loyalty and satisfaction. This is very helpful in
maximising the profit of firm. As due to narrow market focus strategy, firms have lower volumes
so therefore there will be less bargaining power with their suppliers (David, 2011). The firm
which pursue the focus strategy would lead to higher cost of products to customers since there is
no substitute products. The firm which success in focus strategy are able to tailor the broad range
of product development strengths. The McDonald's can use this strategy in market of Ghana as it
will improve the customers experience and more number of satisfied customers will be there.
As a marketing consultant of Ashanti Marketing Solution, the McDonald's should use
cost leadership strategy in order to achieve market share. As McDonald's have large amount of
financial resources so they can use this strategy at initial phase to set up market in Ghana. The
lower cost price will attract more to the people of that particular country.
CONCLUSION
In the conclusion it can be said that, the PESTLE analysis and analysis of opportunity and
threat is crucial while entering into a new country with new products. These factors helps to
identify the factors which could have positive or negative impact on new business. With the help
of analysis of these factors organisations can use prevention measures to reduce effect of these
factors on organisations. There are different option for entering into new markets which can be
used by companies in order to business operations in particular market. As companies divide and
target the market on basis of different segmentation. To take competitive advantage,
organisations can use porter's generic strategy.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journal
David, F. R., 2011. Strategic management: Concepts and cases. Peaeson/Prentice Hall.
Hitt, M. A., Ireland, R. D and Hoskisson, R.E., 2012. Strategic management cases:
competitiveness and globalization. Cengage Learning.
Hill, C. W., Jones, G. R and Schilling, M. A., 2014. Strategic management: theory: an
integrated approach. Cengage Learning.
Hodgkinson, G. P and Healey, M. P., 2011. Psychological foundations of dynamic capabilities:
reflexion and reflection in strategic management. Strategic Management Journal.
32(13). pp.1500-1516.
Keupp, M. M., Palmié, M and Gassmann, O., 2012. The strategic management of innovation: A
systematic review and paths for future research. International Journal of Management
Reviews. 14(4). pp.367-390.
Priem, R. L., Li, S and Carr, J. C., 2012. Insights and new directions from demand-side
approaches to technology innovation, entrepreneurship, and strategic management
research. Journal of management. 38(1). pp.346-374.
Molina-Azorin, J. F., 2012. Mixed methods research in strategic management: Impact and
applications. Organizational Research Methods. 15(1). pp.33-56.
Souitaris, V and Maestro, B. M., 2010. Polychronicity in top management teams: The impact on
strategic decision processes and performance of new technology ventures. Strategic
Management Journal. 31(6). pp.652-678.
Cinquini, L and Tenucci, A., 2010. Strategic management accounting and business strategy: a
loose coupling?. Journal of Accounting & organizational change. 6(2). pp.228-259.
Greco, M., Cricelli, L and Grimaldi, M., 2013. A strategic management framework of tangible
and intangible assets. European Management Journal. 31(1). pp.55-66.
Online
STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT. 2017. [Online]. Available through:
<http://www.babson.edu/Academics/undergraduate/concentrations/Pages/strategic-
management.aspx> . [Accessed on 1st July 2017] .