Marketing Essentials and Concepts

This assignment delves into the core concepts of marketing, examining essential functions such as market research, product development, pricing, promotion, and distribution. It analyzes various marketing strategies and their application in diverse industries, while also considering the impact of digitalization on modern marketing practices.

MARKET ESSENTIALS

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1 Roles and responsibilities of marketing functions.................................................................1
P2 Role and responsibility of marketing in organisational context............................................4
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................5
P3 Comparison of marketing mix with different organisation....................................................5
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................7
P4 Produce and evaluate a basic marketing plan of Mc Donald’s:.............................................7
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
Marketing is related to efforts made by organisation for creating, retaining and then
satisfying their customers. It considers promotion and sales of products as well as services that
include market research and advertisement of products. This is a process consisting of
advertising, sale and delivering the products and services to their customers. Following report is
related to McDonald's marketing essentials (Pai, 2010). It is an American fast food and
hamburger restaurant chain which was first established in the year 1940. This is a global
organisation that was established in America and then expanded business in all over the world. It
has employed more than approximately 375,000 people from all over the world. McDonald’s is
in approximately 120 countries across the globe with having around 36,899 restaurants.
Organisation is following divisional structure in organisation where each division is handling its
specific and particular operational areas.
This report consists of all the marketing concepts along with its roles and responsibilities
in context of McDonald’s. Different organisational functional areas and the way they are
interrelated with marketing functions are covered in this report. Pricing and comparison of
marketing mix of different organisations are also discussed here. Further, basic marketing plan is
made to achieve objectives of chosen organisation. Moreover, 7Ps of marketing mix are
described for the growth and development of McDonald’s (Papasolomou and Melanthiou, 2012).
TASK 1
P1 Roles and responsibilities of marketing functions
There are many marketing functions in an organisation and all are managed in such a way
that they can achieve maximum profits and organisational goals of an entity. This is a role that
provides help to a company in identifying successful products for market and then advertising as
well as distributing them to consumers. McDonald's also has its 7 marketing functions. These
consist of marketing research, making a marketing plan, advertising as well as promoting their
products and services. Following are these marketing functions of McDonald's food restaurant
chain:
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Marketing information management: This is the main function of an organisation as it
includes assessing the market (Pike, 2015). Most of the companies first need information
regarding expectations of customers and about their products as well as demand of target market.
They also make investigation regarding competitors and market environment as well. So, in any
organisation, it is necessary for the marketers to have proper and well managed skills and
qualities to make enquiry about the demand of consumers and gathering as well as analysing
information related to marketing environment. These information are very much useful for
decision making process conducted by the management of company. McDonald's also perform
these functions and then assess their customer needs and their changing interests and trends so
that it can achieve the goal of high customer satisfaction and maximise the profits. This
marketing system helps McDonald's in:
 Monitoring market place
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Source 1: Marketing functions, 2017

 Making new strategies for developing market for organisation
 Determining size of market and the growth potential
 Assessing customer demand and making changes in products
McDonald's marketing team makes research in general market where their business is
existing and then gather different marketing information. Accordingly, it makes plan as well as
strategies to satisfy all customer needs. It helps in determining customer’s attitude as well as
their preferences (Puddle, 2015).
Distribution: This is a function of delivering products and services to final consumers.
This is an activity that manages supply of products and services to customers from the
production line. It also considers different sales distribution channels such as wholesalers,
retailers and also containing of critical decisions such as stock, material packaging, as well as
processing and transportation of orders. It simply means that product should be distributed to the
final customers through different distribution channels. McDonald's has its so many stores and
restaurants where people can visit and buy products. McDonald's distribute its products and
services by online orders also (Raj, Walters and Rashid, 2012). Every firm should design the
most suitable distribution channel for their products so that there will be no problem for
customers to access the commodities.
Product: Designing of a product also plays an important role in increasing its sales. It is
important that a company should provide products of high quality with better design.
McDonald's products are different food items and it is important for them to be good in quality
as well as in taste so that they can have better reviews of customers and attract more consumers
in the market. Not only products; but also services provided by them are also considered in this
function of marketing. It will definitely provide competitive advantage to company and would
have better sales and profits in comparison to other rivals in the market. This is one of the most
important functions of marketing in absence of which it will not be possible for McDonald's to
sell its products in an effective manner (Rudden, 2016).
Pricing: This function of marketing includes taking into consideration different strategies
of deciding amount of products which can further help in deciding the best and affordable prices
as per customer's point of view. McDonald's has also appointed marketers who are busy in doing
research regarding customer’s reviews related to products of company so that existing pricing
policies can be changed or new can be taken into consideration. If products are available at
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reasonable prices in comparison to competitors, better quality of food items are sold by
company. Then this is sure that more customers will be attracted towards the products of
company. So, it is necessary that this function of marketing should be performed well by the
marketers of an organisation to achieve and accomplish objectives of entity and maintain
sustainable growth in market (Wirtz, 2012).
Promotion: It is necessary for any company to promote and publicise its products so that
more and more customers can have idea of such products and they can sell them. There are many
ways to make publicity of products such as television, blogs, posters, hoardings and many other
ways by using them people will have knowledge about such products and services. Food items of
McDonald's are already so much popular that this company does not need to further promote its
products. But whenever it is introducing something new then it should also pay attention towards
promoting its new product through making research in market that product is being launched in
an appropriate manner.
Selling: This is one of most important function of marketing and very much related to
marketing. Once after making consideration the demands of market and then manufacturing
products and promoting them it is necessary to make the most important function and that is
selling the products tom customers (Silver and et. al., 2012). Products should be sold at right
prices and with right qualities. McDonald's sells its product to customers through its restaurants
and other online selling sites.
Financing: One of the different functions financing is also one of them. It means to
invite investments by taking loans or personal capital. It is necessary for any business operating
that there should be adequate capital to manage all functions. McDonald's also make loans and
borrow capital for maintaining production and all other functions and financing the organisation.
These all functions are key functions of any organisation and are very important because
without these a company can not perform anything. Marketing functions should be managed by
McDonald's in such a manner that company can be stabled in market and get more and more
profits out of its business.
P2 Role and responsibility of marketing in organisational context
For every type of organisation, marketing is most important element to make products as
well as to sell them. There are many functions of marketing those are used in whole organisation.
There are different departments in McDonald's and all those departments are interrelated with
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marketing function. These are following functional areas of McDonald's where these are related
to marketing functions:
Administration: This department is busy in managing all functions and operations of any
organisation and provide a systematic support to every part of business. They handle all activities
of an organisation and keeps an effective communication channel active everywhere in business
so that everyone in any organisation should be informed about new changes in plans of
strategies. It helps in achieving all organisational goals by maintaining all working of business.
This department in also responsible for effective management of company. McDonald's has its
proper administration department. They use different functions of marketing such as financing
and pricing of products so that products can be manufactured and their prices should be decided.
It this department of organisation, marketing is a very important element used by company.
Customer service: Customer servicing is very much related to the marketing. It simply
means assisting the customers in problems related to products and services. It is necessary for an
organisation that they properly satisfy needs of their customers and if any issue arises regarding
products they they help them in resolving these issues. McDonald's also provide customer
services by serving them their products on right time and without facing any problems. Different
marketing functions are used in this department of company such as product, market information
management etc. it is necessary to provide good quality products to consumers for providing
good services and different researches on market are necessary to be made by them to assess the
needs of customers. Hence here also it is proved that marketing functions are interrelated to
McDonald's customer servicing department also.
Distribution: Distribution department is related to providing final consumers the products
from production site. Distribution is one of the function of marketing also that is used for this
purpose. This department is responsible for performing that operation in a well manner. There
are many distribution channels involved in this process such as whole sellers and retailers. In
case of McDonald's, it is a very vital chain of restaurants and all its products and services are
distributes by different online sites of home delivery and by serving people in their stores.
Department and its function of distribution is interrelated and very important for any company.
Finance: This department is consisting of activities related to finance. Different
information and data is kept within this department by people working in it. This is interrelated
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with finance function of marketing because by that function company raise loans and funds to
manage day to day activities as well as capital base of McDonald's.
Human resource: This department is consisting of different people which manage whole
working of employees of such organisation. These are involved in recruiting, selecting, training
and retiring the workers of an organisation. They make plans and strategies for an organisation.
Hence they have a strong relation with marketing functions (Nguyen and Simkin, 2012).
TASK 2
P3 Comparison of marketing mix with different organisation
Market mix is referred as set of actions that is used by a company to promote the
products it manufactures in market. By using market mix in any organisation attractive results
can be achieved by a company. There are 7Ps of market mix are included in it. Following are 7Ps
of 2 different organisations and those are Burger King and McDonald's:
Product: This is considered as most important P of market mix in any organisation.
There are found different products and qualities in every organisation. It is necessary for a
company to make such products that are good in quality as well as in taste also. There are so
many variety of products available with Burger king and McDonald's. It depends on customers
that which taste they prefer more (Ogunmokun and Tang, 2012).
Place: Place is something where products and services can be reached of their customers.
Different places are covered by Burger king and McDonald's in UK as well as other countries.
Both are trying to expand their business and establish their market so that people can easily
access their products. Both are American fast food restaurant chains. But McDonald's is king of
burgers and it has more convenience in accessing market (Kennedy and Parsons, 2014).
Price: Different organisations have different pricing policies. Prices should be decided in
such manner that they should be more affordable to customers according to worth of products.
McDonald's use better pricing policies then Burger king. McDonald's has better products and
taste as compared to Burger king. Food items at Burger king are more expensive in comparison
to other organisation.
Promotion: Different ways and methods are being used by companies so that their
products can be popular and well recognised by general population (Khan and Adil, 2013).
Newspapers, magazines, advertisements, television, posters as well as hoardings are best
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methods to publicise products of any company. Products of McDonald's are more popular and
famous among general public as compared to Burger king because McDonald's use better
promotion strategies for their products.
People: It refers to people employed in any organisation as well as customers of such
organisation. All people who are directly and indirectly related to the business are considered in
it. That is why it is necessary for an organisation to hire trained and well behaved employees so
that customer base can be increased (Lin, Li and Wang, 2015.). McDonald's has a large segment
of people and more place in market. It has more number of people employed and larger customer
base as compared to Burger king.
Position: Position of any organisation defines the situation of a company in market
between all its competitors and rivals. It represents that how much successful is any company in
market. McDonald's has better market position in different companies and better structure in
comparison to Burger king restaurant chain.
Process: This is a procedure followed by any organisation which completely effects
operations of any organisation (Malhotra, Birks and Wills, 2013). Every company has its
different process of manufacturing products and providing services. These processes are decided
after considering demands in market. It is observed that McDonald's has better processes system
then Burger king and that is why McDonald's is biggest chain of burgers and different food
items.
TASK 3
P4 Produce and evaluate a basic marketing plan of Mc Donald’s:
Marketing plan is a perception, which can be considered as a part of an overall and entire
plan of business. In this light, it can also be deliberated as a basis or a foundation which supports
marketing strategies (Asaduzzaman, Hossain and Rahman, 2014). In this context, marketing plan
for Mc Donald’s has been prepared for effective and efficient implementation of its strategies.
Introduction:
Mc Donald’s is fast food restaurant and hamburger chain, which was found in America. It
is an American company which came into force in 1940 and initially operated by Richard and
Maurice Mc Donald. Its first outlet was opened in Phoenix, Arizona in 1953. Today, Mc
Donald’s is assessed as world famous fast food restaurant which has its outlets across the globe.
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It can be assessed that Mc Donald’s is a company engaged in a business industry of
Restaurants. It can be classified as a fast food restaurant. The headquarter of company is situated
in Oak Brook, Illinois, U.S. This company, at present has 36,900 locations across world. The
revenue of Mc Donald’s as of now is 24.622 Billion.
There are various services which are offered by Mc Donald’s to its customers, in order to
attract them. Services and food items served are as:
 The company predominantly make sale of hamburgers and several types of chicken and
chicken sandwiches, serve soups, deserts and French fries.
 In addition to this, Mc Donald’s also serves salads and vegetarian items in the form of
wraps and other localised items (Clow and James, 2013). The other main products are
desserts, soft drinks etc. Moreover, company also provides its services as “eat in” and “take out” criteria.
Marketing Objectives:
Marketing objectives are set in accordance to achieve customer satisfaction and
profitability. Major objectives of Mc Donald’s are as:
 To become a global leader in fast food chain and restaurants in entire world.
 To maximise the profits and gains by increased sales along worth keeping costs and
expenses low (Fox and Wareham, 2012). In other words, it can be said that one of the
major objective of Mc Donald’s lies within maximisation of sales revenue by offering
effective quality services to its customers.
 Also, Mc Donald’s emphasises on to render its respective consumers with good standards
and high quality of food which worth its value, through which customer experience can
be improved and enhanced. They aim to create a friendly and welcoming environment, in
which customers can easily sit and enjoy their meal. In addition to thus, management of Mc Donald’s not only satisfy its customers, but also it
focusses on its employees as well.
Marketing Mix Analysis:
Product:
A product refers to a concept which has an ability to identify and satisfaction of demands
and wants of consumers (Getnet, Kedir and Yousuf, 2014). So, in this regard, Mc Donald’s
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focusses on to develop and enhance a menu which can be successful in attraction of customers
and retain them, so that proficiency and profitability can be maintained.
Mc Donald’s offers a wide range of services and products to individuals as well as
corporate customers. There are many services and products which are rendered by a Mc
Donald’s so as to attain maximum customer satisfaction. It includes hamburgers, sandwiches and
like products. In this light, soft drinks, milkshakes, salads, desserts and coffee etc. It also serves
their foods and eatable items in an efficient and different manner, which attract their customers
and ensure maximum success.
Price:
Price refers to an amount or a cost which is being spent by a consumer in order to
purchase a product. In this context, Mc Donald’s is a company which values its consumers the
most. In this regard, cited organization has used a strategy of low price, by which it can invite
more customers (Mense and et.al., 2011). As, Customers draw their attention for a particular
product, if its price is actually worth it. So, management of company has set their prices at
reasonable level, by which customers are retained and success is ensured.
Place:
` It is another term used in Marketing mix of the company which signifies as a place, from
where services and products are rendered to its respective consumers (Hsu, Tsai and Chu,2014).
Therefore, cited organization has opened various outlets in different places across the globe,
through which it is in access with its customers of different sections in world. Moreover,
company has also initiated “dine in” and “take away” services, which enable convenience to
their customers and visitors.
Promotion:
It refers to the marketing of different products and services which are offered by a
company to its consumers. It can be made more effective by use of advertising, sales promotion
etc. Mc Donald’s time to time update their advertisements and innovate new food products for
children well as for adults and other age group so that consistency in success can be maintained
by organization. Also, Mc Donald’s mostly advertises its products on diffren4t mediums of
media and also introduces new schemes and packages, which invite its wide range of customers.
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In addition to this, cited organization also utilises various in-store promotions methods
and techniques by which it can results more effective outcomes (Ionitã, 2012). They also
initiated “happy meals”, which are basically targeted on children.
Process:
It includes a series of procedure or mechanisms which facilitates a flow of actions and
activities through which company delivers its products and services to its customers. It has been
evaluated that process in Mc Donal’s is a transparent in nature. In other words, it is clearly
visible to all customers. In addition to this, food has been prepared in a hygienic manner.
People:
It is one of the most essential and important part of entire procedure of marketing of a
company. It affects services and products of an organization the most. in this way, it can be said
that there are different ways and manner by which consumer can be retained. Mc Donald’s have
chosen a standard form in which they aim to create a friendly environment by rendering prompt
services to its customers by help of their employees (Kennedy and Parsons, 2014).
Physical environment:
Mc Donald’s emphasises on to develop and sustain a clean and hygienic environment by
which they can maintain decorum in their food outlet. It also focuses on its interiors also.
Market Analysis:
Competitors: Major competitors of McDonalds’s are Starbucks corporation, Chipotle
Mexican Grill, Yum Brands etc. In addition to this, it also includes Subway, Burger king and
Wendy’s etc. proper analysis of its competitors are considered as very important as it provides an
opportunity to analyse and gain competitive advantage over them. This can only be achieved by
adoption of effective strategies and skills. So, in this perspective Mc Donald’s is desirous of
attainment of competitive advantage over its competitors by executing its services at low costs,
introduction of attractive offers etc.
Nature of market: Nature of market is a concept which signifies market area, in which
any business organization operates and conducts its business activities (Khan and Adil, 2013). In
this light, Mc Donald’s is engaged in a business industry of Food chain and restaurant, among
various sectors of world. It can also be evaluated that each and every outlet of Mc Donald’s is
operated with the help of Franchisees.
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Customers: Customers are considered as most significant part for attainment success. So,
considering this, Mc Donald’s mainly focusses on customers of all age- group. It includes
children, teenagers and adults.
SWOT Analysis:
Strengths:
 It is considered as a second largest chain of fast food restaurant, which serves its
customers across globe.
 The said organization has an effective economies of scale.
 Identification and implementation of different ways or methods through which gains can
be achieved by best practices. It is most perceptible brand in food industry.
Weaknesses:
 The company has adopted that medium of publicity which is not appropriate. It means
that they always advertise its food items with lots of sugar, salt cheese etc. Job of employees are not highly paid and skilled.
Opportunities:
 It has an opportunity to expand their food menu and other area of operations which can
also lead it move further on way to success and profitability (Lin, Li and Wang, 2015). Mc Donald’s should also grab an opportunity to magnify and grow its market share.
Threats:
 Competition can be assessed as the biggest threat to Mc Donald’s. there are many rivals
which are in very close competition with cited company. These includes subway, burger
king, Starbucks etc. Health conscious consumers do not prefer to enter Mc Donald’s as it offers a varied range
of junk food.
Environment Analysis: Political and social environment: Mc Donald’s evaluates its impact Political
environment on its working. There is a great impact of increased trade agreements which
are performed on international basis. Also, it is required to evolve health policies related
to public (Malhotra, Birks and Wills, 2013). In context of Societal point of view, it can be
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evaluated that Mc D has an opportunity to build wide gap of wealth in society and also
has a chance to build a lifestyle which is healthy in nature. Economic environment: The cited organization is also gets effected with all variations
occurred in aspect of Economy. It is affected by various factors which are stable and slow
rate of growth of US economy and break down of Chinese economy etc. Legal environment: Mc Donald’s is under an obligation to follow all legal necessities so
as to conduct their operations smoothly. Also, the most vital factors which affects
environment of company is new lawful minimum wage standards prevailing in US
(Mense and et.al., 2011). Also, it should also adhere to all legislations and regulations
which have been framed with respect to animal welfare and local health and safeguard
rules in work place.
CONCLUSION
This has been concluded that this project report is being made by making a deep research
in market of McDonald's. Roles and responsibilities of marketing functions are described by this
report. Different departments of any organisations are interrelated to different marketing
functions. Market plans and strategies are made by different organisations after considering 7Ps
of marketing mix and after that necessary goals are achieved by an organisation. A proper
research has been made on market situation of food restaurant chain McDonald's.
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