Marketing Functions and their Impact

This assignment delves into the fundamental elements of marketing functions, examining their interconnectedness and influence within a business context. It analyzes various marketing functions like product development, pricing, promotion, and distribution. The analysis is supported by a case study that illustrates the practical application of these concepts in real-world scenarios.

MARKETING ESSENTIALS

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1. Key roles and responsibilities of the marketing function.................................................1
P2. Role and responsibility of marketing related to McDonald’s's........................................4
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................7
P3. Comparison of 7P's of marketing of McDonald’s's and Aldi..........................................7
P4. Basic marketing plans for McDonald’s’s.......................................................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................14

INTRODUCTION
“A company can't sell anything if it can't tell anything.” Hence, marketing is a way to
communicate and promote offering which a company makes for people. Marketing is a way in
which company identifies a potential market, research about it and produces a product
accordingly. In other words, marketing is a way of promoting product of company so as to boost
its sales in order to meet the targets (Aaboud and et. al., 2017). McDonald’s is the chosen
organisation which was incorporated as a hamburger chain in America. It was constituted by
Richard and Maurice McDonald’s in San Bernardino, California. As the time passed, company
has become giant in restaurant industry by delivering major number of people across the globe.
Business of MacDonald began in 1940 in California where it have been founded. This research
consists of all the functions and roles of marketing with its elements which can be used by cited
company Mac Donald in boosting its sales. There is a complete study made on marketing
essentials which can be used by MacDonald. Also, there is a comparison of marketing mix of
McDonald’s with that of ALDI which is one of its major competitors.
TASK 1
P1. Key roles and responsibilities of the marketing function
McDonald’s is a public sector global organisation which is the second largest employer
in world after Walmart with 1.5 million employees. It provides services at various locations
internationally in 120 countries. It has matrix structure which constitutes of decentralisation of
authority to various people in company. In this, anyone can interact with each other and every
unit has a manager who directly controls it. Each and every venture utilises people fully who are
working in it. In McDonald’s, there is no standard role for any person according to their post
everyone has to do each and every task which is called job rotation. It has culture of efficient
working with each and every person performing at its best (Banerjee, 2013).
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McDonald's contributes a huge section to its promotional activities as the firm have a
well established business in all over the world. The company serves many people across globe
and is a well-recognised firm. Hence, it reach out to people by forming a marketing plan which
consists of various functions and these activities have several roles and responsibilities which
have been justified below:
MIS
This is a marketing information system which implies that there is some data with
merchandising department of an organisation. This information have to be utilised properly by
this department in order to have best results. While communicating there must be proper
collection and this information have to be stored under an authentication method which is done
under this purpose. The means like- TV, mail, radio etc. from which it is communicated is also
ensured by this function.
Distribution
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Illustration 1: Marketing Functions
(Source: Marketing Functions, 2017)

The role of distribution of goods and services to the people who need it is done by this
department. Using the best channel to reach out customers at the right time is the role of this
department. This is very important function which consists of ways to reach potential buyers of
the product which helps in regulating sales of company (Mansour, 2016).
Product
This is the main source for which whole marketing department performs its activities.
This is the offering of company for which promotional activities are performed. Production
department has direct link with it as the quantity which is produced by company can only be
served to potential buyers. Hence, this function has its major role in merchandising.
Pricing
Value which is being paid by the customers has a major role in attracting people to
product. So, this function of marketing is done according to the targeted market so that the
product easily penetrate in market completely. This is set in accordance to cover various
expenses of a firm which incurred in relation to produce the product of company.
Promotion
This is the main role of marketing which aims at promoting product by various mediums
in order to promote and attract people toward it. For instance, MacDonald uses TV
advertisements in order to make people aware of its products and offers which it launches.
Likewise, this function have importance in targeting new market so as to have success in the new
market (Saren, 2016).
Selling
Marketing is done to boost the sales of a company likewise, MacDonald does it to have
targeted sales and operations of the company. This function is directly related to merchandising
as company which aims to do marketing has to ensure about proper sales according to demand
have to be done. This function of marketing plays an important role in making product offering
to the buyer who wants to buy the product for a value of price. This also helps in earning revenue
by which company can cover its expenses as well as can sustain in market for a long period.
Finance
Everything requires finance whether it is a small firm or a large firm there is a
requirement of fund. So this function of management helps in setting targets for each and every
department sop that the cost which is required to run a company can bee attained. Marketing also
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requires funds which are to be allocated and deployed in order to have best operations in a
company without incurring any loss and achievement of targets which are set in a firm (Page,
2013).
McDonald’s's have all the functions of marketing and each of them have various roles
which are very important for it in order to have success and growth in its sector by becoming a
leading firm which earns maximum profit by its sales and operations. The people at Mac D
contributes in a large section in order to have initiatives regarding product sales and marketing
P2. Role and responsibility of marketing related to McDonald's
If any business organisation wants to attain success than they had to assign roles and
responsibilities to their employees in order to carry out business operations in an effective way. It
is the responsibility of manager to perform all the operations in effective way so that
organisation can achieve growth and success in long run. McDonald's had adopted market plans
which are helpful for firms to increase the number of customers so that productivity can also be
increased which results in firms profitability (Baker, 2013).
Various strategies are adopted by cited firms which are helpful in achieve competitive
advantages at market place by selling the goods and services. Brand image of company can be
achieved if they adopt pricing strategy at which products can be sold at minimum prices, unique
policies should be adopted for advertising of products in order to increase sales. It is helpful in
assisting business in order to enhance market areas so that company can easily approach to large
volume of customers.
There are various functional areas in an organisation which includes Human Resources,
Marketing, Finance and Information Technology. If organisations wants to maintain effective
organisational structures than they had to establish a link between all the departments so that
work flows in effective ways. All these task are interrelated with marketing functions. Various
marketing tools and techniques which are adopted by firms greatly impact the functional areas of
McDonald's. The company adopted different marketing campaign in order to create awareness
about products and services so that good services can be provided to individuals. This task can
be achieved effectively with the help of finance department and then these departments had to
arrange funds in order to carry out those business operations (Al-Hasan, Thomas and Mansour,
2016).
Marketing and HR department:
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Marketing is linked with Human resource department if they any promotional activity
had to be carried out than they had to take help from manpower who can carry out their business
operations. Thus it is the sole responsibility of marketing department to consult the HR
departments about availability of persons who can be involved in advertisement in order to create
awareness. In the present era of globalisation people are using online mode to buy goods and
services which they need. There are various advancement in technologies which can be used by
company in order to add more features in products.
Marketing and IT department
Marketing are linked with Informational technologies so that new and innovative ideas
can be developed which are helpful in expanding the product line.
Business organisations are operating in various functional areas which are related with
Human resources, finances, distribution, administration, customer’s services, research and
development, sales, marketing and production functions. The operations of these activities are
affected by each other. Marketing activities which are adopted by firms are helpful in creating
awareness about the new products which are available for customers so that they can purchase
them. McDonald's should consult with the respect department when they want to carry out
advertisement campaign in order to make awareness (Fill, 2013).
Marketing and Sales department:
Marketing activities greatly affect the sales of firms, companies should adopt effective
tools and techniques so that modifications can be easily made in selling procedures. If the cited
firm is adopting any channel for advertisement than they had to make sure that the products are
available in the outlets in order to fulfil demands of customers.
If McDonald's provides goods to their customers than they had to give complimentary
services in order to satisfy their customers. The cited firms should focus on the problems of
customers if they are facing any after purchasing the products so that it can be solved in
particular time frames which are helpful in gaining satisfactions of customers. It is helpful in
increasing footfalls of customers as they are always happy if goods and effective services are
provided to them on time. McDonald's should establish complaint management system in which
people can share their problems so that firms can focus on providing better solutions for those
difficulties (Banerjee, 2013).
The different roles and responsibilities related to McDonald’s are:
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Market Research: It is vital for every business firm to analyse the recent trends in market
by caring out research which are helpful in identifying performances of company so that
essential improvements can be made. Quality products should be supplied by company in order
to satisfy their potential customers. This is helpful in giving assistance to company to know
about various factors which can be easily enhanced.
Product Development: This is an important function of organisation in order to
implement necessary changes in products according to needs and demands of customers.
Competitive advantages can be achieved by firms if they focus on adding new features in their
products. Marketing activities are helpful in identifications of those areas where changes can be
implemented which are useful for growth and development of cited firms. The features of
products should also be modified from time to time in order to give maximised assistance to their
potential users (Zikmund, 2015).
Market Segmentation: It is related with diving the total market into smaller sub units
which are helpful in easily reaching to their target customers. The market area are divided
according to geographical, behavioural and demographic segments. This division is helpful in
providing products and services to their customers according to their differential needs. These
are effective ways by which products can be served according to desire of customers. This
method is helpful in dividing the market where large group of people are present. The firms can
directly contact with the person who requires goods and services easily.
Sales: The main focus of firm is on selling. Various marketing activities which are
conducted by firms are helpful in increasing sales. There sales volume ratios can be increased if
they adopt effective tools and techniques for business operations. Technological advancement
can be implemented by company if they want to add more features in their goods or if they want
to expand their product line. Different quality measures can be adopted by company which are
helpful in reducing defects in products (Jain, 2011).
Communication: This an important function which is linked with marketing. This is
helpful in giving necessary information about goods and services which are useful for customers.
If any person get informational about additional features in products than they think to purchase
them. Various marketing techniques are helpful in reaching towards large group of customers.
Awareness can be created about the additional features in products in order to increase sales.
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Marketing campaigns which are adopted by McDonald's are helpful in giving information about
new innovations in products.
TASK 2
P3. Comparison of 7P's of marketing of McDonald's and Aldi
Marketing mix is related with appropriate tools which are used by marketer before new
products are launched at market place. This process is also called as integrated marketing
approaches because it is linked with all the task which are related with marketing. These tools
are useful for company if they wants to achieve there assigned goals.
McDonald's
This is the largest food chain restaurant which was founded in year 1937. It operates as
franchise restaurants which is having its operations in 121 countries with more than 3000 outlets.
These business are serving the needs of more than 55 million customer all around the globe.
7 P'S of McDonald's are described as:
Product: McDonald's had its operation in fast food operations which are providing large
variety of food items to their customers. Various food products which are offered by firms
includes both veg and non veg items like chicken Mc nuggets and French fries, Cheese burger,
hamburgers, etc. (Malhotra, 2013).
High quality food products are offered to customers which are helpful in building there
brand images and gaining loyal customers towards their products and services. The food
products are provided keeping in mind the cultural and religious aspects of people. It has a
separate department for cooking which consist of good equipment which are helpful in providing
healthy food products to their customers.
Price: Adopting the best and suitable pricing strategy is difficult task for any firm. The
pricing policies which are adopted by firms should be effective which helps customers to
consume the products and company can make desired profits which helps in achieving growth
and development. The cited organisation is using cost leadership strategies to offer fast food
services to their customers at competitive prices. Various food products are offered at reasonable
prices which also includes combo packs (Lin, 2011).
Place: It is related with the physical outlets at which the products and services can be
sold to their customers. The cited firms had its outlet in 121 countries covering approx. 30,000
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restaurants. They are using aggressive expansion strategy for their business which are helpful in
establishing their business in bothy rural and urban areas. The restaurants are located at the best
places which can provide easy convenience to their potential customers who can increase their
sales. The high quality eating place are opened in luxury areas like airports, shopping malls,
highways and near colleges. The prime locations of restaurants are helpful in attracting large
volume of customers so that there market shares and profit ratios can be increased.
Promotion: This factor is helpful in building strong relations with their target customers.
This factor includes different activities which are related with personal selling, advertisement,
sales promotion and public relations. Different tools and techniques are used by McDonald’s for
promoting their products such as radio, television, internet for giving there advertisements. There
promotional activities are conducted by advertisement on Hoardings, personal mails to persons
about the offers in food products and lucky draw scheme (Wills, 2013).
People: This is an important factor linked with promotional mix. It includes the
employees and customers who will be purchasing the company products. If the cited organisation
maintains healthy relations with their employees than it will help in earning large profits for
firms. The cited organisation is focusing on recruiting potential employees who can satisfy the
customers by giving them effective services. Organisation can organise training and development
programmes in order to assist employees about how effective services can be delivered to
persons. The standard dressing codes are useful in maintaining equality while services are
rendered to customers.
Process: This function is related with functional activities of firms which ensures that
goods are available to customers on time and quality food products are offered to customers. If
the process which are adopted by firms are simple than it will ensure convenience to people who
will be using the products and services of cited firms. This company had adopted transparent
food processing systems. Various tools and techniques are used for distribution of products and
making their packaging styles attractive. The customers can check the elements which are used
in various food products (Medury, 2013).
Physical Evidence: The services which are offered by any business are intangible in
nature which implies that people cannot touch and see them. The main focus of customers is the
looks of outlets from where the products are distributed. Thus this is simply related with
appearances of business organisations. The physical appearances of outlets are helpful in gaining
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attentions of customers so that demands of their products can be increased. Organisation makes
the places attractive by using effective wall painting, bright colours, furniture and proper
cleanness. The same interiors are followed on every outlets around the globe.
Aldi
It is the leading grocery stores which are dealing in retail business which are running its
operations from 1913. The company was known for selling the customised products according to
demands of their customers. It is the most important recognised stores which are located in UK
and they provide goods and services to their customers at minimum prices. The business are
operated to provide daily services to their customers at reasonable prices with high quality.
7 P'S of Marketing of Aldi (Kirby, 2012).
Product: It is an important element by which firms earn huge profit as there sales ratios
increased rapidly. The goods are manufactured according to needs and wants of their customers
in order to satisfy them. The prices of products are kept lower so that people can easily purchase
them. The Company purchases the products from the suppliers and then they are labelled under
their brand names in order to control cost which are incurred on production. This is the main
factor by which company can kept the prices of products low while ensuring high quality. There
are no modifications made in the non-food products but changes are made in non-food items
from fixed time intervals.
Price: It is an essential element which is helpful in creating demands for products which
are offered by McDonald's. The prices of products should be determined after analysing the
pricing policies which are adopted by them for their products. The policies which are adopted by
cited firm is competitive price strategies. The firms are purchasing the goods in bulk amount
from suppliers which help them in reducing cost. This techniques helps company to sell the
products at reasonable price to their customers (Cohen, 2010).
Promotion: This technique is adopted by firms in order to communicate effectively with
their target customers so that they can easily use the services. Various tools of promotions
includes advertisement, branding, sales promotions etc. This is helpful for cited business in
creating awareness about their products so it can results in higher growth and revenues. The
advertisement of company is mostly done with the help of television and social media.
People: These are the important persons which are helpful in determining growth of
firms. The workers can create good images which are beneficial for firms. Aldi had adopted
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policies for its workers that if they will purchase the commodities of the firms and they will be
given discounts. Various training programmes are developed which are helpful in enhancing
knowledge of employees so that they can serve their customers in effective ways in order to
satisfy them (Chamorro-Mera, 2013).
Process: It is linked with the behaviour and attitude of employees who are providing
services to persons like information which are useful for customers, waiting time and staff etc.
the designing of their store are kept simple in order to provide convenience to people so that they
can easily finds the goods and services which are needed by them. Thus simplicity in store
layouts are helpful in reducing waiting times of individuals in purchasing the goods.
Physical Evidence: Aldi has its operations all around the globe. They had adopted
effective pricing strategies and standardization of goods. The cited firms had design attractive
store layout in order to gain attention of large group of customers.
P4. Basic marketing plans for McDonald’s
The basic marketing plans are described as:
Introduction
It is the largest fast food restaurants which are operating there business under chain
retailers. There operations are spread among 119 countries with more than 30,000 outlets.
Vision and Mission:
Vision: There main vision statements are linked with providing quality food services to
their customers. The support is taken from core values and guiding principles.
Mission: There mission statements are related with providing effective services to
customers, clean and hygiene environment and value the times of customers. The cited
organisation is spending capitals on their customers to make them part of the winner team.
Various opportunities are provided by firms which are helpful in growth and development (Cua,
2013).
SWOT Analysis:
Strength
 Its global presence affects the competitor’s position at market place.
 It is the leading firms at national and international areas. Cost can be reduced if they successfully achieve higher scale of economies
Weakness
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 Process which are involved in innovative products are very slow. Competition at market places are very high.
Opportunities
 They can adopt value services for people who are using their products and services and
new strategies can be adopted to attract new customers.
 Their business can be expanded at international levels. Innovation sin products are also great opportunities for firms.
Threats
 High level of competition at market place.
 Alteration in global market.
 As the rates of currency are fluctuating it can impact the business of cited firms.
Major Competitors of McDonald's
The major competitor of organisation consist of Wendy's International, Burger King,
Pizza Hut and KFC. These are greatly influencing the business of cited firms (Reames, 2013).
Budget
Their main budgets are prepared after various marketing strategies are analysed
effectively. The marketing representatives are placed in from of finance management team. Their
main budgets are generated for marketing departments to carry out effective promotional
activities in order to create awareness about products. This budget can be changed if new and
innovative products are developed or changes in seasonal variations.
Marketing Budget:
Marketing budget
Particulars 1st year 2nd year 3rd year 4th year 5th year
Initial money 40000 13500 14200 14000 15000
Investment 18500 14200 15000 14200
Total 40000 32000 28400 29000 29200
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Marketing
expenditures
Advertisement 6000 7000 5000 6000 5000
sales promotion 3000 3000 3000 4000 3000
Direct marketing 3000 4000 2000 2000 6000
Total 12000 14000 10000 12000 14000
Available balance 28000 18000 18400 17000 15200
Monitoring and Control:
The main focus of companies are linked with adopting same pricing strategies for their
products so that new features can be added in existing products. The main areas of concentration
is the marketing prospects. They have effective supply chain management so that no problems
can be faced in the future time period (Basic elements of the marketing function, 2012).
CONCLUSION
From the above report it can be concluded that McDonald's are leaders in offering fast
food products to serve the differential needs of their customers. Effective pricing policies are
used by firms in order to attract large group of customers. Products should be offered to
customers in desired time frame. New strategies can be adopted by McDonald’s if they want to
expand their business at international levels. Innovative products are helpful in increasing sales
of firms so that company can achieve growth and success. The activities of different departments
are linked with each other and thus operations of each departments should also be linked in order
to achieve smooth work flows.
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