Analyzing Marketing Strategies and Plans

The provided document is an extensive compilation of information on marketing strategy, covering topics such as Web 2.0, social media, creative consumers, product design, marketing management, employment brand equity, export marketing strategy implementation, and factors influencing marketing strategy creativity and effectiveness. It includes references to academic journals, books, and online resources, providing a comprehensive overview of the subject matter.

Marketing Essentials

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1. Key roles and responsibilities of marketing function for chosen organisation................1
M1. Roles and responsibilities of marketing in context of marketing environment for chosen
organisation............................................................................................................................2
P2. Roles and responsibilities of marketing in relation to wider organisational context.......2
M2. Significance of interrelationships between marketing and other functional units for
chosen organisation................................................................................................................4
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................4
P3. Ways in which chosen organisation applies marketing mix to marketing planning process
to achieve business objectives................................................................................................4
M3. Different tactics applied by organisations to achieve business objective.......................8
P4. Basic marketing plan for McDonald's..............................................................................8
CONCLUSION....................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES.......................................................................................................................1

INTRODUCTION
Marketing is highly essential for determining success of any company. It is a vast concept
and required for building a positive image of products or services in the market. Main function
of marketing is to maintain organisation's reputation, dealing with bad press, product selling and
making customers loyal. Marketing is required everywhere that changes the whole scenario of
organisation. McDonald's is the world's largest restaurant chain based in UK which is being
chosen in the present report. Here, there will be discussion on various marketing techniques used
by McDonald's This report includes roles and responsibilities of marketing in developing
business for McDonald (Desai, 2013). It includes marketing mix and marketing strategies,
interrelations to other functional units..
TASK 1
P1. Key roles and responsibilities of marketing function for chosen organisation
Marketing is very essential for any company since it tells the whole world about the
product availability and its uses. It can only be after good marketing techniques that product gets
successful in market. There are various roles and responsibilities related to marketing which are
listed below.
Core marketing functions are as follows :
1.Marketing of corporates : Involves doing marketing at the global level and attracting
customers. It is required to enforce good standards, make global structures for public relations,
relationship building with various investors, making strategies for an event and doing proper
communications. McDonald's is doing really well in marketing itself in market. It's ads are
unique and they keep building up new ads in order to gain attention of customers. Marketing is
very essential and is a never ending process. Constant marketing needs to be done since it adds
value of the company. No company can survive in market without doing proper marketing since
it attracts all customers.
2.Strategic marketing : Involves making strategies for growth of company and building up
strategies for technical issues and needs. In current scenario it is seen that McDonald's has
provided food items at nominal price and this is a very wise strategy to beat all other companies.
Strategies are made in order to keep everything in control and bring some innovative ideas in
order to beat all competitors of market. Also it can be seen that it is not easy to develop any sort
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of strategy for any company (Morgan, 2012). This restaurant has this unique strategy of making
playgrounds within restaurant itself. So, children who come along with their parents get
entertained with these playgrounds. It gives an amazing time to customers there. At the end it is
all about experience that any place can give to customers.
3.Management of products : The way in which products and services are delivered to
customers, overall production process, research and development,strategies related to pricing,
sales team, pre launch and post launch results are also involved here. Every thing has to be set
according to the market and seeing the trends going on in market and its requirement. Products
which are being served to their customers come in a very attractive packing which is very helpful
in retaining them. Number of products to be manufactured has to be taken care of and readily
steps should take place.
4.Product marketing : It is directly marketing of products and is very useful. Reaches to main
customers directly and is readily sold in the market. Product which is marketed really well, sales
more. We can see that McDonald's food products are marketing through attractive packaging
which attracts customers (Kimet and et. al., 2015). The way a product looks makes big difference
in generating sales.
5.Field marketing : Involves marketing which is done through execution process. Lead
generation is the main focus here and opportunities are developed through pipeline.
M1. Roles and responsibilities of marketing in context of marketing environment for chosen
organisation
It is very important for companies to keep marketing about themselves in this very
competitive world. McDonald's marketing team is excellent and it helps to fight with the current
competitors like KFC, PIZZZA HUT, etc. Marketing team has this responsibility of acquiring
market for it, finding a new segment, strategy building for production process. It's good
marketing strategy is 'Drive thru' under which buyers can buy their product while sitting in their
vehicles.
P2. Roles and responsibilities of marketing in relation to wider organisational context
The most important business functions of marketing and relation between these are :Finance
Department: Financial advices are required everywhere and have to be taken seriously.
Financial information is required for new as well as old products. Marketing becomes a means of
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support for taking any financial decision. Management gets a good support system by finances.
For any project to complete, finance is required that has to be managed for smart functioning of
any organisation (Kimet and et. al., 2015). McDonald's finance comes directly from revenues
they generate from sales and marketing. Estimation of required funds is done before starting
work on any project by marketing department on the basis of which funds are provided through
finance department.Production or operations department: Marketing assists this department in
order to calculate number of products and services to be produced. . Production department is the
core of any industry. It develops products to be sold in the market to run business. Therefore, it
can be said that marketing in McDonald’s highly depends on this department. On the contrary, as
per the instructions given by marketing department, production is done in the restaurant. So,
there is a strong inter-relationship in both the divisions. Always remember if production is poor
then it is of no use and hence problem occurs for company.Research and development
department: R&D is an important department of an organisation since it is responsible for the
development of new products and services. Marketing can help a lot to promote and share new
discoveries done by any organisation. Research is an important part because it is never ending
and highly necessary as in the present scenario, people want innovation after regular intervals. It
tells directly the kind of products that are required in market. Firm making any new product will
be dependent on the market requirement and demand (Slater, 2013). McDonald's R&D is very
strong since no other company is able to match the taste of this restaurant’s food products.Sales
department: This department is majorly responsible for producing revenues and profits.
Marketing can always offer huge grounds for doing sales of a product. A well marketed product
always get better sales. So, it can be seen that marketing plays a significant role here in making
sales possible. McDonald's sales increases tremendously during the festivals and important
functions. Most of youngsters prefer it and is a hangout spot for them. Many college going
students go their in order to eat fast foods and have a good time. Increased sale is required for the
generation of revenue for company. It is not easy to produce such changes and bring huge
returns. It is essential in order to have big sales team and proper functioning has to be done about
these products
HR department: Has a very efficient HR team which recruits excellent employees having good
communication skills. Working atmosphere is also nice..
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M2. Significance of interrelationships between marketing and other functional units for chosen
organisation
Their is a direct relation between marketing and other functional units of McDonald's.
1.With finance department : Marketing department is closely linked to finance department
since all sorts of financial help required to do promotions, distribution and research. Cash flow is
really important here since then only marketing activities can take place. Marketing plans can
also be executed if company has good monetary backup. It is a long process and may require
various sum of money.
2.With human resource department : Marketing department has direct links with the human
resource department because they are recruiters of new employees. If they don't recruit good
employees then marketing can't help it. They have to make a competent sales team which is
responsible for doing all sorts of sales in the market (Morganand Katsikeas, 2012). HR are
responsible for selecting such potential candidates which can finally bring some changes in the
revenue generation of McDonald's.
3.With operations management : Marketing department of McDonald's has set deadlines that
stretch over capabilities of production department. As soon as the product is produced it has to
be made available for the customers to buy it and use it. Operations are required at every step
and a proper outcome is calculated here. Operations include all inputs which are required to
produce outputs. If these inputs will incur losses then these must be avoided.
TASK 2
P3. Ways in which chosen organisation applies marketing mix to marketing planning process to
achieve business objectives
McDonald's marketing mix is very well built and is very effective in their business. It
continuously improves the brand by listening to its customers and taking feedbacks. Marketing
mix involves 4Ps which are as follows: :Product: McDonald's has made its menu very
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cautiously since there is high competition and it can be seen that potential customers focus on
other products as well to assess where they should spend their money. Sales of products on its
menu differ from time to time. It has priced really well knowing the needs and requirements of
customers (Varadarajan, 2014). It is facing strong competition with KFC and PIZZA HUT which
has similar products of good quality and taste. Now, customers are only focused on getting
product which has a good taste and is priced relatively less. Product too has a life cycle and it can
be seen that what today is in trend may me out of market tomorrow. McDonald’s is having some
of the best food items which no other restaurant is offering.Price: It decides whether product is
liable for market or not. If pricing is too high then it may not be able to gain attention of too
many customers. Looking at this scenario, McDonald's has kept its price moderate and nominal.
The whole menu of it has variety of food items and is successful to attract as well as retain their
customers. Adverse situations arise when other competitors firms too lower down their prices in
order to face this retain customers (Kimet and et. al., 2015). But it can also have an opposite
reaction since lower prices normally are related to poor quality product etc. So, the prices have to
be kept remarkably less and big changes are needed. Price is essential for determining value of
product in the market. Main focus of McDonald’s is over quality of products as customers
nowadays prefer superiority over price. They are ready to pay anything for getting good quality
food.Place: The place of doing sales is also very important. Any place which is away from city
can't produce that much of sales as compared to urban areas. Location is also a major factor in
determining the level of sales and profit earned. It is essential for every organisation that their
reach is easy and is at a place where things can be accessed easily. McDonald's has selected
restaurants and have used it very wisely to locate them at particular place.Promotion: Methods
used by McDonald's to do promotion is by advertising through TV ads, radio jingles, cinema,
online, posters, etc. It attracts customers and is required to gather as much attention as it can.
Also, it can be seen that promotional methods also include telemarketing, exhibitions, door drops
and loyalty schemes. The organisation has special techniques to promote the product. There logo
is also very eye catchy. Along with that, it can be seen that a good promotional strategy used by
it is giving special discounts using internet and through SMS. They also have an application
which is used to connect to their customers and gather feedback. Messages gain attention and
make people interested in their product. Purpose of promotion is to gather as many customers as
possible.
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1. Physical evidence : Currently it has a decent packaging style. Changes will be made in
order to make packaging look attractive and better then their competitors. Special goodies
will be given with the product in order to attract customers. The packaging box will be as
such that after using it can be used as a cap.
2. Process: It has most food products for vegetarians but have less number of food items for
non-vegetarian. So other non-veg food items will be placed at the non-vegetarian
segment and will be able to place it right in market.
3. People : Customers are backbone here. These all sort of techniques are used to attract
them and make a great impact over market. They have different sort of mindsets and they
can only be linked via good taste. Taste is the main reason that people come to this
restaurant and enjoy it.
As compared to other companies following changes can be made :
1. If we see McDonald's can increase their profits by increasing the number of items present
with them. It can be seen that people prefer KFC for good non-vegetarian food and spend
a lot when they go there. So, McDonald's can make profits by making more food items in
non-vegetarian list. Currently it doesn't serve more number of non-vegetarian dishes
(Slater, 2013). By adding these items it can be seen that it can attract more customers.
Any customer would prefer McDonald's as it will be having variety of products.
2. Second case, if we can improve the sitting area in McDonald's then more customers can
come in that area. This is a big drawback of this restaurant and it can be seen that it needs
to be improved as soon as possible (Morgan and Katsikeas, 2012). Most of times people
have to wait in long queues for getting their food item.
3. Unlike Domino, McDonald's doesn't have any delivery system. So, it can be seen that
home delivery system must be started in order to gather more number of customers.
Many a times people prefer to sit at home and eat their only. This is a big drawback of
this restaurant. It can increase number of sales tremendously. This is a way of increasing
sales and to help fulfil their demands.
7Ps for KFC
Product : Is mostly popular for it's non-vegetarian food items as compared to vegetarian food
items. McDonald need to beat it over by bringing in more number of non-vegetarian food items.
Prices : Prices are more as compared to McDonald's. So it has an advantage over KFC.
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Place : Mostly located in malls and highly populated areas. But McDonald's also provide
playgrounds in some of their restaurants which is an advantage for them.
Promotion : TV ads are mostly done by it. Similar campaigns are done by McDonald's.
Physical Evidence : Similar to McDonald's. No extra feature is added over it
Process : Focuses on non-vegetarian more as compared to vegetarian. Totally opposite to
McDonald's.
People : Tasty food and fast services is what attracts the customers. Similar to McDonald's.
Marketing
mix
elements
MacDonald KFC
Product MacDonald is providing non-
vegetarian and vegetarian products.
They are working in non vegetarian only.
Price Economical Pricing. Premium Pricing.
Place Own stores and super market. Online delivery and own stores.
Promotion Print media and electronic media. Using TV Promotions.
Process Self services and mostly focus in
vegetarian variety
Considering only non vegetarian
Physical
Evidence
Focused on ambience and family
oriented
Youth oriented ambience
People Experienced employees Young energetic employees.
M3. Different tactics applied by organisations to achieve business objective
McDonald's has good marketing technique order to achieve its business objectives. Main
objective of this restaurant is to serve high quality food in a friendly and fun environment at
reasonable price so that high profits will be gained and attractive returns will be provided to the
shareholders. They have done it by making some playgrounds in the restaurant areas, building
hospitals for children, etc. Their tactics involve decreasing price of burgers and offering many
new food products. Also, it is seen that they also endorse celebrities and host birthday parties for
unfortunate children. This is a great marketing technique as they are doing it for a good cause. In
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this way, they are able to increase their sales and gain a strong brand name. People are attracted
towards this restaurant due to friendly environment it has (Varadarajan, 2014). It has also started
serving coffee to their customers and kept options over drinks served there. It is essential to use
these tactics in order to increase sales and thus, the profits of firm.
P4. Basic marketing plan for McDonald's
Business plan is required in order to develop good marketing techniques required for
McDonald's. It has been given as below:Assessing the current situation of company: For
taking any big action related to business like introducing a new product or an existing one in new
market, company's current situation has to be known. Current situations tell what things are
required by organisation or what things needs to be neglected. It defines company and its
products or services. It can be seen that target audience becomes really important and segmented.
In order to do positioning of a product complete knowledge of market is required. Company
should be also be knowing about competitor's product and services because through this a great
help can be known. McDonald's current position is sound in the market and it has attracted many
customers through providing them high level of satisfaction. But it is required to bring new
marketing plans to bring more growth and changes in business. It doesn't need more restaurants
to open but require more food items in their menu. These items have to be different from the
ones that are already in market.2. Targeting the selected audience: The customers must be
known to whom the product will attract most. Food items provided by McDonald's are made for
every age group and it can be seen that mostly families, college going students and children visit
there to eat. Old people also come there in order to eat and get refreshed. Customers are the
backbone for any firm as they generate revenues and profits for companies (Berthon andPitt,
2012). Potential customers include young and people who are ready to eat fast food. This is not
for people who are fitness freak or do not eat any sort of fast food. Essential for bringing out
changes in the name of brand. Also, it has to be taken care that by increasing their food items in
non-veg their number of customers can also increase. So major people who eat at McDonald's
are vegetarians and some of them are also non-vegetarian. It is very essential to bring changes
and target the customers.
Deciding the marketing goals: Main goal of McDonald’s is to provide happy times to their
customers by bringing more recreational activities. It has to fight with other competitors too
which are already in market and big players in the fast food chain with having a good rapport.
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KFC, PIZZA HUT, BURGER KING, etc. are potential competitors of McDonald's (Desai,
2013). These restaurants are really big and popular in the market. It becomes essential for the
restaurant to change their marketing techniques and beat them. Pricing can't be lowered down
since it means poor quality and a weak brand image (Slater, 2013). People nowadays don't prefer
to compromise with the quality offered in products and services. Also, those who have recruited
in McDonald’s need to be good at communication skills and serving customers. Hospitality can
be improved here and made different as compared to other restaurants. Also, it can be seen that
marketing can be done over TV, radios, SMS, etc. It is required to reach these goals and sources.
Firms are dying to win over another company. Goals should be attainable and not just any goal
be achieved. Listing down goals can help to focus attention over those goals only. Achieving
short goals are important then achieving big goals. Short goals can be achieved within a certain
time limit whereas big goals need time and a proper planning has to be done for them.
Making communication strategies: For any information to float in market, it is required to
communicate properly and effectively. Without it communication is not possible. Without prior
communication, no business deal can be done and steps can be undertaken. The information
related to any new product, discounts available as well as programs or events are all circulated
over internet. TV ads are the best way to market and advertise about their need edibles in the
market. Normally, people get informed by this only and uses this information to reach at the
restaurant. Means of radio is also effective as most of the customers while travelling listen to it
and with the same, they make their decision to visit the restaurant and thus, ultimately the sales
grow (Berthon andPitt, 2012). Also, mobile phones are the best way to float information and
make them available for customers. Potential customers and regular ones have been registered at
the restaurant and they get regular notifications about deals that in market.5. Budgeting: A
budget has to be planned for whole project and then only steps have to be taken in order to
complete it. A budget tells what is required in order to finish task and make marketing work for
McDonald's. A huge budget is required for McDonald's in order to do marketing
Execution : Requires proper monitoring to execute a project. It covers ways in which project will
be covered
Inspection : Checking whether the proposed plan is working well and steps required to improve
any faults.
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CONCLUSION
It can be concluded from the above report that marketing is crucial for any company. It
has been assessed that this is all due to marketing that sales of a company increases. It can be
articulated from this report that McDonald's need to bring some new products in their menu and
have to reach customers in new market areas. Their unique marketing strategy which includes
providing playgrounds in restaurants is a great technique to retain the customers and give them a
unique experience. Overall, it can be said that marketing is always required in order to attract
customers and make high profits in business.
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