Marketing Essentials and Online Strategies

This assignment delves into the core principles of marketing, outlining its essential functions and the widely recognized marketing mix (often referred to as the 4Ps). It further examines the influence of integrated marketing communications on consumer decision-making and explores fairness in ethical marketing practices. The document highlights the importance of strategic marketing planning for small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and delves into the evolving landscape of social media marketing and destination marketing. Finally, it provides a practical overview of the 7Ps of online marketing, demonstrating how these elements converge in the digital realm.

Marketing

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1 Roles and responsibilities of marketing functions............................................................1
P2 Relation of marketing functions with wider context of organisation................................3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................6
P3 Marketing mix strategy of different organisations............................................................6
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................9
P4 Marketing plan for McDonald...........................................................................................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
Marketing can be defined as an art or science by which organisation explores, creates and
delivers value to the customers so that their needs or wants can be satisfied and organisation can
obtain desired profit. It is very helpful in identifying unfulfilled needs or wants of people. In
simple terms, it can be said that it includes set of activities which are associated with buying and
selling of products or services (Baker and et. al., 2016). It may consist of advertising, selling and
delivering of products to the people so that their needs or desires can be satisfied. Marketing
function is very important in today competing environment because it helps the company in
achieving competitive advantages over its rivals by maintaining better relationship with
customers. Marketing people puts lots of efforts for getting attention of large number of
individuals by using slogans, designs of products and by doing aggressive advertisement. This
project is based on McDonald which provides various range of products to their clients like
burgers, desserts, French fries etc. Key roles and responsibilities of marketing functions and their
relation with other other departments will be defined in this study. It will also state about
marketing mix strategies of different organisations as well their marketing plan.
TASK 1
P1 Roles and responsibilities of marketing functions
Marketing which is an important function in McDonald because it helps in delivering
better quality of products or services to their clients as per their requirement by which users can
be maintained in the company for long period of time (Berkowitz, 2016). With the help of this
function, attention of large number of people can be obtained because it represents their products
in an attractive manner so that everyone will prefer its products as comparison to others as well
as aids in maintaining positive brand image in the market. It includes numerous concepts that are
described below- Production concept- It is very old model that was used in 1920 for the first time. As per
this concept, manager has main responsibility to give their more focus on production
process so that its efficiency can be enhanced and better quality of products can be
designed which will satisfy their needs or wants of consumers.
 Product concept- After that, this concept was introduced in 1930 which states that
organisation should design better quality of products which will have innovative features
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because everyone wants to purchase those goods which will have unique features and
their performance is excellent. Selling concept- As per this model, company should adopt aggressive marketing strategy
so that attention of large number of people can be achieved. Marketing concept- This model came in to force after world war IInd in which mainly
focus was given on pull strategy (Brassington and Pettitt, 2013).
 Societal marketing concept- As per this model, total focus should be given on identifying
needs or wants of consumers so that large market share can be captured by delivering
products as per their requirements.
Roles and responsibilities of marketing functions- Marketing people in McDonald have
to perform numerous roles and responsibilities which are described below- Product- In today competitive environment, it is very necessary that organisation should
make their products or services as per requirements of consumers so that they will only
prefer its merchandise rather than to go its competitors (Functions of marketing, 2017).
For this, requirements of research activities will be generated which can only be done by
marketing department. It will conduct market survey for knowing about market situation
and taste and preferences of clients which will help in designing products or services
accordingly. Price- It is the most important element in agonistic world which aids in attaining
competitive advantages over its rivals. Price can be defined as a monetary element which
is taken by company in exchange of goods or services. McDonald should charge that
value which can be afforded by clients easily. In this, marketing function plays an
important role because it has sufficient information regarding target users that helps in
setting right prices of merchandise (Brooks and Simkin, 2012). Selling- In this process, marketing department has to put lots of efforts so that goods or
services can be delivered easily and effectively. This part of company ensures that
products are easily available to the clients. Promotion- For creating awareness about the existence of organisation and its offers,
marketing department has to take various action so that attention of people can be
captured and company can reach to its decided destination within stipulated period of
time.
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 MIS [Management Information System]- Marketing department has main responsibility
to collect information about recent trends in the market so that management can design
their strategy accordingly and can reach its decided destination within stipulated period of
time. So marketing people of McDonald should take corrective action time to time so that
necessary changes can be done effectively (Caragher, 2016). Distribution- In today globalisation period of time, there are various types of distribution
channel by which McDonald can generate awareness about their existence like online,
retail outlet, franchise etc. While selecting this media, it is necessary that organisation
should evaluate the target market and their availability so that desired result can be
obtained. In this selection process, marketing department plays an important role because
it knows very well about their customers' habits or their presence. It will be beneficial for
McDonald if it will choose effective and attractive channel at lower cost. Apart from this,
organisation should use that channel by which customers can get their order within less
period of time. While selecting distribution channel, company should analyse its
competitors policy so that it can take successful decision.
 Financing- Marketing department is also obliged to make budget for each and every
activities so that every project can be completed cost and time effectively. This
department allocates funds to everyone so that task can be carried out without any
disturbance. By using this, McDonald will be able to utilize its available resources in an
optimum which will generate positive result for the firm.
From the above discussion, it is said that marketing department keeps an important place
in an organisation because without having this, no company can reach to its decided destination
within specified period of time (Desai, 2013). This department has to perform various roles and
responsibilities by which organisation becomes able to design their products or services as per
requirement of customers because marketing department provides all relevant information to it.
After analysing roles and responsibilities, it has been said that marketing department
contributes more in the success of company because it uses various techniques for attracting the
customers towards it by which organisation can attain its desired result or outcome.
P2 Relation of marketing functions with wider context of organisation
Just selling of products is not only task of marketing department while it has to perform
various other functions like to create awareness about the existence of company as well to attract
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people towards it etc.. It has also liability to deliver goods or services to end users in more
effective and attractive manner so that their needs or wants can be satisfied easily and accurately.
Marketing is a wider terms which includes numerous types of activities like setting of prices,
promotion etc. by which organisation reaches to its decided destination within stipulated period
of time and creates value for the clients (Dibb and Simkin, 2013).
Other functions of McDonald got affected by activities of marketing department. In order
to get success in the market, it is necessary that everyone should have knowledge about
organisational objectives so that they can take action accordingly and can contribute in the
success of firm. Marketing functions are related with other organisational activities which can be
understood by some points that are described below- Relationship between marketing and operational functions- In order to get success, it is
necessary that products should be designed effectively and as per requirement of clients
so that they will remain in the company for long period of time. In McDonald company,
production process is carried out by operational department which collects information
about the needs or desires of people from marketing section so that it can design their
merchandise as per requirement of customers. For collecting data about recent trends in
the market, marketing section has to conduct survey by which it can know about the taste
and preferences of people (Gamble and et. al., 2011). After that collected information
will be send to the operation department so that it can design merchandise accordingly. If
it will not do so then production can not be carried out effectively and accordingly which
will create hindrance in the success of firm because no users will prefer to purchase its
products if they will not get their order as per their desire. So operational and marketing
department are closely interconnected with each other. Relationship between marketing and finance department- Finance is most important
function in an organisation because without having this, no task can be completed cost
and time effectively. If marketing department wants to do promotion or other activities
for the success of firm then it will be required some money for carrying out their
functions. Then in this case, finance section will have responsibility to allocate budget to
each and every activities as per their importance so that everyone will complete their
responsibility cost effectively. In order to get positive result, it is necessary that both
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department' functions should be proper coordinated with each other so that positive
response can be obtained from the market. Relation of marketing department with human resource- For carrying out marketing
related activities, it is necessary that there should be proper staffing so that functions can
be carried out smoothly and effectively. If there will be no proper number of employees
then organisation will not be able to reach to its desired result or outcome. To hire best
qualified worker is the responsibility of human resource department (Hsu, 2011). This
section analyse the needs of employees and accordingly recruits so that they will no
occur over and under staffing situation. So marketing and human resource department
are closely connected with each other. If there will not manpower department then other
section of the company will not be able to carry out their activities effectively.
 Marketing and sale department- Sale department of McDonald has main objective to
enhance sales or revenue of the company which can be possible if everyone will know
about its existence. Then in this situation, it has to take help of marketing department
which will provide necessary information the clients about products or services so that
people will be attracted towards it. If organisation will get attention of large number of
people then sale or revenue of the firm can be increased. So without support of
marketing department, selling section of the company can not reach to its desired result
or outcome. Information technology and marketing department- Information technology is very
important for McDonald in today globalisation period of time because with the help of
this, organisation can easily reach to their customers at international level (Illing and
Anders, 2016). Marketing department of chosen organisation promotes their
merchandise by using various techniques like online, offline etc. If products will be
promoted via online then in this situation information technology will play an important
role. And in toady competitive environment online method will be best for getting
attention of large number of people.
 Customer relationship and marketing function- To maintain better relationship with
their clients is very important for the success of company. For this it is necessary that
they will get products or services as per their requirements so that they will not switch to
any other brand easily. If they will only prefer its merchandise then organisation will be
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able to reach to its desired result or outcome. In this, marketing department plays an
important role because he ensures that everyone is getting products as per their
requirements.
So from above discussion, it can be said that every function of company is interrelated
with each other (Jones and Rowley, 2011). If one department is changing their policies or
strategy then other section also has to. In order to get success in the market, it is necessary that
marketing department should maintain proper coordination with other departments so that
business operation can be carried out effectively and efficiently.
TASK 2
P3 Marketing mix strategy of different organisations
Marketing mix strategy includes set of activities or actions by which organisation
generates desired or specified response from target market. With the help of this tactic,
McDonald can get attention of large number of people as well as can serve to them as per their
requirements by which it attains competitive advantages over its rivals. Product, price, place and
promotion are basic elements of this strategy but now it has extended with more 3 “Ps” [people,
process and physical evidence] (Kennedy and Parsons, 2014). If McDonald wants to capture
attention of large number of people then it should add some new innovative features in it so that
people will prefer its products or services. For this, it can adopt marketing mix strategy which
will help in adding some new characteristics in its existing goods, setting of prices etc.
(Source: Powell, 2016)
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Figure 1: 7P’s of Online Marketing, 2016

Generally, mostly companies use this strategy for getting positive response from target
clients. McDonald and Burger king also use it and their strategy are described below-
Basis McDonald Burger King
Product There are numerous range of products
which are served by company to their
clients like burgers, chicken, salads,
breakfast etc. It designs their offers after
analysing its target market so that their
needs or wants can be satisfied and they
will not switch to any other brand. By
doing this, organisation can capture large
market share and can retain them for long
period of time (Lamb, Hair and
McDaniel, 2011).
There are various types of merchandise
which are offered by burger king like
sides, veggies, sweets and desserts by
which it tries to provide satisfaction to
their users so that they will become
loyal clients.
Price It is that element which affects sales or
revenue of the company. So company
should set that value of their products
which can be afforded by its users easily.
Cited enterprise uses price bundling and
psychological pricing strategy while
deciding their products value. In price
bundling, company combines various
range of products into one package then
offers it to the customers at lower price.
On the other hand, when organisation
will set that price which will affect
customers' perception, is known as
psychological pricing. For example- A
burger price is .99 pound. It will be
known as psychological pricing.
It generally adopts cost leadership in
which it keeps lower prices of their
products for capturing large market
share. On the other hand, it also uses
market oriented in which it keeps value
of their products after analysing market
situation so that everyone can easily
purchase its products or services.
Sometimes, it also sets prices of their
merchandise on the basis of
competitors strategy so that it can attain
competitive advantages over its rivals.
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Place There are various ways which can be
used by company for delivering products
to their clients. Generally, it uses retail
outlet, kiosks, post mates websites and
mobile application for serving to their
users. It is very vital element that should
be selected by organisation after
analysing all concerned factors. And
should decide that place where by people
can get products by putting less efforts.
It has opened various branches all over
the world so that huge market share can
be captured. People can get its products
from various ways like via mobile
application, websites etc. (Malhotra,
Birks and Wills, 2013) By doing orders
through mobile application, users can
get various types of offers and freebies.
Generally, Burger king offers their
merchandise through restaurant chain.
Promotion It is one of the most important element in
today competitive environment that helps
the company in attracting people towards
it. Generally, McDonald promotes their
products or services radio, TV, posters
and online. Apart from this, it uses sales
promotion, loyalty schemes, point of sale
is also used by it for getting positive
response from customers. Main target
market of McDonald is children so it
uses toys and other entertainment related
things with happy meals so that they can
be attracted towards it.
For increasing awareness about their
products or services, it is necessary that
organisation should adopt that media
which can reach to its target market
easily and effectively. It attracts
consumers by using advertising, sales
promotion, personal selling and public
relation. It also promotes their
merchandise by doing advertisement on
television.
People In McDonald, there are large number of
employees who contribute in the success
of firm (Mihart, 2012). It is very
important component by which firm
becomes able to get competitive
advantages over its rivals. In Chosen
organisation, every workers wear
It conducts training programme for
existing and new employees so that
they can perform their job without any
injury and as per specified standards. If
any client is thirsty and there is long
queue for an order then he can take
water by himself. And suppose if any
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uniform who provides quick and
effective services to their clients. If there
is entry of new worker then proper
training will be provided to them so that
they can perform their job as per
specified standards.
worker has no task to perform then he
can go to other customers for taking
their order so that their time will not be
wasted.
Process McDonald follows transparency in their
operation so that everyone can know that
there are following all hygienic related
standards. Clients can also evaluate its
used ingredients in the products.
It is using innovated and latest
technology for producing goods or
services so that it can expand their
business (Nguyen and Simkin, 2012).
Physical
evidence
Its interior are neat and clean which
shows its hygiene standards in the
products or services. Its exterior outlet
are also attractive so that attention of
people can be gathered (Marketing Mix,
2017).
It has made their own website by which
clients can know about video history of
the company as well as about stock
information.
TASK 3
P4 Marketing plan for McDonald
Marketing plan is a document which contains various information regarding products,
market and overall strategy of organisation that defines various activities by which firm can
obtain its specified result or outcome within stipulated period of time (Ogunmokun and Tang,
2012). This plan is very helpful in identifying needs or wants of consumers as well as tells about
the ways by which requirements of customers can be fulfilled easily and effectively. In today
competitive environment it is very necessary that every organisation should design their
document so that it can reach to its decided destination within stipulated period of time. If this
instrument will be made then everyone will perform their job as per specified standards and will
contribute in the success of firm. Generally, management designs this strategy for short period of
time [ maximum 12 month].
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It will be beneficial for McDonald if it will evaluate both internal and external
environment while formulating this plan because it will aid in achieving competitive advantages
over its rivals (Ogunmokun and Tang, 2012). It is advisable to firm that it should make their
strategy as per situation so that it can reach to its decided destination within stipulated period of
time. While designing marketing plan, McDonald has to follow certain steps which are described
below- Company's overview- McDonald is a American multinational company which deals in
restaurant chain. It has large product line that means it provides various range of products
to their clients like burgers, French fries, snacks, breakfast etc. by which customers canm
be satisfied. The main thing about this organisation is that it designs their offers as per
requirements of consumers so that their needs or wants can be satisfied effectively. This
enterprise was established in California by Richard and Maurice McDonald in 1940. At
present, it is focusing on children (Papasolomou and Melanthiou, 2012). Marketing mix analysis- While designing marketing plan, it is important that
organisation should evaluate their existing strategies so that attention of large number of
people can be attained. In this evaluation process, company will analyse that which types
of product will help in satisfying needs or wants of clients as well what prices can be
afforded by target market. For getting positive response from clients, organisation should
select that distribution channel by which clients can easily got products or services
without putting lots of efforts. Current market analysis- It is the most important part in the implementation of
marketing plan which helps in achieving desired result or outcome. While formulation of
plan, organisation should conduct market survey so that needs or wants of consumers can
be identified (Pike, 2015). Apart from this, competitors policies or strategies will also be
evaluated so that accordingly own planning can be done and competitive advantages can
be obtained. These actions will help the firm to reach to its decided destination within
stipulated period of time. Company analysis- While formulating strategy, McDonald should know about their own
strengths or weaknesses so that it can design their strategies accordingly and can attain its
desired result or outcome. Organisation can identify their capability or limitations with
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the help of SWOT analysis by which it will be able to utilize its available resources in an
optimum manner. This analysis of McDonald is described below-
Strengths
 It has strong product line by which it is
generating huge amount of profit.
 It is operating their business at
international level.
 It has become a leader in US market. It trade mark is easily recognizable.
Weaknesses
 There are continuously increasing
employees turnover.
 It has not food for health conscious
people.
 Because of some negative publicity,
brand image is declining.
Opportunities
 It has greater opportunity is China
market.
 It can also diversified their product line. It can expand their business by
providing food to health conscious
people.
Threats
 People are becoming more conscious
towards their health.
 Because of operating at international
level, there are various rules and
regulations which may affect its
operation.
 Currency is fluctuating continuously.
 Environmental analysis- After knowing about internal factors, it is very necessary that
organisation should evaluate external components which may affect its operation
(Rowley, 2016). For this, McDonald can take help of PESTLE analysis which are
described below-
◦ Political- This factor may affect business activities directly and indirectly. It may
include various elements like tax rates, international trade agreements, health related
policies etc. so chosen organisation should consider this while formulating any plan
so that success can be achieved.
◦ Economical- It includes various components in today globalisation period of time
which impacts its growth or profitability. It consists unemployment rate, inflation and
deflation situation etc. It should be considered by organisation for getting positive
result.
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◦ Social- It involves enhancement of wealth gap, people are becoming more health
conscious etc. So it should design their offers accordingly (Spillan, 2010).
◦ Technological- In today technological environment, people wants to get their order
by sitting at home so that their time will not be wasted. This desire should be
considered by McDonald for getting positive response from people.
◦ Legal- Government is introducing health related rules and regulations that have to be
followed by McDonald in every situation (Wirtz, 2012).
◦ Environmental- Now people are also becoming more conscious towards environment
so chosen organisation should use that equipments which will not influence the
nature.
After completion of discussion, it can be said that organisation should follow all above
mentioned process so that desired result or outcome can be obtained within stipualted period of
time.
CONCLUSION
From above study, it can be said that marketing is very important in today competitive
environment because it helps the company in reaching to its desired result within specified
period of time. This report has defined about the roles and responsibilities of marketing functions
like setting of prices, adoption of best promotional tools etc. by which firm can attain its desired
result or outcome. This function is interrelated with other parts of the firm like relation with
human resource, finance, sale department etc. These sections' success is totally depend on
marketing functions because without having it, no one can perform their job effectively and
efficiently. This study has also explained about marketing mix strategies of two different
organisations by which they can reach to their decided destination within stipulated period of
time.
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