Marketing Essentials: Analysis of McDonald's Marketing Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of marketing essentials, focusing on the application of these principles within the context of McDonald's, a global fast-food chain. The report begins with an introduction to marketing, defining its core functions and importance in the current business environment. It then delves into the key roles and responsibilities of the marketing function, including distribution, financing, market information management, pricing, product and service management, promotion, and selling. The report examines the role of marketing within the broader organizational context, highlighting the significance of interrelationships between different departments, such as sales, operations, and finance. A key section of the report compares McDonald's marketing mix (product, price, place, and promotion) to its marketing planning process, illustrating how the company aligns its strategies to achieve its business objectives. The report also explores the various tactics employed by McDonald's to meet its goals, including strategies for product development, pricing, distribution, and promotion. The analysis includes an evaluation of the effectiveness of McDonald's marketing plan and concludes with a summary of the key findings and insights.

MARKETING ESSENTIALS

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1 Key roles and responsibilities of the marketing function......................................................1
M1. Role of marketing in marketing environment......................................................................3
P2 Roles and responsibilities of the marketing in wider organisational context........................4
M2 Significance of interrelationships.........................................................................................4
M3 Different tactics used by organisation in order to gain business objectives.........................5
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................5
P3 Comparison of the marketing mix of McDonald's to marketing planning process...............5
M3 Different tactics to achieve the organisational goals and objectives....................................8
P4 Development and evaluation of marketing plan ...................................................................8
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Marketing is a exchanging process through which an individual or organisation obtain
there desired objective in exchange of values. In simple term we can say that marketing is a
management used by organisation in order to identify the need of customer and work for there
satisfaction in exchange of profitability (Keller and et. al., 2014). Its assorted activity which
include purchasing and selling of products from buyer or seller. Marketing essential include
many things such as advertisement, storing selling etc. In current time marketing has become
essentials need of organisation as it help in identifying the need of customer and also help firm to
recognize different opportunities existing in marketplace.
Marketing help firm to come up with a plan that help them in grabbing all the available
opportunity in market. For the present report the chosen organisation is McDonald's. Its
American fast food restaurant. Its one of the largest restaurant chain covering more than 100
countries all over the world. The net income of company is more than US$4000. The current
report will discuss the basic concept of marketing and its role in organisation. It also divulges
into different marketing strategy used by McDonald's in order to maintain stability and
profitability in market.
TASK 1
P1 Key roles and responsibilities of the marketing function
The main function of marketing is to promote the mission and business of
organisation. The main job of marketing is to present the name of firm in positive light for this it
reaches out to different stake holders of company such as consumer, investors community etc. to
create an overarching image (Łopaciuk and Łoboda, 2013) It acts as the presentor and face of
organisation. Marketing and advertisement is first way through which firm communicate with
there customer.
It has different function in organisation.
Distribution
Distribution strategies are made by department to determine the way through which
consumer can get there product. It involves two steps how and where. How and where can
consumer obtain the product of company (Armstrong and et. al,. 2015). If it's a small company
than you can directly deal with them. It not possible for such a big enterprise to directly
communicate with customer at such time local distributor is the best way to sell there product
1

this method is also cost efficient. Its good to have a great idea but its all useless if firm can't
make there product reach the customers.
Financing
For big business operation its necessary to have continuous flow of revenue. Marketing
help firm in proving that flow which help them in investing in various new operation. A good
marketing strategy require coming up with way which help them in creating money. This may
include different investment, loan, advertising your products etc. Other than this marketing also
help in securing long term profit by gaining customer loyalty, it also open new way for revenue
by different product development programme. Its important to take money to make money.
Market information management:
Marketing research help you in understanding the need and changing preference of
customer. Having proper research help firm in many ways. There are various way through which
the organisation can collect this information such as collecting data from sales department,
surveys using market research firm, through company website. It can also ask feedback from
there customer. This information help in identifying the needs of consumers which help
organisation to choose there target group which will enhance entity profitability.
Pricing
Selecting a perfect price of a product is quite difficult. Marketing department have to
come up with a price which is not only satisfied customer but also bring profit for organisation.
Pricing play important part in the success of product in market. Before deciding the price many
things are needed to kept in mind such as competitors and price they are offering for similar
products (Huang and Sarigöllü, 2014). Strong price competition is one of the barrier that this
department have to cross for effective working. To solve this problem McDonald's need to find
supplier who can provide them with good material at low cost. This will reduce the cost of
business operation and will remain profitable.
Product and Service Management
Marketing department analyse the need and changing perception of consumer which help
firm in producing the product which satisfy there client. It also provides its valuable input on
how the services of firm can be improved. For e.g. in current time consumer demand that
employee treat them with utmost respect and listen to them. Marketing department pass this
2

information to employee that interact with client on daily basis. This will help McDonald's in
enhancing the customer satisfaction. It also identifies different opportunity through which firm
can launch there product in new market or sector.
Promotion
Promotion helps in increasing the visibility of the products and company itself. It helps
in attracting new consumer and retaining there existing consumer with the help of advertisement.
It also helps in channelling company's views to consumer in changing market (Star, 2011)
Selling
Selling and marketing are interlinked and work as complementary function. Marketing
department of McDonald's help sales representatives in increasing there sales by creating
awareness and preference of people regarding there product. It also creates leads for the sales
team.
Illustration 1: Roles of Marketing
(Source: 7 Function of marketing 2017)
M1. Role of marketing in marketing environment
There are many roles that marketing play in order to gain stability in this ever changing
market. Marketing does proper research of market that help firm to come up with the best
strategies that help them in adapting different marketing environment.
3

P2 Roles and responsibilities of the marketing in wider organisational context.
Business entity is made of various department which have their own organisational
function in order to attain there goals and objectives its require that this all department come
together and work in harmonious way. A firm has many departments such as Administration,
financial, human resource management, sales etc. Marketing department to complete its function
require working with different department of organisation (Campbell and Martin, 2015).
Marketing department of McDonald's have to work with many other department to carry
out it roles and responsibilities
Sales and operational department: To provide the best product to there consumers which satisfy
there need and increase the sales of company require proper research. Marketing department of
firm conduct this research through various way and provide the information to operational and
sales team. This help Firm in identify there target which lead to more profitability.
Finance Department: Marketing department is required to make close connection with finance
team of McDonald's as they are responsible for all the funds that pass for different activity of
firm. Marketing department is required to plan different market strategy on the basis of funds
that are provided by finance department (Huang and Sarigöllü, 2014)
Marketing and distribution department: Distribution department of McDonald's work together
with the marketing department of entity as marketing department help them in choosing perfect
location that can provide them with great visibility and great target market.
Other than above mentioned there are other departments of firm that work together with
marketing department to carry out various function like ICT department, administrative
department, customer service department etc.
M2 Significance of interrelationships
Interrelationship plays significant role in the functioning of firm. McDonald's have strong
Interrelationship among different department which help them in efficient and smoother working
and building strong image in market.
Interrelationship has many benefits
 Promoting this activity in different department of firm help them in developing trust
among different division.
 It helps in creating healthy work environment (Kelle and et. al., 2014)
4

 Promoting interrelationship help firm in developing good relationship among the staff
and also help in delivering best services to there customer.
 Different department of organisation work in harmonious way enhance the overall
efficiency of firm
 It also works favourable in minimizing the conflicts and creating strong bond and
understanding in different departments.
M3 Different tactics used by organisation in order to gain business objectives.
Strategy: To achieve there goals and Objectives the first thing that McDonald's do is that it come
up with the best potential strategy that can aid them in attaining maximum success and achieving
there goals. Through great strategy firm can identify an area with great opportunity that can
enhance the market share of company.
Identifying threats: Threats can have major impact on the function of organisation. For
successful competition of task its necessary for organisation to come up with different way
through which they can tackle these problems and can put there the best foot forward.
Maintaining customer relationship: Firm is required to work for the customer satisfaction in
order to gain profitability. Marketing department to maintain healthy relationship provide there
customer with the best services and information. All the information regarding any new product
or services are delivered to customer so that it can enhance the customer base of company.
TASK 2
P3 Comparison of the marketing mix of McDonald's to marketing planning process
McDonald's planning process for its marketing mix in order to achieve the objectives of
the organisation are as follows:
 Product: The target market that McDonald's target and the products that they produce are
equally important for them. They produce wide range of products and services that
includes variety of foods to satisfy the needs of customers and attract new customers for
their products. Their product is different from others and generate unique ideas so that
they are able to attain the interest of others in their product. It is the main element for the
success of any company. McDonald's focus on the quality of their product so that they
can gain competitive advantage in the market and increase their demand. They offer
products that matches with the values and beliefs and different cultures of people(Parlan,
Kusumawati and Mawardi, 2016).
5

 Price: The role of price in the marketing mix is also a key element as it focuses the entire
success of the product and demand in the market. McDonald's has been providing
products at affordable cost that increases the interest of every individual. The countries
economic condition is also an issue to price the product. However, in accordance with
the quality of the product these prices are set and is charged from the people that shows
the purchasing power of individuals. McDonald's is among the leading food product and
so it has developed its criteria to make prices effectively and are generally affordable for
every class and creates a huge difference for its substitutes(Shah and Mujtaba, 2016).
 Place: McDonald's has carried out its business by the means of franchise and is located at
many places and attracted many customers. Its location is an important factor for the
success of its business, as it reaches to every one and is convenient. The place of setting
up the business is as essential because it focuses on the company's evaluation and it
increases the profit and market share. They have targeted the group of customers and
according to their criteria set up business on those places.
 Promotion: McDonald's have been promoting their business and enhancing their revenue
in order to achieve effectiveness. It has always been effective in attracting the interest of
individual and they have emphasis in their activities of promotion and therefore have
made it a point to attract large market. The promotional events can be on social media as
it is more effective nowadays in reaching larger customers at the same time. However, it
is an expensive means but an effective promotional event helps in attracting customers
and offers benefits to a greater extent.
 Physical evidence: This is the most effective factor for McDonald's as the physical
resemblance of the product is most important for the product (Elements of the marketing
mix. 2014). They have open design to attract customers, their kitchens are transparent
and they provide transparency in their work. Their idea is to make clear picture of the
companies profile and attain the interest of many customer's. Physical evidence gives
them a chance to enhance their business in the targeted market. They can start interesting
events so that it helps them to attract customers in their business(Srinivasan, Rutz and
Pauwels, 2016).
 People: The marketing mix plays vital role for the targeted audience. McDonald's makes
product for the people they wish to target and in the same context they deliver to attract
6

the people by keeping in mind their choices and preferences. The people also implies for
the employees working in the company so to take care of their interest is also their
responsibility. They also focus to make efforts in enhancing the skills, attitudes and
behaviour of the employees and deliver the product with great effectiveness. They also
make an effort to provide quality services to the targeted customers and to have
satisfaction in their customer demands.
 Process: McDonald's need to adopt advance and latest technology so to increase the
efficiency in manufacturing products and delivering the products as soon as possible.
Their process is to deliver quality products and services to their customers with greater
effectiveness. Moreover, this process of taking care of customer's need assist them to
attain maximum profits by enhancing their interest and purchasing products repeatedly.
The competitors of McDonald's also makes an effort to deliver quality services by targeting the
same audience McDonald's is targeting. Their competitors such as Burger King is also dealing in
the segment and trying to attract customer taste and preference with a range of products.
Therefore, to survive and attain the leading position in the market McDonald's need top
formulate their strategy and different their range of products for the targeted customers in
addition to gain benefits that other competitors cannot provide. The business need to have a
different image other than their competition by providing high quality products that attracts the
taste and preference of the customersTelang and Deshpande, 2016). This is the major reason
which has to be accomplished because the company has the highest number of customers and
need to maintain their interest. But in order to maintain their customer interest they need to have
a complete knowledge about the competitors targets and the range of products they deliver.
McDonald's has a variety of products and has maintained a long run in the fast food business but
the competition has increased and they need have different ideas and innovations and emphasis
over its procedure. Burger King has also decreased its price at various times to give competition
to their competitor but the interest of people is crucial whether they need to change their interest
or not. The promotional events between both the products and their marketing techniques has
provided a great awareness among their buyers. Burger King also focuses on the promotional
events and enhancing the skills and public relation and advertisement and selling of their
products. These techniques are very useful in attracting the customers and encouraging them to
buy the products and thus develop the competition for McDonald's. Their product differentiation
7

is also an important factor where they attract customers by providing products at affordable
prices and attracting customers and develop competitiveness between the substitutes.
M3 Different tactics to achieve the organisational goals and objectives
The organisation needs to develop its techniques for increasing the sales of the company
and enhancing their business strategies with the help of marketing mix. Here are the tactics that
they have used to achieve their organisational goals and objectives.
 Different products and quality services- They have taken complete care about keeping
their product different from other and providing quality services that has enhanced the
customer interest and loyalty for the product which allow them to have advantage in the
market.
 Pricing of the product- Price is the critical part of the marketing mix and company has
utilised it effectively and they have chosen the right price for the product or services and
attract customers to buy their product.
 Position advancement- The position of the company in the market has maintained them
the competitive advantage in the market. They have utilised their position effectively and
that has helped them to achieve success in the business. This has often refereed to the
distribution of position in the market to attract customer and develop customer relation in
the market.
 Promotional events- The promotional events has helped them to gain success in the
business and this has also made a greater impact on the people or the targeted market.
The promotion is all about targeting customers so to achieve great success in the
business. These small advertisement has allowed many companies to succeed in the
business world. By a good promotion companies can achieve their desired goals and
objectives easily.
P4 Development and evaluation of marketing plan
 McDonald is a well known brand of hamburger and the fast food restaurant chain
which was founded 1940 in California and was established in UK since 1974. It the
leading global retailer of food products with over 36000 outlets in 100 countries (EDibb
and Simkin, 2013). The important aspect of the McDonald is that the more than 80% of
the restaurants are owned by independent business men. There are various services which
8

are provided by the McDonald to attract the customers such as Better quality products at
reasonable price, Attractive and variety of products, packing facility etc.
 Marketing Objectives
 There are various objectives which are to be accomplished for the purpose of marketing
and promotion of the products of the McDonald. These objectives are described below:
 To provide satisfaction to the customers by providing the products as per the preference.
 Providing better services to the customers in comparison to the competitors ( SPACE and
SPACE, 2015).
 To increase the reputation of the brand and attract the people of different countries.
 To explore new restaurants and maintain the situation of growth in the market.
Swot analysis
Swot analysis help organisation in identifying there internal strength and weakness and
external opportunity and threats that help organisation to come with the best strategic plane that
can be beneficial for them to found stability in this ever changing market.
Strength
 Company is able to earn brand name that help them in successful advertisement and
entering in new market.
 The Largest fast food market share.
 Targetting market childrens.
 Company collaboration with the coke is one of its strongest point it helps firm in market.
It also aids in gaining better visibility (Parlan and et.al., 2016).
 Company has strong financial department which help them in investing better places.
 Specialize training are given to employee so that they can provide best services to clients. McDonald's has accepted Multi domestic approach such as McCafe, P'tit plaisir parfait
etc.
Weaknesses
 Unhealthy food image has created negative impact on marketing and sales of company
 Company is suffering from high employee turnover which also include management.
9

 There is no place for creativity or innovation in firm (Srinivasan, Rutz and Pauwels,
2016). Company is still not producing organic product which affect negatively on organisation.
 Opportunities
 Great chance of success with the expansion to Asia such as India and Chine
 Potential in attracting new customer with different class Franchise sale can also be in the benefit of company.
 Threat
 Conflicts between franchisees and McD will have adverse effect on the organisation and
it sale as there will be no more franchise sales (Telang and Deshpande, 2016).
 Loss of market share.
 Increasing awareness in health and company still not investing in organic products will
be the biggest threat.
PESTLE analysis Political : McDonald's consider the impact of political environment on its industry. The
opportunities to expand it business based on improved international trade, which can
enhance global supply chain. The productivity based on the external factors of increasing
business automation. Company has the opportunities to address all the external factors
affecting the sales of the organisation (Garrigos-Simon, Lapiedra Alcamí and Barberá
Ribera, 2012). The health and safety of the employees and the customers by providing the
fresh and desired food by the customers of the organisation . Economic : the company get the opportunities to grow, even slowly, in the American
economy, which is the firms the biggest market. The slowdown of the value of the
organisation will affect the country's economic condition.
 Environmental : to reach the higher range of performance in addressing the demands of
the customers according to the climate and the availability. The external factor helps to
corporate the social responsibilities of the firm towards the customer for their negative
and positive impacts ( Thackeray, Neiger and Keller, 2012). The customer prefer low
calories, fat free food which MacDonald's does not provide and is a major threat for the
organisation to let over come its competitors in market (Al Muala and Al Qurneh, 2012).
10

The organisation should provide healthy food products to beat its customers and to
remain in the market, should over come its all the health issues and starts providing
healthy and calories free food to retain its customers and to make new. Social : based on the external factor of the widening wealth gap, McDonald's has the
opportunities to grow because the company target consumer are mostly from medium and
low income household ( Getz, 2012). Legal : McDonald's faces the threat of higher minimum wages, which lead to higher
costs and prices that the local health regulations impact to the food services in the
organisation (Tian and Borges, 2012). It helps to generate the revenue and affects the
supply chain of the organisation.
 Technical : the organisation McDonald’s can apply more automation to maximize
productivity, based on the external factor of increasing business automation (Granitz and
Koernig, 2011). Moreover, McDonald’s can improve its mobile services to tap more
consumers via its website or mobile app.
CONCLUSION
In this report, it is summarized that the McDonald's is a major fast food chain which
provides wide variety of products to the customers. It has a good brand reputation in the market
and they have applied various marketing strategies to increase the sales. Apart from this, it is also
analysed that marketing plays an important role in increasing the sale of products and services of
the organization. In international market the demand of customers changes rapidly with the
change in prices of products and services. Competitors marketing mix is taken in to
consideration to compare to know the effectiveness of the policies of the McDonald's. Evaluation
of the marketing is accomplished for the achievement of marketing objectives.
11

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Keller, A. A., and et.al., 2014. Release of engineered nanomaterials from personal care products
throughout their life cycle. Journal of nanoparticle research. 16(7). pp.2489.
Łopaciuk, A. and Łoboda, M., 2013, June. Global beauty industry trends in the 21st century. In
Management, Knowledge and Learning International Conference (pp. 19-21).
Armstrong and et.al,. 2015. Marketing: an introduction. Pearson Education.
Huang, R. and Sarigöllü, E., 2014. How brand awareness relates to market outcome, brand
equity, and the marketing mix. In Fashion Branding and Consumer Behaviors (pp. 113-
132). Springer New York.
Star, S. L., 2011. Feminism, grounded theory, and situational analysis revisited. Handbook of
feminist research: Theory and praxis. pp.388.
Campbell, R and Martin, C., 2015. Media essentials: A brief introduction. Macmillan Higher
Education.
Dibb, S. and Simkin, L., 2013. Marketing essentials. Cengage Learning.
SPACE, R. and SPACE, E., 2015. THE ROLE OF E-MARKETING IN ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT. Asian Journal of Multidimensional Research. 3(8).
Parlan, A. V., Kusumawati, A. and Mawardi, M. K., 2016. THE EFFECT OF GREEN
MARKETING MIX ON PURCHASE DECISION AND CUSTOMER
SATISFACTION (Study on Independent Consultant of JAFRA Cosmetics Indonesia in
Malang). Jurnal Administrasi Bisnis.39(1). pp.172-178.
Shah, S. and Mujtaba, B. G., 2016. Contemplations for Opening the First McDonald’s Restaurant
Franchise in the IT Capital of India’s Bangalore. International Journal of Marketing
Practices.3(2). pp.33-46.
Srinivasan, S., Rutz, O. J. and Pauwels, K., 2016. Paths to and off purchase: quantifying the
impact of traditional marketing and online consumer activity. Journal of the Academy of
Marketing Science.44(4). pp.440-453.
12

Telang, A. and Deshpande, A., 2016. Keep calm and carry on: A crisis communication study of
Cadbury and McDonalds. Management & Marketin.11(1). pp.371-379.
Garrigos-Simon, F.J., Lapiedra Alcamí, R. and Barberá Ribera, T., 2012. Social networks and
Web 3.0: their impact on the management and marketing of organizations. Management
Decision. 50(10). pp.1880-1890.
Thackeray, R., Neiger, B.L. and Keller, H., 2012. Integrating social media and social marketing a
four-step process. Health promotion practice. 13(2). pp.165-168.
Getz, D., 2012. Development, and Marketing. Sport and adventure tourism, p.49.
Granitz, N. and Koernig, S.K., 2011. Web 2.0 and marketing education: Explanations and
experiential applications. Journal of Marketing Education. 33(1). pp.57-72.
Al Muala, A. and Al Qurneh, M., 2012. Assessing the relationship between marketing mix and
loyalty through tourists satisfaction in Jordan curative tourism. American Academic &
Scholarly Research Journal. 4(2), p.1.
Tian, G. and Borges, L., 2012. The effectiveness of social marketing mix strategy: Towards an
anthropological approach. International Journal of Business Anthropology. 3(1). p.102.
Online
7 Function of marketing 2017. [Online]. Available through: <https://www.lamarketing.net/9-
steps-building-marketing-plan/> . [Accessed on 17th October 2017].
Elements of the marketing mix. 2014. [Online]. Available through:
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/business/marketing/marketingmixrev1.sht
ml> . [Accessed on 17th Oct 2017].
13