Marketing Essentials Report: Marketing Mix and Strategies

This report delves into the core principles of marketing, utilizing McDonald's as a case study to illustrate key concepts. It begins by defining marketing functions and their responsibilities within an organization, emphasizing their role in identifying and satisfying customer needs. The report then explores how marketing is intertwined with other departments, such as finance, sales, HR, R&D, and operations, highlighting their interdependencies. A significant portion of the report is dedicated to the marketing mix, detailing how organizations use it to achieve business objectives, and comparing McDonald's and Burger King's approaches to product, price, place, and promotion. Finally, the report examines McDonald's marketing plan, providing a comprehensive overview of the company's strategies and their effectiveness.

Marketing
essentials

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK1.............................................................................................................................................1
P1: Explain the roles and responsibilities of marketing functions with respect to any
organisation..................................................................................................................................1
P2: Define the roles and responsibilities of marketing and how it is related to the organisation's
environment.................................................................................................................................3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................5
P3: The ways in which organisations uses marketing mix for the achievement of the business
objectives. Define with comparison. ...........................................................................................5
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................9
P4: Examine the basic market plan of an organisation. ..............................................................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Marketing is described as a function of management, used to perform the duties and
responsibilities related to the promotion and distribution of a product and service (What Is
Marketing? 2019). For example delivered the message and all informations related to the product
and service to customers in order to create the desire of buying.
McDonald corporation is fast food company of America. The company is founded in
1940 as a restaurant by Richard and Maurice. The headquarter of the company is located in
Chicago, United states. Chicken products, hamburger, cheeseburger, soft drinks, break fast items
are the key products of McDonald's.
In this report key responsibilities & roles of marketing functions and how it is related to
the environment of organisation in respect to McDonald's can be introduced. The ways in which
organisations apply marketing mix for accomplishment of business goals also explained with a
comparison between McDonald's & Burger-king. Marketing plan of McDonald's also introduced
in this report.
TASK1
P1: Explain the roles and responsibilities of marketing functions with respect to any organisation.
Marketing functions includes all the activities from identifying the needs and wants of
customers and satisfying them (Grimmer, 2018). It is an important function of management that
performs all the responsibilities needed for the growth of the organisation. Following are the
activities involve in marketing functions;
Identifying the needs:-
customer is the king of the market and without identifying the needs and wants of a
customer, it is not easy for any business to survive for long. Identifying the needs, wants &
desires of customer is the first step for any organisation. McDonald's constantly investing on
research and development department for identifying and understanding the expectations of
customers.
▪ Planning:-
The next responsibility of marketing function is to develop a marketing plan. Planning
includes the steps from identifying the objectives of business and then setting timeline for the
achievement of these objectives & planning the marketing strategy as per the objectives. The
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main objective of McDonald's is to provide value added services in a friendly environment for
maximise the sale.
▪ Developing the product:-
Another important function of marketing apartment is to develop the product which suits
the desires of customer. The design, quality, cost, reliability & durability etc. are the factors
considered under product development. In terms of McDonald's making modifications in their
existing products with considering the nutritions, taste, proteins, hygiene in their products.
4. Grading and standardisation of product:-
Standardisation means to ensure the uniformity in the design and quality of all products.
Grading is the method used to classify the products as per the similarity in their quality and
features. McDonald's categories its products like veg and non-veg.
5. Labelling and packaging:-
When the product is made and standardised the next responsibility of marketing is to
done labelling and packaging of product in an impressive way to attract the customers.
Packaging is not only done for avoiding the breakage and damage of goods in the movement and
storage, but also done as an promotional strategy. Label is the slip considering all the
informations related to the product and producer. McDonald's uses attractive and impressive
packaging with using the brand name on its products packages.
6. Branding:-
A brand name is the unique identity of a product, used to recognize of a particular
company or organisation's product (Holbrook, 2018). McDonald's ensures to make specific
positions in the market and has made a unique brand reputation in order to recognise its
products.
7. Pricing:-
Another important function performed by marketing is to set the appropriate prices for
products. The price of a product is affected by many factors such as- governmental policies,
competitors prices, manufacturing cost, profit rate etc. McDonald's uses nominal prices in order
to increase sale as much as possible, which results in increasing profits.
8. Promotion:-
Promotion is also an important function of marketing. Promotion functions of marketing
involves delivering the message & information about the product to the customers and encourage
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them to buy. McDonald's uses advertisement, sales promotion and personal selling techniques to
promote its products.
9. Physical distribution:-
Physical distribution of product is also an important function of marketing plays crucial
role in accomplishment of organisational goals. Decisions related to the order processing,
transportation of goods, warehousing & inventory are taken in this function of marketing.
McDonald's uses different strategies for different countries like provides home delivery in some
countries. Distribution channel of McDonald's is very extensive.
10. Warehousing:-
There is a time gap between the production and consumption of goods and products and
it is very important of any organisation to keep goods & products at a safe place (Hanzaee,
Sadeghian and Jalalian, 2019). Thus, warehousing and storing goods at a safe place like go-
downs are very important function of marketing. Storage and warehousing is very important for
the smooth flow of goods. McDonald's ensures the smooth flow of goods & minimal wastage of
goods.
Different functions of marketing plays vital role in the achievement of business
objectives. McDonald's uses effective research and development techniques to know the
expectations of customers and constantly taking initiative in innovations and modifications in
existing products to meet customer's expectations. McDonald's uses low pricing strategy and
high quality products & effective promotion tools. McDonald's has the provision of impressive
and attracting branding & packaging, effective warehousing centres.
P2: Define the roles and responsibilities of marketing and how it is related to the organisation's
environment.
Marketing, is used to convey the message or information about a product and service &
promoting it in front of customers to create the need or desire. Marketing is the important
function of management linked with other departments of the organisation. Responsibilities of
marketing involves identifying customer needs, making plans, product development, branding &
packaging, distribution & warehousing (HR, and Aithal, 2020). The marketing department of any
organisation is interlinked with other departments. Marketing helps in identifying the required
information for other departments of the organisation. The relation of marketing function with
other departments of McDonald's can be introduced by following points;
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 Marketing with finance:-
The finance department of any organisation ensures the short term and long term sources
of funds to fulfil the requirement of the business needed in accomplishment of organisational
goals (Hair Jr, Page and Brunsveld, 2019). There is a co-relation between the finance and
marketing departments of any organisation. Finance involves the long-term & short-term fund
required for the operation of the business. Marketing department acquire the money for the
development and promotion of product. In terms of McDonald's there is a effective relation
between marketing and finance department. For example if company requires fund for the
innovation and modification of existing products the finance department of company is
responsible to fulfil the required demand of finance. The finance department of McDonald's
plays important role in the advertisement and promotion of the products and services.
 Marketing with sales department:-
The sales department is responsible for the building the trust and loyalty among
customers in order to achievement of ultimate goal of the business (Cluley, 2018). Marketing
department of any organisation plays important role in the increment of sales. McDonald's is
sales oriented and the ultimate goal of the company is to increase sales as much as possible.
Marketing department plays crucial role in generating sales through effective and impressive
promotional tools. Thus, the marketing department of McDonald's is co-related with its sales
department.
 Marketing with HR department:-
The HR department of any organisation is responsible for the recruiting and selecting
employees and then give them training & development for maintaining the effectiveness and
efficiency in the production process of goods and products (Ganjre, 2019). There is a effective
relationship between the marketing and hr department of McDonald's. For example if
McDonald's required new staff then the marketing department plays a role in the promotion and
communication of these vacancies to general people. Then the hr department provide the training
for these employees. Thus, there is a co-relationship between marketing and hr department of
McDonald's.
 Marketing with research and development:-
The research and development department of an organisation is responsible for the
innovations and technological advancement. It is the responsibility of research and development
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department to maintain the innovation and technology in their operation. Marketing department
helps the organisation in identifying the needs of customers. In McDonald's there is an effective
relationship between marketing and R&D department. For example marketing department of
company identifying the needs of customers i.e. home delivery of products. Then the research
and development department ensures the fastest technology in home delivery services.
 Marketing with operation department:-
The operation department of any organisation performs the administrative function which
helps in designing, re-designing and controlling the production process of goods and services.
Operations management manages the entire process of converting the inputs such as-raw
material, labour and energy into outputs in the form of goods and services (Malik, 2019). The
marketing department of McDonald has good relationship with its operations & administrative
department. For example marketing department of McDonald's conducts the surveys in order to
identify customer's preferences and then operation and production department produces the
goods as per the requirements of customer. This shows the effective relationship between
marketing and operation department of company.
TASK 2
P3: The ways in which organisations uses marketing mix for the achievement of the business
objectives. Define with comparison.
Marketing mix is defined as the method of promoting and communicating the product
and service in the market to create the desire in minds of customers (Marketing Mix, 2020).
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All the elements of marketing mix are combinedly known as 7 p's, are the essential foundations
for any company. 7P's of marketing mix in terms of McDonald's as compared to burger king can
be introduced by following points:
Basis of comparison McDonald's Burger-king
Product McDonald's offers different
varieties with better quality in
their product range like
cheeseburger, double
cheeseburger, vanilla cone,
vanilla shake, egg Mc muffin,
egg white delight Mc muffin
etc. thus, the product strategy
of McDonald's in marketing
mix helps the company to take
On the other burger-king also
provides different varieties in
their product line. For example
crispy & tender chicken,
sweets, French fries, soft drink
and coffee, kids meals etc. The
quality of food offering by
burger-king is lower as
compared to McDonald's.
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Illustration 1: Marketing Mix, 2018.
Source: Marketing Mix, 2018.

competitive advantages over
its competitors.
Price The price strategy of
McDonald's restaurants is little
differ from each other and
based on the demand of the
food (Perreault, 2018).
McDonald's uses value pricing
strategy in this element of
marketing mix. Prices are set
as per the suitability of local
market which helps in
increasing profit.
While, Burger-king adopted
competitive pricing strategy
for its products and services.
burger-king also uses the
strategy of psychological
pricing $0.99, $5.49 etc. due to
competitive pricing strategy
company not permit to set its
prices too high or too low from
its competitors.
Place The distribution strategies of
McDonald's differ from
country to country. For
example McDonald offering
home delivery services for few
countries. McDonald uses
intensive distribution by
availability of 24 hours in a
day, which leads towards
rising of sale and profit.
On the other hand burger-king
uses 'just eat' concept of fast
home delivery through the
partnership with Uber eats in
order to serve its customers
throughout the US. The
distribution strategy of burger
king, is to open more
restaurants all over the world.
Promotion McDonald's uses newspapers,
magazines, TV, internet in
their promotional strategy to
advertise its products in front
of customers for increasing the
sale and profit of the company.
On the other hand Burger-king
focuses on creativity rather
then high investment on
advertisements. Burger-king
also uses social media
marketing, print
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McDonald's restaurants also
uses the discount coupons, free
samples as a tool of sales
promotion in order to increase
sale.
advertisements and personal
selling technique to encourage
customer for buying additional
items from the menu in its
proportional strategy.
People McDonald's invested huge
amount every year on the
training and development of its
employees in UK. For the
growth of the business, it is
important to understand the
needs of customers as well as
employees in this element of
marketing mix.
On the other hand burger-king
focuses on team work and has
a partnership with beastly, who
supports in training sessions of
employees through videos.
Burger-king uses the effective
training and development
strategies for this element of
marketing mix.
Process Process element of marketing
mix is related to the activities
carry out into achieve
something (Chernev, 2020).
McDonald's handle many
activities in order to deliver its
products to end users. For
example food Preparation, no
limit for order processing from
consumers, waiting time of
customers for delivery etc.
On the hand burger-king
manages many activities in the
process element of marketing
mix. For example visible food
preparation, taking care of
hygiene & proper arrangement
of sitting space for customers,
home delivery of products in
some countries only.
Physical evidence This element of marketing mix
is related to the physical
environment of McDonald's
restaurants experienced by the
customers and guests.
While, burger-king's physical
environment includes
attractive interiors, logo,
napkins, drink cups, staff
aprons etc. burger-king
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McDonald's restaurant's
physical environment is
impressive because of its
attractive interiors and
cleaning & hygiene functions
of organisation.
launched '2020 garden grill'
concept of restaurant is also
considered in impressive
physical environment.
Therefore, different strategies are used by companies as per the suitability in their
marketing planning process. McDonald is famous for the different varieties in products, higher
quality, high investment on promotion and people. While, Burger-king is famous for the
effective pricing, creative promotions, impressive physical environment.
TASK 3
P4: Examine the basic market plan of an organisation.
Marketing plan is explained as a document containing all the informations related to the
tools and techniques, budget, policies that performs crucial role in reaching the goals of business
(Wu and Li, 2018). Marketing plan is a needed document for the implementation of actual
process. In terms of development of new product the marketing plan of McDonald's can be
explained as follows;
Objective of marketing plan:-
The objective of market plan is a short term goal, helps in reaching the long-term
business objectives. The objective for McDonald's is to gain 30% sale in a fixed time of 6 month
on its new product ice-cream.
Segmentation:-
The term segmentation is used to divide large market into sub-groups. In terms of new
product development by MacDonald the segmentation is done on the basis of age of customers &
income level of people.
Targeting:-
Targeting is used to divide customers into smaller groups in order to focus on a specified
group. In terms of McDonald's wants to introduce ice-cream in its product category, the target
customers of McDonald are kids and females between the age of 5-40.
Positioning:-
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Positioning is the situation, where product is stored in the minds of customers and the
information, why it is differ from others is also loaded. In terms of McDonald the main focus
should be on different flavours, good quality and favourable prices.
Swot analysis of McDonald:-
Swot analysis is a method of analysing the internal strengths & weaknesses of company
and opportunities & threats from the external market (Festa and et. al., 2016). In respect of
developing and introducing a new product, the swot analysis of McDonald explained as follows;
McDonald
Strengths Weaknesses
 The biggest strength of McDonald is its
food product line. Different varieties in
products are offered by McDonald's,
increasing the sale of the company.
 McDonald uses health nutritions to
maintain the high quality in its
products, leads to increasing customers.
 High investment on promotional and
distribution activities.
 Large employer base through good
training and development techniques.
 Larger satisfaction of customers leads
to the increment in profits.
 Large dependency on uncontrolled
franchises, who works independently
may directly affect the brand.
 Disruptions in supply chain due to high
demand , increases the expenses and
reduces the profit & revenue
 reducing the sales due to defeat in the
consumption of breakfast menu.
Opportunities Threats
 McDonald's has an opportunity to
expand and explore its business in
different countries apart from America.
 McDonald's has an opportunity to
sustain its business through constant
efforts regarding healthy offerings.
 Brand image is also an opportunity for
 High investment on technology, may
create the risk for the company.
 Competition from similar as well as
local market due to uncertainty in
choices of customers.
 Political pressure to minimise the waste
in order to reduce environmental
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