Marketing Essentials: McDonald's Marketing Analysis and Strategies

This report provides a comprehensive overview of marketing essentials, focusing on the key roles and responsibilities of the marketing function within an organizational context, using McDonald's as a case study. It examines the strategic aspects of marketing, including market research, product development, communication, and sales strategies. The report delves into the interrelationships between the marketing function and other departments like finance, research and development, operations, and sales, highlighting their significance for overall business success. Furthermore, it analyzes the application of the marketing mix (product, price, place, promotion) by different organizations to achieve business objectives, comparing McDonald's to KFC. The report also covers the preparation and evaluation of a marketing plan, including the application of the 7 Ps of marketing, offering insights into effective marketing strategies and their impact on business outcomes. The report examines the key elements of marketing function and how they interrelate with other functional units of the organisation. The report also includes an overview of the marketing mix and how different organisations apply it to achieve business objectives. The report emphasizes the importance of customer relationships, sales strategies, and promotional techniques in driving revenue and market share.

Marketing essentials

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................1
TASK 1...................................................................................................................................1
P1. Key roles and responsibilities of marketing function.......................................................1
M1. Roles of marketing in marketing environment...............................................................2
P2. Roles and responsibilities of marketing in relation to wider organisational context.......2
M2. Significance of interrelationship between marketing and other functional units of
organisation............................................................................................................................3
D1. Key elements of marketing function and way they interrelate with other functional units. 4
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................5
P3. Ways in which different organisations apply marketing mix to marketing planning process
to achieve business objectives................................................................................................5
M3 Different tactics used to achieve the objectives...............................................................6
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................6
P4 Preparation and evaluation of a marketing plan................................................................6
D2 Application of 7 p's in formulation of marketing plan.....................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9
.......................................................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Marketing is a very strong factor for any organisation. It is very essential for determining
success of any company. Marketing is a huge field and is required for building up a an image of
a product or services in the market (Berkowitz, 2016). Promotions of products are required in
order to make people aware of product in market. Customers play a major role in this because
every product and services are made for them only. it will be required that goods relations are
maintained with the customers as then only their loyalty will be gained that is required to ensure
the sustainability. For a company to be successful it is very essential to have better customer
seller relationship. Since customers are everything . It is seen that making new customers is
difficult as compared to retention of old customers (Wiid and Diggines, 2010). Main function of
marketing is to maintain organisation's reputation, dealing with bad press, product selling,
making customers loyal. Marketing is required everywhere and it changes whole scenario of an
organisation. It's main vision is to be the best quick service restaurant experience.
TASK 1
P1. Key roles and responsibilities of marketing function
Marketing department has the major responsibility for growing revenue and increasing
market share of organisation. It has many roles and responsibilities which are inter-connected to
each other which are defined as below:
Strategy: It includes blue print of various ideas which will result in a satisfactory output of
company. McDonald's here has good marketing techniques of giving goodies along with food for
kids (Campbell Martin, 2015). This makes kids to go to this restaurant along with their parents.
This restaurant chain is popular due to taste of food that they provide and cost in which these
products are available to them.
Research of market: It becomes very essential to do research of market in order to know
various trends going on and use it accordingly to make profits in business. Department carries
out its own research in order to know which food item is very popular in market and will
generate revenues for company (William and E Jerome, 2012). According, to study it was found
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out that youngsters like school going kids, college kids, families prefer going to this restaurant in
order to have a fun time.
Development of product: New food items that McDonald's brings in are directly dependent
upon research made by them initially (Cant, 2010). As a marketing manager it becomes essential
to market product in the right direction and make it available to right customers.
Communication skills: It is very essential in order to continue business since it requires lot of
communication skills in order to complete any task. Also, it is essential to communicate with the
customers in order to attract them towards restaurant (Raj, Walters and Rashid, 2012). These
communication can be done over the mobile phone sending SMS and other messages, radios, TV
etc. It is very essential to communicate with their employees to know about their new product
and ongoing food items.
Sales: One core function of marketing field is to increase sales of company. This is done by
making food items cheaper like McDonald's provide burgers at cheap rates. Due to this
marketing technique sales is increased tremendously. Sales is backbone of any organisation since
it generate huge revenues to company and is related to direct profit generation.
M1. Roles of marketing in marketing environment.
In the competitive environment there are various factors that are to be considered and for
that it will be required that marketing should be provided the focus (Dibb and Simkin, 2013). By
that it will be possible to face the competition in proper manner to have the advantage over the
other competitors In this the market that has not been used till now will be required to be
identified so that expansion can be achieved by the business.
P2. Roles and responsibilities of marketing in relation to wider organisational context
McDonald's has various departments and they all are interrelated to marketing function.
These departments are like:
Finance department: For any project to get completed, it is required to have a good
financial background. Without having enough fund, making the project successful is not
possible. If finance is not managed properly then no function of any organisation can work. Also,
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it can be seen that for marketing purpose, a lot of fund is required which comes from finance
department only (Ebert and et. al., 2014). It can be said that for marketing activities like for
advertising and organising promotional events, funds are required without which nothing can
happen.
Research and development department: A separate research team is established which
Conduct the research so that the taste and preferences of customers can be identified (Pike,
2015). it was found that due to the low prices increase in sales was achieved by Mc Donald.
Operations department: Marketing department is connected to operations directly. As,
operations have the duty to produce the products from inputs given to them (Ebert Griffin, 2015).
Now, it is the duty of marketing department that launch should be such by which the sales can be
increased. production department is the most important in any business so by managing the
operations in effective manner the challenges that are faced will be solved in proper manner. It
develops products which are useful for various purposes. Always remember if production is poor
then it is of no use and hence, many problems would occur in company.
Sales department: Such kind of department is the main reason of producing revenues and
profits. Marketing can always offer huge grounds for doing sales of a product. A well marketed
product always get better sales (Fader, 2012). So, it can be seen that marketing plays the major
role here in making sales possible. McDonald's sales increases tremendously during the festivals
and important functions as at time most of youngsters prefer it and is a hangout spot for them.
Big sales are required for generation of revenues for the company. It is not easy to produce such
changes and bring huge returns. It is very essential in order to have big sales team and proper
functioning have to be done about these products.
M2. Significance of interrelationship between marketing and other functional units of
organisation
Significance of interrelationship of various departments with marketing function of
McDonald’s is stated as below:
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Interrelationship of marketing with sales department: When marketing of product is
done in an efficient way then it makes a positive image of that particular product. For example:
when McDonald's had to make more sales of their French fries they added an extra ingredient in
it. This ingredient could be mixed with French fries making it more spicy and tasty
(Gummesson, 2011). Due to this new product customers were attracted to it and hence sales
increased. They did marketing by giving advertisements on television and radios.
Interrelationship of marketing with finance department: The significance of this is
that all funds required to do marketing come from finance department only (Judge and Robbins,
2015). Due to this department other tasks gets completed and are really useful. Generation of
profits and revenue collection is done by this department only. McDonald's is able to carry on
with their functions just because they have a good financial backup.
Interrelationship of marketing with human resource department: It can be seen that
human resource department is responsible for taking care of employees and the working
atmosphere of the workplace (Hagan, 2011). They select potential candidates which can perform
their jobs really well. This department is required to build up good marketing teams which will
give desired results in the future. A panel is set in order to select and hire candidates for
marketing job.
Interrelationship of marketing with production department: This is directly related
to marketing function of McDonald's. Production means development of products from inputs
given to company. More number of products can only be produced when product becomes
successful in the market (Jacobs, MacRae and Sladyk, 2014). Only after a good marketing
campaign, a product gets attention from customers. so by this the perception of the customers
will be changed. It can be seen that better marketing always lead to better results for any of the
department.
D1. Key elements of marketing function and way they interrelate with other functional units
There are various key elements of marketing function and have interrelation as follows :
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1. Product: McDonald's most popular product is burgers and French fries. Many customers
come to it just to have these food items (Kennedy and Parsons, 2014). Sales is directly affected
here and finance department makes various allocation of funds to their company.
2. Price : McDonald's food products are really affordable and carry a moderate pricing over
them. People prefer going to this restaurant since it provides value for money.
3. Place : They use their strategies strongly by preferring malls, crowded spots and localities.
Most of malls have McDonald's in them. Market is really huge in order to introduce any new
product. So, a good marketing plan is always required in order to open a new franchisee.
4. Promotion : These are done simply by bringing discounts over a month, any particular period
of time of a year. It can be seen that for promotions it is essential to market a product to it's
customers really well (Koontz, 2010). Sales and marketing are directly related here. More
number of sales means that promotions have been done in an efficient way. McDonald's
promotion strategy is simple but very effective. Constant discounts over time and bringing in
new food items again and again is their strategy to attract customers.
TASK 2
P3. Ways in which different organisations apply marketing mix to marketing planning process to
achieve business objectives.
It can be seen that various organisations have various ways of applying marketing mix
here. Some of them are being showed here :
1. Product : McDonald's has made it's menu very cautiously since there is a lot of
competition and it can be seen that potential customers focus on other products as well to
calculate where they should spend their money (Lancaster and Massingham, 2010). Sales
of products on its menu differ from time to time. KFC on the other hand has good non-
vegetarian food items. So, if McDonald's also bring in some good non-veg items then it
can beat KFC behind easily.
2. Price : If we see McDonald's food products are charged respectively lesser than KFC.
This is also an advantage for it over KFC (William, 2012). This is a great way of
attracting customers and can create a huge impact over market and is very essential.
3. Promotion : Both restaurants have different promotional strategies. It can be seen that
McDonald's also provide playgrounds in some of its restaurant which is an unique
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strategy (Peter and Donnelly, 2011). And they provide a great experience to hang out for
families and people.
4. People : They play a major role here. Every strategy is linked to retain customers and
maintain more sales. For this it will be required that the company should hire the most
qualified personnel (Lane, 2016). There are various qualities that are required to be
possessed by them in relation to marketing which will involve communication skills,
leadership skills, and should own high amount of knowledge.
5. Place: It is very important that the place should be chosen by evaluating all the aspects so
that more customers can be attracted. In order to deliver the product to the customer there
will be a chain that will be required to be followed. If the place will be selected correctly
then Mc Donald will be able to increase its sales and profits.
6. Process: In any operation there are various processes that will be required to be followed.
In case of the marketing it will be needed that audit in relation to marketing should be
performed, segmentation, competitors analysis, controlling , and monitoring are some of
them.
7. Physical Evidence: It refers to the evidence that are maintained in relation to the product
or the service that has been provided. It can be maintained in various manner such as
printed receipt. The evidence can be in many forms such as audio, visuals or any other
manner.
M3 Different tactics used to achieve the objectives.
In the business there are various tools and techniques that will be used so that all the
problems that will be arising can be solved in proper manner (Lipsman and et. al., 2012). By this
it will be possible for the company to deal with the competitors in proper way and also the
additional advantage can be taken. The targets and the goals that have been set will be achieved
as there will be stability that will be established with the use of these tactics.
TASK 3
P4 Preparation and evaluation of a marketing plan.
Marketing plan is the plan that is made by every business so that the objectives and
targets that are set can be achieved by the company (Malhotra, Birks and Wills, 2013). In the
plan there are various other elements in relation to mix that are required to be considered and
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they will be covered under this plan. The plan will be including various aspects that are provided
here under:
 In the starting all the things together with the strategies that will be required to be
followed in the creation of a plan are provided (Perreault, McCarthy and Cannon, 2010).
In this all the activities that are required to be performed in the business will be
mentioned in summarised manner.
 The main services that are provided by Mc Donald is in relation to the food so it will be
required that the quality of the food that is provided should be maintained and also proper
marketing scheme shall be established.
 In the current scenario Mc Donald is providing good services to its customers but there is
a scope for it to increase its customer base by introducing new products and services and
this will help it in enhancing its profits.
 It will be required that the external and internal environment will be analysed so that the
demands of the customers can be ascertained (Mihart, 2012). In this all the factors that
are used internally and also the role of government will be evaluated.
 In the running of a business there are various challenges that will be faced and for that it
will be required that proper SWOT analysis is conducted so that all the strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities and threats can be identified. By this measures will be
identified that can be used in the situation of threat.
 Objectives: After the analysis is conducted it will be required that objectives should be
established. In this the targets that are to be achieved in the whole economy will be
mentioned by which the profits can be maximised (Moons and et. al., 2010). The main
objective is to increase the sale of its product and this will be done by attracting more
people. It will also be needed that the food products that are provided should include
innovations and also the quality should be maintained.
 Strategy: This will be the next point in the plan in which the strategies that are to be
followed will be mentioned. They are made so that the problems that will be arising in
future can be identified and measures can be taken from the beginning so that they can be
controlled then and there only. By this the uncertainty and risk involved will be reduced.
 Segmentation and targeting: This will be the most important technique that is used by
all as in the changing environment the needs of customer also fluctuates (Nguyen and
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Simkin, 2012). So by this strategy it will be possible that whole population will be
divided into various segments on the basis of their requirements. Then the target market
among them will be selected and focus will be provided to that particular segment. After
this the plans that are formulated in this respect will be required to be implemented.
 It will also be required that budget is prepared in which the expenditure that is to be
incurred in marketing will be specified and by that total expenses will be controlled.
 All the other activities that are included in the marketing will also be controlled and
monitored on regular basis so that they can be completed effectively and efficiently.
D2 Application of 7 p's in formulation of marketing plan.
In the preparation of marketing plan it is noticed that it shall be such by which all the
objectives of the business are achieved (Ormrod, 2014). For this it is necessary that all the
elements of the marketing mix shall be included in it. This will be required to be done as these
are those parts without which it will not be possible to complete the work in proper manner. In
this the price. Place . Promotion, people and all other things will be considered so that they can
be implemented and the company can achieve overall growth and also the profitability can be
improved.
CONCLUSION
From the above mentioned report it can be concluded that in marketing there are various
roles and responsibilities that should be completed so that the objectives can be achieved and
those have been discussed in the report. For this there are many things that should be considered
and which are covered in marketing mix about which also the description is provided that what is
to be done. It has also been noted that all the strategies that are to be implemented should be
mentioned in the plan that is made in relation to marketing.
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