Marketing Essentials Report: McDonald's Marketing Plan and Analysis

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of McDonald's marketing strategies, encompassing key roles and responsibilities within the marketing function and their relationship to the wider organizational context. It delves into the application of the marketing mix to achieve business objectives, illustrated through a comparative analysis of McDonald's and Burger King. The report also includes a detailed marketing plan specifically tailored for McDonald's, examining the steps necessary for launching a new product, like "McDonald's Pizza." Furthermore, it explores current and future marketing trends, the marketing process, and the application of PESTLE analysis to assess the marketing environment. The report also examines the interrelation between marketing and other departments like production, human resources, and office management, providing a holistic view of marketing's importance within a large organization. This report is a valuable resource for understanding marketing principles and their practical application in the fast-food industry, using McDonald's as a case study.

Marketing Essentials

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................3
TASK 1.................................................................................................................................................3
P1 Key roles and responsibilities of the marketing function...........................................................3
P2 How roles and responsibilities of marketing relate to the wider organisational context............5
TASK 2.................................................................................................................................................7
P3 Different ways in which organisations apply the marketing mix to the marketing planning
process to achieve business objectives............................................................................................7
TASK 3...............................................................................................................................................10
P4 Marketing plan for McDonald's................................................................................................10
CONCLUSION..................................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................................14

INTRODUCTION
Management process in which services and products are moved to customer from concept
refers to marketing. Marketing is a technique through which organisation gain growth and success.
It includes understanding of market, demands and requirements of customers, implementing
customer driven strategies and give customers quality. McDonald's is one of the leading fast food
organisation of the world. It was founded in 1940 by Richard and Maurice McDonald in America.
In this report, a discussion will take place on the roles and responsibilities of marketing for an
organisation and it's relationships with other functions of organisation. Comparison table will also
get designed between McDonald's and Burger King which shows the marketing mix of both the
organisations ( Baker and Magnini, 2016). A small discussion will also take place on the marketing
steps which McDonald's have to study before launching their “McDonald's Pizza”.
TASK 1
P1 Key roles and responsibilities of the marketing function.
Marketing : According to Lucy, Chelsey, Tanya, marketing is a process of planing and
implementing the strategies, costings, advertisements, and innovations of goods and services, which
are developed to exchange and satisfy the customer and organisations needs.
Concept of marketing: It is a strategy which is implemented by organisation to meet needs
of customers, enhance sales, increase profit and beat competition. Five marketing concepts which
organization can implement are – production concept (products which are inexpensive and available
are preferred by customers), product concept (products which offer innovative features,
performance and quality), selling concept (products which are promoted widely attract customers),
marketing concept (value is delivered to customers, their requirements are fulfilled), societal
marketing concept (focus on needs of target market and deliver services effectively).
Current and future trends: Current trends in marketing include combination of trends
which were used previously and improvement in them. Marketing methods which are used by
McDonald's are- social media marketing (advertisements are given on social media like Facebook,
Instagram and many more platforms), retargeting campaigns (campaigns are organised to attract
target segment), text message advertisement (messages are sent to individuals), targeted emails
(emails are sent to targeted segment) and internet video advertisements (videos are displayed related
with their products on internet). Technology is changing dynamically and in when product can be
formatted as per requirement of individual then it will attract large number of individuals ( Baker
and Saren, 2016). As per current scenario focus is just on certain group but in future focus must be

on single individual.
Marketing Process: Process in which opportunities present within market are analysed,
target market is selected, market mix is developed and managing marketing efforts refer to
marketing process. Steps which are involved in marketing process are described below:
 Analysis of opportunities within Market: Thorough analysis of situation to analyse
opportunities availed within market. These opportunities include wants and needs of
customers which are not effectively satisfied by competitors within market. For long run
success it is essential to identify opportunities which would enhance their performance.
McDonald's has identified potential factors by which they can enhance their business.
McDonald's has used marketing information system by which they gained information about
market ( Boschetti and Massaron, 2015). They also conducted research within market to
understand general trends, competitors and customers. After this McDonald's split the
collected information into segments and these segments are based on certain factors like
location, age etc. Potential of each segment is checked to analyse their advantage and
disadvantage. Then target market segment is selected.
 Selection of target segment: Target customers are selected, for this target markets are
analysed. An organisation cannot satisfy needs of complete market, for this segments of
market are chosen. McDonald's has performed market segmentation, market targeting and
market positioning. In marketing segmentation, whole market is divided into different
segments of customers depending on their needs and characteristics. Market targeting
involves targeted segments. Segments are selected in such a way that they will enhance
overall productivity of organisation. McDonald's has focussed on adults as they are more
keen towards fast food. In market positioning, products are positioned within minds of
customers. For this McDonald's has created clear perception of products in customers.
 Development of marketing mix: To gain certain response from customers or target segment
market mix is designed which include product, price, place and promotion ( Brady, 2014).
Marketing mix of McDonald's provides detail about products which they are offering, prices
of specific product, place includes availability of product within market and promotion
includes promotional events which are conducted to promote specific product.
 Management of marketing efforts: Marketing mix is created for target segment. Four
functions which are used by McDonald's in managing marketing efforts. They are- analysis
of market which includes internal and external opportunities and threats,marketing planning
includes strategies or plans to accomplish objectives,marketing implementation includes
strategies implemented to achieve objectiswot ofves and marketing control includes
performance of strategies, plans and their evaluation.

Roles and responsibilities of marketing manager: Marketing manager plays vital role in
planning, executing plan, pricing, promotion and distribution of services and goods. Major roles and
responsibilities of marketing manager within McDonald's are discussed below:
 Marketing Information System: It refers to gathering, sorting, analysing, evaluating
information related with decision making. Research is conducted by marketing manager
over target market to understand needs of customers. Strategies are created by manager to
gain competitive vantage within market ( Campbell, Martin and Fabos, 2018). Manger of
McDonald's determine new needs of customers and build strategies for the same. They
provide differentiation in their products as compared to what is offered by their competitors.
 Financing: Money is provided to different departments so that activities and operations
within organisation can be carried out effectively. Financial department figure out amount as
per the strategies, which are created after explanations of marketing manager. Funds are
made available by manager so that there is no delay in operations. Manager of McDonald's
prepare budget for individual department with help of financial department, so that
clarification regarding funds is known. Finance department works closely with all other
operational managers to make sure that funds are optimally utilised and there is no wastage
in any activity.
 Promotion: Activities which are carried out to attract certain number of customers towards
services and products that are being offered by organisation. Marketing manager of
McDonald's carries out promotional campaigns, advertisements in newspaper, magazines,
television and social networking sites. This acts as great source of influencer on mind of
consumers. Promotion manager has to work in accordance with finance department so as to
ensure that promotional activities do not exceed the specified budgetary limit.
 Distribution: Method in which products and services are delivered to customers. Marketing
manager of McDonald's ensure that products reaches their customers effectively and within
time. They (manager of McDonald's) ensure that services are effectively delivered to
customers.
 Product and service management: It deals with making decisions related with products
which are manufactured and how they are sold and to whom they are being sold. Manager of
McDonald's ensure that services or products are being developed, managed and marketing
mix is designed designed according to the requirements explained by marketing manager (
Cavusgil, 2014). Manager of McDonald's gather information to analyse target market and do
alteration in services as per changing needs of customers. Products are aligned as per
requirements of customers.

M1. Analyse the roles and responsibilities of marketing in the context of the marketing
environment.
For effectively analysing roles and responsibilities of marketing, a pestle analysis has been
conducted which is stated as under:
Political factors: Factors that get affected due to political situations and trends in a country
are referred to as political factors. For example, government has UK has made a law that business
concerns can expand their advertisements from 20 to 30 sec now. This proved helpful for
McDonald's as they were able to be more creative and focus on enhancement of their customer
base.
Economic factors: In currency market of UK, earlier companies had to in vest huge sums
but all a sudden value of pound deteriorated due to which funds investment of businesses became
low. Hence the money saved could be used for adopting better marketing strategies.
Social factors: In UK, laws are such that every business concern has to focus on growth and
development of society as well as their well-being. Hence, it is necessary for McDonalds to adopt
marketing strategies that are are not offensive to society or spread any incorrect values.
Technological factors: In earlier days companies focussed on personalise marketing
strategies, But with the use of technology now online advertisements have become more popular.
They also promote growth at a faster pace.
Legal factors: Laws of UK have become more flexible and friendly that help in easy
expansion of businesses. Nowadays advertisements are also protected by copyrights that protects
from frawds.
Environmental factors: It is important that environment is protected. Hence, businesses
have to now adopt business or marketing strategies that are environment friendly and do not harm
it.
P2 How roles and responsibilities of marketing relate to the wider organisational context.
Marketing is an activity and management process to exchange the goods and services to
customer for a specific price. Marketing involves practices like promotions, advertisement, and
selling of product and services to it's end users for fulfilling their needs and specifications. It is an
essential part for the organisations and plays an important role in success of any company.
McDonald is one of the leading fast food company of the world, but then also they requires
marketing for their products like advertisements, promotions, attractive offers. It will be not easy
for them to perform any of the activity individually, as the performance of each activity is
dependent to one another. Market have many inter related departments which have different
functionality, but connected to one another, such as :-

Marketing and production management – Production is a basic operation of any
organisation. Production management is planning, organization, direction, coordination, and control
of the production function in such a manner that it meets the requirements and specifications of
services and goods on right time at right cost and in right quantity ( Cleverley, and Cleverley, 2017).
Marketing is inter related to production department, as the manager of production department in
McDonald's use to consult with marketing managers and make plans and strategies about quantity
and quality of goods and services. They use that plans and strategies to decide for further directions
and meet the requirements elaborated by marketing team.
Marketing and human resource management – Human resource management refers to the
management of man power in an organisation. In simple terms it is called as maintenance of
satisfactory and satisfied employees, that is, hiring of those employees which have capability of
working and have knowledge about who to work. Manager in marketing team of McDonald's have
to communicate with the human resource manager of the organisation, about what type of man
power they will need in future to perform activities related to marketplace. They also can specify
the HRM team about any specific training and development sessions if required by the current
employees.
Marketing and office management – Office management is a process of achieving a
specific goal by proving a best office environment and methods to do work, to make best use of
personnels by using most significant machines and equipments. Office management is also related
to marketing, as the marketing manager of McDonald's will tell the office manager about the
environment which could help them to attract customer ( Hair, 2015). This also can help employees
to fulfil the requirements of the customers. They also can suggest them that, where they have to
open their stores and where to not, so that as many as customers can come to them.
Marketing and finance management – Financial management is the study of raising funds
and development of funds. Every organisation only work to generate fund so that they can increase
their business globally and can increase their probabilities. They use to design the investment
policies, methods of financing, dividend decisions for the organisation. Manager of marketing in
McDonald's can tell them about the fund they will need in future for achieving some promotional
activities and advertisements for the products and services they have provided. This will help
finance management team to make finance policies according to demand and raise fund for
marketing team.
Marketing and Research & Development management – Research and development is a
sector which use to perform researches and develop some new and innovative products and services
( Hugos, 2018). Marketing can help them, by telling them about the new trends and demands of

customers. This will help research and development department to make some innovative ideas and
encourage them to make some unique product which can increase their profitability.
From the above discussion it is clear that, each and every components of an organisation
functionality are relevant to each other and also very much dependent on one another. These all
have to be performed in a sequence so that they can help to achieve organisational goals. This
further will help the departments to make strategies according to the needs or customers and
demands of other department so that they can achieve requirements very easily.
M2 Analyse the significance of interrelationships between marketing and other functional units of
an organisation.
Maintaining an effective interrelationship between marketing and other organisational
functions is greatly importance as it enhances productivity level. Marketing department can
improve its strategies by doing a continuous research and development about current market trends.
Also, accordingly changes can be made in production process so that customer base is sustained.
TASK 2
P3 Different ways in which organisations apply the marketing mix to the marketing planning
process to achieve business objectives.
Marketing mix refers to the set of tactics or activities that a company uses in order to
promote its brand as well as product in market place. It's all about putting the right product at the
right time at the right price and a the right place. This is a part of marketing planning process that
recommend various marketing strategies to implement them effectively. Marketing mix is used by
every organisation in order to achieve success in the market. The way of using marketing mix is
different as they adopt this as per their predefined objectives ( Lane, 2015). The marketing mix
consists of 7Ps which includes product, price, place, people, process, promotion and physical
evidence. The marketing mix of McDonald is differ from its competitor Burger king, which deals in
same category. This difference can be explained better by a comparison chart, which is outlined
below:
Components McDonald Burger King
Product The McDonald first started
selling only burgers and chips,
and then they adopt the
changes in the market and
Burger King first produced
hamburgers, desserts, French
fries, milk shakes and soft
drinks. Later in 1957, it

diversified the need of
customers. This provide larger
product portfolio. This supplies
both vegetarian and non-
vegetarian products, Beverages
and frozen deserts. McDonald
has a separate cooking area
and equipments and also cares
for customers sentiments
towards religion and culture.
adopted the changes according
to customer needs and
introduced Whopper sandwich,
and many other things added
into the outlets as this was
expanded day by day
(Malhotra, 2015). Burger king
provide customer Broiled
burger and a wide selection of
foods to choose from.
Place McDonald’s have different
distributions strategies in
different countries. The
restaurant offers home delivery
in some countries. However,
this service is not available in
many countries. Many of the
McDonald’s restaurants are
open 24 hour a day. There are
approx 36,258 McDonald
restaurant in approx 119
countries. This looks for the
best locations within the
market to provide customers
with convenience.
Burger king works its business
through establishments in
around the world. Presently it
has approx 79 countries with
an estimated 13000 outlets.
Burger king is everywhere
around the globe as approx
66% of outlets are in US and
99% are being operated and
owned privately ( Pappas,
2017). This also covers India
as this is popular in all over the
world.
Price The overall aim for each
individual McDonald’s
restaurant is to provide food at
a competitive value driven
price for the customers. Prices
vary slightly between different
McDonald’s restaurants
according to a number of
factors. The food and drinks of
The combination of
competitive pricing and
psychological pricing is used
by Burger king as the prices
should be high enough so that
doubts are not raised about the
quality of their products and
low enough so that the
customers are willing to pay

McDonald are offered for
competitive prices. The prices
of McDonald are neither high
or low as they sell their
product for 99 Rs. also.
for it. This also uses
competitive pricing has the
competition is very high with
the competitor like McDonald.
Promotion McDonald uses different
methods of sales promotion
like television, newspapers,
magazines, Internet and other
media outlets to communicate
with their customers ( Pike,
2016). McDonald also offers
various discount coupons and
freebies for certain products.
Burger king uses different
ways to markets their products
like print media- newspapers,
magazines. This also organises
or sponsors different events to
reach to more customers. The
discount coupons on first visit
which help the customer base
on their second visit. This also
uses digital media and other
techniques to reach the mass.
People McDonald service to people is
slow as compared to burger
king, as they focus more on the
quality of the service than the
speed with which the dishes
are served.
The Burger king service is
faster than McDonald as this is
famous to provide the
customer with many choices
and to render quicker service.
Process This is a set of activities
performed to achieve
something. McDonald
undertakes number of activities
to deliver its products to
customers ( Pike, 2015). The
food preparation of McDonald
is completely transparent as
the whole process is visible to
customers.
Being successful in more than
approx 71 countries, burger
king has successfully
maintained its taste and
culture, customer satisfaction
and new product launches only
because of the process flow
maintained by the Burger
King.
Physical Evidence The physical evidence impacts
not only on the impressions of
The physical evidence of
Burger King is very good in

the customers, but also the way
McDonald functions.
McDonald interiors are
attractive and the restaurant
maintains clean and hygienic
interiors of its outlets.
comparison to McDonald's
physical evidence. This help
them to attract more customers
and make them able to
improve their performance and
satisfy customer needs.
M3 Evaluate different tactics applied by organisations to demonstrate how business objectives can
be achieved.
Marketing is an essential tool which helps in analysing strategies and policies that can be
framed by an organisation for achieving its business objectives. For analysis, managers of
McDonlads considered 7 p's of marketing and hence derived their objectives. As per comparison
done between Burger King and McDonald's it has been evaluated that prices of McDonald's are
quite lower as compared to other brands. Also they undertake online platforms for marketing their
products and services. All these factors together help them in achieving their business objectives.
TASK 3
P4 Marketing plan for McDonald's
Plan
A marketing plan is a document which have detail about the future strategies for one more
tasks which company is going to perform in upcoming years ( Puddle, 2015). It describes about the
steps and measures which company will have to take for implementing the marketing strategies. It
also details about the resources which are needed to achieve the goal for which strategies and plans
are designed. Following are some which are taken by managers and leaders while making plans :-
 Company overview – McDonald's is an American company, founded in 1940 as a restaurant
by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Barnardio, California, USA. The company was
started as a ham burger stand and get globalised by this product only. After it company
started adding new products like French fires, sandwiches and other products according to
the demand of the customers at a specific place. Now, they are serving about 69 million
customers daily in their approximate 36,900 outlets in around 100 countries from all over
the world.
 Vision and mission – Their vision of McDonald's is to provide their products and services in
reasonable prices with a good quality, so that the consumer from each and every group in

society can enjoy it.
 Objective – Objective of McDonald's is to make a new beverage, which will help them to
increase their product range and popularity among the peoples. They are planning to make
product i.e. “McDonald's Pizza”. In order to launch this product, McDonald's need a
SMART objective, which can make their product successful ( Purvis, 2015). This will help
them to increase their profitability and market share by 20 % till year 2020.
 STP approach – It stand for segmentation, targeting, and positioning. It is a modern
marketing approach and most commonly used model. It was introduced in 1950.
1. Segmentation – It is the process where a company use to divide their consumers in
different segments, so that they can make strategies according to it. McDonald's has
segmented their consumer into two categories demographic and geographic. This
make it easier for managers to make plans and strategies according to their nature of
needs and requirements.
2. Targeting – After segmentation, company use to chose and target the small sections
of market ( Rancati, Gordini and Capatina, 2016). This will help them to make
strategies for specific market and segment. While selecting segments managers in
McDonald's use to analyse some points like, size and growth of segment,
attractiveness and structure of segment, companies objective and resources.
3. Positioning – It is a process of making plans for promotions according to the
information gained about behaviour and nature of consumers. McDonald's has
established them in a very good condition by studding the demands and needs of
consumers very well.
 SWOT Analysis – It is a analytical tools used by the analysing teams of the company. They
generally use this tool to identify and analyse the external factors, which can help an
organisation in macro environment. In this they use to analyse the strengths and weaknesses
of an organisation, also opportunities and threats get identified. This help manager and
leaders to make future plans and strategies ( Rowley, 2016). Following table shows SWOT
of McDonald's :-
Strengths Weaknesses
 McDonald's is a one of the biggest brand
in the world for fast foods.
 They have strong financial position,
 Not able to get prime locations for their
restaurants.
 New products are not getting popular as