Marketing Essentials: A Comprehensive Report on McDonald's Marketing

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of marketing essentials, using McDonald's as a case study. It begins with an introduction to marketing concepts, including current and future trends, and then proceeds to outline various marketing processes such as situation analysis, marketing strategy development, marketing mix decisions, and implementation and control. The report then delves into the importance of the marketing manager's role and responsibilities within an organization, emphasizing their impact on revenue growth, market share, and profitability. It also explores how marketing influences and interrelates with other functional departments, including operations, finance, and human resources. The report defines the value and importance of marketing in the context of an organization, highlighting its role in ensuring organizational survival, growth, and reputation. Finally, the report concludes by comparing the marketing planning process to other enterprises to achieve business objectives and evaluating the basic marketing plan for McDonald's, providing a detailed overview of the company's marketing strategies and their effectiveness.

MARKETING ESSENTIALS

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
1. Introduction to concept marketing inclusive of current and future trends..............................1
2. Overview of different marketing processes. ..........................................................................2
3. Description on the importance of role and responsibilities of marketing manager in context
of organisation. ...........................................................................................................................3
4. Explain how marketing influence and interrelate with the other functional department of
organisation. ...............................................................................................................................4
5. Define the value and importance of marketing role in the context of organization................4
6. Conclusion by determine significance of effective interrelation between different functional
departments.................................................................................................................................5
7. Effective comparison of chosen marketing planning process to other enterprise to achieve
business objectives. ....................................................................................................................5
8. Evaluate the basic marketing plan for chosen enterprise........................................................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Marketing can be defined as creating, promoting and delivering goods and services to
customers and businesses. It is a process that termed out as science and art of exploring, creating
and delivering value to satisfy the wants of target market(Sheth and Sisodia, 2015). Thus,
marketing is crucial that aids to identify unfulfilled needs and desires. It is kind of business
process that works as to creating relationship with and satisfying customers. Moreover,
marketing is one of the foremost component of business management.
The present assignment will look over business activities of McDonald's, it is the world
largest restaurant chain and also best known for hamburgers, cheeseburgers and French fries.
Furthermore, this assignment will cover the following topics as different market
processes, role and responsibilities of marketing manager and how it influences and interrelate
with other functional department. Lastly, marketing plan will be framed in relate with
McDonald's to launch Healthy diet products.
1. Introduction to concept marketing inclusive of current and future trends.
The term marketing is a process that derived in which firm should analyse the needs and
make one effective rational decision in terms to beat a competitor in order to satisfying those
needs (Baser and Buchbauer, 2015). Thus, the current and future trends in marketing defined in
following manner as-
 Production concept- It is one of the most fundamental marketing concept. Thus,
managers of McDonald's puts their focus over getting high production efficiency, mass
contribution and low cost. Customers intends to get interest in low prices and product
availability and to avail them in better quality aspect.
 The selling concept- By the use of better promotion and sales techniques the firm is able
to attract the number of customers. McDonald's is taking various initiatives to promote
its brand by adopting suitable marketing opportunities that leads to perform the activities
in expertise mode.
 The marketing concept- Under this, the entity work as to select the approach that aids
to beat its competitors with help of producing quality products at reasonable prices. This
concept is based on four pillars as client needs, profitability and integrated marketing.
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 The societal marketing concept- At this entity works as to identified the wants, needs
and interest of a target market to deliver the better satisfaction efficiently more than
rivalries. Thus, production is done with consumers well being in mind.
Trends in marketing
 Relationship marketing- In this, managers need to put focus on customer satisfaction
and retention more than total sales they made. By building better relations with
customers, McDonald's leads to gain high volume of profitability (Pride and Ferrell,
2015).
 Industrial marketing- It is defined in which business sells its products to other
companies to resell it. This thing can be done in order to improve the quality by reselling
it.
 Societal marketing- It is Duty of manager of McDonald's to find out the needs, wants
and desires of a target market and to deliver the commodities that can satisfied them. It
also relates with corporate social responsibility because customers and public welfare is
essential.
2. Overview of different marketing processes
Marketing concept can be defined as to discover the unfulfilled customer need and bring
the commodities that aids to satisfy those needs (Turban, Outland and Turban, 2018.). Under this
McDonald's will formulate strategy for a value proposition and tactical decision. Thus,
marketing is a process will be defined in below context manner as-
Situation analysis- This is an analysis in which firm works as to identify opportunities in terms
to satisfy unfulfilled customer needs. Thus, McDonald's uses several frameworks to situation
analysis as-
 5 c analysis- Customers, competitors, collaborators, climate and company helps to
identify the internal working.
 PEST analysis- This term is inclusive of political, economical, societal and technical
factors. The external factor to enterprises can be examined in well manner.
 SWOT analysis- It is a framework that is useful to condense situation analysis into
identify the threats and opportunities so that things can be dealt easily. This analysis
helps in determining the internal strengths and weaknesses of firm.
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Marketing strategy- The enterprise has the best opportunity in terms to satisfy the customer
needs and to make this effective with the strategic plan for pursuing an opportunity that can be
developed (Fischinger, Seiler and Seiler, 2015). In this way, market strategy will cover the
following things as-
 Segmentation
 Targetting
 Positioning the product with a target market
 The Value proposition to target market.
Marketing mix decision- The detailed tactical decisions are to be made for controllable
parameters of marketing. Thus, its inclusive of-
 Product development
 pricing decision
 Distribution contracts
 Promotional campaign development.
Implementation and control- At this step, it is essential to find out the deviation between the
controlled and planned process. If there is any gap between it, then controlling measures must be
taken. This will be helpful in terms to get the desirable result.
3. Description on the importance of role and responsibilities of marketing manager in context of
organisation
Marketing manager has responsibility to have growth in revenue, increment in market
share and this also aids to make contribution in growth and profitability of company(Gonzalez-
Zapatero, Gonzalez-Benito and Lannelongue, 2016). Thus, roles and responsibilities has been
defined in below contexted manner as-
Defining and managing brand- The main role of marketing manager is to define and
manage brand in effective and efficient mode. Thus, McDonald's is a food retail sector and
marketing manager has core responsibilities to provide quality food products to customers. This
will be helpful in terms to enhance the brand image of the enterprise.
Market research- This is defined as a process that termed out as to gather data in terms to
people and companies in order to better understand the needs of customers. It is need that must
be conducted by marketing manager to carry out all things in proficient mode.
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Setting market strategy- Marketing manager has the responsibility for setting up the
overall plan and actions. With help of an appropriate plan the entity can be able to take the
proper action. By formulating effective strategy, the entity leads to gain the competitive
advantage.
Market research- Manager has the responsibility to undergo with research so it will be
helpful to identify the market opportunities and to gain better understanding of customer needs
(Sheth and Sisodia, 2015.). Thus, it aids to understand competitors, their strength, weakness so
that proper action can be taken to protect the business.
Communication and promotion - The marketing manager has to take various initiatives
in terms to develop communication so that product and services can be easily promoted to
customers. They must work as to plan advertisement campaigns, e-mail marketing programmes
and create promotion content. With the use of promotions it is crucial to market their products.
4. Explain how marketing influence and interrelate with the other functional department of
organisation.
Marketing plays an essential role in terms to undertake better promotional activities of
products and services within market. Without marketing firm is not able to perform its business
function in expertise mode. Therefore, the role and responsibilities of marketing function will be
defined in below context manner as-
 Operational management and marketing management- Marketing management
belongs to a wide process as it works to develop strategy and plan for product and
services. Thus, marketers has to make coordination with firm purchasing department so
that they command to production department for undertaking the production activity
(Spralls and Wilson, 2016). In addition to this, it can be stated that marketing and
operational management are two closely interrelated service areas. Marketing operations
management can be defined as an end to end marketing optimisation from planning and
budgeting. For example- Operation department of McDonald's process their function
with help of getting command from purchase department in about to undertaking the
process of production.
 Financial management and marketing management- The marketing and financial
department of McDonald's work together in order to enhance its market share. These
both departments are interrelated to each other. Thus, finance department work as to
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arrange funds to undertake a marketing process of commodities. Hence, marketing and
finance departments must work together in order to enhance its market share by
improvising the bottom line. Thus, finance and marketing departments works closely
with a marketing department in order to monitor the trends in business as well as manage
the efficiency of sales promotion initiated by marketing company. For example- The
marketing department needs to coordinate with the finance department in order to have
adequate source of funds.
 Human resource department and marketing- Human resource department and
marketing managers perform businesses function that leads to get higher productivity
and innovation. Thus, both firms are interrelated to each other and uses marketing
techniques as means of communication with the employees so that there can be
possibilities to directly promote the product and services. Thus, marketing department
informs to Human resource department about the needs of employee that can fit for
marketing position. For example- Marketing department informs to Human resource
department about the need of employees with specific skills and competencies who can
carry out business functions effectively.
5. Define the value and importance of marketing role in the context of organization.
Marketing is a crucial term that aids to promote and sell the product and services. Thus,
it can be stated that higher levels of customer satisfaction leads to have better customer loyalty
and this results in terms to have better company performance (Role of Marketing, 2018). Herein,
the product design is the kind of marketing and also aids to match the firm product and services
so that there can be better identification of customer needs.
Value and importance of marketing role:
 Ensure organisation survival growth and reputation- Marketing helps the firm to
attain its objectives because it is customers centric. It is very essential in order to satisfy
the customer beyond expectation.
 Adapting the right price- Price is a critical component in the marketing mix and it is
also helpful in order to generate high volume profitability. Thus, better strategies helps to
setting fair prices, preparing the right approaches aids to bring systematic performance to
McDonald's so that competitive advancement within market can be achievable.
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6. Conclusion on to determine significance of effective interrelation between different functional
departments
Based on the above it can be concluded that, there are various departments as a human
resource, finance, operational, the sale etc.
 The enterprise perform its business activities in an integrated manner. The finance
department will arrange the funds for undertaking marketing, operational and
manufacturing activity.
 This firm ensures to have satisfactory source of finance.
 The production, marketing and finance department commands the human resource
department to find out the suitable candidate who can fit to the assigned job. So, all
departments are interlinked to each another.
7. Effective comparison of marketing planning process to other enterprise to achieve business
objectives.
The term marketing mix can be defined as the combination of factors that is controlled
by firm in order to influence consumers to purchase the commodities. Thus, the 4ps of
marketing is consisted of price, product, promotion and place. To justify the better marketing
panning process, the entity is taking the number of initiative to develop marketing mix of
McDonald's by undertaking better comparison with KFC. Thus, it has defined in the below
contexted manner as-
Basis of comparison McDonald's KFC
Product It is leading fast food chain and
it provides hamburgers,
chicken products,
cheeseburgers and several
chicken sandwiches.
The quoted firm is a popular
fast food chain. This entity is
specialized in fried chicken.
They mainly focus over
providing quality product to
customers at reasonable price.
Thus, original product is fried
chicken nuggets and that's
flavored with secret seasoning
of 11 ingredients.
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Price The quoted firm uses the wide
range of pricing techniques to
sell their products in the
market. Thus, there are number
of strategy as value pricing,
cost plus pricing and price
discrimination etc. This firms
uses the Bundle pricing
strategy to avail the combo
offers to customers. The main
aim of McDonald's is to avail
food to customers with
competitive value driven price
(Ryan, 2016). This restaurant
set its prices on the basis of
demand based methodology.
The target audience of KFC is
mainly upper and medium
class people. Thus, KFC uses
the bundle and optional
pricing strategy. They mainly
offer customer bundle pricing
in which different products
sell together and offer the
customer at a slightly lower
price.
Place This term derived as
surrounding or the area in
which firm operates.
McDonald's have different
distribution strategies in
different countries. Thus, many
of its restaurant opens for 24
hours a day and it is an
example of intensive
distribution that means making
product avail for sales through
all possible channels.
The quoted firm uses the
combination of franchise
outlet system as well company
own outlets. Thus, there are
total of 20000 outlets and 150
country in all major cities.
This entity also provides
online channels so that they
can order their food with help
of firms website.
Promotion It is organization that uses to
perform business activities
The firm has its presence over
social networking websites
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with help of better promotional
tactics. Thus, it uses television,
newspapers, magazines and
other media outlets that aids to
communicate with its
customers. For example- this
firm uses association and
heavy promotions during
football matches and
sponsorship with different
clubs they can generate
profitability.
like Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram and YouTube. This
is also dependent over mass
media for undertaking
promotions. The chosen
enterprise uses a proper mix of
ALT, BTL and digital
channels for creating
awareness in market and take
initiatives to promote
products.
People McDonald's has the unique
way of addressing the needs of
customers and treats its
employees better manner. The
employees have their specific
dress code to follow and firms
takes initiatives to be customer
friendly, cheering and have
affection for people.
Employees are also assigned
ratings based on their decision
making process and
encouraged to take part in a
decision making process.
The enterprise as KFC
believes in promoting the
freshly made the highest
quality meals to customers at
affordable rates. Employees in
KFC works as to greet the
customers and provide proper
assistance in order to make
choices. Thus, staff of KFC
provide training so that they
can deal with customer in
friendly manner.
Physical evidence The quoted firm takes
initiatives to leave everlasting
impression at the time it comes
to physical evidences. There
The quoted firm starts to
serving the fired chicken in a
cardboard bucket. The one of
main ingredients of KFC
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are number of attributes to
physical evidence as speed of
service, quality, cleanliness and
hygiene. Its physical process
also enhanced by its
recognizable yellow “M” logo.
preparation is chicken. In
order to maintain the
transparency with customer,
they can visit the kitchens,
seen the whole process and
meet the cook.
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Process The McDonald's has improved
the cooking methods and
process used. This entity has
invested a lot into research to
have improvement in the
cooking method. Thus, they
have the use of technical
equipment for food processing
and new methods for food
packaging and distribution.
Thus, customer gets the quick
service in restaurant by having
less turn around time.
KFC has also improved
cooking method with the use
of technical advancement
tools. The customer provide
fast service within the given
time.
8. Evaluate the basic marketing plan for chosen enterpr.
ise.
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