Marketing Essentials Report: Marketing Strategies and Evaluation

This report delves into the core concepts of marketing essentials, using McDonald's as a primary case study and comparing it with KFC. It begins by outlining the key roles and responsibilities within the marketing function, such as product management, consumer need identification, pricing, distribution, and promotional activities, and explains their interrelation within an organizational context. The report then compares how McDonald's and KFC apply the marketing mix (product, place, price, promotion, and people) to their marketing planning processes to achieve business objectives. Finally, it evaluates the basic marketing plan of McDonald's, providing a comprehensive analysis of its strategies and effectiveness. The report covers segmentation, targeting, positioning and budget allocation, and sales monitoring. The report concludes by summarizing the key findings and insights into effective marketing practices, with examples from the fast-food industry.

Marketing Essentials

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1 Explanation of key roles and responsibilities of marketing function....................................1
P2 Explanation of interrelation of roles and responsibilities with organisational context..........2
TASK 2 ...........................................................................................................................................4
P3 Comparison of ways in which different organisations apply marketing mix to marketing
planning process to achieve business objectives.........................................................................4
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................7
P4 Evaluation of basic marketing plan for an organisation........................................................7
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Marketing essentials includes advertising, publicity and the sales techniques. It is
believed that marketing begins after the product or service are designed, produced and are ready
for the sales and delivery (Shrestha, 2016). Marketing is tool that involves understanding of
marketplace, demands of the customers, building profitable relations and provide quality
amongst the customers. The companies have realised the importance of consumer relation and
they are trying to innovate good market strategies. The company selected for this project report is
McDonald's which is an American fast food company founded in 1940 as a restaurant by Richard
and Maurice McDonald. This report will mainly focuses over the role of marketing and its
interrelations with other functions of the company; the uses of market mix to achieve the
objectives. In addition to that the report will also focus on development and evaluation of
marketing plans of McDonald's.
TASK 1
P1 Explanation of key roles and responsibilities of marketing function.
The marketing functions are concerned by buying and selling of products to satisfy needs
of consumers. The key functions and roles of marketing are product management, identification
of consumers needs, pricing of the products, channels of distribution, promotional activities,
financing of an enterprise, and most important market research (Omojola, 2019). The description
of these functions in McDonald's with their roles and responsibilities are as follows:
Product Management- The items which are used to produce final goods should be
stored by company so that there is no delay in production process and distribution of goods are
done smoothly. The role of storing food items in McDonald's is that make sure that items which
are used for making burgers, french fries or any other dishes are stored in proper manner. At
same time it is responsibility of product management function to keep records of all items used
by company and store them on time so that the production process of food items is not delayed.
Identifying Consumer needs- It is necessary to identify that products provided by
company is a need for consumer or not. Were as the other situation can be to make possible for
company produce goods which have high demand in market. In case of McDonald's it is
necessary role to identify consumer needs due to change in taste and preferences as per change in
time and according to that come up with different varieties in existing food items. This needs to
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be done because the brand has global reach with high consumer base as it has been in market
from so long. This function is responsible to know the change in needs of consumers and
analysis the data of marketing strategies to know what consumers are consuming more in all over
market.
Pricing- Setting prices for the goods is really a challenging task for company's. Through
pricing function McDonald's needs to check that order of food items by consumers makes the
worth for them and at same time it is helping the brand to level up in achieving the goal of being
effective with affordable price. The pricing function is responsible for setting the price which are
not to high for consumer that food items are not being consumed or too low that brand can not
gain profits from the sale of food items.
Channels of distribution- The channels through which goods are sold by company to
people who want to its products are distribution channels. The role of distribution channel
function is important for McDonald's, as the brand not only services its consumers on its store
but also has home delivery option (Harris, Ciorciari and Gountas, 2018). So it is necessary that
channel of distribution function takes the responsibility to work properly on delivery channel of
brand which make the positive impact on the consumers. While in stores it is responsible to
make sure that the orders of consumers are fulfilled as per there demand.
Promotional Activities- To make brand similar in market, some activities like
advertisements, personal selling, publicity are done to make the consumer know about products
company provides and persuade them to buy. The role of effective promotional function in
McDonald's helps brand reach more consumer at global level. For that promotional department is
responsible to decide the best promotional mix and ensure that people doing these task have full
knowledge about all food items provided by company. This knowledge is necessary to make
consumers aware about items they will be consuming are up to the mark with good quality.
Responsibilities of marketing funciton-
 Segmentation- Segmentation refers to segmenting the market in an effective manner and
ensuring that the customers can be targeted effectively and efficiently. In the context of
McDonald's it is quite important that customers are segmented on a geographic basis
which will be thus helpful in targeting them.
 Targeting- Targeting refers to preparing a strategy to effectively target the customers.
Therefore, In the context of McDonald's it is crucial that the customers are targeted in the
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right manner so that the attainment of the goals and objectives can be made effectively
and efficiently.
 Positioning- Positioning refers to setting a position for a particular product for making it
successful in the market. Thus, for McDonald's it is important that the right positioning of
its products is done.
 Preparing a budget- Budget refers to a document in which receipts and payments are
recorded. For McDonald's it is important so that the expenses and receipts are recorded
effectively and efficiently without problems and issues.
 Monitoring sales- Sales have to be monitored by Marketing function because by
regulating sales the goals and objectives can be attained. Therefore for McDonald's it is
important that the sales are monitored properly.
P2 Explanation of interrelation of roles and responsibilities with organisational context.
To attain profitable level a firm should have coordination between the marketing
functions and other departments (Kim and Song, 2016). For this marketing manager's should
have skills of working harmoniously with the people of functional divisions which are finance,
sales, human resource, research and development, and technologies department. Interrelationship
of marketing with other divisions of McDonald's can be stated as follows:
Marketing-Finance department- Marketing department is required to interrelate with
the Finance department because the Finance department will provide the required funds to this
department for carrying out its various activities. (Sanders, Elangeswaran and Wulfsberg, 2016).
This will help the department to carry out its promotional activities also. Income statements are
the sources by which the finance team can analysis where company stands in competitive
market.
Marketing-Sales department- These factors are interrelated to each other as plans of
marketing team helps sales team to understand features of products. The promotional activities
by marketing division of McDonald's increases the presence of brand which directly or indirectly
affects sales of food items. Where as sales team lists food items which customers can like or
items which are consumed more in market shows statistics to marketing term. This helps the
team in knowing whether promotional activities have worked as planned or there is any need of
any change in plans.
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Marketing-Human Resource department- In McDonald's the Marketing and HR
department are interrelated with each other because the Marketing department requires good
employees for doing their work and the HR department is able to provide it with those workers
who can carry out its different types of activities without facing problems and issues and help the
Marketing department in attaining goals and objectives.
Marketing-Research and development department- Marketing department in
McDonald's is interrelated with R&D department because it requires relevant research to be
carried out into various needs and requirements of the customers so that the marketing goals and
objectives can be attained (Scharrer and Blackburn, 2018). In short data of past marketing
statistics helps research department analysis market and then tell the scenario to marketing team
which will help them make plans which will be executed in future.
Marketing- Technologies department- Marketing department is interrelated with
Technologies department because for the marketing of the products and services the use of
technology is required so that the attainment of the goals and objectives can be made without
problems and issues. According to those analysis technological department makes solutions that
can taken for competitive advantage of emerging trends including the social media presence.
Apart from this it is responsibility of technological department to make applications and websites
or payment gates easily understandable and excess able by buyers.
TASK 2
P3 Comparison of ways in which different organisations apply marketing mix to marketing
planning process to achieve business objectives.
The strategies that a company uses to promote brand or product in market are marketing
mix of an entity. These marketing mix elements influence each other which can help the
company to make business plan, handle it and get success. The following is comparison of
marketing mix of two companies:
Basis McDonald's Kentucky Fried
Chicken(KFC)
Product The speciality of McDonald's
are burgers with many
varieties. To capture kid's
The speciality of KFC is the
pressure fried chicken nuggets
flavoured with seasoning. The
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market it has 'Happy Meal' as a
special category for kids
(SUBRAM, KHAN and
SRIVASTAVA, 2016). The
company also has products
like French fries, soft drinks,
milkshakes, salads, desserts,
coffee and wraps.
fast food company has
optimized its products as per
geographical areas and
demand by consumers.
Place The place strategy of
McDonald's is to operate in
crowed places like malls,
highways, super markets etc.
It is being operated in 119
countries. In US the
franchising business has been
established for giving unique
experience to consumers with
different themes like Mc
Express, Mc Drive, Mc Next,
Mc cafe's, etc.
Were as place strategy of KFC
is different as outlets are
opened in general markets of
metro, tier 1 and tier 2 cities
where the buying capacity is
high and consumers can be
attracted easily. It has approx
20,500 outlets in 125 countries
, which shows the company
has good place strategy.
Price McDonald's follow cost
leadership strategy and
according to that only foods
and drinks are served with
competitive prices (AKBAR
and BASRIANI, 2020). But
other aspect of organisation is
that the price is decided
looking at local demand and
competition in its market that
KFC follows both techniques
of optional pricing and mixed
bundling pricing. There is a
option for consumer to buy
product from the menu and
have add-ons (optional
pricing) and in addition to that
combo offers are also there
which comprises the mix of
food items from menu.
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is reason, one can find
different price of same burger
in different countries.
Promotion The strong worldwide
presence and brand image
itself is promotional strength
of McDonald's. Company use
to put billboards or big icons
of burgers and fires on streets
before hyping in online
promotions (Lau, 2020). And
unique promotional activities
which the entity uses are
different messages and themes
for advertisement of new
product which would be
launching in market.
By offering add-on to the
existing menu , T-shirts , gift
coupons KFC sets different
type of promotional activities
in market. It also promotes
products through LCD
displays inside the outlets
which kindles desires amongst
buyers while setting in the
store.
People McDonald's not only things
about external factors, internal
factors also matter a lot for
them. According to company
employees are extremely
important, for that proper
respect and courtesy is
necessary which makes them
satisfied for the work they do
for the growth of company.
KFC believes that targeted
customers are family and they
should be provided freshly
made high quality meals at
affordable price (Zafeiriou,
Siatri and Garoufallou, 2016).
For this purpose the staff
members are trained specially
for customer services and
communication.
Process McDonald's maintains
transparency while providing
food to consumers, they can
Being a giant entity process is
important for KFC to maintain
homogeneity will serving,
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also check ingratiates used in
the food. This allows a
consumer to enter in the area
where food is prepared and
have clear view about food
they are consuming.
preparing and distributing the
things they have manage in
cultural and legal environment.
So, company follows
homogeneous process with
small addition of country's
environment.
Physical evidence The staff members, interior,
cleanness, speed and quality
are physical evidences which
McDonald's has which
impressions consumers and
make them visit the store again
and again.
KFC was the one who started
serving fried chicken in a
cardboard bucket which
become a trend in market. This
is physical evidence of
business which falls in
category of identifying image
of the company.
TASK 3
P4 Evaluation of basic marketing plan for an organisation.
Marketing Plan- It is a document that shows marketing strategies which can be applied
in a month, quarter or year by company. A marketing plan always has a situation analysis, sales
forecast, budget and segmentation of products on different basis. McDonald's have spread its
outlets in more than 100 countries across the globe were 80% of outlets are based on franchising
model (Shi and Wang, 2019). The brand uses marketing plans for implementation of marketing
strategies in outlets and franchises all across globe. All though McDonald's has captured large
market share by selling hamburgers, french fries, soft drinks but now milkshakes also needs to
have good market share of it. For this purpose the following marketing plan is stated.
Vision- To create more awareness about milkshakes of McDonald's all over globe by
next three years.
Mission- To capture global reach with milkshakes with good quality, quantity and with
use of good advertising activities.
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SMART objective- The smart objective of McDonald's is to increase its profits by15%
in upon coming two years.
SWOT
Strengths Weakness
 The quality of milkshakes offered by
McDonald's is very good and
affordable at same time (Raji, 2016).
 Milkshakes are one of most favourite
drinks of kids and teenagers , so
serving milkshakes to kids will create
profitable advantage to the brand.
 Other fast food brand also provide
milkshakes to consumers, so there are
chances that buyers may shift to other
brands too.
 Milkshakes are not loved by people in
the age of 25-45 which is a loss of huge
consumer base.
Opportunities Threats
 The brand can expand its sale of
milkshakes were consumers are having
specific item on daily bases like
milkshake can be served with burgers.
 McDonald's can expand in those
countries were the consumption of
milkshakes is very less.
 The availability of cheaper varieties of
ready made milkshakes launched by
other brands may turn people towards
them.
 The increasing health consciousness in
today's generation may decrease the
consumption level of milkshakes as
they have high calories.
Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning
Segmentation refers to the division marketplace into parts or segments which are actionable,
definable, accessible and profitable with growth potential. With reference to McDonald's
segmentation of milkshakes can be done on following bases-
 Demographics- It means segmentation on basis of personal attributes like age, gender,
marital status, sexuality, education etc (Srhoj, Škrinjarić and Radas, 2019). McDonald's
can do segmentation of milkshakes by focusing on kids who fall in age group of 7-15.
 Geographic- Segmentation done on basis of geographical areas like country,state, city or
region. McDonald's optimize its menus and offer variety of milkshakes in London which
can be afforded by middle class families also.
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 Behaviour- How people use products, how loyal they are towards the brand, or what are
the features they are looking forward comes under behavioural segmentation of product.
McDonald's can offer discounts on milkshakes to consumers who come and order food
with their kids. This will mainly focus on kids and teenagers as they like milkshakes and
can be targeted easily.
Targeting- It means breaking large market area into smaller segments to concentrate on a
specific group of customers with whole market. McDonald's can target mainly kids segment
because captured other age group can be difficult.
Positioning- it refers to influencing consumers perception regarding products being
offered by brand relative to competitors. The main objective here is to establish image of brand
so that consumers perceive in particular manner (Camilleri, 2018). McDonald's can position
promotional activities more of milkshakes in crowed places like malls, supermarkets which can
attract consumers in large numbers.
Marketing Mix
Product- The milkshake of McDonald's is provided with different varieties according to
demand of consumers. The varieties are chocolate, vanilla, banana, Buxton, organic, Tropicana
orange and many more.
Place- The outlets and franchises of McDonald's are located worldwide from where food
items are distributed its end consumers.
Price- McDonald's uses wide range of pricing techniques to sell its products. The prices
of milkshakes are different according to the different type of quantities (Jakus, 2018). The sizes
are small, medium, large. And the prices may also differ from one country to another country.
Promotion- Apart from advertising,sales promotion, direct marketing McDonald's
provides new information like offers to persuade consumers to try the food items. In addition to
that public relations of brand help them in promoting through goodwill and brand strengthens.
People- McDonald's is one of brands who are one of the biggest employers worldwide.
In UK approximately 1,20,000 people work with the brand and they are mostly owned by local
businessmen and women's. And concern of company is not only to satisfy its consumer but
employees also.
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Process- The brand undergoes in number of activities to deliver its food items to
consumers (Khan and Kamal, 2016). Food preparation is an activity that is important in overall
process, that's why whole process is visible to customers while the food is prepared.
Physical evidence- McDonald's interiors and the packaging style are the evidences which
makes them unique from other fast food brands. They do maintain the stores with full cleanliness
and has hygienic interiors all over the outlets.
Budget- As marketing plan has details of marketing strategies, projects results, etc. over
a period of time. Budget of marketing plan keeps the brand focused on specific goals as it
outlines all financial terms which businesses intend to spend on marketing plans. The budget of
McDonald's to formulate new marketing plan for milkshakes can be as follows-
Particulars Amount
Paid Advertising 15,000
Sponsored web content 25,000
New marketing staff 60,000
Marketing automation software 50,000
Total 1,50,000
Monitoring And controlling- After making marketing plan the brand needs to execute
this plan. After execution plan needs to be monitored on continues bases and formulate whether
marketing strategies are effective enough in market or not (Koller, 2017). And if yes then control
over all strategies is also necessary so that resources.
CONCLUSION
From the above project report it can be concluded that marketing essentials comprises of
certain roles and responsibilities which are managed by marketing function of company. Apart
from that marketing division of an enterprise has to interrelate its activities with other divisions
of company like Finance, Sales, Human Resource, Technologies and Research and development
departments. In addition to this company can compare its marketing mix with other company by
which it can formulate much more effective plans for marketing of its products and services.
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