Marketing Essentials Project 2: McDonald's Marketing Plan and Analysis

This project, titled "Marketing Essentials (Project 2)", analyzes the marketing strategies of McDonald's. The assignment begins with a comparison of McDonald's and Burger King's marketing mixes, examining elements like product, price, place, and promotion. It then delves into the tactics McDonald's employs to achieve its business objectives, such as pricing strategies and promotional activities. The core of the project involves creating a comprehensive marketing plan for McDonald's, including its mission, vision, and a SWOT analysis. The plan outlines target markets, marketing budgets, and monitoring strategies. The project provides a detailed overview of McDonald's operations, competitive positioning, and strategic marketing approaches, providing valuable insights into the fast-food industry and effective marketing practices. The report also addresses the 7Ps of the marketing mix.

MARKETING
ESSENTIALS
(Project 2)

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1 ...........................................................................................................................................3
1.1 Comparison of Marketing mix of McDonald's with Marketing mix of Burger king............3
1.2 Different tactics used by McDonald's to achieve business objectives (M3).........................5
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................6
2.1 Marketing Plan for McDonald's............................................................................................6
2.2 Coherent evidence based marketing plan of McDonald's (M4)............................................8
2.3 Marketing plan including 7p's (D2)......................................................................................9
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Marketing is an essential activity or a function that is conducted in an organisation to
achieve the objectives. The various functions that are performed by them helps in fulfilling then
needs and demands of the customers. The types of activities performed here are producing the
products then communicating it to the customers and then delivering it finally to them . It is a
very profitable activity (Bhalerao and Kamble, 2015). A company cannot exist if they don't have
a marketing department. So, it is very important forb the companies to recruit good people in the
marketing department so that functions can not be accessed easily. The organisation that will be
referred here is McDonald's. In this report, the marketing mix of McDonald's as compared with
the marketing mix of Burger king will be conducted. Along with this a basic marketing plan for
McDonald's will also be created in this report.
TASK 1
1.1 Comparison of Marketing mix of McDonald's with Marketing mix of Burger king
Marketing mix can be defined as elements that are used by the companies to place their
product in the market. It is very significant in developing the plans that are linked with the

marketing function because of which all the activities are performed in a proper way. They tools
and techniques that are used by the marketing team helps in performing the marketing mix
easily. By using these factors only company is able to generate awareness between the customers
about the product.
McDonald's is a largest fast food chain in US as it is also considered as the largest
restaurant company in the world in terns of revenue and customer service. They have gained this
position by providing products and services as per the needs and wants of the customers. They
very well know what an individual will want to have . They understand their customers very well
and therefore they provide fast services to them (Daniel, 2011). This is he main reason because
of which it has become a common joint for youngsters, family etc.
Service Marketing Mix of McDonald's are:-
here are the following elements of marketing mix i9n context of McDonald's:-
 PRODUCT – Products can be regarded as the range of goods that an organisation is
selling in the market so as to satisfy the needs of the customers. McDonald's is serving
different kinds of goods and services to its customers in UK which includes: Burgers,
Drinks , sandwiches, deserts etc. They are working as a fast frood chain so they have to
take care of the choices and [preferences of the customers coming at that place. They are
having different menu for different places as they design their menu as per the choices of
people living at that place (Hsu, 2011).
 PRICE – Pricing of the products should be very effective ion order to make the products
sell easily. The importance of pricing policy for McDonald's is estimated through the
sales that they get from snacks and food items that can be preferred in leisure time,. So,
McDonald's keep their pricing so effective that more customers visit them very often.
 PLACE – In McDonald's, place is also a very important factor. This restaurant is
generally present in a area which is generally crowded like malls , highways etc. this is
because they want that more and more customers can visit the store at one go.
 PROMOTION – it is a process in which the company tries to do communication with its
customers. McDonald's uses various of promotional services in order to attract customers
towards themselves . They also target children through their “happy meals”.

 PEOPLE – they are the human resources of the company. The employees who are
working in McDonald's maintain a standard uniform and it also focuses specially on
friendly services to its customers and employees as well.
 PROCESS – The food manufacturing process at McDonald's is transparent because it is
all visible to the customers. Along with this , they also allow its customers to visit their
kitchen whenever they want to.
 PHYSICAL EVEIDENCE - McDonald's is maintaining clean and hygienic
environment inside their outlets. Their interiors are also very attractive and colourful
which compel a person to sit there and have their meal. +
Burger king is also a fast food chain which is competing with McDonald's and Wendy's.
They had a direct competition with McDonald's as they introduced various products that were
similar to products of McDonald's but in a better way. This was their revival strategy in order to
get re-establish in the market (Horcher, 2011).
Service Marketing Mix of Burger King are:- PRODUCT – They are successful in providing good products and services to its
customers. People love the products and they are also giving good services to its
customers which is helping them in growing. They have a separate veg and non-veg
menu as they care for the culture and sentiments of their customers. They have a separate
cooking areas for both veg and non- veg products. PRICE- Burger king is following the pricing policy that can cater the customers of that
place (Lock, 2014). They have kept the prices quiet affordable so that customers doesn't
hesitate to come and visit this place. With the rices, they are also maintaining brand and
its integrity. PLACE – Stores of Burger king are located at prime locations and also at places where
crowd is expected. It can be seen in almost all big cities so that it can be assessed easily. PROMOTION - Burger king are mainly targetting the children as they ae ore interested
in eating these snacks. They are also using different types if media in order to promote
themselves among the public. They have also places their pamphlets and banners in all
around the outlets.

 PEOPLE – Burger king is having a relationship manager in its every outlets who takes
care of the whole store and also interacts with the customers as well. The staff present
there is also counts as a resource for the company who performs their work very nicely. PROCESS – Their food manufacturing unit is transparent for the customers just like
McDonald's. They have also invented the most effective cooking equipments and also
introduced new method of food packaging as well.
 PHYSICAL EVIDENCE – They are maintaining their store very effectively as their
interiors are very good . People love to sit there and have food. They are easily located to
people living in that area (Mitchell, 2012).
1.2 Different tactics used by McDonald's to achieve business objectives (M3)
The tactics that are used by McDonald's basically includes:
 Decreasing the prices of their Burgers
 Creating new forms of production
 Using celebrities to advertise their product
 Hosting birthday parties for less fortunate children
All these tactics were introduced by McDonald's when they felt any kind opf threat I their
market share. All these tactics were very effective as they helped them in gaining or maintaining
their place in the market. When burger king was relaunched they tred tonm copy many receipes
of McDonald's but the original is never faded. McDonald's decreased the rate of their burgers
which helped them in getting back their customers.
All these tactics are shirt term decisions that are being taken top boost up the profits of
the company (Ogunmokun and Tang, 2012).
TASK 2
2.1 Marketing Plan for McDonald's
A marketing plan can be defined as a document in which details of all the activities that
will be conducted by the company in the next following months . It is derived out of the
marketing strategies that have been implemented by the company . This acts as a road map for
the employees as they get to know what they have to do in the company.
The marketing plan of McDonald's is as follows:-
Introduction of company:

McDonald's is a biggest food chain which is running globally since 1954. it is having
more than 30000 outlets in more than 120 countries. They prepare many type of food products to
satisfy their client's daily demands. This brand is a market leader in fast food restaurants and it
has also maintained the diversification in the market by bringing various kinds of products . This
has helped them in making their brand strong and good image is also created. McDonald's spend
around 1 million dollars on training its staff which is a very huge amount . They are having
carious franchises also and they are managing it very nicely as they are also having same recipes
so people love to go there and have their meal.
VISION AND MISSION OF McDonald's:
Mission:- The main mission is “to be customer's favourite place and way to eat with
inspired people who delight each other with its unmatched quality, service etc. They are invited
people to become a part their family and grow with them . They aims to bring smiles at every
customer who visit their store (Pike, 2015).
Vision: They aims to be world's best quick service restaurant. McDonald's wants that
the strategies that they will make will be as per customer's perspective. McDonald's believes that
sometimes products are strong but they fail due to weal perception which should not happen.
SWOT Analysis of company :
STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES
 It is having presence in worldwide
market which is giving a bad impact to
its customers.
 It is a leader in both domestic and
international market.
 It is using economies of scale to
achieve its cost reduction strategies.
 It is a brand that is being recognised
globally so it helps in generating high
revenues.
 The food has to pass through a
standardised process and this is a great
strength for them.
 They have reached till their saturation
point which has made their expansion
difficult.
 They are considered very slow in
product innovation process.
 They have failed their test in case of
pizza's.
 In some of their franchises, various
quality issues are noticed.
 The turnover of employees is very high
and they also spend high amount in
training its staff.

 It also provides nutrition information
about the packed food .
 They have been blamed to inbuilt
wrong food habits in the children.
OPPORTUNITIES THREATS
 They can make their stores more better
by introducing Wi-Fi facilities for their
customers.
 They have an opportunity to penetrate
in markets of Europe, Asia etc.
 They should strongly try tom bring
product innovation fast.
 They can do partnership with various
retailers who are working.
 They are facing strong competition
from Burger king ad Wendy's.
 People now-r-days are becoming health
conscious so it acts as a threat for these
kinds of outlets.
 Fluctuation in foreign currency rates is
a big threats to such kind of companies.
Target market:
McDonald's is using demographic segmentation strategy for deciding the target market
for its customers. The major targets of McDonald's are children, youth and young family
members (Swenson, Rhoads and Whitlark, 2014).
Marketing Budget :
Particular
(Marketing
Expenditure)
1st year 2nd year 3rd year
Advertisement 5000 6000 7000
sales promotion 6000 7000 8000
Direct marketing 7000 8000 9000
Total 18000 21000 24000

Monitoring and controlling
The major responsibilities of handling all business operations are with marketing manger
and they are making plans in order to execute all business operations in effective and planned
ways . It is useful in order to gain high profitability ratios for their overall business operations
(Wirtz, 2012).
2.2 Coherent evidence based marketing plan of McDonald's (M4)
The evidence based marketing plan of McDonald's are :-
 Current Market Analysis:-
◦ Market definition: itb is a fast food restaurant who have a common feature above a
counter, they provide no wait staff and here customers typically pays before eating.
◦ Market size: It is among the top 20 Fast food restaurant totalled 117 billion in sales in
2011 .
◦ Market segmentation: Food – hamburgers, sub, French fries, pizza, fried chicken,
chicken nuggets. Beverages – Hot: Tea, coffee, soups. Cold: ice creams, milk shakes,
soft drinks.
 Competition- The major competition faced by McDonald's is from KFC.
 Consumer analysis :
Nature of Buying Behaviour Demographics
Complex buying behaviour mostly Age: under 15 to 55+
Family size – 1-2,2-3,5-6
Family life cycle – Bachelor stage, newly
married couples etc.
Partcipants:
Initiators – Students
Influencer – Children and friends
Deciders -Family members and Friends
Users – Children . Teenage , adult
Buyer - Teenage
2.3 Marketing plan including 7p's (D2)
McDonald's is using its marketing mix strategies to place their products very well in the
market.
 Products – Veg menu , Non- Veg menu, Beverages, Frozen Deserts

 Pricing – quiet affordable products, cost leadership, heavily marketed “happy price
menu”, many combos.
 Place – Located in Prime locations, almost present in all big cities.
 Promotion – Promotion through media, promoting through point of sales display,
hoardings.
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it can be concluded that marketing mix elements are very
essential in placing the product in the market. The main responsibility of marketing department
is to analyse the needs and wants of customers so that they can produce goods as per their
requirements. A marketing plan is also developed to bring coordination among all business
operations. Here, marketing mix is also conducted in which comparison between 7P's of
McDonald's and 7P's of Burger King is included.
REFERENCES
Books and Journal
Bhalerao, D. and Kamble, B. V., 2015. Online Marketing Strategy of Lady n Baby Retail-A Case
Study. Chanakya International Journal of Business Research. 1(1). pp.19-27.
Daniel, J., 2011. Sampling essentials: Practical guidelines for making sampling choices. Sage.
Horcher, K. A., 2011. Essentials of financial risk management (Vol. 32). John Wiley & Sons.
Hsu, W., 2011. The vocabulary thresholds of business textbooks and business research articles
for EFL learners. English for Specific Purposes. 30(4). pp.247-257.
Lock, M. D., 2014. The essentials of project management. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd..
Mitchell, B. L., 2012. Game design essentials. John Wiley & Sons.
Ogunmokun, G. O. and Tang, E. C. H., 2012. The effect of strategic marketing planning
behaviour on the performance of small-to medium-sized firms. International Journal of
Management. 29(1). p.159.
Pike, S., 2015. Destination Marketing: Essentials. Routledge.

Swenson, M. J., Rhoads, G. K. and Whitlark, D. B., 2014. Startup marketing: Leveraging
leverage. The Journal of Applied Business and Economics. 16(6). p.56.
Wirtz, J., 2012.Essentials of services marketing. FT Press.
Online
What is Marketing plan?. 2017. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.thebalance.com/what-is-a-marketing-plan >. [Accessed on 18 October
2017].