Integrated Marketing Communications Plan for McDonald's

This report provides an evaluation of different marketing channels and how they serve communication objectives within an organizational context, using McDonald's as a case study. It designs communication objectives for a given organizational situation, justifies the selection and integration of communication channels, and creates a marketing communications plan to effectively meet those objectives. Furthermore, the report critically evaluates a marketing communications plan in relation to the communication strategy, channel choice, and creative content, offering a comprehensive analysis of integrated marketing communications and its practical application in a well-known fast-food chain.

INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS (UNIT 23)
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Table of Contents
Introduction:...............................................................................................................................3
P1. Evaluate different types of marketing channels and how they serve communication
objectives within an organisational context...............................................................................4
P2. Design communication objectives for a given organisational situation..............................7
P3. Provide justifications for the selection and integration of communications channels
chosen.......................................................................................................................................10
P4. Create a marketing communications plan that effectively meets communication
objectives for a given organisational situation.........................................................................12
P5. Critically evaluate a marketing communications plan in relation to the communication
strategy, channel choice, creative content................................................................................16
Conclusion:..............................................................................................................................19
Reference List:.........................................................................................................................20
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Introduction:
Marketing is the essential part for any business communication. Marketing is required for the
growth and for the establishment of the business in the modern market place. Integrated
marketing communication (IMC) is the tool by which all the methods of promotion of the
company for marketing can be achieved. It can be achieve by utilisation of the well
coordinated promotional methods. For successful IMC it requires high effort after that the
benefit can be received. The main purpose of IMC is to generate reasonable advantage, to
enhance the sales of the organisation and the productivity of the same.IMC is not only helpful
for the smooth running of the business but also looks after the customers by helping them in
process of purchasing the various products.
In this regard case study of McDonald’s has been done and it targets to connect all the
communication and the information are linked in very logical and clear way. McDonald’s is
one of the most famous brand names for providing fast food to the consumers with quality
service (McDonalds, 2018). IMC includes promotion by means of online and offline
marketing, selling personally, maintaining public relations etc.
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P1. Evaluate different types of marketing channels and how they serve communication
objectives within an organisational context.
Marketing channels is often referred to the activities that the employee as well as an
organisation follows to advertise and sell their produced goods or services to the consumers
(Armstrong, et al., 2015). This is also refers to distribution channel as this helps the
organisation to distribute their service to the consumers. Every organisation uses various
distribution or marketing channels in order to transfer their products and services to the
customers. Likewise, McDonald’s also uses some marketing channels to connect or
communicate with the customers. The mostly used marketing channels that impacts on the
communication objectives of an organisation are:
 Marketing campaigns
 Advertisements
 Sales Process
Before focusing on marketing channels every organisation needs to identify the customer
segment for which the marketing channels will be used. Evaluation of marketing channel is
possible any time but first an organisation needs to focus on the distribution management so
that it does not create any problem in the future (Watson IV et al., 2015). Another factor that
an organisation needs to focus on before creation of marketing channels is the opinions and
choices of the customers. By focusing on the customer choice the organisation will be able to
get the required information about the kind of products they are willing to use or buy.
Preparation of a distribution strategy and then building the marketing channels will help the
organisation avoid threats during product or service distribution.
In case of McDonald’s they prepare the marketing campaigns by researching the present
market condition as well as focusing on every important details of the customer opinions.
McDonald’s starts planning their marketing campaigns after understanding the market
requirements and plans promotion of their services according to that. McDonald have
conducted few campaigns which are, ask questions about McDonalds, this was a YouTube
survey that had customers ask questions to the organisation and many more.
Advertisements are the promotional services of the company. The company chose different
mode of communication such as television, banners, and new media and advertises their
services in order to gain the interest of the customers and influence them to buy those
products (Belch et al., 2014).
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Sales process on the other hand is divided into few parts that consist of the full selling
process that an organisation follows. McDonald’s also plans their selling process by
undergoing those divisions. The divisions are prospecting the market and identifying the
customers, preparing data that certifies the market information, approaching the customers
with questions, gifts or sample to gain trust and influence the customer to buy the product and
many more.
The role of marketing channels in serving communication of an organisation is very vital one.
In any organisation if marketing channels help in gaining profit then communication is the
bridge that helps the organisation to prepare ways to gain the profit and grow their business
(Luxton et al., 2015). Both the components are interrelated. No organisation can ever grow
without maintaining proper communication with stakeholders, which are customers,
employees, dealers and other related service providers. In order to prepare marketing
strategies and planning distribution, communicating with the customers and others are very
important. Communication with the customers and the others can be done with the help of
marketing campaigns, which is again an important marketing channel (Hallahan, 2015).
Without communication the organisation will not be able to gather information about
customer choice.
When McDonald’s are willing to bring out new products they focus on promotions and
advertisement of the products, which is again another mode of communication, with the help
of promotion McDonald’s grab the customer interest and then plan their marketing strategy
for gaining profit. For maintaining proper marketing channels, McDonald’s also need to
communicate with the investors as well as the employees, this helps in gaining opinions
about whether the product will be useful for the customers or not. Communicating with the
employees and involving them in decision making is also important for every organisation.
Hence, it can be said that communication as a whole contributes to the development of
market position and growth of an organisation.
Communication objectives are mainly referred to the strategies or tactics that an organisation
utilizes in order to gather customer information, promote their services, shape up the
organisational structure, share company information and policies with customers, increase
company visibility, catch the attention of global customers and clients, broaden their
organisation’s goals in order to grow business and enhance profit (Hallahan, 2015). The
communication objective of McDonald’s is, inspection of the present market strategy,
analysing the communication gap, evaluating the missions.
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A situational context that will help to ascertain the importance of marketing channels in
serving communication objective is if McDonald is trying to expand their business in a city
where they do not have any branch then at first they will need to get a brief idea about the
market condition of the place then communicate with the investors and dealers and after that
prepare the marketing channels so that they can communicate with the customers for their
launched services and gather their interests (Bielinski et al., 2017). Marketing channels and
communication objectives are incomplete without the help of each other.
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P2. Design communication objectives for a given organisational situation.
In order to develop particular marketing strategy, an organisation needs to follow some
certain communication objectives. The communication objective of McDonald’s in order to
avoid failure in marketing strategies and attracting the customers is, inspection of the present
market strategy, analysing the communication gap, evaluating the missions.
Inspection of the existing market strategy:
For analysing of communication objectives an organisation first needs to inspect their current
strategy, which will provide them the information of where the communication needs to be
improved. This is mainly done by starting to understand the employees’ versions regarding
company techniques, structure and policies. If the employees are confident about this point
then it can be said that the investors, dealers and customers do not have problem regarding
the policies and services (Sanina et al., 2015). This is because the employees are the one who
communicates with the customers and distribute the messages and services of the
organisation. The inspection of the current strategy will also help the organisation to connect
with the external stakeholders and gather information regarding their views on company
policies and services.
In this digital era, using social media will help the organisation to connect to the stakeholders,
investors and the customers on a broader basis. The inspection of the existing market strategy
that the company performs provides them with knowledge of the changes that are required in
their next marketing strategy. The inspection of the existing market strategy helps the
organisation to identify the costing and profit amount and implement changes to increase the
profit. While inspecting about the present market strategy the company will be able to gain
knowledge about the different choices of the customers and hence amend those changes in
the next market strategy to ensure the increase of customers (Jones, 2017).
Analysing the communication gap:
After the company has performed the inspection of the existing marketing strategy, the next
communication objective of McDonald’s is to identify the communication gap among the
stakeholders and the management of the company. In order to fulfil this communication
objective, the company needs to focus on communicating the newly implemented strategies
to the stakeholders. The main focus of the company, while analysing the communication gap
is to understand the content of the message that is communicated to the stakeholders. This is
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because the content delivered to the stakeholders includes the requirements and opinions of
the clients. This communication objective sheds light on setting of target audience and
choosing the mode of communication that will be more effective to reach out to the
customers (McQuail and Windahl, 2015). This helps the organisation to identify the
additional changes that are needed to be implemented within the organisation. This
communication objective helps the organisation to get the response of the customers and the
stakeholders about the company’s services and products.
This communication objective focuses on the relationship between the employees and
employer. The communication gap analysis helps McDonalds to share their future planned
strategies with the stakeholders, this helps the company to get the opinions of the
stakeholders about recommended changes in the planned strategies. Every organisation is
concerned about maintaining their good will and hence it becomes very important for them to
convey the organisational policies and ethics to the internal and external stakeholders of the
company so that the customers can view the company policy, which will influence them to
trust the company and use their services (Karjaluoto et al., 2016).
Evaluating the missions:
Having a mission statement helps an organisation to work on few fixed goals and work more
efficiently to fulfil those. In order to identify the importance of communication objectives
within an organisation it is very important for them to first identify the mission or objectives
of the company. This helps in double checking the marketing strategies that does not fit with
the mission statement of the company. This also helps the company to plan their marketing
strategy in such a way that they can compete harder with the other organisation of the same
field. An organisation eventually faces problem with client handling, product management,
customer handling in case they have not prepared a proper marketing strategy (Karjaluoto et
al., 2016). Hence, it is very important to identify the mission of the company before planning
the market strategy. McDonalds tries to convey the mission to the external and internal
stakeholders and then focuses on the preparation of marketing plan. Communication with the
external and internal stakeholders of McDonalds is done with the help of marketing
campaigns, which focuses on providing the customers opportunities to share and know more
information about the company. Communication objectives of McDonalds are also
ascertained in order to maintain the public relations strategy of the company. Communication
objectives play a vital role in shaping the public relation strategies of the company and
feature a company image that reflects their services. The communication objectives of the
company also help it to identify the target audience and promote work force planning in such
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a manner that influences the employees and the management to reach those goals within a
specific time (McQuail and Windahl, 2015).
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P3. Provide justifications for the selection and integration of communications channels
chosen.
Relation between communication and business objective:
In order to impact on the company’s success, communication with customers and other
stakeholders is very important. A proper communication channel helps an organisation to
showcase their organisational image and influence their good will. A proper communication
channel helps the organisation to convey the important information to the stakeholders and
shed light on the effectiveness of the organisation. In case of McDonalds, the company tries
to convey their brand values to the stakeholders. The company follows certain objectives that
influence the relationship between communication and business objective within the
organisation. The objectives are: Spread awareness, comparison of products, sales
encouragement, enhancing relationships, Management of brand equity, aligning workforce.
Spreading awareness about the brand and its services influences the customers to buy their
products. This is done by advertising about the company and its services in newspapers,
television, and new media and in other modes of communication. The customer often tends to
compare the services of one organisation to other organisation and if McDonalds is able to
portray the exact brand value and uniqueness of the provided services then the customers will
trust McDonalds more and will be eager to buy their products. This will eventually impact on
market position of McDonalds and reduce the interest of existing customers to go for any
other similar products. After informing the customers about the brand value and services
there will be certain improvement of sales within the organisation. This is because when the
customers will be familiar about the products that McDonalds provide they will eventually
increase buying their products, which will increase profit gaining for the company. As
customers will be more accustomed to buying McDonalds products, it will eventually build
up a relationship between the customers and the management. While the customers trust
McDonalds and buy their product on a regular basis, the brand management of the company
will be influenced and the company will be able to control the negative outcomes easily.
Channel selection and rationale:
Business communication is not similar to other forms of communication; this is because in
business communication, there is a tendency of misconception, which often leads to mistakes
and barriers. However, the communication techniques are same and hence no extra factors
are considered. A communication channel on the other hand is the medium through which
business organisations convey their messages to the external and internal stakeholders. The
mostly used communication channels by McDonalds are written, content marketing,
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digitalised and marketing channels. Digital channels include television, promotion, social
media platforms. Marketing channels include advertisements, marketing campaigns and sales
process. Additionally, communication channels in business need to focus on the richness of
the information. McDonalds try to avoid using twitter because twitter only allows writing 140
characters at a time, which is not sufficient for promoting their services. McDonalds utilizes
platforms like YouTube to connect with the customers directly. Hence, it can be said that
McDonalds widely depends on digital communication, which helps them reach to the
customers directly. McDonalds also does not practise face to face communication as it is
limited to one person, McDonalds try to use marketing as an effective communication
channel because through the help of marketing campaigns they are able to advertise their
services and increase their sales.
McDonalds uses written communication such as memo, emails, and reports only to convey
information within the organisation. However, McDonalds also uses written communication
or content marketing method to convey any important information to other worldwide
branches of the company as well as to their global clients. McDonalds also uses content
marketing methods like websites and blogs that contain information about the company and
their services. The advertisements of the products are also done through websites and web
journals which are content marketing methods. The websites helps the global customers to
gain knowledge about the company values and evaluate their services with others. It is quite
evident that the best communication channel used by the company is the one that renders the
exact information to the internal and external stakeholders in a proper way. It is very
important to focus on the target audience before selecting the target audience because
communication channel has different styles and they transform themselves as per the
audiences (Men, 2014). McDonalds focuses on the target audience and then prepares the
message and selects the channel in order to avoid any kind of trouble that can occur if the
message is not properly delivered. On the other hand, marketing communication is a process
that highlights the efforts of the company. McDonalds uses this communication type to shed
light on the effort the company is putting on the marketing strategies. This is the process of
communicating about the products to increase profit gaining. Hence, it can be said that
communication is an integral part of business and communication methods are those with the
help of which the company transfers information to the stakeholders (Wang et al., 2016).
Communication channels used in a business plays the effective role of influencing the
audience to buy their products by gaining their trust.
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P4. Create a marketing communications plan that effectively meets communication
objectives for a given organisational situation.
Communication plays an important part in each and every part be it domestic life or in the
professional field. It is noted that well marketing communication with suitable plans of
McDonald’s helps in the improvement of the business. Basically communication is the
documented plan or strategies that the organisation is trying to achieve by spreading the
message overall. Communication has to be effective by providing the information and the
same information has to be received it is the vital plan in the business organisation.
Sometimes the communication plan of marketing is not up to the mark and it creates
confusion among the staffs of the organisation, also among the customers and finally in the
social media (Patti, 2017).
Marketing communication plan has to be very clear and the strategy has to be good in terms
of the business and also to ensure the customers satisfaction for the product (Bhupathi, 2016).
If the plan is not meeting the standard of the business by providing low standard products
then there will be huge loss in the business and it also effects the reputation of the company.
It affects profitability in the business. It is important to engage the different stakeholders thus
seeking their contribution in the plan of communication. It also creates the image their
importance in the organisation. It can also locate the cultural practice of the organisation.
The factors of the marketing communication plan are required for the growth of the business
is stated below:
Target of the organisation
Identification of the correct audience To provide correct information about
the product
Development of the messages To know the requirement of the
customers
Developing of the strategies Smooth running of the business
Selection of Communication Media To spread information and to attract the
customers
Implementation of the plans Plans can be implemented by research
work with the market needs
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