Marketing Report: In-Depth Analysis of McDonald's Strategies and Mix

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of McDonald's marketing strategies, examining key principles and their application within the fast-food industry. It begins with an introduction to marketing principles and a brief overview of McDonald's, setting the stage for a detailed exploration of product and service descriptions. The report then delves into market analysis, covering market trends, competitor analysis (Burger King, Wendy’s, Subway, Starbucks), and consumer attitudes and behaviors, including psychological, social, and personal factors. Key issues and opportunities, such as food safety concerns and legal disputes, are also discussed. The report further explores target market segmentation, targeting strategies, and positioning. Finally, it recommends a marketing mix, including product, price, promotion, and distribution strategies, tailored to McDonald's specific context. The report concludes with a summary of findings and recommendations for future marketing efforts.

Principles of
Marketing

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
Product/Service Description........................................................................................................3
Market Analysis...........................................................................................................................3
Target Market..............................................................................................................................8
Recommended Marketing Mix....................................................................................................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Marketing principles defines the overall principles of the market that are used in order to
develop and frame the product price promotion and distribution strategies of the company. These
are the basic principles that help in examining and offering the products to the market by
considering various techniques process and principles (Porral and Stanton, 2017). In order to
carry forward this report McDonalds is considered which is an American fast food company
incorporated in 1940 in California. McDonalds offer wide range of products and services at the
low prices and also provide great customer service. In relation with this McDonalds close there
Pizza chapter since very long and in terms of this company face vast changes in its sales. The
report is going to cover the basic and brief description of the product and overall analysis of
market considering the market Trends competitors issues opportunities and so on. Lastly target
market and marketing mix is conducted for the smooth flow of product of the company.
MAIN BODY
Product/Service Description
McDonalds make suitable improvement in its services regarding its business concern
considering the decisions and interpretation about the requirements of customers. In terms of this
McDonalds identify the requirements of customers in order to provide innovative Service
Delivery methods. Along with this McDonalds also need to make suitable improvement in it’s
offerings like company currently provide wide range of products but does not deal in pizza and
for this many customers goes to other restaurants.
Hence McDonalds need to add pizza in their menu by considering suitable research and
undertaking the perspective of people. Along with this in order to make suitable changes and
improvement McDonalds need to develop healthy relations with their customers as it helps in
analysing and identifying the requirements of people. It is performed by relationship marketing
manager as prospective company conduct time to time program in their restaurant as it helps in
attracting maximum number of customers and enhancing experience of better place (Palmatier
and Crecelius, 2019).
Market Analysis
Brief analysis of the market

Market analysis is a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the market that is useful in
the business plan. It considers the market size value volume customer segment buying behaviour
competition economic environment and various barriers within the market. The basic objective
of market analysis is to represent their investors that the company properly know their market
and describe the positive side of market to develop a sustainable business (Bowie and et. al.,
2016). Market analysis includes various steps in it in order to conduct significant research of the
market considering demographic and segmentation market requirements competition legal laws
and regulations and target market.
As these are the factors that are helpful for McDonalds in order to analyse the suitable
condition of market and also helps in identifying the risk factor for them. In relation with this
there are various frameworks that are used in order to analyse the conditions of market such as
porter’s five forces swot and pestle analysis. These are the frameworks that are useful in
identifying the suitable area in order to expand the business and risk factor that is concerned
regarding the expansion of McDonalds. Along with this company can face suitable barriers in
order to take entry within the market and the market entry barriers is the major concern for the
investors of McDonald’s. In relation with this they are significantly concerned about various
points like substantial investment, technology, brand name, accessible resources, distribution
channel location and rules and regulations (Bonaparte, 2019).
Key market trends
Increase complexity in consumer purchasing: It describe the complexity which
organisation face regarding identifying the decision of their customers purchasing. In modern
time customers use various ways to purchase their product and for this it becomes Complex for
the McDonalds to identify the significant online platform in order to offer delivery services.
Therefore the marketing manager of McDonalds use every food delivery app in order to deliver
their product and also develop take away services that leads to reduced crowd from the restaurant
as presently takeaway is trending in the market.
Personalization in product design: There are various restaurants that provide
personalized and customized coffee considering the demand of customers that is not presently
offered by McDonald’s and it can become the biggest threat for the company in terms of
increasing their sales and profitability (Cuculeski, Petrovska and Cuculeski, 2016). Therefore the
production in marketing manager of McDonald’s has prominent opportunity in order to increase

their Market by offering personalized product to their customers according to their requirement.
It is getting trendier in every industry in order to extract large number of customers as its basic
criteria are communication.
Digital transformation: It is the modern Trend and sort of change that is faced by many
organisations regarding the transformation of marketing and currently become a significant
challenge for companies. This problem considers lack of focus towards the integrated strategy
testing structural issues and Optimisation in the skills (Moravcikova and et. al., 2017). The
marketing manager of McDonalds need to adopt suitable digital transformation in order to
become trendy in the market as Aise its aim is to develop a significant roadmap in order to
enhance the digital capabilities and skills of the business.
Key competitors
Competition is the term within the market which describes the rivalry among various
companies in order to sell similar and substitute products with the objective of achieving
significant 11 use profits and market share. Moreover market competition motivates McDonalds
to enhance their sales volume and for this various competitors of McDonalds are mentioned
below:
 Burger King: Burger King is the biggest direct competitor of McDonalds as it recorded
around 1.65 billion revenues at the end of 2018 and also had more than 17000 locations
within the hundred countries with around 11 million visitors at a single day.
 Wendy’s: It is the fast food restaurant chain with around 6700 locations worldwide and
focuses on classic American food burgers and fries. Wendy’s had the market cap of
approximately 4.1 billion and it stock trading is $18 per share. The reported revenue of
Wendy’s is$ 1.71 billion in 2019. Therefore the total system sales are higher because of
the franchise locations.
 Subway: It is the largest restaurant chain in the world in terms of size as it has around
41,000 locations all over the world and it’s every location is owned by franchisees that is
more than 21000. Subway reported sales of 10.4 billion at the end of 2018 and it is the
privately held company.
 Starbucks: It is the world’s largest Coffee House chain that has more than 31000 stores
in approximately 76 countries. Starbucks reported revenues of around 27 billion in 2019
and the market cap was 87.8 billion.

Summarise the current customer attitudes/behaviours
There are various factors that summarises the attitude and behaviour and impact there
purchasing power and to understand the behaviour of customers at affect marketing it is
important for the marketing manager to understand these factors:
Psychological factor: Customers are mostly influenced by many issues considering the
uniqueness in their thought process. This factor includes the perspective of the requirements and
the ability of individual to understand the suitable information (Tontuș, 2018). Each customer
will respond towards the marketing message of McDonalds by understanding their perception
and attitude. Hence the marketers of McDonalds need to consider the psychological factors in
order to create campaigns and make sure that their campaign will appeal to their targeted market.
Social factor: This factor has the major impact on the behavior of customers as there are
many social influences that are quite diverse and also consider the family social interaction and
various communities that impact the buying behavior of individual. It includes the living
standard income education level and social class of customers and this factor is very diverse and
difficult to identify the developing marketing plan.
Personal factor: This factor is the person specific not related with the whole group. It
includes that how an individual make decision and for this the marketer of McDonalds need to
consider the opinions interest and unique habits of people (Metcalf and et. al., 2016). For
example considering the generation gap there is a difference between the choice of older person
and younger person as they both choose products differently and spend their money according to
their interest.
Identify the main issues / opportunities
There are various issues which McDonalds currently face regarding the operation of its
business and many of them are discussed below:
Food safety concerns undermine brand: safety of food is the biggest concern in terms of
junk and unhygienic food as Burger pizza fries and many more carries lot of calories with that
and also does not have probable guarantee that they are made under suitable safety concern. In
terms of this the fast food brand McDonalds enjoys a great reputation in terms of quality safety
and cleanliness but currently string into a food quality scandal (Bernstein, 2017). This includes
the scandal of melamine within the Infant milk that leads to kill 6 babies. Currently the

Government of Shanghai responded to the media to expose black closing down the affected
factory of Shanghai.
Figure 1: McDonald’s and its challenges worldwide: a market-by-market looks
Legal dispute eats away early advantage: McDonalds has a suitable position in terms of
profit from surging demand towards the convenient clean and affordable mean within India as it
offer various products at low prices. Moreover in the India McDonalds work for many years to
overcome the fundamental problems and its core product offering which are beef burgers is
Taboo for India’s majority population (Resnick and et. al., 2016). After all this The Finally
Found the recipe to appeal through ample chicken and vegetarian offerings as McDonalds is
locked into a bitter legal dispute with their former partner that leads to stymied the change
expansion.

Target Market
Segmentation
It describe that McDonalds consider the population on the grounds of income age and
religion. For McDonalds it is important to satisfy the requirements of each and every type of
customers in order to increase their reputation sales and profitability that helps in their
expansion. McDonalds also follow the behavioural segmentation considering the Inception
which is capable enough to develop loyal customer base as within the behavioural area people
are classified in various categories on the Grounds of taste and preferences (Cornwell, 2020).
Targeting
McDonalds target the whole category and group instead of targeting a specific customer
base in terms of their taste and income level. By considering this company increase their sales
and also leads to expand wide acceptability for their product. McDonald’s target many families
by sending promotional message regarding their new burger that is innervated by company and
its significant features and characteristics. Along with this McDonald’s also target adults by
posting suitable advertisement within the magazines and giving them suitable discount cards.
McDonalds also promote its hamburger by targeting adults in order to publish the advertisement
within the newsletters.
Positioning

The positioning factor of company is done considering the demographic area in which
market segmentation consider the age religion gender family size income and education.
Demographics can be segmented within the various markets in order to help the company to
target their customers (Atwal and Williams, 2017). In terms of McDonalds the keep their prices
low to high according to the demand of burgers and ingredients considering various income
groups that can enjoy eating with the restaurant and also purchase food according to their budget.
Therefore it is considered that McDonalds position their product on the grounds of prices and
Pocket of people.
Recommended Marketing Mix
Product
The hamburgers of McDonalds should be for various type of customers which include the
income group and taste of people. In relation with this McDonalds work according to the
requirements and demand of their customers. McDonalds made its product considering the
quality price and various ways of preparation as it is the core competency of company which is
considered as the unique selling proposition (Pettigrew and Jongenelis, 2016). McDonalds also
has brand value and healthy food that is offered towards the high number of customer base that
helps in gaining trust of customers in terms of best fast food chain in the world.
Pricing
The product should always be seen as representing the prominent value of money and in
terms of this respective company to understand this perspective and also available the quality
product at the affordable price (Porral and Stanton, 2017). Because of this reason its products are
majorly consumed by customers across the world. McDonalds use penetration pricing strategy in
order to make entry within the market and game the market share. This idea of company is
helpful in order to increase the awareness and people also get new chance to try new products.
For instance the prices for the extra value means like McChicken and McVeggie can be
decreased by company.
Promotion
McDonalds consider various promotional strategies like sales promotion personal selling
and many more considering social media and various communication tools for the company.
Therefore McDonalds should use all the prominent techniques regarding the promotion of its
product in order to advertise its brand in significant way. Along with this McDonalds

significantly conduct various kinds of research program and promotional activities in their
restaurants like offering toys to small children and many more (Palmatier and Crecelius, 2019).
Therefore it is said that sales promotion leads to increase the sales of the new product of
McDonalds.
Distribution
McDonalds currently used franchising model in order to sale their product. Moreover in
future company must open significant restaurant by covering short distance easily in order to get
the products of McDonalds. Considering the franchise model an individual who take franchise of
the company food exclusively sale product of McDonalds. This strategy is suitable for the
company as by opening their own Store that leads to create the suitable image among the general
public (Bowie and et. al., 2016). Therefore it is analysed that the distribution model is helpful in
terms of making the brand popularising with the help of its product among various people.
CONCLUSION
By considering the preceding discussion it is analysed that marketing principles are helpful
in order to analyse and examine the whole process of marketing with various elements. Along
with this it is useful analysing the market considering various trends competitors of company
behaviour of customers and also involved the significant challenges which company currently
face. Despite from this it also include segmentation targeting and positioning of the company
which is offered in order to solve the significant problem. Lastly the marketing mix is conducted
regarding the hamburger of company as the marketing principles are helpful in maintaining the
image of company within the market and the significant promotional methods are helpful in
creating awareness among in creating awareness among people.

REFERENCES
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Online
McDonald’s and its challenges worldwide: a market-by-market look. 2020. [Online] Available
through < https://www.ft.com/content/f8ac22fc-a7c1-11e4-8e78-00144feab7de >./