McDonald's Marketing Management: Strategy, Leadership & CSR

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of McDonald's marketing management, examining its current strategies and proposing future enhancements. It delves into the company's marketing mix, including product, price, promotion, and place, comparing current approaches with a proposed 12-month marketing strategy that emphasizes healthier options, online presence, and social media engagement. The report identifies gaps between the current and proposed strategies, focusing on product offerings, online availability, and promotional activities. Furthermore, it explores McDonald's leadership styles and its approach to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), highlighting the importance of employee motivation, supply chain management, and community involvement. The analysis aims to provide insights into strategic marketing concepts and their application within McDonald's, offering recommendations for improving the company's overall marketing effectiveness and social impact.

Running head: MARKETING MANAGEMENT
MARKETING MANAGEMENT
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1
MARKETING MANAGEMENT
Executive Summary
The report analyzes the strategic management activities that have been performed by
McDonald’s restaurant in the entire economy. It has been seen that McDonald’s is one of the
largest food chains that has performed the different kind of actions in an effectual manner.
The leadership has to be analysed in an effectual manner wherein this helped them in solving
the issues and this helped the company along with the officials to perform the activities in an
effectual manner. The latter half of the report compares the current marketing plan and
strategy of McDonalds’ with a proposed plan for 13 months and the gap has been analysed.
The concept of Corporate Social responsibility has been used to reflect upon the company`s
activities.

2
MARKETING MANAGEMENT
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
About the company....................................................................................................................3
Marketing of the company.........................................................................................................4
Proposed Marketing Strategy.................................................................................................6
The Gap existence..................................................................................................................8
Leadership..................................................................................................................................8
Corporate Social Responsibility...............................................................................................10
The Corporate Social Responsibility of Mc Donald’s.........................................................12
Conclusion................................................................................................................................13
References................................................................................................................................14

3
MARKETING MANAGEMENT
Introduction
The report helps in analysis of the current state of the marketing activities of the
company named McDonald’s that is based in USA. The current marketing strategy has to be
analysed effectively with the proposed marketing strategy that will be applied by the
company in the future. Proper frameworks have to be analysed in an effectual manner
wherein this will help in synthesizing the leadership strategies and policies that can be used
by McDonald’s.
The main aim and purpose of the report is to understand the strategic marketing
concept in McDonald’s as this will help in solving the different kind of difficulties in an
effectual and appropriate manner. The proposed kind of marketing strategy is essential in
nature to be adopted by McDonald’s in order to enhance their activities to provide the
different kind of products and services to the customers in an effectual manner.
The structure of the report includes the analysis of the strategic management concepts
along with other analysis that will help in analysing the marketing strategy that is helpful in
attaining the proposed marketing strategy in an effectual manner. The different kind of
leadership styles has to be discussed along with application of one of the concepts that will
provide proper view on the marketing strategies that is used by McDonald’s.
About the company
McDonald’s is the American fast food Company that was founded in the year 1940 as
the kind of restaurant that was operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald in United States
of America("McDonald's: Burgers, Fries & More. Quality Ingredients.", 2018). It is one of
the fast food restaurants that was founded 77 years ago and the company is located in more
than more than 36,900 locations till December 2016 and the revenues that has been earned by
the company is more than US$24.622 billion (2016).

4
MARKETING MANAGEMENT
McDonald’s is the world’s largest chain of restaurant in terms of the revenue and
profit and this is helping them in gaining huge competitive advantage in the market as well.
The number of employees who are being employed under McDonald’s is 375,000 and the
operating income of the company is US$31.024 billion. McDonald’s is known as for the
different kind of hamburgers along with cheeseburgers as this is making them more effective
and there has been introduction of different kind of salad, smoothies along with fish items in
their menu that has been able to attract different kind of customers in the market as well.
Furthermore, it has been seen that McDonald’s revenues has been increased to a great extent
and this is making them the second largest private employer in the entire market.
Marketing of the company
McDonald’s strategic marketing plays a major role in developing the business as
without proper kind of marketing strategy this will not be possible to attract the clients and
this is inefficient in nature (Järvinen & Karjaluoto, 2015). It was seen that greatest
achievement of McDonald’s was the proper opening of Happy Meal to attract the children
up-to the age of fourteen years. In the year 1970, McDonald’s was searching the new
techniques to catch the attention of the different customers in the market. The study indicated
that the little ones are the different kind of great influencers in the decision-making technique
(Taiminen & Karjaluoto, 2014).
The efficient SIPOC (supplier-Input-Process-Outputs-customer) model helps
McDonald’s in integrating the supplier, customer and organization to improve the quality
level of the service is the strategic kind of advantage that will help in improving their
business in an effectual manner (Rowley, 2016). The segmentation, positioning and targeting
strategy that has been used by McDonald’s helped the company in increasing the profitability
of the company as well (Baker &Saren, 2016).

5
MARKETING MANAGEMENT
It has been seen that McDonald’s uses the mix of demographics, psychographic and
geographic variables that helps in segmenting the market and considering the different tastes
and preferences of the customers. Due to the change in the pattern of the customer’s tastes
and preferences, this will help them in increasing their profitability among the different age
groups of the customers (Krajewski, Malhotra & Ritzman, 2015).
The present marketing mix of the Mac Donald company is as follows:
Product:
The company is a leading fast food company in the globe. Mc Donald’s primarily
sells chicken products, hamburgers, cheese burgers, breakfast, soft drink and desserts. In lieu
of taking up the healthy aspect of the target market, the company has also started marketing
salads, smoothies, fish wraps and fruits. Although Mc Donald’s has tried to market various
products and include wider menu options, the company is primarily famous for its burgers
and French fries (Bhattacharya et al., 2017). The company customizes its products in various
parts of the world according to the local taste.
Price
Mc Donald’s uses various pricing strategies to attract the crowds and offer them a
good meal at affordable prices. Mc Donald’s makes use of price bundling strategy which
offers bundling products with a happy meal offer for its customers. In order to ensure, that
McDonalds is able to attract larger market, it has reduced its pricing offerings in various
countries so as to ensure popularity; the company also gives additional offers and discounts to
cater to the middle income group. The primary customers of Mc Donald are the group of
people who want to enjoy a good meal at a genuine price.
Promotion

6
MARKETING MANAGEMENT
Mc Donald’s spends a large amount of money on its various advertisement campaigns
and takes the medium of various newspaper ads, billboards and sponsorship events like FIFA
world cup, Little League and others to promote its products. The promotion style of Mc
Donald’s can be described as an aggressive one. It engages in various Television
advertisements on channels whose viewers are the younger crowd. It wants to promote itself
as an adaptable brand which sells a wide variety of goods and changes its taste as per the
requirement of the given country (Emeana, 2013). The `I`m lovin it` campaign is very famous
and popular.
Place
Mc Donald’s restaurants are found in more than 110 countries in the globe with more
than 36000 outlets worldwide. The company operates in various formats like Mc Drive, Mc
Café, Next and Mc Express as well. The restaurant functions in a self service format whereby
the customers are allowed to make their own meals and facilities (Deng, Kang & Low, 2013).
The restaurants are located in various parts of the globe. Recently, Mc Donald’s has started
mobile based application and ordering in order to access the e-commerce market.
IMC Strategy
The IMC strategy of Mc Donald’s involves Advertising using print media, TV Ads
and others. It also uses various sales promotion activities like catering to the younger
generation by aims of making their products even more popular. The restaurant has a well
defined public relations plan which tends to offer help to the company in order to market its
products.
Proposed Marketing Strategy:
The 12- month marketing strategy which has been proposed for the company has been
given as follows:

7
MARKETING MANAGEMENT
Product
Mc Donald’s has been back slashed very often for making use of various unhealthy
ingredients in its products. For this reason, it has been suggested that Mc Donald’s needs to
revamp its market offering and indulge in a healthier meal option for the different customers.
It can offer more vegetarian options for the various individuals as a majority of people all
around have been planning to adopt a vegan way of life (Flammer, 2013).
Price
The company can also apply other pricing techniques apart from the present
psychology pricing of using 9 in its price denominators (Saeidi et al., 2015). There are
various online foods ordering applications available company can actually increase the prices
of the products by observing the price of its competitors. This will ensure that the company is
able to earn higher revenues.
Place
Although McDonalds has been successfully able to extend its operations in various
parts of the globe, it is still not available widely on the digital platform. There is various
online food ordering applications available like Zomato and UberEats where the customers
tend to enjoy the experience at the comfort of their homes (Crane, Matten & Spence, 2013).
Becoming more prominent on the online domain will go a long way in helping the company
to ensure that it is successfully able to capture the larger market.
Promotion
The company needs to revamp its promotional activities. In order to attract a larger
crowd, the company can aim to improve its promotion strategies and make use of social
media marketing in making its products very popular among the larger audience.

8
MARKETING MANAGEMENT
The Gap existence
As it can be observed that there exists a gap amongst the proposed plan for the next
12 months and the current market of the organization. The gap areas which need to fulfilled
are as follows:
 The product offering- McDonalds needs to offer better vegetarian products for its
markets as more and more customers are adopting for the vegan way of life.
 Place: The Company needs to be made available on the online food delivery
applications to ensure it is able to cater to the needs of a larger crowd (Carroll, 2015).
 The company also needs to engage in social media marketing so that it is able to
attract a larger audience. Social media marketing is one of the most used ways of
promoting its products and it should be applied by the firm in order to ensure
sustainable success.
Leadership
Proper leadership is essential in the organizations as this helped them in providing
high morale to the employees in the organizations. The leadership is essential and it plays a
major role in motivating the employees to perform better in the organization as well.
McDonald’s is one such companies that helps in looking into the different kind of principles
that follows individualized store goals along with motivation to the employees who are
performing in the organization (Baker & Saren, 2016).
McDonald’s treat all the employees in an equal manner wherein this helps them in
providing them the morale to perform the different activities in the organization in an
appropriate manner (Chaffey, 2016). Presently, in the current scenario, it has been seen that
McDonald’s is using the creative problem-solving strategy in solving the different kind of
issues with organizational resources and this helps them in accomplishing the different

9
MARKETING MANAGEMENT
objectives of the organization as well. In McDonald’s, it has been seen that all the employees
know the way they are heading to and the contribution of the individuals in the organization
as well (Tiago & Veríssimo, 2014).
One of the most essential aspects of McDonald’s planning strategy is that proper
effectiveness is required in the supply chain management strategies. Proper timely delivery
and quality raw materials helps in establishment of good relations with supply chain partners
of McDonald’s. Proper value-based leadership has been used by McDonald’s restaurant
wherein it is seen that all the employees are valued in performing the different kind of
activities that is helping them in reducing the communication gap between the higher and
lower level officials. The mission, vision along with representation of the ethics and values of
the leaders and employees are valued in an effectual manner and this is increasing in
maintaining similar kind of culture effectively.
In McDonald’s, the different kind of values of the different employees are being
valued in an effectual and appropriate manner wherein this will help them in connecting with
the personal values of the employees and this focuses more on the flexible kind of
organizational culture as well. The flexible kind of work schedule is provided to the
employees who are working in McDonald’s and this has helped the entire organization in
working in flexible working hours and this is helping them in performing in an effectual
manner in the organization as well (Holliman& Rowley, 2014).
Furthermore, it has been seen that there are different kind of motivational tools that
are used by the leaders of the organization wherein the employees work is motivated with the
usage of such non-monetary and monetary rewards and this is helping the entire organization
in solving the different kind of grievances of the employees in the organization in an
appropriate manner (Spiller & Tuten, 2015). Different kind of training programs are

10
MARKETING MANAGEMENT
performed and adopted by McDonald’s restaurant wherein it helps the company in making
them effectual in nature to perform the different kind of tasks effectively (Charlesworth,
2018).
Lastly, it was seen that there are different kind of appraisal systems wherein this helps
the employees in the organization to provide them motivated and this helped the employees
in satisfying the requirements of the customers effectually as well (Kannan, 2017). the
turnover rate of the employees at McDonald’s has been reduced to a great extent wherein it is
seen that the employees are awarded for the best performance and this is increasing the
morale of the employees as well (Shankar et al., 2016).
Corporate Social Responsibility
The Corporate Social Responsibility can be described as a form of self regulation
program which is integrated into a business model. The Corporate social responsibility
functions as a regulatory mechanism where the business has to ensure that it ensures that the
company is able to monitor and act in compliance with the ethical standards (Ruggie, 2017).
Apart from regulatory activities and statutory requirements, the company also needs to ensure
that its actions are contributing to the success of the organization and contributes in making
something good and valuable for the society at large (Schwartz, 2017). The various Corporate
Social Responsibility strategies encourages a given company to make a positive impact on its
stakeholders as well as the environment which comprises of various parties to the business
like the employees, investors, communities and other related people in a business
organization.
Corporate Social Responsibility is considered to be important because:

11
MARKETING MANAGEMENT
 Better overall market performance- The companies who are able to portray a better
corporate social responsibility practice are generally able to perform better overall
performance. This enables the firm to increase its profits and perform better.
 Better stock price recovery- The companies who have an extensive corporate social
responsibility practice at work, tend to observe a considerable rise in their stock prices
in the stock prices. This is because companies like to associate themselves with firms
with a better corporate social responsibility as it reflects that the company cares for its
users (Tai & Chuang, 2014).
 Better access to policy making and makers-The government is also supportive of
those members who have a well defined corporate social responsibility plan at work
(Clapp & Rowlands, 2014). This helps them to divide their duty and serve the society
at large in a better manner. This is reflected by the fact at those companies who have a
better corporate social responsibility plan tend to gain help from the government in
form of grants and gains.
 Improved employee talent-The employees want to associate themselves with firms
that are engaged in a proper corporate social responsibility system. This is because the
corporate social responsibility adapted by the companies reflects their attitude towards
the welfare of the society at large.
 Higher employee engagement-The employees tend to perform even better if they are
generally made a part of these activities which involve the betterment of the society at
large (Cheng, Ioannou & Serafeim, 2014). If the employees are involved in the
development of the society it has proven to have increased their contribution towards
productivity.

12
MARKETING MANAGEMENT
The Corporate Social Responsibility of Mc Donald’s
The CSR at Mc Donald’s involves ensuring that the company behaves in a socially
ethical manner and deals ethically with the other parties who have been involved in the same.
It involves activities like spreading public awareness and planning for future business
operations (Takkar, 2015).
According to the company`s corporate social website, the company takes into account
serious responsibilities and maintains an open lines of communication with the various
stakeholders and customers (Khan, Muttakin & Siddiqui, 2013). The company has its own
code of conduct for the different suppliers which set down various regulation acts for its
relationship maintenance with the suppliers. The company is also working towards a
sustainability project which aims to improve the conditions of the various farm workers in
various underdeveloped nations.
Mc Donald’s is also engaged in various community base projects which are driven at
becoming an important assistance among various companies. The company has made various
contributions to the Flagship Farms Initiative which helps the farmers in showcasing various
innovative farming techniques (Servaes & Tamayo, 2013).
The company is also engaged in a Sustainable Fisheries program for collaboration
with the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (Kilkenny, 2014). The company also donates a
portion of its profits to the Ronald McDonald Housing Charities in particular to the care
mobile attempts which aim to ensure that the various children in vulnerable communities to
receive efficient medical health care facilities.

13
MARKETING MANAGEMENT
Conclusion
Therefore, it can be concluded that McDonald’s is one of the largest food chains in
the entire market and this has been able to attract the different customer base in the economy.
It has been seen that there are different kind of positive approaches in the marketing strategy
that has been used by the company, however there are different kind of issues in the
organizational strategy wherein this is causing huge loss of profit in their business. The
effective marketing strategy will help in embarking sustainability projects in an effectual
manner and this created huge scope for them to promoting good environmental practices.
Furthermore, it has been seen that the current marketing strategy is essential and
helpful in nature, however there can be different kind of technological advancements in the
strategies of marketing 4Ps wherein they can introduce the different kind of effective
strategic management activities wherein this includes inclusion of the food delivery
applications along with inclusion of different other variety of the food items for the
vegetarian individuals. It has been seen that the corporate social responsibility that has been
performed by McDonald’s is huge in nature wherein they are performing different social
activities that has helped the environment in overcoming the different challenges in an
effectual manner.
It has been seen that the corporate social responsibility activities policy of
McDonald’s is related to different kind of campaigns that has helped them in obtaining a
competitive gain and advantage in the entire competitive market as well. The marketing
strategy of McDonald’s has helped the company in including different age group of
individuals who has helped the company in becoming the largest restaurants in the entire
market. Lastly, it has been seen that there are different CSR activities with sustainable supply

14
MARKETING MANAGEMENT
chain strategy and this will help the company in providing wider framework to them
effectually.
References
Baker, M.J. &Saren, M. eds., (2016). Marketing theory: a student text. Sage.
Bhattacharya, C. B., Korschun, D., Sen, S., & Routledge, H. (2017). Corporate social
responsibility. Journal of International Law, 26(2).
Carroll, A. B. (2015). Corporate social responsibility. Organizational dynamics, 44(2), 87-96.
Chaffey, D., (2016). Global social media research summary 2016. Smart Insights: Social
Media Marketing.
Charlesworth, A., (2018). Digital marketing: A practical approach. Routledge.
Cheng, B., Ioannou, I., & Serafeim, G. (2014). Corporate social responsibility and access to
finance. Strategic Management Journal, 35(1), 1-23.
Clapp, J., & Rowlands, I. H. (2014). Corporate social responsibility. The Essential Guide to
Global Environmental Governance. Routledge: London, 42-44.
Crane, A., Matten, D., & Spence, L. (2013). Corporate social responsibility in a global
context.
Deng, X., Kang, J. K., & Low, B. S. (2013). Corporate social responsibility and stakeholder
value maximization: Evidence from mergers. Journal of financial Economics, 110(1),
87-109.
Emeana, N. (2013). corporate social responsibility.

15
MARKETING MANAGEMENT
Flammer, C. (2013). Corporate social responsibility and shareholder reaction: The
environmental awareness of investors. Academy of Management Journal, 56(3), 758-
781.
Holliman, G. & Rowley, J., (2014). Business to business digital content marketing:
marketers’ perceptions of best practice. Journal of research in interactive
marketing, 8(4), pp.269-293.
Järvinen, J. &Karjaluoto, H., (2015). The use of Web analytics for digital marketing
performance measurement. Industrial Marketing Management, 50, pp.117-127.
Kannan, P.K., (2017). Digital marketing: A framework, review & research
agenda. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 34(1), pp.22-45.
Khan, A., Muttakin, M. B., & Siddiqui, J. (2013). Corporate governance and corporate social
responsibility disclosures: Evidence from an emerging economy. Journal of business
ethics, 114(2), 207-223.
Kilkenny, S. (2014). Corporate Social Responsibility. Network Journal, 21(3), 24.
Krajewski, L.J., Malhotra, M.K. &Ritzman, L.P., (2015). Operations management: processes
& supply chains. Pearson.
McDonald's: Burgers, Fries & More. Quality Ingredients.. (2018). Mcdonalds.com. Retrieved
22 April 2018, from https://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en-us.html
Rowley, J., (2016). Information marketing. Routledge.
Ruggie, J. G. (2017). The theory and practice of learning networks: Corporate social
responsibility and the Global Compact. In Learning To Talk (pp. 32-42). Routledge.

16
MARKETING MANAGEMENT
Saeidi, S. P., Sofian, S., Saeidi, P., Saeidi, S. P., & Saaeidi, S. A. (2015). How does corporate
social responsibility contribute to firm financial performance? The mediating role of
competitive advantage, reputation, and customer satisfaction. Journal of Business
Research, 68(2), 341-350.
Schwartz, M. S. (2017). Corporate social responsibility. Routledge.
Servaes, H., & Tamayo, A. (2013). The impact of corporate social responsibility on firm
value: The role of customer awareness. Management science, 59(5), 1045-1061.
Shankar, V., Kleijnen, M., Ramanathan, S., Rizley, R., Holl&, S. & Morrissey, S., (2016).
Mobile shopper marketing: Key issues, current insights, & future research
avenues. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 34, pp.37-48.
Spiller, L. &Tuten, T., (2015). Integrating metrics across the marketing curriculum: The
digital & social media opportunity. Journal of Marketing Education, 37(2), pp.114-
126.
Tai, F. M., & Chuang, S. H. (2014). Corporate social responsibility. Ibusiness, 6(03), 117.
Taiminen, H.M. &Karjaluoto, H., (2015). The usage of digital marketing channels in
SMEs. Journal of Small Business & Enterprise Development, 22(4), pp.633-651.
Takkar, K. (2015). Corporate social responsibility. International Journal of Research in
Economics and Social Sciences, 5(8), 297-302.
Tiago, M.T.P.M.B. &Veríssimo, J.M.C., (2014). Digital marketing & social media: Why
bother? Business Horizons, 57(6), pp.703-708.