CRKC7002 - Marketing Management: McDonald's Singapore Marketing

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of McDonald's Singapore's marketing strategies, examining key concepts such as the marketing mix (7Ps and 4Cs), commoditization, total product and solution offering, service element management, experiential marketing, customer relationship management, internet marketing, pricing and cost structure, branding, and sustainability. It critiques McDonald's existing marketing actions and suggests potential improvements, focusing on how the company manages its services, customer experiences, and brand image in the Singapore market. The report also highlights the importance of stakeholder engagement and sustainable practices in maintaining a competitive edge.

MARKETING
MANAGEMENT MBA

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Contents
INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................................1
Marketing mix of McDonalds...............................................................................................................1
7p’s of marketing...............................................................................................................................1
4’c of marketing................................................................................................................................3
Commoditisation and Total product and solution offering....................................................................3
Commoditisation...............................................................................................................................3
Total Product and Solution offering..................................................................................................4
Managing the service element...............................................................................................................4
Experiential marketing, experience management and customer relation...............................................5
Experiential marketing......................................................................................................................5
Experience management....................................................................................................................5
Customer Relation.............................................................................................................................6
Use of the internet in marketing............................................................................................................6
Pricing and cost structure......................................................................................................................8
Branding................................................................................................................................................9
Sustainability, TBL and stakeholders..................................................................................................10
CONCLUSION...................................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES....................................................................................................................................13
INTRODUCTION
In all around the world there are different companies are facing diverse kind of challenges.
This problem even gets bigger for multinational organisations. In such an environment it has

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become crucial for the firms to manage all its challenges so as to strengthen their position in
the market. It is seen that companies are making strategies on the basis of the challenges they
are facing in any specific market. Most of the organisations are making strategies based on
the contingent approach which checks the situations and then strategies are applied.
Marketing mix and concepts such as total product and solution offering along with
commoditisation becomes very much essential in gaining success. Experimental marketing,
customer relations and experience management plays a very crucial role in that. Since most
of the business has taken the internet route hence use of Internet in the marketing campaign
has become very much crucial. Cost structure and pricing are very much essential part of the
modern day business. In this regards the role of the branding is also very much crucial. Along
with this company should also have to focus on sustainability and stakeholders associated
with it.
McDonalds is the world’s largest food chain restaurants from USA. The same is the case with
McDonald’s Singapore which is one of the biggest in the Singapore food industry. This
report analyses different concepts of marketing that is applied in McDonalds Singapore such
as P’s and C’s of marketing, total product and solution along with commoditisation,
management of service element. It also describes customer relationship management,
experience management and experimental marketing in regards to McDonalds Singapore. It
also elaborates about use of internet as well as cost and pricing structure, use of branding and
sustainability marketing principles.
Marketing mix of McDonalds
7p’s of marketing
There are people from the local and international market and hence marketing has to be done
with special attention to the marketing concepts. Marketing mix plays a very crucial role in
making the marketing effective. 7P’s of marketing mix are:
 Product: McDonald’s is having large variety of food and beverage items available at
their stores. Products includes burgers, snacks, desserts and shakes, breakfast, fries,
Hash Browns, Double quarter pounder with cheese, cheeseburger, Vanilla Cone, Hot
Caramel Sundae, McCafe Chocolate Shake, Kiddie Cone etc. Non-veg items like Egg
Muffin, Egg White Delight McMuffin etc. are also available in the menu (Meyer,
2015).

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 Price: Firms use different types of pricing so as to attract all the segments they have
targeted. Going rate, price discrimination, loss leader, cost plus pricing and value
pricing are some of the pricing strategies used by McDonald Singapore. The overall
objective made by the McDonalds for each individual restaurant is to provide food at
competitive value driven price for the consumers. Since the franchisers of McDonalds
are free to set their own price structure.
 Place: Distribution strategy used by McDonalds in Singapore is different from its
parent country. They have a home delivery services in these countries. It is not open
24 hours a day. They also take use of intensive distribution meaning developing
products available for sale through all possible distribution channels.
 Promotion: Its advertising techniques are highly very much unique and notable. This
restaurant takes use of newspapers, television, internet, magazines and other types of
media so as to interact with their consumers. In recent years, McDonald Singapore
has mostly focused on the digital marketing mediums for their promotions (Talpau
and Boscor, 2011). Some of the highlighted promotional techniques are distributing
coupons to the customers where regular consumers get eligible for free cup of tea or
coffee.
 Process: Process is understood as set of activities that is done in an organisation for
achieving their goals. A complete transparency is maintained at the McDonald’s units
where every customer has a right to check out the way in which their food is being
prepared. With effective staffing and fast customer response service they are able to
provide services to the customers at very faster rate.
 People: There are large numbers of people working at McDonalds in Singapore.
These are all highly trained professionals who are capable of delivering the food at
quality that is prescribed in its quality manual. Their workers greet the customers in
an appropriate manner. Company also spends a lot of money on their training.
 Physical evidence: They have been delivering their products and services as per the
manner they have promised to their customers (Yeu, et. al 2012). This is the major
reason why they have attracted large numbers of customers over the years. Quality,
cleanliness and hygiene have been their major criteria for business.
4’c of marketing
In terms of marketing the 4c’s are also very much essential. The four c’s for McDonalds are
as follows:

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 Consumer value: They value their customers in an appropriate manner. Due to this
they conduct research so as to find out the needs and demands of the market and
hence they create product and services accordingly.
 Cost: They have considered all the costs included in client’s satisfaction. According to
the needs of the consumers, they are offering products in different price ranges so as
to attract people from all sections of the society.
 Convenience: It is easier for the consumers to avail their products hence in terms of
convenience they are on the higher side. In Singapore purchase can be done in both
the ways i.e. both online and offline mediums.
 Communication: This is one of the most essential parts in the modern day marketing
is communication as it helps in building the image of firm. This firm is giving lot of
their time in dealing with the problems related to communication especially with the
clients (Gensler, et al. 2015). A proper regional training is being provided to the
employees so that effective communicational environment is maintained within the
firm.
Marketing mix is an essential part of the modern day marketing. In this regards both P’s and
C’s have to manage in an appropriate manner. By involving all the stakeholders into the
decision making process, a company will be able to improve the c’s of marketing.
Commoditisation and Total product and solution offering
Commoditisation
Commoditisation refers to process whereby competition removes differentiation in products
hence leading to creation of market having price-based competition. In McDonalds
commoditisation is maintained in an appropriate manner as they do not have different types
of products when compared with competitors rather they lead their customers in terms of the
prices at which different products are available at the firm (Paul and Roy, 2014). They are
providing products at such reasonable cost that it dwarfs all other purchasing factors.
McDonalds can improve its low cost pricing strategy by reducing the cost of franchising or
bringing innovation in the company’s portfolio. These innovations can also be in terms of the
ways in which different processes are conducted within the firm.

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Total Product and Solution offering
McDonalds does not offer many products from different food segments. Numbers of products
are 145 only. These products are capable of providing all the type of solution that is
demanded by the company. All the products made in the organisation are consumable and it
is as per the company has promised to its customers. In the management of Total Product and
Solution offering, McDonald’s has been continuously adding to its product range. Due to this,
innovation has become the major part of the business (Montgomery, et al. 2012). Total
product and solution offering is also relatable to the business that is provided through online
mediums. All its products are marketed in such a manner that it creates a positive impact on
the minds of the people and the products are also designed accordingly. Total product and
solution offering is enhanced within the organisation by the help of combined efforts done by
all the stakeholders within the firm.
Managing the service element
Managing service element has been a tedious job for the organisations. Service elements are
considered as an optional unbundled feature that is associated with making the arrangements
for serving. They are providing the best of services to the customers. For which they had to
take effective measures to manage their service element. In this regards the most crucial role
is played by the technology. They have used different types of technology so as to improve
the services provided at the workplace. In terms of managing the service element, they have
a highly skilled workforce that is capable of dealing with different types of situations (Al
Badi, 2015). Their workforce is highly skilled and trained which adds value to the service
element that is used within the organisation. There are people that are from the local and
international markets working at the McDonalds. Their experiences add to the company’s
way of doing business.
Regular trainings are being provided to the employees based on their requirements. These
requirements is analysed based on both company’s plan for its future growth and changing
customer demands. Quality which is one of the major service elements in any industry has a
role in improving the sales of the company and having edge over the rivals. McDonalds at
each step of its different processes maintains a set of activities that helps them in maintaining
their quality. Quality becomes more important in the case of services as it has a direct relation
with the quality of the output that will be produced in the company.

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Along with this there are many risks attached with the business. These risks have to be
evaluated on regular basis and hence react with a plan so as to mitigate plans accordingly.
Cleanliness and sanitisation is taken proper care so that no such problems reduce the quality
of the services (Akaka, Vargo and Lusch, 2013). This can be improved by the help of setting
service quality parameters. These parameters need to be designed seeking the benefits that
organisation aims to achieve.
Experiential marketing, experience management and customer relation
Experiential marketing
This is the form of the marketing that is gaining trends in the Singapore and other markets.
This has a strong influence on the minds of the consumers. Experiential marketing involves
marketing services and products on the basis of their experiences. It engages people to create
an emotional attachment with the products and services. McDonalds do it by the help of
guerrilla marketing, live marketing, event marketing, on-ground marketing. This is done with
some kinds of events or special events (Wood, 2012). The franchises of McDonalds in
Singapore do not only looks for customers as passive receiver of the messages rather they
involve them in creating and producing marketing program. This is also done widely through
the help of online sites especially the social media sites or through one-to-one interaction.
Experience management
This is also done within McDonalds in a smarter way by reacting towards the people’s
requirements. Experience management is basically considered as the practice of designing
and reacting towards the consumer’s conversations so as to meet or stay ahead of the
expectations of the consumers. It helps in increasing loyalty, advocacy and satisfaction of the
consumers (Jie, 2012). At McDonalds there is high use of technology so as to manage the
experience of the consumers. They continuously make process alterations so as to accomplish
the targets.
Customer Relation
Customer relation is one of the core concepts of modern day marketing and it aims to make
more effective relation with the consumers. In order to maintain healthy customer
relationship company apply different types of Initiatives such as localisation. For example
they do not serve beef or port in India. They are highly active in the social activities which
include child education, vaccination programs (Verma, Gupta and Nangia, 2014). They also

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help people from every section of the society so as to understand their product demands.
Based on the data received from their customer, they often make changes in their menu. In
order to maintain healthy customer relation, company use different types of plans.
Use of the internet in marketing
Every business is benefited from having an internet presence. Using the internet in marketing
is more of a matter of commitment. Mc Donald can make use of the internet marketing and it
comprises digital media to inform about products and lure people to purchase products and
services. The internet is a vehicle of promotions, advertising, and public relations efforts. The
internet should be used in the overall marketing plan of the Mc Donald. The ways to use the
internet for marketing can be:
 Affiliate marketing: It is a type of performance-based marketing in which the
company can reward one or more associates for each customer brought by associate’s
own marketing efforts. It is a great way to sell without employing even a single
person.
 Pay per click: Pay per click is used to direct traffic to the websites. The ad is clicked
when the advertisers pay. It is a great way to get prevent seen by the people because
the company will pay only for those who click the link. The company can be sure that
it is only paying for the people who are interested in the purchases of the company.
The tools like Google Adwords permits to research relevant keyboards to ensure that
the company makes available the terms people are searching.
 Search engine optimization (SEO): The SEO can be sued to make business highly
competitive. The SEO experts are capable of getting business on the top of the search
engines. Mc Donald can create content which is pertinent to the keywords and phrases
that is used by the customers. The Company can even check Google Adwords to view
how people use specific phrases to make sure it benefits them.
 Video marketing: video marketing is one of the growing areas of online marketing. It
is popular among the people who prefer to watching than reading. It offers enormous
flexibility to the business. YouTube is the other popular search engine after Google.
Mc Donald can freely host videos of food. Facebook also promotes videos to be
uploaded on the timeline. The increasing number of viewers increases the popularity
along with the increasing number of followers. Using videos has an extraordinary role
to play in promoting products of the company.

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 Social media marketing: social media marketing has great advantages as it is free to
use and can be used by the company in front of ideal customers who spend time on
social media. There are also some levels of the paid advertising which are helpful in
reaching to the potential customers. It has been considered that the businesses do well
on social media because they are social. Links, photographs, videos, and blogs are
helpful in building relationships along with credibility and expertise.
 Content marketing: The good content helps with the SEO. Mc Donald can have a blog
section on the website which should be updated on the regular basis. The content of
the website offers knowledge regarding offerings of the company. The ways should
be a lookout to increase the chance of the content being shared and seen by more
people.
 Online advertising: online advertising is a better way to reach an audience. Online
marketing is a marketing strategy which involves the use of the internet to deliver
market messages to potential customers. The most advantage of the online advertising
is that it target users from the demographic data like age, gender, level of education,
income and marital status. It also browses preferences and social behaviour. It
underpins various social advertising platforms and products.
Pricing and cost structure
The cost structure of the Mc Donald is localized than the globalized. Mc Donald has different
pricing and cost structure for the different countries. Singapore is required to undergo a strict
process for determining the price of the market. This process comprises:
 Choosing price objectives
 Defining demand
 Approximating costs
 Evaluating competitors’ costs, prices and offers
 Picking pricing method
 Selecting the final price
The pricing objective of the company is to enhance market share. It also considers the price
of the competitors for allowing to price products appropriately. It also balances quality along
with the value. Mc Donald also decides the price as per the life cycle of the products.

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(Source: Market realist, 2013)
In the cost structure of the Mc Donald, majorly considers a purchase, wage, marketing, rent
and utility, depreciation and others (Market realist, 2013). All these factors have a role in the
pricing and cost structure of the Mc Donald. The raw material is being the largest component
which is followed by the labor.
Mc Donald mainly makes use of the three generic pricing strategies like focus, differentiation
and cost leadership. The company has been successful in employing cost leadership
marketing strategy by making available fast food at low prices. The prices of the company
have been kept low by:
 Hiring and training inexpert employees instead of the trained chefs
 Hiring only a few trained managers
The pricing strategy of the Mc Donald comprises price bundling along with the psychological
pricing. The brand offers meals and other product bundles for a discount in the price bundling
(Fast Food, 2018). On the other side, Mc Donald uses prices which appear to be suggestively
more affordable instead of passing it off to the nearest dollar. The company often makes use
of the price bundling in order to encourage customers to purchase more products.

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The company is itself imprecise about its pricing strategy. It understands the perceived value
of the customers which is an important determinant in the price variation. It is also realized
that using low price as a marketing tool can promise customers as a product of conceded
quality. Besides, the competitors of the company can even count in the price war resulting
profit margins reduced without enhancing sales. The pricing and cost structure of the Mc
Donald implements cost leadership marketing strategy successfully. Its main objective is to
enhance market share. Arriving at a pricing decision is the outcome of evaluating demand,
costs, product lifecycle, and competitor pricing. It even balances quality with the value.
Branding
The branding is a marketing practice which unveils in creating name, logo and the overall
design. It helps to differentiate product and services from the competitors. It creates
consumer preference for the offerings of the company. It is helpful in generating revenues
and market share. It even expands the company’s estimated worth. Mc Donald is ranked sixth
as the top brand. It is one of the most visited restaurants and is successful in branding success
globally. The comprehensive market research and segmentation are the main reason for the
success of the Mc Donald in the restaurant business (Kowitt, 2012). It is imitated in the
offerings of the company like drinks, burgers, and fries as it varies as per the eating habits of
the people centered on the demographics. The company caters to the people of different
cultures and consider their differences. The franchises are even given on the authority to
prepare menus as per the food habits and interest of the local people. Other than the different
menus, ambiance, experiences and color palettes are alike around the globe. If it is talked
about the color palettes then the company chooses red and yellow which is known to
encourage hunger in human beings. It comprises a clever branding. The branding takes time
along with the patience. It demands entire attention and firm commitment. The company
promotes branding by keeping memorable and exciting advertisements. The slogan of the
company ‘I’m loving it’ become prize game and marketing technique. Mc Donald always
makes sure that it stays consistent with the promotions (Samsudin, et al. 2011). It is to be
believed that the branding strategy of the company is based on the uniformity and a person
will always be in a situation to order the most iconic menu items like Big Mac. The brand has
created its image by the greater choice, better value, and faster delivery.

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Sustainability, TBL and stakeholders
Mc Donald is the world’s leading restaurant company. Using a scale for good by the
company can be sustainable for the customers, producers, and the environment. It is the
vision of the company to source food and packaging sustainably. The company addresses 3
Es of sustainability like ethics, environmental responsibility, and economic viability. The
company makes sure that the food and packaging originate from sustainably managed land. It
is called sustainable land management commitment (Prakash and Singh, 2011). Mc Donald
extended its commitment to address all the three Es. The company is even assuring to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions from its restaurants and offices. There are two environmental goals
which company want to achieve by 2025. It wants to have 100% of its customer packaging
come from the renewable and recycling sources and have the option of recycling in all of its
restaurants. At present, 50% of the guest packaging comes from sustainable sources whereas
just 10% of the restaurants are recycling. Such moves are being made by the company in
response to the customer’s demand. The company desires to reduce wastage and have a
positive impact on the community.
The TBL (Triple Bottom Line) is a grouping of economic affluence, environmental
stewardship, and social responsibility. Mc Donald tries to enact and maintain a degree of
corporate responsibility. It denotes to being a good citizen in the global community along
with maintaining profit. There are some issues which have begun to become conspicuous in
regard to the corporate responsibility. The company tries to be responsible for the promotion
of sustainable farming methods. The company has even joined Unilever and Nestle in
promising to shift to completely sustainable sourced palm oil. Because it is a source of
greenhouse gases and also leads to a great deal of the negative outcomes. The environmental
impact can be reduced by recycling wastes (RATHI, 2013). The economic impact can be
reduced by being more sustainable and making profits. At last social impact can be reduced
by including more salads and nutrition in the meals. The consumption of the whole wheat
bread should be promoted.
The top stakeholders of the Mc Donald are its employees and customers. the stakeholder
group of the company mainly comprises the following parties:
 Employees: The employees of the Mc Donald are the top stakeholders. The interest of
these stakeholders comprises career development and fair compensation. The interests
of the employees are also addressed by the training and development programs