Introduction
In today’s time, foundations of marketing are an essential part of any company involving more than advertising. Marketing helps in business to run successfully and the focus is mainly on recognizing and accepting consumer for all business activities and knowledge about customer wants and needs before making all the prior business decisions. It also involves the specific techniques identifying and satisfying consumer needs with intent of marketing mix using marketing tools by manager combining to deal with specific marketing situations (Homburg, Jozi?, & Kuehnl, 2017).
According to AMA (American Marketing Association), marketing is the process of challenging and planning the formation, promotion, pricing and distribution of goods and services, and ideas creating to exchange and satisfy organizational objectives (Ottley & Bechwati, 2018). McDonald’s (MCD) is one of the biggest fast food, limited service restaurant in more than 100 countries including Singapore, Australia and many other with over 35,000 restaurants employing around four million individuals serving 70 million customers per day (Jones, 2014). In this report, the aim is to analyse the company’s product line identifying its elements and structure. The discussion consists of McDonald’s core marketing concepts and marketing mix with the help of theory and application integration. The product line chosen in this report is of burgers with more than 20 plus variety and keep on inventing new burgers time-to-time to keep consumers satisfied. McDonalds work on large product mix providing burgers, ice-cream, salad and drinks. With this huge product range, McDonalds had an advantage of providing more choices for the customers and satisfying the wants of various market segments.
Core Marketing Concepts
In an organization, marketing concept satisfies the organizational objectives anticipating needs and wants of consumers and satisfying them effectively than the rivals. It benefits the company and customers both for gain in business. The needs, wants and demands of customers really matters in marketing of any company (Homburg, Jozi?, & Kuehnl, 2017). The foundation of the company is based on Mintzberg’s Configuration Theory and Greiner’s Life Cycle Model showing lower prices than the competitors and initiating structure of kitchen fitted for mass production (Tam & Gray, 2016). McDonalds is mainly into providing high quality food, cleanliness, outstanding service and value as its strongest strategy and vision in the fast-food industry. They developed new techniques in the restaurant business for attaining the competitive advantage using technology for being a low cost producer achieving cost advantage overall as McDonalds runs horizontal integrated business for better future, growth, employment opportunity and productivity.
Customer Profile
In McDonalds, customers are satisfied from its taste of food, ambience, and variety of menu, value for money, speed and quality of service. The diversification of McDonald’s products and its enormous product range makes it easier for them to expand and grow (Hey Leung’s Business Blog, 2013).
Needs, Wants and Demands
Now-a-days, the successful companies like McDonalds practice the marketing concept by identifying the needs of the customer and provide products to them for satisfying those needs to make sure its long-term profitability. Individuals’ state of self-deprivation requires their personal, social and physical needs to be fulfilled (Gummesson, 2017). The wants is an alternative of needs formation designed by individual personality and culture. Other point is that supporting needs becomes demand which can be done by its buying power. For instance, people hungry in India go for roadside and people at US look for burger in McDonalds.
Marketing Offerings
In market, combination of some information or experiences, products and services are offered for satisfying the needs and wants of a consumer. These combinations not only limited of physical products but provides services as well such as sale offering benefits or activities. The services related preparation, banking, tax, airline, hotel and home repair does not result in the ownership as a broader concept. Further, it also includes entities such as ideas, information, individuals, companies and places for offering in the market (Al Badi, 2015). Sometimes, there is a mistake by the sellers due to paying more attention to the specific products offered produced to benefit and experience and this is the reason of them suffering from poor-sight only focusing on existing wants without looking at the core customer needs.
Value and Satisfaction
Usually, to satisfy the needs of customers as per the expectations faces a broad range of products and services. It provides value offered in various markets according to the buying and delivering. The customers that are satisfied come to buy and eat again and based on their good experiences and tell others about it as well whereas dissatisfied customers try to switch to the rivals and criticize others as well about the product (Harrington, Ottenbacher, & Fauser, 2017). The company is able to satisfy the buyers as marketers requires to be careful before setting the level of expectations or else they will fail to attract the rest buyers due to low expectations if generated. Moreover, buyers will also get disappointed if the expectations set are too high. The key building blocks are customer satisfaction and customer value for the development and management of customer relationships.
Exchanges, Transactions and Relationships
After occurring of marketing with individual’s decision of satisfying needs and wants by exchanging relationships, the act to obtain is showed with a desired object to offer something in return. Moreover, to get the response of a buyer at broadest aspect shows marketer trying the way of market offering making it easy with the help of buying or trading products and services (Nuque-Joo, Kim, & Choi, 2019). The maintenance and building consisting of desirable exchange relationships are the actions taken in marketing with involvement of idea, product, service or other object by target audiences. To retain customers, McDonalds wanted their business to grow by not only creating transactions and attracting new customers. It makes marketers to build strong relationships for providing superior customer value delivery constantly.
Markets and Target market segment
The concept of a market is leaded by the concept of relationships and exchange as it is of potential and actual buyers of a product or service. It is set where buyers share a particular want or need providing satisfaction through exchange relationships (Lowongan, 2015). In marketing, markets management is about bringing profitable customer relationships that also requires work while creating. Identification of needs, setting prices, designing good market offerings, promoting, and storing and delivering are all searched by buyers as a sellers. It requires the performance of core activities such as distribution, communication, product development, service and pricing, and consumer research.
According to Philip Kotler, in the face of rivals, market served by final consumers is involved in marketing showing market research for McDonalds and its competitors. Also, requires interaction with consumers to understand their needs (Pearson, 2016). Further, creation and sending is done of messages to consumers and market offerings directly or indirectly through market intermediaries. The system of the company is affected by the prior environmental factors consist of demographic, natural, political, economic, social, and technological. The relationship is shown needed to managed and developed while creating customer value and profitable customer relationship (Reliving MBA Days, 2012). Thus, system’s every party helps in adding value of McDonalds by providing better quality with continuous environment and achieving the changing environment of the company for better customer experience.
Marketing Mix
To form the core with the help of achieving marketing objectives through the company’s marketing system, McDonalds includes various marketing mix elements to perform. As per the product line of burger, marketing mix of McDonalds offering the best burgers worldwide.
Product: McDonald’s product mix is diverse and different than its other competitors with the reason of carrying expensive line to offer to their customers of food and drinks in the business. In the company at global perspective, being the largest fast food restaurant changes made after giving chance to the customers for choosing according to their wants to capture attention by providing satisfaction. Thus, in McDonalds business selling burgers of nearly 50 million daily and across the world (Nielson, 2013). McDonald’s always considers often on menu development which customers want for attaining the core benefit by satisfying customers buying the product. As, customer requirements keeps on changing and it is essential to meet those changes for which the company introduced new products and dispose the old ones by featuring and designing the actual product, and this cycle continues. The care is taken for no adverse effect on sales due to one’s choice after the new choice is introduced. McDonalds existing menu helped in handling sales with the sense of knowing the items popularity in the market (Harrington, Ottenbacher, & Fauser, 2017). The company is capable of generating profits which will differentiate at various points in the cycle by providing customer service and warranty as an augmented product to the specific customers with improvisation and positive change. Accordingly, estimating vegetarian individuals globally makes McDonalds to focus on its varied product range. Moreover, the happy meal is selling at the best among all for the children.
Price: In McDonalds, the customer’s value perception is a crucial factor of the price charges where they make their own opinion about worth of the product. It is more than a physical item that also contains psychological suggestions for the customer. As a marketing tool, using low price can be dangerous where the customer starts to feel compromise in the quality for attaining the marketing objective consists of survival in the market, product quality and market share leadership. The company needs to make everyone aware about its integrity and brand at the time of making decision related to price. It is also affected by the strategy of marketing mix linking to the promotion decision, product design and distribution. McDonald’s products are classified into 2 categories that are branded core value products (BCV) and branded affordability (BA). These consist of the burgers such as McVeggie and McChicken, and McAloo tikki and Chicken McGrill which helps in satisfying the different opinions of consumers on price depending on the company’s cost relating to the market and its demand (Al Badi, 2015). McDonalds uses a combination of bundle pricing and psychological pricing strategies offering discounted products as compared to purchase of a single item due to leading the competition in the market and keep on attracting customers and make them stick to it. This encourages customers to buy more products and keep stick to the company by showing some loyalty towards it.
Promotions: The main method of promotion with covering all types of marketing communications is advertising. It is conducted on radio, TV, online, in theatre, use of poster sites and in media such as magazines and newspapers. Other method is sales promotions showing merchandising, point of sale display, loyalty schemes, direct mail, and door drops. And these skills in marketing communications are for the development of campaign used to provide most effective outcomes (Thomes, 2017). For instance, it makes aware about a food item by advertising it on TV for individuals and providing detail about it through press advertising. The marketing methods used by McDonalds uses that can be supported by in-store promotions where the company make individuals try the product and encouraging them by collectable promotional device for continuous buying. The company majorly focus on targeting children by providing small toys along with the happy meals and establishing different schemes to win prices with the idea of scratch cards and lucky draws after the placing of orders depending on the various meal combos (Rodrigues, Nikhil, & Jacob, 2016). The marketing campaign adopted themes referring to a stage in the PLC (product life cycle) such as McDonald’s “All-Day Breakfast” rollout campaign. The tactics of guerrilla marketing of McDonalds transforming kinds of spaces such as in coffeepot and urban environments opportunities present.
Place: Place is an element of marketing mix, not only about distribution points for products or physical location but involves the management as well. It requires involvement to bring the products with the range of processes to the final consumer (Dudovskiy, 2016). Throughout the countries, the channels of McDonalds are spread where it is easy to access and options of drive through and drive in for making it convenient to the consumers of McDonalds. The distribution of products by the company is mainly at McDonald’s mobile apps, restaurants, kiosks and other websites as well. Moreover, the company’s sales revenues are mainly generated at the restaurants that sell it limited products selection with managing kiosks (Kraak, Englund, Misyak, & Serrano, 2017). As most of the kiosks are temporary such as in sports competitions and other seasonal events with the involvement of McDonald’s mobile apps where it is easy for customers to access information related to buying preferences. This supports the company’s corporate vision and mission statements while serving more customers across the globe.
People: To attract customers focusing on to provide friendly and prompt services, McDonald’s employees wear standard uniform. The company trains every employee in customer management in their all new franchises to keep them happy and satisfied. It ensures to handle negative responses keep them motivated with thinking of new ideas when there is need at the time of high pressure. In McDonalds, employees with no job experience requires such type of training which is useful for them working at crowded place especially on weekends or occasions (Chowdhury, 2017). This element covers the issues addressed related to customers and employees. As, if employees are not happy they start delivering poor customer services where company starts to lose its customers as well. This shows the importance for the company to implement correct strategies to know the needs and wants of customers and employees.
Process: It shows the set of activities performed for the achievement related to company’s delivery of activities in products where the preparation of food is an overall process. McDonald’s food manufacturing process maintains transparency completely which means, shows its visibility to the customers (Gummesson, 2017). Customers have the rights of judging and viewing under the permission of fast food joint about company’s hygienic standards. They can come any time to check the use of food ingredients as it is not restricted till her but can also place the orders. Moreover, they watch towards the way to wait for the food and treatment by customer care assistants.
Physical evidence: The focus of the company is on its clean and hygienic interior outlets and making it attractive inside-out. McDonalds fast food joint keep up with all the joints followed by maintaining a proper discipline. It consists of physical environment elements of customers and visitors experiencing the impact of customers’ impressions and the functioning of McDonalds in the restaurant (Rahman, 2017).
Conclusion
To conclude, marketing is essential for the company to achieve the position and lead in the market with various opportunities. It is possible by using organizational resources rationally for the development of new products with the help of practice and theory of marketing maintaining the position. McDonalds with experiencing change in preferences beneath the fast-food industry with conversion of healthier aspect. The company faced heavy challenges but keep up the pace with supreme growth and maintaining the leading position in the fast-food market across the globe for providing quality products at nominal prices by keeping customers happy and satisfied.
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