The Core Marketing Concepts of McDonald's - Case Study Example

McDonald’s Marketing Concepts Name Institution The Core Marketing Concepts – McDonalds Introduction Marketing concept is a simple and spontaneous philosophy that allows companies to achieve their goal that is based on the need and wants of the consumers and giving satisfaction more than the competitors do. Marketing concept holds that sales does not entirely depend on involving sale force, but mostly on consumer’s decision to purchase a specific product (Peter and Olson, 2005). Due to this, companies are forced to produce products based on the needs and the preferences of the target market in order to make profits. There are a number of successful companies that use marketing concept, one of them being McDonald’s. We can define a market as a medium that make it possible for buyers and sellers to interact for exchange of goods and services to take place. A segment is a component of any organisation that results to generation of profits and revenue. It can be described as an identifiable group of people that share identical needs in a homogenous market. This essay will evaluate McDonalds in relation to core marketing concepts and other aspects. How McDonald’s Use the Marketing Concepts McDonald’s is on one of the companies that utilize marketing concepts successfully in its operation. The mention of “fast-food restaurant” brings McDonald’s in many people’s mind as it is the largest food service company in the world. It has a very strong brand equity that enables it to have competitive advantage. The success of the company is attributed to the way they satisfy their customers. McDonald’s has over 30000 food outlets serving more than 47 million people every day in 100 countries (Rigga, 2000). The company has incorporated high standards of quality, hygiene, service and value. McDonald’s adapt to consumer preference changes. It realises that its target markets have differing cultures and values founded on nationality and religion. To cater for all religions and values, the company offer products according to country’s preferences and taste. For instance, in Indonesia, halal meat is used and no pork is sold. McDonald’s is able to assess its product and service quality through constant customer survey that cut down on cost and increase values to the customers. In addition, McDonald’s has similar quality service and standards in all its food outlets (Herberberg and Rieple, 2008). This offers friendly and hasty services to the target market. Understanding the needs, wants and tastes of the customers is a crucial role that builds and maintains customer relation. This is what McDonald’s base its business on (Pradhian, 2007). In terms of market, McDonald’s targets the young families with children, business customers and teenagers. Each customer segment has different reasons for coming to the food outlets. Using the three main customer segments, the company can tailor communications to meet the needs of particular groups. It is the segment needs that determine the location, promotional activities, prices and type of services and goods offered. In doing this, the customers feel appreciated and this has led to expansion of target market. In terms of customer relation, McDonald’s has established good relationship with its customers. First, the company make sure that their products relate to its customer’s diet recommendation but at the same time ensure it maintains high quality, value and taste (Mitchell, 2009). The company also seek to produce new quality products that satisfy customer’s diet recommendation and expectations. It has reduced the amount of additives and preservatives added to its products. It also provides detailed nutritional information to the customers about all its products. In addition, McDonald’s is a fast food company. However, due to the frequent changes of the customer’s preferences, product offering is expected to change as well. To accommodate these changes, the company constantly introduce new products and phase out the old products. For instance, French Fries has been in the market for a long time and has reached its decline stage. In order to revitalize it, McDonald’s has introduced Shake Shark Fries served with chatpataspice mix that has increased its sale and has regenerated Shake Shak Fries from its decline stage. Segmentation and Targeting McDonald’s utilize demographic segmentation approach with age as the key parameter (McDonald’s and Dunbar, 2013). The fundamental target segments of McDonald’s are children, young people and young urban family. The main target segment is children. Children are attracted to toys and delicious meals (Doole and Lowe, 2005). Therefore, in order to expand its market share, McDonald’s on any occasion such as birthday party, treat children with delicious meals at discounted prices. It is noted that children dominate in FMCG purchase based on food products. Therefore, in order to attract children, McDonald’s has established Happy Meal whereby they offer one toy as a gift on every Happy Meal. These toys can be Walt Disney characters, hot wheels to name a few. In order to make this happen, they have created an alliance with Walt Disney. In addition, a number of McDonald’s outlets have special areas including ‘PLAYING PLACE’ where kids play games such as arcade and air hockey. This segmentation approach target in enabling McDonald’s have special facilities where individuals especially children can play and eat. Targeting on children has attracted urban families with children, who are in need of a good time while their children have fun. The p’s marketing strategy Product This includes the method used by the company in designing and manufacturing products to enhance customer experience. A product is a tangible commodity or service a business offers to its customers. McDonald’s adds features like packaging and looks to both the tangible and intangible products. McDonald’s has a limited product depth. The company has gathered information of its Indian customers and has come up with different menu to that used in its international market. McDonald’s serve Indian customers with vegetarian menu and has eliminated all pork and beef burger (Sidhpuria, 2009). The company offers its products according to the taste and preference of its consumers. For instance, it has introduced Chicken Maharaja and Chicken Mcnuggets in the market. McDonald’s is known to offer quality products with best features based on the preferences of the target market. Place The place involves the distribution network and outlets of any company. This is an important factor because, products are supposed to be available to the customers at the right location and time and in good quality (Merrill, 2009). There is some degree of happiness that McDonald’s offer to the consumers. It offers value position founded on the needs of the consumers. McDonald’s has a hygienic atmosphere, offer quality products and better services. The company has instituted gaming facilities for children where kids can play as their parents enjoy a meal at McDonald’s. Price The aspect of pricing is very essential in marketing mix. It involves the price list, discount facilities etc. it should consider the reactions from competitors on the pricing. Price decides revenue earned by companies. Price is required to consider demand and supply framework by evaluating the pricing demand of a market. McDonald’s has reinforced some value pricing strategies like Happy Meal, Family Meal etc., to maximize their overall sales (Luo, 2000). It has established a punch line”Aap ke zamane mein baap ka zamaneka daam”. This has attracted children from lower class families and the results can be seen from the overall sales. McDonald offer high quality and hygienic products at affordable prices. A strategy incorporated for doing this is the Value Meal. A value menu has individual meal costing only at $1.00 each. The strategy was tasted in southern California and showed its success and since then, value Meal has been implemented in all outlets. Some franchise value their special menu at maybe “$0.39 hamburger Wednesday”. Promotion Promotional activities used by McDonald’s have assisted in communicating clearly with the target audience. Some examples of McDonald’s marketing campaigns include “Food, Folks, and Fun”, “Am loving it”, “You Deserve a break today, so get up and get away to McDonald’s” etc. McDonald’s over the years have used tools like advertising, public relation, personal selling and direct marketing to become the world’s sort out Burger Empire. Children being huge funs of burgers have been attracted by these tools. In addition, McDonald’s uses these promotional tools to incorporate some marketing communication programs that assist the company to access the communication lines in order to effectively transfer information about products to the target audience (Hawen and Thanopoulos, 2015). People McDonald’s appreciates the relationship between its employees and customers. It has put into mind that happy employees can lead to happy customers. Therefore, McDonald’s food outlets often carry out internal marketing that eventually lead to a successful external marketing (Blythe, 2008). In addition, all the McDonald’s employees wear standard uniforms and offer friendly and prompt services to the customers. Process The manufacturing and production of products in McDonald’s is entirely transparent (Daft, 2012). This means that the manufacturing process is visible to the consumers. The food outlets have allowed its customers to see and evaluate the hygienic standard available by giving the customers a chance to enter the areas where manufacturing takes place. In addition, the customers often are allowed to visit and check the ingredients used to produce food (Bolman and Deal, 2003). Physical evidence McDonald’s focus in its service provision is to offer clean, attracting and hygienic interiors of its restaurants (Schlosser, 2012). In addition, the fast food outlets have maintained a recommendable decorum at every joint. Conclusion In conclusion, McDonald’s use of marketing concepts has led to its growth and development. Marketing concepts are key elements for success of a business and in developing brand name. Marketing concepts provides competitive advantage for all business units. References Blythe, J. (2008). Essentials of marketing. Harlow, England New York: FT Prentice Hall. Bolman, L. & Deal, T. (2003). Reframing organizations artistry, choice, and leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Daft, R. (2012). Management. Australia Mason, OH: South-Western. Doole, I. & Lowe, R. (2008). International marketing strategy : analysis, development and implementation. London: Cengage Learning. Haberberg, A. & Rieple, A. (2008). Strategic management : theory and application. Oxford New York: Oxford University Press. Hawes, J. & Thanopoulos, J. (2015). Proceedings of the 1989 Academy of Marketing Science (AMS) Annual Conference. Cham: Springer. Luo, Y. (2000). How to enter China : choices and lessons. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press. McDonald, M. & Dunbar, I. (2013). 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