McDonalds Corporations 4ps Marketing Mix - Research Paper Example

Mcdonald’s Corporation’s 4p’s Marketing Mix Introduction McDonald’s Corporation forms the current world’s largest chain offering hamburgers fast food restaurants. As a matter of fact, the company’s success can not be undermined given the fact that it is capable of globally serving more than 58 million customers in just a single day. McDonald’s Corporation mainly concentrates on selling hamburgers, soft drinks, cheeseburgers, items for breakfast, French fries, desserts and shakes. The company has been a subject of criticism for its products mainly due to the fact that they are causing high levels of obesity to the customers. In an effort to curb this recent challenge that it has been subject to mainly in the western countries, McDonald’s Corporation has introduced healthier items in its menu which are inclusive of: fruits, salads and wraps. The fast food restaurant as has already been preempted has operations in markets globally hence it is fairly distributed in very many countries. In regard to this paper though, the main attention will be placed in India, France, England and China as a critical analysis and comparison is carried out on the marketing mix that the company employs mainly in the identified countries. McDonald’s Corporation’s 4P’s Marketing Mix McDonald’s forms part of the brands that are best known worldwide hence its main aim in marketing is to continue building stronger its brand in international markets by being a perfect listener of its customers. It is important though to take note of the fact that McDonald’s faces stiff competition from other fast food restaurants hence the need for a very competitive and effective marketing mix so s to continue emerging as the best in the diverse markets. Having identified the target customers that it is dealing with, McDonald’s comes out strongly to create a marketing mix that optimally appeals specifically to the target group (Kurtz 2010). The four main tools of marketing that are used in marketing mix are: product, price, promotion and place. In order to come up with the perfect marketing mix that optimally works for the benefit of the company basic questions are answered by the marketing department at McDonald’s. The questions whose answers determine the type of marketing mix to be used are: which products are well received in the market; what prices are the consumers willing to pay for the desired products; what television programs, newspapers are and advertising journals are mostly red and viewed by the consumers and which restaurants are mostly visited. This then offers the basis for identification of specific marketing goals of the company. With the marketing goals available, then the marketing mix (which is the focal interest point of this paper) can then be formed. Just as it is the case in other companies, the marketing mix of McDonald’s involves the four Ps which are exclusively analyzed in the following part in reference to McDonald’s. In regard to the ‘Product’ McDonald’s places more emphasis on efforts targeted at developing a menu which has what the customers do want. This is determined in McDonald’s using market research which is a very active department in the company given the fact that the requirements of the customers do change over time very rapidly. The fashionable foods today may be highly disregarded by the customers the next day (Kurtz 2010). In an effort to keep up with the pressure that is created by the ever changing wants of the customers, McDonald’s has literally changed the old products with new products and it is still continuing to do so as to remain competitive in the market. In regard to its products, McDonald’s is very keen in knowing the fact that during the life cycle of a product in the market, changes do occur. Investment is therefore injected in the product depending on the stage at which it is in the market. It is due to this approach that at a given time, McDonald’s will have a range of products to be offered to the customers with each product being in its own stage in its cycle. This enables to keep McDonald’s actively in the market. The second ‘P’ which is price forms a very crucial item about McDonald’s. In determining the prices of its products, McDonald’s mainly bases on the fact that the products offered to the customers are not merely the physical items that they are but they do have in them the psychological aspect about them. In this regard, McDonald’s argues that it does not merely offer low prices for the sake of it. This is due to the fact that low prices in the competitive industry could be a hint to the customers that the quality of the products has been highly compromised (Kurtz 2010). On the other hand offering low prices as a marketing strategy is minimized because other competitors could merely match the lowered prices hence finally leading to low prices with no significant increase in sales level. Thirdly, the ‘Promotion’ aspect about McDonald’s marketing mix takes care of all the types of marketing communications that the company does involve in. McDonald’s uses advertising, sales promotion, display at the point of sale, direct mainly, door drops, seminars, exhibitions, loyalty schemes, merchandising and demonstrations. The key element that McDonald’s does employ in marketing deeply knows its customers. The more that it knows its customers, the better position it is in to mix the various methods of promotion to reach the highest market target. Finally, the ‘Place’ in the marketing mix has to be effectively determined so as to ensure that the marketing mix that has been identified optimally serves McDonald’s. As a matter of fact, it is very important that the company does identify the right place where consumers mostly like purchasing from. McDonald’s Marketing Mix Implementation in Four Countries Product: McDonald’s spent resources in clearly examining the Indian market and in particular the unique culture in India. The value systems that are found in India have been a source of massive changes in the food service industry hence making it a very vital component of market to be considered by any company within the food industry. Venturing in the Indian market was a source of huge challenge for McDonald’s given the fact that most of the populations in the region are non-vegetarians although most of them do concentrate on consuming products from fish, chicken and mutton. The fact that the region has a mix of Hindus, Muslims and Christians posed a very huge challenge for McDonald’s. Christians do take beef and pork while the Muslims take beef but not pork as Hindus on the other hand prefer neither beef nor pork (Kurtz 2010). It was due to the twisted scenario posed by the Indian market that McDonald’s dropped both ham and beef burgers from the menu for the vey first time in its history. Later on mutton burgers was also dropped from the menu leaving room for new products to be specifically produced for the market. The new menu options that had vegetarian selection so as to suit the Indian culture are inclusive of the famous McTikki Aloo. In a nut shell, McDonald’s has reengineered its products to suit the vegetarian society and a more health-conscious market. On the other hand, McDonald’s has applied the very same strategy in dealing with the French market. By offering French fries to the market, McDonald’s is doing exactly what it has done in the Indian market. It is in this regard that the ‘Product’ aspect about the marketing mix in France is exactly what was employed in India. In the England market, customers of the McDonald’s products are more or less not concerned with the religious connotations offered to the food types but are more concerned with the health issues that arise from the products offered by McDonald’s. in addressing this, McDonald’s has effectively transformed its menu over time to suit the healthier products that are being demanded by the m UK customers (Kurtz 2010). The fact that it is now including products such as salads, wraps and fruits have ensured that the products that are offered to the market segment in England answers the exact questions that are demanded by the consumers at this particular market. The Chinese market has exactly the same market mix like the hone that is in India. This is due to the fact that the region has the same mix of religious groups as does the Indian market. As a matter of fact, the only difference that does exist in china is that the population is mostly of Christians hence the preference fro both beef and pork. The only difference that could be striking between china and Hindu is that china is a country that is highly conscious about the healthy trends. This makes the consumers in china boarder between the consumers in England and India. In the long run therefore it is true to conclude that the market mix that is used in china is more of a mix of both the Indian and England market mix. In regard to the pricing that is used in the Indian market, McDonald’s aims at developing prices that aim at attracting the middle class and the lower class in India. Having attained this very strategic pricing in India, the result is that not only do the upper class people prefer going to Indian McDonald’s but people from all classes. DDB Needham together with Leo Burnett form the two main agencies of advertising that McDonald’s uses in their global promotional activities. In India though the Mundra is being used by McDonald’s in its promotional activities as it best identifies with the market. Regular meetings are scheduled between Mundra and McDonald’s promotional agencies so that efficiency is obtained from the marketing activities of the company (Kurtz 2010). Finally, in regard to ‘Place’ McDonald’s is very effective in its operations as it has no franchise in this region but solely depends on its own outlets. This has led to the company being very effective in reaching its target market. Reference Kurtz, D. (2010). Contemporary Marketing 2011. California: Cengage Learning. Read More