Marketing Strategy for Halal Meat by McDonalds Corporation - Essay Example

Marketing strategy for Halal Marketing strategy for new product (Halal Meat) by McDonald’s CorporationIntroduction McDonald’s is a Corporation that mainly deals with processing of hamburgers and their delivery to various destinations. It has over 35,000 branches and is present in over 119 countries. McDonald’s has worldwide customers and, therefore, the introduction of Halal meat by the corporation will not face serious challenges. The Corporation has a well-established marketing chain that it will use to promote their new product (Halal meat). Their vast knowledge in the food sector will help them in proper implementation of their new product. In Islam, Halal means allowed and hence the Halal meat is a good for all in the society. An overview of current communication strategy McDonalds’s Corporation has redesigned its strategy for communication with great focus on the target audience (recipient). The strategy is designed to pass information to both internal and external parties, having interest in McDonald’s. Internal communication strategy targets mainly the staffs and shareholders, channels used to are intranet network and newsletter. External parties mainly consumers and potential investors are kept in touch with the company through promotion. The channels use is mainly advertisement using online platform and billboards, which updates them on the company’s products and services. Situational analysis of McDonald Corporation Strengths Due to their major outlets of over thirty-five thousand all over the world provides them with a significant marketing strategy through which they can reach their customers quickly. The Corporation has an enormous number of customers of over 68 million in 119 countries whom it has had since its inception and who are loyal to their products. Royalty between the customers and the corporation creates a solid foundation for the development of a new product. The corporation has an enormous income of over 6 billion us dollars that it can use a portion of the revenue collected to market the already newly developed product in the market. Due to their financial stability, the corporation can employ well-trained staffs who can sell the product with diligence and excellence. Weaknesses Improper coordination of all the activities and all the stakeholders to involve in the implementation of the project may delay the project. Misappropriation or diversion of funds meant to steer the project to other activities may pose a threat to the failure of the project. Extension of their services on top of the services already offered may increase the difficulty of management issues, therefore, the need to employ people who are highly skilled with huge experience in the sector. Opportunities United States of America has a well established political stability; political stability encourages investment and development of the already existing businesses. McDonald’s Corporation having being located in this region provides a base for its growth and development. U.S.A has different people with different cultural practices. Due to their diversity in culture introduction of Halal meat by McDonald’s Corporation will be highly embraced by quite a large number of people. United States has an enormous population of about four hundred million people and, therefore, this provides a ready market for the newly introduced Halal meat. McDonald’s Corporation has an added advantage over other competitors as it has a broad experience in food processing. For over 70 years, McDonald’s has been dealing with food; therefore, the introduction of Halal meat in their corporation will only be as an extension of the services offered. Threats If other huge companies such as Walmart would introduce the same product in the market would pose a threat of customer competition. If the product is found to have negative health issues will adversely affect the corporation customer population. Strategic direction McDonald’s Corporation is planning to: 1. Launch a new product (Halal meat) to the market; this is due to continued demand for the product by most of its loyal customers. Therefore in order to fill the quest and increase customer satisfaction the corporation has seen the need to develop the product and make it readily available to their customers for consumption. 2. More revenues and profits. Offering of the new will help in generating more revenues and hence increased profits to the organization. Target group Most of the targeted groups for the new product are the already existing loyal customers who are in high demand of the product. The product is targeting all the genders in United States of America before making it a global product. All individuals can consume Halal meat without any side effects. United States has an approximate of about 400 million peoples who are potential customers of the product. According to (Curtis, 2008, pg 46), Halal means allowed in the Muslim community, therefore, it will be welcome to the major religions in the U.S, both Muslim and Christians. As long as the product is preferred by its customers hence the buying behavior of the target population is expected to be positive. Quantitative objectives a. To increase corporation revenues and profits. Despite increasing customer satisfaction, the primary thing of any business enterprise is making a profit. Even though it is the organization customers who are demanding for the product, it cannot provide the product for free. The firm incurs cost in the processing of the Hala meat and therefore profit making is mandatory. b. To increase market share The launch of Hala meat product by McDonald Corporation will add up the corporation customers’ pile. There is a section of the population in U. S will fall in love with Halal meat and will become loyal to the corporation’s product. SMART Specific- The goals for the McDonald’s Coorporation for this new product is specific, in the sense that, profit and market share increase are the key goals. Measurable-Measurability of the specified goals is feasible. Increase in profit will prove increase in market share, and vice versa. Achievable-The set goals are achievable, since McDonald’s have been in Fast-food business industry and have identified the consumer’s demand for Hala. Realistic-Islamic faith has been recognized in United Kingdom therefore the demand for Halal is also available. Christian faith will not have issues with the Halal. Time-bound- The set goals should be reflected within the first quarter of the financial year. Qualitative objective a) To increase customer satisfaction. Most goods and services are generated to satisfy customer’s need. The launch of Halal meat is only meant to quest the customer’s desire that are in high demand for the product. For the case of McDonald Corporation, the principal objective to launch the new product is for customer satisfaction. It is the loyal customers of the corporation that are pressuring the processing of the new product; therefore, customer satisfaction becomes a primary goal. Communication tools Sales promotion is marketing of a product to its customers and telling them more about the product. It impacts consumers with more knowledge about a product. Importance of sales promotion methods Creates awareness about a product in the market Sales methods are useful when launching a new product, good or service to the service. Advertising makes a product or a service well known fast than any other method. A sales promotion method reminds customers’ that a product or service is still in the market. It tells of the improvement made on the product. Any improvement or concerns made on a product is well communicated through advertisement and other promotional methods. Promotion methods are used to explain any negativity about a product. The following promotional tools will be used to create awareness and availability of the product to potential customers. They will include: advertisement, sales promotion, Personal selling and public relations. a) Advertisement promotional method. Advertisement is the primary promotional method used by Corporations in order to create awareness of the new product (Halal meat) in the market. According to (Cateora, 1983, pg 75), advertisement reaches many people in the U. S because almost everybody has access to media devices. This method is estimated to cost $50,000 U. S dollars for six months. The major media to use for advertisement include; i. Television, every household in the U. S has access to TV’s and radio. Therefore, it’s the best and the most convenient method to communicate the product to its potential customers. Magazines and newspapers will also be essential to promote the new product. Features of advertisement method Reaches many people It is expensive TVs and radios are readily available Covers a wide geographical area including the remote areas ii. Use of online advisement, including the use of social networking site for example Facebook and twitter accounts as most of the people have created private accounts globally, advertising through their website and individual promotional web page. The theme and the message to display on the social networking site include. The theme “Halal meat!! Sharing our best moments” and the message will be “best when shared by two”. Online advertisement is the cheapest method of advertising as it only involves feeding the corporation website with news, photos and information on Halal meat. Features It is cheap, as it only involves the only creation of Facebook or twitter account. It is reachable to many people, almost everybody in the U.S have access to Facebook and twitter account. b) Sales promotional method Sales promotional method, the method includes offering of discounts on the price of the newly produced product (Espejo, 2010, pg 63). The product is offered freely for every two hamburgers bought by the customer. The offer will be valid for three months after which the product shall sell at a fair price. The method will spend $ 10,000 U. S dollars for six months. c) Personal selling as a promotional method Personal selling will involve the use of trained individuals who will be traveling in vans carrying ready (cooked) Halal. The prepared samples are given for free to customers to eat, and if they find the meat enjoyable they can buy their own. Personal selling will be conducted once in a year for better understanding and complete awareness of the product. This method is estimated to cost $20,000 U. S dollars for a period of six months. Features of personal selling Allows for personal contact between the promoter and the potential customers. Allows for quick and direct response to queries There is also a conversation between the seller and the potential customers hence there is enough time for explaining the new product. Through the direct contact between the buyer and the seller gives room for additional information from the customers. Allows the development of strong relationship between the seller and the customer d) Public relations Public relations, this involves introducing the new product in public meetings or seminars, sponsored, events, using of brochures and newsletters. e) Posters and billboards Posters and billboards, this will include the installation of advertising billboards and posters with the photos of well prepared Halal meat especially in those areas where there is a high concentration of customers of the product. Promotional schedule campaign calendar Promotional methods Time in months Advertisement and posters/billboards Six months Advertisement and sales promotion Six months Advertisement and personal selling Six months Advertisement and public relations Six months Evaluation of the criteria used in the promotion methods mentioned above. The primary measure of the assessment of the impact of the above promotional method is the increase in the numbers of customers purchasing Halal meat in the period of six months. Customer increase indicates an increase in sales hence an open indicator of positive impact on promotional methods used. Another method of evaluating the impact of promotional methods is the increment in the production department of Halal meat. (Espejo, 2010, pg 43) argued that, there should be an establishment of a well-integrated system of communication among all the stakeholders involved in the success of the new product. The system should be well managed and frequently used a mode of communication. Conclusion The introduction of a new product (Halal meat) by McDonald Corporation will help in increasing the corporation’s revenues and profits. Halal meat will increase customer satisfaction as its development is due to increased consumer demand. Customer satisfaction is the primary function of the corporation and therefore, due to their functional priority the introduction of the product (Halal) will be a viable project. Budget for the project Gantt chart showing schedule of activities N: B the activities should follow each other as shown in the table above. A Gantt chart of the above activities References Cateora, P. 1983. International marketing (5th ed.). Homewood, Ill.: R.D. Irwin. Curtis, E. 2008. Integrating Islam and Muslims into the U.S. History Survey. OAH Magazine of History, 44-48. Espejo, R. 2010 . Advertising. Detroit: Greenhaven Press. McD: All our products certified Hala - Nation | The Star Online. n.d.. Retrieved April 17, 2015. , Read More