McDonald's Marketing Plan - Essay Example

McDonald's Marketing Plan Report Table of Contents Marketing plan ………………………………………………………………..…………….3 McDonald`s company ……………………………………………………………………….3 Marketing planning process model……………………………………………….………….4 Objectives ……………………………………………………………………………………6 SWOT analysis……………………………………………………………………………….6 Determination of strategy and tactics………………………………………………...………7 Product life cycle……………………………………………………………..………………8 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………..……………….8 Appendices………………………………………………………………………………….10 Reference list…………………………………………………………………………………14 A marketing plan is a document written for describing the market position of a business, and its marketing strategy over the specified period. Marketing plans usually have a specific timeframe of about one to five years (Luther 2011, p. 1). The aim of creating a marketing plan is to show what steps the business intends to take to achieve its marketing objectives (McDonald & Payne 2006, p. 279). A marketing plan includes the following aspects, the description of the product, the marketing budget, which includes the advertising and promotional methods (Westwood 2013, p. 112). Pricing strategies, as well as the description of the business`s location. A marketing plan should be updated periodically to address the changes in the market conditions, demand and pricing issues. Market planning has the following steps • PESTEL • SWOT analysis • Smart objectives • Determine strategy and tactics • Applying plans and policies • Appraising usefulness of market analysis (Westwood 2013, p. 112) Marketing planning process model A business has to analyze its external environment. The external environment is broken down into six main areas. These areas are called PESTEL analysis (Bowhill 2008, p. 331). PESTEL stands for • Political Political factors are usually beyond the control of the organization. A business needs to prepare for the changes that might occur and take the necessary action required to remedy the situation. For example, some parts of the Middle East are unstable and McDonald being from Britain should be careful of what they say since it could hurt their business. • Economic Economic factors can affect the performance of the business. For example, the recent economic recession that led to the closure of multiple businesses and the laying off countless personnel. McDonald should put measures in place to shield itself from any future problems that might occur. • Social Social factors can relate to the cultures, values and beliefs of the society. It consists of the population’s demographics, which include size, gender, ethnicity, and education (Venkateshand Gregory, 2012). It helps McDonald target their business services and products. McDonald Company embodies a broad spectrum of services, so it allows useful information to them. • Technological Developments in the technology world can affect business performance in both negative and positive ways. For example, the internet and consumer behaviors have changed towards the internet; this has negatively affected McDonald because there has been as a decrease in sales in their book section. It is because e-commerce has taken business away. However, the launch of online shopping has enabled McDonald`s to expand rapidly since all their products in one place, and it has become easy to navigate. It will be beneficial to McDonald`s because people in the Europe love to shop, and a one-stop shop will be a crowd puller. • Legal Laws and Legislations also affect businesses, both positively and negatively. For example, the laws that allow 24-hour shopping will be beneficial to McDonald`s since customers will be able to shop day or night. • Environment Pollution is a major factor that can cause a significant hindrance to business. For example, McDonald`s has decided to abandon plastics, and is now packaging their food products in recyclable packages. It makes the consumers of the products extremely happier. However, the world can exert pressure on McDonald`s to ensure the packaging is recyclable (MacDonald, 2014). Positioning It is the process of determining the market space of the product or service in the projected market. McDonald`s needs to study the target market, and its customers` in order to project its profits. The company needs to find out if their goods sell at around the Europe. It needed to have done a market survey to determine what goods and services the customers wanted the most. Positioning of the company requires that you know the status of your competitor`s strengths and weaknesses. This will be helpful to the company because it will give the company a perspective of what to expect in the market. McDonald`s needs to position itself correctly in the market if they wish to acquire a large piece of the market share and beat their competitors. Objectives McDonald`s needs to identify its objectives for entering completion around the Europe. The Europe retail industry is extremely competitive is characterized by a number of established local retail stores like Home Center, and Jashanmal National Company, which command a significant market share. Furthermore, has been considered to be the most preferred destination for international retailers seeking to diversify their operations geographically. In this regard, about 61 percent of European retailers have considered Europe to be their preferred destination, which is likely to increase competition in the Europe retail sector. The retail sector in the Europe is extremely competitive; nevertheless, based on the factors spurring the growth of the retail sector, there is still exists room for growth. Strategy McDonald`s needs to conduct a SWOT analysis of the market. SWOT is a prearranged planning method used to appraise the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats involved in the business ventures (Bohm 2009, p. 2). Since it is a British company, it needs to research the target market because markets vary from country to country. The company needs to address the risks and benefits of entering a new market. It needs to conduct a vigorous advertising and promotion campaign to make the customers aware of their products. Strengths refer to the internal environment of the business, which provides the business with a competitive edge over the other companies. For example, McDonalds’s in-store setup is very efficient. Weaknesses are also internal aspects of the organization. These weaknesses occur when a company is not doing very well as compared to other companies. Opportunities focus on the events and developments that occur outside the organization. A prime example is how McDonald`s is seeking new territories in the Europe. Threats are external to the business but could damage the performance of the company. In McDonalds’s case, the threat could come from a shift in the government`s policy, for example, a rise in tax. Determination of strategy and tactics Marketing strategy involves analyzing and selecting of target markets. It also involves creating and maintaining a marketing mix (Shankar &Carpenter 2012, p. 2). These are the seven Ps namely Product, Price, Place, Promotion, People, Process and Physical evidence (Richter 2012, p. 25). McDonald`s needs to satisfy the customers’ needs as well as business its self. A marketing plan needs to project a plan that is going to improve the business for the better (Westwood 2004, p. 166). The business needs to think about the strategies and tactics to meet its objective. The marketing plan has the following; executive summary, (SWOT), corporation recourses and objectives. Marketing strategies include • Development of the marketing mix to reach a targeted market • Making financial projections • Identification of the market • Establishing control systems and evaluating criteria. They consist of establishing performance, standards and evaluating the actual performance against what was planned originally (Brassington &Pettitt 2006, p. 64). Social networking Many researchers and practitioners devote multiple efforts to share their views on how social networking influence marketing. This is because many people seek for opinions from others before purchasing a certain product. A great percentage of people trust the opinion of others than their own opinion. The roles that are played by members of social networking are the consumption and supply of content (Chapman 2008, p. 2). Those who create content are much engaged consumers and very influential. It is very advantageous if the appropriate influences are reached with the message. This is because they are able to disseminate the message very fast and within a short time. This is important to the marketers because those who use the social network feel that trusted friends through a trusted social network are passing the message to them. There are many advantages of social networks that are beneficial to the marketers. The social networks increase product awareness, it brings about the success of a new product and the web traffic is highly increased (Chapman 2008, p. 1). The marketers get loyal customers through the networks and SEO is highly improved. Marketing through social networking will improve awareness by improving the online existence of a product. The latest prospect exploration of marketing through social networking discovered that 48% of explorer marketers increasing place content on a well-liked social networking medium to improve passage and ensure brand awareness (Fox, 2009). As soon as a corporation creates a group or arranges an advertisement on a social networking site, the individuals are reminded of their product and website with all communication. Given that the consumers are fixing on the groups they desire to join and the ideas they would like to get, this information is frequently positively received. Social networks ensure there is a forum for the needs and wants of a certain community. This is achieved through the careful survey of the needs of the people of the community. The community is offered a chance to contribute in the development of a certain product (John, 2013). The community guides in the process of promotion of a product to ensure that it is successful in the market. When the community is given a say in the promotion of a product, the clients become loyal and the product has high chances of succeeding. Smart objectives All businesses no matter the size set objectives and goals. The objectives can be of a variety of levels. For example, from small individual targets to increase people served per hour to a company, which wants to grow the UK core. To be efficient and measurable objectives should be smart (Mullin & Cummins 2008, p. 33). Specific- The objective should clearly outlined and focused Measurable- So the company can see how it is performing by means of a percentage within the objective. Achievable- For an objective to be achieved, it needs to be something that a business can do. Realistic- using realistic strategies and policies is important because they affect the organization if the business is not achieving the set goals and objectives because they are not realistic. Time-related objectives must relate to a time scale, and this motivates everyone, as there is a deadline to meet. A marketing plan also has a product life cycle. Individual Products develop over time through these stages. The cycle has four stages, mainly introduction, growth, maturity and decline (Niemann 2009, p. 23). It is important that McDonald`s knows the lifecycle of each product to prevent loss that could amount to millions of dollars. McDonald`s has many products that could be classified as two groups’ perishable and non-perishable goods. It is the goods; for example, fruits and vegetables that McDonald`s has to deal with. In conclusion, Marketing plans involve the implementing of strategies that influence an organization`s goals and objectives. The McDonald’s Company should implement the strategies and objectives listed above in order to integrate fully into the European market. Appendices Marketing plan, Appendix A Product life cycle Appendix B PESTEL analysis appendix B Appendix D Marketing Mix Bibliography Bohm, A. (2009). The SWOT Analysis. München, Grin Verlag. Bowhill, B. (2008). Business planning and control: integrating accounting, strategy, and people. Chichester, John Wiley & Sons. Luther, W. M. (2011). The marketing plan: how to prepare and implement it. New York, Amacom. McDonald, M., & Payne, A. (2006).Marketing plans for service businesses: a complete guide. Oxford, Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann. Mullin, R., & Cummins, J. (2008).Sales promotion: how to create, implement & integrate campaigns that really work. London, Kogan Page. Niemann, J. (2009). Design of sustainable product life cycles. Berlin, Springer. John, W. (2013).How to Write a Marketing Plan. Retrieved from MacDonald. (2014). Retrieved from Venkatesh, S., and Gregory S. C. (2012).Handbook of Marketing Strategy. Retrieved from Richter, T. (2012).International marketing mix management: theoretical framework, contingency factors and empirical findings from world-markets. Berlin, Logos. Rose, R., & Pulizzi, J. (2011).Managing content marketing: the real-world guide for creating passionate subscribers to your brand. Cleveland, OH, CMI Books. Shankar, V., & Carpenter, G. S. (2012). Handbook of Marketing Strategy. Cheltenham, Edward Elgar Pub. Westwood, J. (2004). The marketing plan: a systematic guide. London, England, Kogan Page. Westwood, J. (2013). How to write a marketing plan. London, Kogan Page. Brassington, F., & Pettitt, S. (2006). Principles of marketing. Harlow, Financial Times Prentice Hall. Read More