Marketing Mix for McDonalds - Essay Example

Marketing Mix for a Mcdonald’s Product Product – Low-fat blueberry muffin. It is a low-fat muffin with blueberries scattered throughout. As per the nutritional chart, it provides 300kCal with only 4 grams of fat. Blueberries are known for being an excellent source of antioxidants and have cardiovascular and cognitive benefits for individuals who consume them at least four to five times a week. The two market segments or target groups (TG) selected for the Low-Fat blueberry muffin are:1. Office goers or the working class (TG 1): They frequent the fast food chains for a quick bite, mess-free lunch on the go or order deliveries for food while they have working lunch2.

Women in the age group of 20 -45 years (TG 2): This group is calorie conscious. They count every gram of fat consumed and resist food that makes them fat. Price – At Mcdonald's, the price of a product may change from one outlet to another as it is affected by the location of the outlet and also because there are different franchises. A pricing strategy for the low-fat blueberry muffin should be such that it is consistent at every outlet. A sales-oriented pricing strategy could be to give coupons on each purchase of low-fat blueberry muffins, which in turn will generate further sales. For e.g.:TG 1: (a) Purchase 3 muffins on weekdays and get coupons for 2 free muffins for the remaining 2 weekdays. (b) Purchase 6 muffins over a period of two weeks and get a coupon for 1 free muffin.

TG 2: Purchase a muffin with a salad for 3 days in a week and you get a coupon for 1 free muffin with any meal in the same week.Place – It is important to ensure that the low-fat blueberry muffins are available at the outlets where the possibility of target groups visiting the outlets is high.TG 1: McDonald’s’ outlets located in and around business centers, and government offices 2: Mcdonald’s outlets located in and around shopping malls, fitness centers, beauty salons, and schools (where the TG 2 visits with their children).

Promotion- In the case of low-fat blueberry muffins, the promotion should be focused on increasing the value of the product resulting in higher sales. In the technology-driven age where the attention span of people is short a promotion campaign should be terse to catch the attention of your target audience and then follow up with details. Mcdonald's has a well-established advertising setup in various media like print, TV, internet, etc. Using these media to promote the low-fat blueberry muffin would be prudent.

TG 1: The office goers are perennially facing a crunch of time and they find it difficult to squeeze in time for fitness regimes. Taking into account this fact a promotion in print media stating “Did you do your 30 min workout this morning?” would leave them with a leading question. Follow this up with “If not? No problem, Mcdonald's can help!” Mentioning the benefits of having blueberry hence coaxing them to try low-fat blueberry muffins, mention you can at least take care of your body by eating healthy.

Similar radio and email campaigns can run parallel to the print.TG 2: The women in the age group of 20-45 years constantly strive to eat food with fewer calories so that they can get slim or stay that way. Billboards say “At Mcdonald's, you can keep those extra calories away” Low-fat blueberry muffins are a perfect dessert option for those with a sweet tooth. Social media is becoming a powerful tool. It can be effectively used for spreading the word about the benefits of blueberries and hence persuade people to have blueberry muffins at Mcdonald's.