Marketing Essential Parts

TASK 1

P1 Explaining the key roles and responsibilities of marketing functions

Marketing functions can be termed as a process which involves various activities such as conducting market research, development of product, formulating a marketing plan etc. The roles and responsibilities of marketing functions at McDonalds are mentioned below as:

Keeping up with competition

It is essential for the company to evaluate different competitors and further it helps to know what the people are serving and strategies adopted for meeting the needs of customers (Blythe, 2012). In order to know the strategies of competitors, evaluation is required as it provides adequate and required information about other market players. Along with this, it also helps the company to develop innovative products. In context of McDonalds, it can be stated that the selected business enterprise is efficient enough to develop competent strategies.

Branding

It is the process of developing a unique image and name for the products in the mind of consumers with the help of advertising. McDonald is considered as one of the most renowned brand in the market. They are successful in creating positive image in the mind of consumers all over the world (Brady, 2014).

Managing research

It is important for the organisation to produce goods according to the requirement and to fulfil needs of the consumers. Thus, to know the preference of consumers they are required to organise appropriate research. It will also help to get information regarding the strategies of different competitors (Clow and James, 2013).

Applying customer centric approach

In the modern era, for developing the product it is important to consider needs and demand of customers. There are different companies which adopted customer centric approach as their main focus is laid on meeting needs of their consumers (Desai, 2013). For evaluating the demand of customers, it is the responsibility of the marketing department to take some of the measures for conducting the survey. McDonald carries out different types of modification in its products and services as per changing need and demand of people in the market. They are also successful in providing products to all age group in the market.

Being  innovative

It is the key responsibility of the marketing department to make some changes in products and promotional activities which can result in attracting the customers. Innovation in products and strategies also results in providing competitive advantage to the selected business enterprise over other market players (Dessain and Zeuch, 2016).

Budgeting

All the department have their own budgeting system and the marketing team ensure the techniques of promotion which can be adopted according to the defined budget. In context of McDonald, they make appropriate strategies on the basis of given amount so that it does not create any issues in the future.

P2 Explaining how roles and responsibilities of marketing related to the organisation

There are some of the elements which help in determining the effectiveness of marketing functions in organisation and are described below:

Optimum utilization of resources

With the help of effective plan of marketing, the company is able to carry out appropriate utilization of resources (Dibb and Simkin, 2013). This also results in conducting the smooth flow of all operations and activities of the business enterprise. For making optimum utilization of resources, McDonald is required to make effective marketing plan.

Enhancement in satisfaction level of customer

The marketing team of McDonald have to carry out survey at the regular intervals to analyze the needs and demands of the customers. This helps in development of products which can satisfy need of customers in the best possible manner. Thus, the company is required to ensure that the consumers are satisfied in order to increase the volume of sales (Griffitts, 2016).

Expansion of business

It can be stated that flexible approach of marketing mix is adopted by McDonald as it helps them to expand their business in different parts over the world. Company carries out changes in its products as per changing need and demand of people in the country.  This results in enhancing the market share and increasing revenue of the company (Guffey and Loewy, 2012).

Social responsibility

There is one of the most important duty of McDonald is to meet the social responsibility in an effective manner. It involves that customers should not be cheated at the time of providing services. They must make sure that the customers are provided appropriate quality of products at the reasonable prices. It also increases the popularity of the stated organisation in industry as the  people are responsible for keeping the environment green (Hugos, 2011).

High return to shareholders

If there is increase in the level of profit then it will help them to provide high rate of returns to shareholders. This also increases the demand in the market so that people make investment of their money in organisation. Thus, with the help of money, the organisation for the purpose of developing the products and various activities for delivering wide range of services to the customers (Hung, 2010).

Overall increase in level of performance

There is appropriate implementation of marketing functions in order to make enhancement in the performance of organisation. In order to increase the sales of the company due to production of goods and services with high efficiency at workplace. Thus, it is important for McDonald to  manage the functions of marketing in an efficient manner which can increase the overall performance (Jones and Rowley, 2011).

Increase in the loyalty of brand

Through efficient plans which are developed by the organisation it will assist in serving high quality of products as per the needs of consumers. Thus, it will help in increasing popularity of brand in the mind of customers which will enhance loyalty of brand in the market. Thus, McDonald should come up with different services which can enhance their brand loyalty (Joshi, 2012).

P3 Comparing the ways in which applies marketing mix to the process of marketing planning for achieving objectives of business

McDonald is one of most popular food service retailer that is having their business around the world. It provides different products such as mac-puff, burgers, soft drinks etc. furthermore, they are also successful in developing a brand image in the minds of customers. They are also known for delivering high quality of products at reasonable prices which can be easily preferred by an individual (Lamb, Hair and McDaniel, 2011). On the other hand, Burger King is one of the top most competitor of the stated business. It is also considered as second largest food chain in UK and they are providing a huge range of varieties in burgers. They are also known for their taste and quality in the market. On the basis of comparison between both of them it cane analysed that McDonald's serve food at reasonable prices. At the time of quality, it has been seen that McDonald's providing fried burgers and Burger King serving grilled burgers which is far better (Lancaster and Massingham, 2010). Moreover, at the time of range of product it can be identified that McDonald providing wide range of products as compared to Burger King as this company only serves different types of burgers to their customers. On the other hand, McDonald serving various range of products such as meals, soft drinks and burgers. The main focus of McDonald is on to provide fast services to the customers while Burger King mainly concentrate on the quality of products rather than services (Pike, 2015).

Marketing mix of all of the businesses are different and there are different elements in the marketing mix of McDonald that helps to achieve the objectives of marketing. In context of marketing mix of McDonald it consists of various elements that helps organisation to form system for achieving objectives (Tyson, 2014).

Product

The main focus of company is to develop the menu according to the needs and requirement of customers. In order to ensure this, they are required to establish market research for finding out the requirement of customers and provide services accordingly. There are some of the changes in the preferences of customers which can be overcome through developing new products (Baines, Fill and Page, 2013). Furthermore, they also make modifications in the process according to the place of serving food. Some of foreign countries where more preference is given to non-veg food so in such cases McDonald delivering broad range of products to the customers.On the other side, in India most of the people prefer vegetarian food so that company provides different products in order to satisfy them (Baker, 2014).

Price

In order to determine the prices of products and the perception of customers is also consider for evaluating the prices (Blythe, 2012). If McDonald use low prices for their products as a tool of marketing which can be danger for them as people think that product with low prices compromises with the quality. It is important to be aware about the brand and integrity in order to decide the prices. The strategy of pricing mainly includes the price bundling along with the psychological pricing. Marketing mix element is important as it is directly connected to attracting the customers (Brady, 2014).

Place

In this element of marketing mix it is not only related to the physical evidence or to distribute the products rather than this it is a procedure that involves to brings the goods to its final consumers. They are also making efforts and develop their outlets where the customers easily reached. The stated business is having a large number of outlets around the world. Furthermore, with the increase in the demand of products they are started providing services option with drive in and drive out that provides high convenience to their customers as they just required to get parcel of their goods (Clow and James, 2013).

Promotion

This elements includes different types of marketing communication which are required in order to promote the brand and its products. Promotion is one of the most important element for all of the organisations as the development of products is required to show the customers so that they are ready to purchase it (Desai, 2013). Thus, there are certain methods of advertising for the techniques of promotion are adopted by McDonald. It mainly includes television, newspapers, online marketing etc. further, other techniques of promotion includes the sales promotion, point of sale display that helps to promote the wide range of products to people. This helps in attracting large number of customers for purchasing products and they are mainly focuses on children. Thus, it can be stated that they are also providing happy meals to the customers (Dessain and Zeuch, 2016).

People

There are highly skilled employees are appointed at McDonald. They serve in such a manner with grace and dignity which helps to attracts the customers. Furthermore, they also provided appropriate uniforms that determines the description of the brand. Moreover, the employees are properly trained and always be helpful to their customers along with effective services (Dibb and Simkin, 2013).

Process

At McDonald, the process of manufacturing is completely transparent that whole procedure is visible to the customers. Moreover, the management of company is highly concerned the hygiene factor at the time of preparing food. They also allow their customers to enter the area at the process of manufacturing (Griffitts, 2016).

Physical evidence

The main focus of McDonald is on the cleanliness and hygiene factors which helps in providing healthy food to customers. It also includes the interior which should be attractive in order to attract large number of customers.

The marketing planning process

Setting marketing objectives

This is the first stage of marketing plan which is formed by McDonald. In this, the company defines the purpose and objectives which are required to achieve for the growth and development (Guffey and Loewy, 2012). The main objective of the stated business is to increase in the share of market by 20% and volume of sales by 25% in next 10 months.

Assessment of resources

In the second stage, the assessment of resources is carried by the marketing plan. The cited business have appropriate amount of human, financial and other resources for achieving the described plan. To assess the resources as per the requirement at the time of implementing the plans which are essential.

Development of marketing strategies

There are effective marketing strategies are defined in the process of planning (Hugos, 2011). In this, the decisions are taken on the basis of selecting the tools and techniques of marketing. McDonald using both of the techniques such as online and offline marketing. Strategies are developed in order to make the plans which are beneficial for the organisation.

Defining the budget

in this, the business define the budget which is required to carry out and implementation of the marketing plan in the company.

Implementation of plan

McDonald implement their specific tools and techniques which are already selected for creating awareness among the customers and attract them.

Evaluating marketing strategies

In the last stage of marketing planning process where the stated business evaluate the different tools and techniques which are carried out. Here, the company mentions whether it attains their outcomes or not (Lamb, Hair and McDaniel, 2011).

On the other hand, the marketing mix of Burger King is different and which is mentioned below:

Burger King is a fast food hamburger restaurant that provides a huge range of variety of burgers to their customers. Along with the changes in time they started providing different types products such as beverages, veggies and desserts. They also make appropriate research in order to evaluate the competitors products as what they people are serving to the customers. This helps to covers huge range of customer and it is required to attain competitive advantage in the market. Furthermore, they serve the people as per their preference and on the basis of regional tastes of the local people (Lancaster and Massingham, 2010).

Price

In earlier times, the prices of Burger Kings were high so that it makes less popular in marker as compared to other competitors. Through effective survey, they came to know amount the services of other firms as they are serving high quality products at reasonable prices. In respect of this, they also cut down their prices as of now the prices are equivalent to McDonald (Jones and Rowley, 2011). Further, it has also been identified that due to the reduction in prices it leads to decrease in the level of profit but there is enhancement in the volume of sales of organisation.

Place

Burger King operates their business through the franchise but in old time it was confined only some of the countries or places. This is because of prices of products were high and all of the people are not able to afford it (Lane, 2016). There are some of the changes with time as there is decrease in the prices of cost so that they are able to enhance their outlets to different countries. Thus, it helps to increase the volume of sales along with the profit of company.

Promotion

Burger King adopted different techniques in order to promote their products. The strategy of promotion is on the basis of recognizing the brand image on regular time intervals. They are using different techniques such as advertising, sales promotion and public relations. The organisation advertises their products on television, print media and along with this they uses sales promotion in terms of coupons and other different offers through company website and mobile application (Moll, 2016). Thus, with the help of effective techniques they make their appropriate customer base in the market.

People

The stated business is having efficient workers in order to serve the customers. They are highly trained and they also provided appropriate skills which helps them to perform in best possible manner (Illing and Anders, 2016). Furthermore, all of the department have their own standard uniforms that helps to segregate people on that basis. They also provided fast services to their customers and take order on regular basis.

Process

Burger King mainly focuses on the segment of customer as they spend their money to the restaurants. They provide high quality of products which are served in the organisation and the management is not working on to give fast services. Further, they also prepares food considering the hygiene factors along with the quality of raw materials for production of goods. It can be stated that they have an efficient process for producing products for customers (Hoeffler, Herzenstein and Ginzburg, 2016).

Physical evidence

There are some of the outlets of Burger King around the world. Further, the organisation is planning for reinvention of brand image by making changes in their interior. They are also creating their restaurant by adding modern features and other different that helps in order to develop the interior which helps to attract customers (Wright, 2014).

P4 Evaluating a basic marketing plan for McDonald's

In the modern era, the competition among businesses has become so intense that it is no longer easy for companies such as McDonald’s to gain competitive advantage over other market players. Furthermore, the selected business enterprise needs to focus upon its marketing activities in order to sustain in the highly competitive market (Lancaster and Massingham, 2010). It can be stated that McDonald can bring new product such as healthier range of burger which consists of low fat and cholesterol. The marketing plan for new product is mentioned below as:

Marketing objective

It can be termed as the first and foremost step in the formulation of marketing plan for a company. Objectives provide selected business enterprise with a clear direction with regards to what the company wants to accomplish in future. Nowadays McDonald's is facing in terms of decreasing sales as people in the market are getting more conscious about their health (Joshi, 2012). Thus, the business aims at increasing its volume of sales, profits and market share. The brand wants its market share to be increased by 25% and its sales to get increased by 13% in UK market within the coming next one year.

 Market segmentation

It can be defined as the process in which entire market is divided into different sub set of potential customers (Lamb, Hair and McDaniel, 2011). In order to launch its new product in UK market, McDonald will be segmenting its market on the basis of demographic variables. Here,  the market will be divided on the basis of  age and income level of people.

Targeting

It can be stated that the selected business enterprise has carried out in-depth market research and it has been analyzed that the need of healthier food products is increasing among people who belong to age 20-45. Therefore, McDonald will be targeting people who are very conscious about their health and seeking to consume healthy products. This will include, gym members, working professionals, college going students etc. The rationale behind selecting the above mentioned target market is that the new product launched by McDonald's will be able to meet the needs of people in this market in more effective manner (Pike, 2015).

Positioning

In context of positioning, it can be asserted that McDonald's will positioned its new range of burgers on the basis of their characteristics. The marketing messages and activities will directed towards one common gaol which will be to create more and more awareness among people in the market. Furthermore, marketing messages will inform people that the new burgers launched by McDonald's are full of nutrients and are very healthy (Dessain and Zeuch, 2016).

The marketing mix which will be used by McDonald's is mentioned below as:

Product

A complete new range of burgers will be introduced by the selected business enterprise. McDonald's has carried out in-depth market research and it has gained information that the need among people in terms of consuming healthier products is increasing day by day. Furthermore, there are only few companies in market which are offering such kind of products to people in the market. It can be stated that the new range of burgers will be filled with adequate nutrients and will also contain less oil and cholesterol which is bad for health (Clow and James, 2013).

Price

In order to make new range of product successful in market, McDonalds will be using low price strategy in order to penetrate in the market. It can be also asserted that using low price strategy will support in attracting more and more customers to purchase the complete new range of burgers launched (Dibb and Simkin, 2013).

Place

The business will be selling its new products with the help of its own stores. This means only offline mode and direct channels of distribution will be taken into consideration. The new range of burger will be distributed by McDonald's through its own outlets in UK (Moll, 2016).

Promotion

McDonalds will be promoting its new burgers with the help of both online and offline channels. Social media marketing and email marketing will be taken into consideration with an objective to create more and more awareness among people in the market. Apart from this, promotional events will be conducted near shopping malls and public places to make people in the market aware about the new products launched by McDonalds (Lane, 2016).

People

It can be said that the workers who are working at McDonald are highly effective and efficient in context of understanding the demand of customers and to deliver the services as per their requirement (Dessain and Zeuch, 2016).

Physical evidence

The quality of product can be termed as the physical evidence which is delivered by McDonald. Other than this, brand image of the stated business is also considered as the physical evidence.

Process

McDonald has developed an flexible process along with effectiveness that helps to make changes timely at workplace. It also assists in order to deliver fast and satisfactory services (Hoeffler, Herzenstein and Ginzburg, 2016).

Conclusion

From the above carried out study it can be concluded that marketing department plays an important role at McDonald's. It includes different strategies and plans of activities that are to be performed in organisation for promoting products to wide range of customers. Further, functions of marketing also plays significant role in some of the conditions for determining the policies of companies. Moreover, it is essential to analyse the different roles and responsibilities of marketing department for ensuring the goals and objectives of organisation. In addition to this, there is proper comparison made between the McDonald's and its competitor Burger King. Further, through the analysis of customers demand in market and after that the company introduced new product that helps to attract large number of customers. In order to introduce new product in market there is requirement to make an appropriate plan is established. In this, the process includes the segmentation, targeting and positioning along with this 4Ps are develop for determining the specification of the products. Thus, it can be stated that with the help of different functions of marketing it helps in attracting large number of customers for the products. For further insights and assistance, consider seeking guidance from online assignment help services.

References

• Baines, P., Fill, C. and Page, K., 2013. Essentials of marketing. Oxford University Press.
• Baker, M.J., 2014. Marketing strategy and management. Palgrave Macmillan.
• Blythe, J., 2012. CIM Coursebook Marketing Essentials. Routledge.
• Brady, D.L., 2014. Essentials of international marketing. Routledge.
• Clow, K.E. and James, K.E., 2013. Essentials of marketing research: Putting research into practice. Sage.
• Desai, S. S., 2013. An Analysis of the Competitive Marketing Strategies of the Hospitality Industry in UAE. IUP Journal of Management Research. 12(1). p.22.

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