McDonald’s Marketing Strategy & Marketing Mix
About McDonald's
McDonald’s has long been the king of fast food with its menu focusing on one thing and one thing only: hamburgers. McDonald’s was founded in 1940 by Richard and Maurice McDonald and primarily sells hamburgers, chicken products, cheeseburgers, breakfast items, soft drinks, milkshakes and desserts. Starting off as a humble burger stand in San Bernardino California it opened for business on April 15th. Contrary to popular belief today McDonald’s is not the world’s largest restaurant chain with Starbucks coming in at number one. However, despite all the competition McDonald’s remains pretty much the biggest franchise restaurant out there! Over the years McDonald’s has evolved into a new direction while continuing to provide customers with amazingly delicious food and drinks.
McDonald's Marketing Strategy & Marketing Mix
McDonald’s, the world-renowned restaurant chain is known for its franchising system and specialization in hamburgers focus on eating occasions that are easy-going, relaxing and informal. It’s a casual dining experience with competitive prices and serves as a middle ground between home cooking and the more formal meals served by most other fast-food chains. However, this is not the only factor that contributes to its success: McDonald’s has a well thought out marketing strategy providing for all the elements of the four P’s (Product, Price, Place & Promotion). Under these elements, there are several different marketing strategies.
McDonald's Product Strategy
McDonald’s is one of the world’s most popular burger chains, with many outlets across the globe. McDonald’s are renowned for their tasty, if unhealthy, Big Macs and Chicken McNuggets. These are now a staple part of American life but in addition to this McDonald’s have recently started to roll out a new range of healthier salads and wraps for their customers on the go. McDonald’s is a global fast-food restaurant known for its amazing menu, delicious food and top-quality customer service. It was started by the McDonald brothers in the 1940s and now is present in over 110 countries. The menu includes Chicken products such as Chicken burgers, chicken sandwiches, snack wraps etc. Some of the more exotic menu items include McPaneer Wrap and Secret sauce burger! Their burger products are pretty unique too. They sell Big mac, Mc double cheeseburger (for those who want more than two beef patties), Triple beef burger and much more! In Snacks, you can find classics such as McFlurrys, McFish sandwiches and Mccrispy tenders. The product line includes a variety of breakfast sandwiches available in a range of flavours including tacos, biscuits, Hamdesal and more. Beverages are supplied by the Coca Cola Company and include hot chocolate and various juices. Restaurants serve as many products as possible based on local cultural preferences and also for children with toys included in happy meals.
McDonald's Pricing Strategy
One of the most crucial elements of running any successful company is marketing, and McDonald’s has certainly done a good job at it. Using everything from digital platforms to low-priced bundled items, they’ve been able to reel in customers at record paces over the past several years. Reaching out to young people via digital platforms like Facebook and Twitter is of special importance as they have become extremely adept at using them to their advantage because let’s face it: younger people buy more things than older generations. By reducing prices on select items in India by 25% or more, McDonald’s was able to appeal especially to younger people who love a deal. They also went above and beyond for families by adding things like kids’ meals that were also on sale so parents could still get what they needed without having to spend an arm and a leg. One of McDonald’s most popular strategies to respond to competition is with the Happy Meal. Customers earn a toy when they buy a child’s meal. This move has proven to be very successful and it works well because children are fond of toys especially if they are happy meal toys that they can collect. Of course, these same customers will grow up someday and, in a way, it could encourage them to visit McDonald’s later in life. This pricing strategy focuses on price promotions as well as adding value and bundling by combining different menu items.
McDonald's Place & Distribution Strategy
While McDonald’s restaurants may be found in more than 110 countries, they can also generally be classified into different types of outlets that enable customers to enjoy their food in various ways. For example, at Mc Drive locations near highways, customers allow themselves to recharge while enjoying delicious meals by way of drive-through service. On the other hand, Mc Café restaurants have seen a 60% increase in sales due to an open concept design that enables more customer convenience. McDonald’s Next offered customers a digital ordering system, free mobile phone charging stations and table service. McDonald’s bans smoking in its restaurants because the brand prides itself on providing high-quality entertainment for everyone to enjoy. With e-commerce becoming a more popular business model today, it’s no surprise that McDonald’s has tied up with several home delivery businesses so many more people can enjoy the brand’s offerings at any given time of day they might need them quickly.
McDonald's Promotion & Advertising Strategy
In this day and age of millions of brands fighting for our attention, the only way to create a buzz is to spend big bucks on advertising. McDonald’s has shown that this strategy can work. Their TV ads show people engaging in popular activities and their billboards are impossible to miss, with their promotion lasting all year round. As a result and despite fierce competition from other fast-food players, McDonald’s is currently dominating the burger market. The McDonald’s Corporation has invested a great deal of money over the years in marketing research, making huge expenditures on every conceivable form of advertising primarily through TV spot campaigns and billboards in addition to targeted promotional efforts directed towards sponsorship of major sporting events including FIFA World Cup tournaments, the Olympics and little league football for kids worldwide. McDonald’s has aggressively pursued its adversaries with a purposeful publicity campaign using a positive message rather than any kind of negative influence against its competitors in an attempt to send competing fast-food chains reeling from its immense success with customers which is being felt far and wide as approximately 35,000 locations spread across 119 countries makes it the farthest-reaching fast-food franchise in the world.
In India, their menu items do not include beef, and they have even gone as far as to create two kitchens with special equipment for vegetarian and non-vegetarian foods; this is because fast-food restaurants in India are heavily dependent on volume sales at a reasonable price. Currently, McDonald’s uses the tagline “I’m lovin it” that Heye and Partner originally developed for the company. The brand has been an official sponsor of the FIFA World Cup since 1986. It also sponsors other sporting events like IndyCar, the National Basketball Association (NBA), the Rolex Sports Car Series, and NASCAR.
People
When eating out at restaurants, everyone has their own preference when it comes to how they want to be treated. Some people may not mind waiting if the restaurant is busy, but for others feeling unnoticed for too long makes them feel like they’re wasting their money. No one wants to feel ignored. When dining at McDonald’s though, the customer’s needs are of top priority. The company makes it clear that customers will always be the centre of all its business practices, no matter what. Only by making sure that customers are content will their business thrive and succeed in creating a place where families can enjoy themselves together. Each McDonald’s restaurant has a restaurant manager in charge of opening, running and closing operations. Their job is to make sure that the customer stays happy, therefore creating a winning environment at the outlet.
Physical Evidence
The best part about McDonald’s is the physical displays it uses in its advertising. All over you will find physical evidence that demonstrates a company’s love for its brand. McDonald’s branding is known for its spectacular marketing. Smoke-free restaurant policies, as well as central entertaining areas, are in many stores to help revitalize the experience of dining out at McDonald’s. McDonald’s leaves a lasting impression on the minds of consumers. Its clearly displayed branding is a huge part of that. It displays attributes such as speed and quality and clarity, as well as cleanliness and transparency as a nod to its family-friendly brand and an indication that you’re going to have a nice time dining there. McDonald’s restaurants have a young, vibrant and family feel to all of their restaurants worldwide. Self-service order counters, lively music in the background etc. The physical presence of McDonald’s is also enhanced by its recognizable yellow ‘M’ logo, Happy Meal toys etc. The website is user friendly and has a strong presence with links that are easy to understand because of its clear labelling making understanding the website so much easier.
Process
McDonald’s has upgraded the equipment and delivery methods to keep up with consumer preferences for bold, unique flavours and adequate nutrition. The brand has diligently improved the processes which have helped raise sales with new products and upgrades in quality, flavour and packaging of food. McDonald’s also offers a multitude of services such as online orders, mobile apps and other web innovations that are designed to make consumers’ lives easier and more time saving while they enjoy their delicious meal. Nowadays consumers seek to save time by ordering meals through technologies like mobile payment and social media platforms. These options help the consumers get food delivered right at the comfort of their homes or office. This method enables a smooth online ordering process making access for customers easier for their dinner choices regardless of where they are located or busy schedules. The food manufacturing process is visible to customers, and McDonald’s aims to have excellent service in this regard. A fast home delivery service helps the restaurant keep turnaround time down, which also makes all of its kitchen staff busier, resulting in more orders than expected. Just-in-time cooking and food preparation, as well as specially designed kitchens, help streamline the manufacturing process.
Conclusion
Hope you find out the McDonald’s Marketing Mix and strategies in detail. Many people consider McDonald’s to be their go-to brand of fast food, primarily because the company has taken great interest in crafting its business plan and developing its marketing strategies to suit the country’s tastes. Because of this, the company has been able to open up more than 39,000 locations in over 100 countries. The owners of McDonald’s have cultivated the restaurant into the most popular and largest chain that services customers everywhere.
