The Marketing Mix Strategy Elements Product, Price, Place, and Promotion are aimed at enhancing the value and satisfaction of the customer and are designed to meet the customer expectations and the needs achieving marketing objectives through implementation of various strategies and tactics (Kotler, 2012). Marketing Mix Strategy of McDonald’s which the leading Fast Food Retail Chain in the world, could be appraised with relevance to its Target Market in Australia as follows (Kotler, 2011). Overall, the McDonalds practice a Globalized approach in Promotions while it tries to adopt the Product Mix to match the Local Requirements in a Glocalization Strategy (Vignali, 2001).
PRODUCT MIX STRATEGY
Burgers have been the core product while being a Service Oriented Business value added services such as Sales Support, Billing Services, Customer Care, Pleasant Experience, Freshness of the food, Taste, Service Delivery Quality and many more aspects are also considered. As mentioned earlier McDonald’s localize or adopt the Products to match the local market needs. In Australia, McDonald, uses a different cup size for beverages, a large pack size for French Fries and has introduced special family Combos as McBox (Dixon, Niven, Scully, & Wakefield, 2017). Moreover, the spiciness is enhanced in food in Australia compared to the US to match the needs of the market (Mathur, 2017).
PRICE MIX STRATEGY
The Pricing Strategy of McDonald’s is developed to reflect the affordability of the consumer. One of the core values of McDonald’s is that it adopts a price that is affordable to the consumer so that they could enjoy a meal outside the home as a family. The Target market is Middle Income and the Higher and compared to well-established Burger Chains the Prices are competitive and almost the going rate of the industry.
PLACE MIX STRATEGY
McDonalds practice a typical franchise retail model and outlets are located on a geographic basis covering all towns in the Australia. A customer could easily find a McDonald’s outlet in Australia and most of the outlets are located in the close proximity to the main road or highway to promote place utility. Ample parking space and security services are also attached in the place mix to enhance customer satisfaction. Moreover, delivery services ensure that the customer convenience is maximized enhancing the customer delivered value. Moreover, outlets are equipped with Kid Playing Areas, ATM’s and Sometimes along with a Supermarket Chain that enhances the customer satisfaction.
PROMOTION MIX STRATEGY
An Integrated Marketing Communication Mix can be seen within the McDonalds and is placed at a global level to ensure the Corporate Reputation Consistencies. McDonald’s moved to more online based promotional strategies in the year 2014, however, offline strategies are yet to be seen. McDonald’s uses Digital and Social Media Marketing, SEO Content and Tech Marketing, Content Marketing, SMS and Email Marketing, Referral Marketing, CRM and traditional marketing mechanism such as billboards, print media, television advertisements, leaflets, celebrity endorsements such as Elka Whalan, George Calombaris etc. in its Promotions Mix. McDonald’s uses the slogan “I’m Lovin’ It” to position its products and also uses the Figure of Ronald McDonald to address and position the market.
REFERENCES
- Dixon, H., Niven, P., Scully, M., & Wakefield, M. (2017). Food marketing with movie character toys: Effects on young children’s preferences for unhealthy and healthier fast food meals. Appetite, 117, 342-350.
- Kotler, P. (2012). Kotler on marketing. Simon and Schuster.
- Kotler, P., 2011. Marketing insights from A to Z: 80 concepts every manager needs to know. John Wiley & Sons.
- Mathur, S. (2017). Glocalization in Fast Food Chains Glocalization in Fast Food Chains: A Case Study of McDonald’s. In Strategic Marketing Management and Tactics in the Service Industry (pp. 330-347). IGI Global.
- Vignali, C. (2001). McDonald’s:“think global, act local”–the marketing mix. British Food Journal, 103(2), 97-111.
