Marketing and Business Communication

The entire report is completed into three parts under which literature review has been completed by focusing upon different marketing strategies. Furthermore, research methodology has been developed for collecting information through respondents. In addition to this, Gap analysis has also been done for preparing appropriate marketing plan for corporation to meet its long as well as short term objectives. Furthermore, recommendations are provided by assessing the gap between existing and best marketing practices for corporation. Similarly, suitable model has been applied for the assessment of different marketing strategies.

PART A

Changing World of Marketing

Marketing is a concept in which an organization identifies the needs and requirements of customers and make appropriate decisions in order to fulfil it effectively. Further, companies are adopting different techniques of selling products and services which are better than their competitors (Baker, 2014). There are different types of concepts adopted by the enterprises in order to market their products to a wide range of customers.

From the past few years, there are some of the changes seen in marketing which are beneficial for firms in order to increase their level of profit. In the past period, traditional methods of marketing are used to attract customers such as newspaper advertisement, magazines and other sources. This proves to be effective at the workplace which helps in promotional activities. Earlier, the use of television and commercials for the purpose of advertising of products is considered as an important aspect for the firm (Solomon, 2014).

In addition to this, now a days, there are some of the changes in techniques of marketing as now-a-days, companies are using various methods such as social media marketing and internet for making customers aware about the products and services. Use of social media marketing is increasing in the present scenario and it includes promotion of products through different websites which are used by the people. This helps in attracting a large number of customers so that they can get appropriate knowledge regarding the details and information of various products (Gummesson, Kuusela and Närvänen, 2014). There are different types of strategies of marketing that are adopted by companies which assist them to understand the needs and requirements of customers and to provide services accordingly.

Further, the businesses also use online ad campaigns in order to increase their customer base. Apart from that, they also design different web pages which can provide appropriate information related to the products and services to customers. Along with this, concept of marketing is based on the demand of customers that is considered to be effective for the convenience of people. The businesses also develop their own applications as they provide online products which is a quite effective way as well as easy for people to access the information. They also advertise their products to other websites which are beneficial for the customers and easily get information related to the same (Rundh, 2013).

Model For Marketing Strategy

Marketing strategy is a concept in which there is a combination of different marketing objectives and it can be done from the market research with having a focus on appropriate product mix for achieving high level of profit and to survive in the market for longer span of time. There are different types of strategies of marketing that are adopted by company in order to attract a wide range of customers. It includes the strategies such as online and offline marketing activities which help in achieving the goals and objectives of organisation effectually. Online marketing activities are those through which customers get information on internet which is frequently used by the people (Crane, Kawashima and Kawasaki, 2016). These activities include social media marketing in which company provides details of products and share the content through making interaction with customers.

Now a days peoples are preferring the use of social media marketing so that an organisation is required that they have to use appropriate services according to needs and requirements of customers. It can be done with the helps of different channels of distribution for carry out the process of marketing. In addition to this, companies found out it effective and appropriate as they can control the budgeting which is related to the selling of the products while targeting the market. An organisation uses some of the marketing strategies such as pay per click advertising, e-mail marketing, banner advertising and search engine optimizer. Through different social networking sites, a company can advertise the products at low cost and it also helps in getting frequent updates which highly contribute to the success of business.

In addition to this, offline marketing activities are those in which firm uses traditional methods for selling of products (Kumar, Rahman and Kazmi, 2013). There are some of the elements of this marketing which helps to increase the sales and profits of company. Many of companies are using traditional methods of marketing which includes advertisement through television, host customer events and renting billboards. Along with this, print advertisement and magazines help organisation to provide the information to customers. With the help of direct mail, it seems to be personalized for the customers which is effective and they get the complete information of products.

Strategic Marketing

Strategic marketing is a concept in which company appropriately vary itself with their competitors by analysing the strengths in order to provide value to their customers. Further, in case of McDonald, there are different factors that are identified for understanding the demand of their products in market (Hollensen, 2015). They design their products as per the tastes and preferences of consumers with attractive packaging. In addition to this, the place where services and products are provided to customers must be appropriate, that is, it must be convenient for customers to reach there. It also offers value position which is based on the needs of customers.

In addition to this, strategy of pricing plays an important role in order to attract a large number of customers and it is created according to the middle and lower class people so that they can also enjoy all services which are provided to them. Apart from this, they also provide the services of free internet which helps in attracting the young generation people. In the present scenario, people are preferring the use of internet and engaged in those activities (Picard, 2014).

McDonald is also using advertising, direct marketing and personal selling along with other different tools of promotion which allows it in order to access the channels of communication. The activities of sales promotion consist of several contests and programmes as well as they also distribute free coupons of discount which helps to attract the customers to a large scale. Moreover, public relations is also considered as an important part of the strategy of marketing. In this, firm plays an important role for the purpose of interaction with the public and considering the review and feedback for future activities of marketing. It helps them to know the aspects of consumers which is required for selling products and services.

Marketing intelligence is a concept which is used to identify daily information that is relevant to the stated organisation and helps in identifying the purpose along with this they can take proper decisions. It is helpful for the company to determine the opportunities in market and develop the areas in the market. In context of McDonald, the market research is carried out and information is also found which helps in effective marketing strategy (Baker, 2014). Complete data is gathered from the market which helps to analyse the conditions of it that helps the firm to analyse different factors which are helpful in the strategies of marketing. Further, strategies of marketing are helpful in order to attract a large number of consumers towards the products of firm.

Different strategies including pricing, promotion, place and products considering all of the aspects for attracting large number of consumers. With the help of various strategies of promotion, it helps organisation to promote different products according to the needs and requirements of consumers.

In addition to this, they always try to target the young people as they easily get attracted towards the fast food (Solomon, 2014). Further, it can be stated that different activities of promotion help organisation to create a large customer base which is an important aspect it. Moreover, organisation also uses different techniques of promotion which helps the firm to get knowledge regarding the preference of customers and managing various aspects related to their preference. Along with this, McDonald is providing the services for children which attracts them and they are also enjoying the place for having food. Further, it helps the firm to serve various kinds of products on the basis of preferences of customers.

Concept of Home Delivery Services

Now a days, there are different companies whether it is having small business or large, they are offering home delivery services to their customers. Further, with the help of this type of service, customers get services as per their convenience which is an essential part of businesses. However, there are some of the companies such as McDonald which are still not providing home delivery services to their customers which is an issue for them. Along with this, it helps customers in bringing products to their home rather than going out for purchasing the same (Gummesson, Kuusela and Närvänen, 2014). There are some of the advantages of home delivery services which are as follows.

Time Saver

With the help of home delivery services, time of people can be saved as they can get their products at their home. Further, as per the busy schedule of people, it is difficult to go store in order to purchase and shop. This helps in saving a lot of time and same in the case of online shopping, an individual person serves a lot of people at a time.

Large Orders

As companies are providing home delivery services, it leads to increase in the number of orders as it is preferred by the customers who are unable to go to store. Further, consumers get information considering various types of techniques which are adopted by companies now a days (Rundh, 2013).

Cost Effective

Home delivery services are cost effective and customers are also able to pay that amount for getting services. For this, they only have to pay small commission on the services which are getting by them at home. In addition to this, they also order products online and get complete information which is needed to them at home.

Improved Efficiency

There is increase in the efficiency of services of home delivery and in the daily operations of business. Further, it helps organisation to increase in the sales and profit which is advantageous for them. Thus, it can be stated that home delivery services are important in the present conditions of market. It is also based on the preferences of customers and as per their requirement of getting services from companies (Kumar, 2015).

PART B

Developing a Research Methodology

Research methodology refers to the process of selecting tools and techniques for collecting and analyzing the information so that accordingly objectives of study can be accomplished. The current study is on selection of suitable marketing practices of McDonald. This will be effective for the management to deliver good quality of services to large number of buyers. However, marketing is the prominent aspect which not only attracts buyers but also assists the management in creating competitive edge of the business.

Owing to this, appropriate methodology will be applied for collecting the information related to marketing strategies and other related aspect of corporation which will affect the overall performance of the same. Here, qualitative type of research will be conducted which will aid in providing in depth analysis which can be completed only with the help of collecting large amount of information. This proves to be effective for researcher to analyze the collected data in the direction of framed research aim and objectives.

The current study on communication of marketing strategies is basically based on both primary and secondary data. It has been explained as follows

Primary Data

Primary data are collected at first hand under which the researcher searches for the pertinent information about the selected problem. There are varied methods that can be used for collecting primary data such as interview, observation and questionnaire as well as online survey. These techniques are more suitable for meeting aim of the research as he or she direct or indirect interact with respondents in order to collect data. However, type of method for collecting information depends on time available and cost so as to meet the purpose of study in an effectual manner. Questionnaire method is generally considered as the most effective aspect as it takes less time and provides ease the respondents.

It can be critically evaluated that scholar might select interview method in case if respondents are specific and they have enough time to provide data regarding specific issue. In this regard, it becomes easy to carry out the interview procedure so as to get detail regarding an event (Howell, 2013). The current study will be based on questionnaire method as data will be collected from the respondents who generally suffer lack of time. However, they might not like to devote much of their time in such kind of activities. Owing to this, questionnaire method will be applied. The main reason behind selecting such kind of method is to save the time as number of questions will be included along with the suitable options.

Furthermore, population for this study will be customers who are directly availing services which are being offered by the McDonald. Hence, respondents will be selected form them only. At this juncture, simple random sampling will be selected so as to provide equal chance to all the respondents to get selected in the study. In this manner, participants can easily provide information related to issues which are being faced by them regarding the services rendered by McDonald. The main reason behind selecting respondents as customers because they must be knowing regarding the exact issue associated services offered by firm (Bruce, 2009).

Secondary Data

Secondary information refers to data which are already collected and presented in front of the respondents or researcher. For this purpose, varied sources can be referred for collecting secondary data such as journals, books and online articles. However, researcher can go for such kind of information so that accordingly valid outcome can be produced by showing necessary evidence for the collected information. This enables the researcher to meet the purpose effectively and contribute towards accomplishing the same in an effectual manner.

However, census data and competitors' information can also be referred while collecting secondary data under which researcher come to know about ineffective marketing strategies of McDonald which can affect its performance to a great extent. This proves to be effective for gathering large amount of information to produce valid outcome (Franklin, 2012). Generally, qualitative type of investigation meet the purpose of research by involving human aspect in collecting the information and interpreting the collected data on the basis of appropriate analytical method. For example, thematic analysis will be used under which all themes presented in the questionnaire can be analyzed effectively by linking the both primary and secondary data.

PART C

It has been assessed that marketing practices that are being used by the organization such as McDonald's is not effective to gain competitive edge in the market. It is gained that role of marketing is critical in assisting the business in attaining its target to a great extent. This has been determined that through comparison among current practices as well as best practice potential gap can be analysed. This would assist the business in making implementation of current measures which can result in achieving the organizational target with greater effectiveness.

From the analysis of section above, this has been assessed that major issue which is being faced by the firm is in offering home delivery services to the customers. In the recent era, people get less time to visit the outlet. Thus, they generally prefer to consume the food at their location. This implies that there is increase in the demand among customers regarding preference towards home delivery services in order to satisfy their requirement (Ghosh Shrivastava and Sahney, 2013). McDonald's does not follow such and due to this, it is not able to gain a competitive edge over others in an effective manner.

The major competitors of firm in restaurant sector are engaged in offering home delivery services which is considered to be effective in the present market era. This offers them greater opportunity to sustain in the market for longer course of time. Presently, there is greater importance for the business in determining needs and requirements of customers so that they can provide services in accordance with the same. This assists them in attaining the set targets within specified duration of time. Firm like McDonald's has made greater efforts in changing the perception of customers completely.

This in terms that it offers varied products in India and foreign countries. This is because people from varied nations possess difference in the need (Iacobucci and Churchill, 2009). Thus, it is important for McDonald's to enter in market as per the requirement of current customer base. Therefore, it needs to launch home delivery services so as to keep the customers satisfied. It has been assessed that organisation has already launched this in some parts of India. But there is still presence of varied locations where it has not been launched.

This is creating major obstruction in the sales as well as profitability of organization. Here, the idea of firm is towards offering greater convenience to the customers. But customers residing at the location where such services are not offered face various difficulties in satisfying their needs to a high extent.

It is important that delivery charges must not be asked from the customers as this would increase dissatisfaction among them. McDonald's is the brand that offers food at reasonable price. This assists business in increasing its brand image in the market for long course of time. It has been identified that by the means of such, firm can gain a competitive edge over others in the market (Indounas and Avlonitis, 2006). There is presence of certain competitors of business who lay emphasis on making delivery after the order reaches certain limit. This increases greater complexity for the firm. It is considered as a major drawback as it is not possible for the customers to sometimes reach at that particular level.

McDonald’s can engage in partnership with company that offers taxi services in order to ensure deliverance with greater effectiveness. It is significant for the firm to look up to such in order to sustain in the market and compete in an effective manner. The firm has started up with this plan so as to offer great convenience to the customers across globe. In this regard, it also needs to make promotion so that customers will become aware of the fact. Along with this, it has been identified that there needs to be changes in the communication practices of the firm.

This would assist in increasing the knowledge among customers regarding products and services it offers. It is determined that business makes promotion through internet as well as advertisement (Jenster, Hayes and Smith, 2005). But in the current market, the major practice of marketing that is being used by the business is social media. Through this, larger market base can be reached by the organisation and also, it is able to attract a large customer base. This assists in increasing the market share of organization. Further, it has importance in making greater number of people aware about the product. McDonald's possess outlets across the globe.

There is greater need for the firm towards making analysis of the gap so that it will be able to make delivery of products in accordance with the requirement of market in an effective manner (Kenning, 2008). This has been assessed that role of marketing is significant for the business in terms that it assists firm in making promotion of brand with effectiveness. Also, it allows the firm in making efforts towards providing knowledge about the brand in market.

It is important for the firm to make development of marketing communication plan so that it will be able to satisfy the requirement of customers in an appropriate way. In the initial stage, it is significant for the organization to assess the needs of target market regarded the means of communication. For instance: in the present era, mostly the customers prefer social media and makes its utilization in order to accomplish their work within less duration of time. It has been gained that in order serve the needs of target market, there is greater requirement to assess the market condition so that quality services can be offered to them. The marketing plan is devised for customers.

Thus, it is significant that McDonald’s will consider the requirement of target market while making development of the strategy so that it will be able to deliver quality information (Oudan, 2007). Though firm uses advertisement through television as a source of communication, but at present, people are more inclined towards using social media rather than watching TV. Thus, in order to reach a large market, it can adopt the strategy that can suit with the needs of customers in an effective manner. With the same, firm can provide information about discounts and combo offers in an effective manner.

Marketing communication is the fundamental as well as complex efforts that are being made by the organization in relation with the marketing. It is determined that such is regarded as the messages as well as media that is being deployed by the firm in order to communicate in the market with greater effectiveness. Communication in market can be done by the means of several techniques. This is comprised of advertising, direct marketing, packaging, online presence, printed materials, branding, sales presentation as well as trade show appearances and various others. It is significant for business to assess the message that needs to be delivered to the target market so that it can create sound impression in the minds of target audience (Padilla and Richards, 2009).

McDonald's is one of the brands that is loved by people who belong to all age groups. Thus, it is required to focus upon differentiated marketing strategy in order to increase the awareness among customers. This would assist it in increasing sales to a high extent. Further, with this, it can increase the sales as well as profitability of brand in the market with greater effectiveness. Merchandising communication is the important part of marketing mix. Marketing mix effectively demonstrates the 4 p's of merchandising as well as promotion implies the aspect which are covered in the marketing communication.

Conclusion

It can be concluded from the above study that in order to develop marketing communication plan, requirement of customers has to be determined. There is greater significance of mobile marketing these days in order to increase awareness among the target market. In order to gain information regarding the suitable means, proper market research needs to be carried out so that customers can attain quality information that can attract them towards the brand. Firm has started up with this plan so as to offer greater convenience to the customers across globe. It has been inferred from the present study that McDonald's is facing issue in relation to lack of home delivery services. This can be enhanced when firm will offer home delivery services to the target market.

It will prove to be effective in reaching to the customers who lack time in availing the services and consume the food by visiting the outlet. In the present report, collection of data has been done from two sources. This is comprised of primary as well as secondary sources. Primary method demonstrates the information that is gathered for the first time. In the present report, for gaining knowledge regarding the needs of customers, data would be gathered from people of UK. It has been inferred that secondary information will be gathered through government reports, journals, online and books so that information about companies can be gained in an effective manner.

References

• Bruce L., B., 2009. Qualitative Research Methods for the Social Sciences. Seventh Edition. Boston MA: Pearson Education Inc.
• Chan, N. L. and Guillet, B. D., 2011. Investigation of social media marketing: how does the hotel industry in Hong Kong perform in marketing on social media websites?.Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing.
• Chen, Y. and Xie, J., 2008. Online consumer review: Word-of-mouth as a new element of marketing communication mix.Management Science.
• Franklin, M. I., 2012. Understanding Research: Coping with the Quantitative-Qualitative Divide. London and New York: Routledge.
• Hollensen, S., 2015.Marketing management: A relationship approach. Pearson Education.
• Howell, K. E., 2013. Introduction to the Philosophy of Methodology. London: Sage Publications.
• Shimp, T. and Andrews, J. C., 2013.Advertising promotion and other aspects of integrated marketing communications. Cengage Learning.

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