The Evolution of Marketing - McDonald's Perspective

McDonald's Extended Marketing Mix Over Time

Product

Image 1 – Boyle T/Getty Images, (2005) ‘Price board which hangs inside the M^cDonald's USA First Store Museum April 14, 2005 in Des Plaines, Illinois’ (photograph)

Price

Image 2 – M^cDonalds.ie (2020) ‘M^cDonald’s use bundle pricing on items such as Happy Meals to make buying more products together more affordable’ (photograph).   https://www.mcdonalds.ie/iehome/happiness_rules.html

Place

Image 3 – Mein T (2018) ‘As well as high streets, M^cDonald’s focus on high footfall areas such as airports.  This double height unit in Sydney Airport is particularly impactful’ (photograph)

Promotion

Image 4 – Fuentes M/Getty Images (2004) ‘Ronald M^cDonald smiles with a Happy Meal for adults at a M^cDonald's restaurant on Thursday May 6, 2004’ (photograph)

Process

Image 5 – Nangia P/Bloomberg (2013) ‘Separate slots for "veg" and "non-veg" products at a M^cDonald's near New Delhi’ (photograph)

People

Image 6 – M^cDonald’s (2017) ‘They're not too bad, surely?’ (photograph)

Physical Evidence

Image 7 – WatashiwaMnM (2013) ‘M^cDonald’s in Time Square’ (photograph)

Process as part of M^cDonald’s Extended Marketing Mix

Overview

Process is one of the extended Ps of the marketing mix and refers to the flow of activities or mechanism that take place when there is an interaction between customers and a business (Bhasin H 2019). 

M^cDonald's unique selling proposition is based on fast food, low prices, consistency and cleanliness (Entrepreneur, 2016).  Process plays a huge role in achieving each of these. 

o    M^cDonald’s is a ‘fast food’ restaurant.  Their entire production and sales ordering processes are designed around this.

o    Low prices can only be achieved by having an efficient operational process.

o    Whichever M^cDonald’s you visit, you’re guaranteed a consistent experience, the result of tight processes consistent the world over. 

o    Being a restaurant, cleanliness has always been a huge factor for M^cDonald’s and with the recent pandemic, this is stepping up further, with even more stringent processes being put in place to ensure restaurants can start trading again keeping both their staff and customers safe (Charna M 2020)

Fast Food

At its core, M^cDonald’s is a fast food restaurant.  To achieve this, the most popular core lines are prepared in advance and placed in a shoot, ensuring customer waiting time is minimised. (Futurestate 2014)

They’ve also invested heavily over the years in making the ordering & purchasing process as quick as possible for customers.    

o    In 1975, in response to an initiative by competitor Wendy’s, M^cDonald’s opened its first drive thru window in Sierra Vista, Arizona, meaning customers didn’t need to leave their cars to order.  Today around 70% of their sales in the US come from Drive Thru and this is likely to have increased in recent months with the Covid-19 crisis.

o    Self-ordering kiosks are driving overall growth for the business in the US.  Not only do they make the customer journey faster, they also result in a higher than average order size, which adds to the profitability of the organisation.  

o  Finally, they’ve invested in delivery through Uber Eats meaning ordering is ‘faster’ still in terms of the effort required to get a M^cDonald’s.  Worldwide sales of deliveries are reported to have topped $4 billion in 2019, with again higher than average sales per order, believed to be driven by the customers need to justify delivery charges.  (Quast J 2020)

Low Prices

Providing good customer value has always been a core part of M^cDonald’s strategy.  In order to achieve this, efficient restaurant production processes are critical.  Staff are trained in a particular way of making products, including the number of burgers produced per hour.  The shoots are set up to ensure core products are always in stock, but with just the right number to minimise waste.  (Futurestate 2014)

Consistency

Whether you visit a restaurant in Ireland or in Australia, the experience will be very similar.  The core range will be the same, as will the look and feel of the restaurant, the way of ordering, etc.  M^cDonald’s invests heavily in ensuring all restaurants are kitted out in a similar manner and staff are trained to produce core products in a very particular way, ensuring that the product experience will be consistent irrespective of where you dine.  (Futurestate 2014)

Cleanliness

As with any restaurant, good food hygiene and clean restaurants are of paramount importance to the business.  M^cDonald’s have incredibly detailed and stringent processes in place covering

o    Personal hygiene of staff

o    Cleaning & sanitizing

o    Rubbish disposal

o    Receiving food

o    Storing food

o    Cooling & defrosting

o    Cooking & holding

o    Pest control

Every process is designed to maximise cleanliness.  For example the packaging is fully disposable, making the table cleaning process simpler and more efficient, whilst the use of trays and paper sheets, minimises the opportunity for surfaces to become unclean (Essays UK 2018). 

Conclusion

 

To conclude, it’s clear that Process is a very important part of the marketing mix for M^cDonald’s, driving as it does success in their 4 areas of strength, namely fast food, low prices, consistency and cleanliness (Entrepreneur, 2016). 

 

Bibliography

Boyle T/Getty Images (2005) ‘Price board which hangs inside the M^cDonald's USA First Store Museum April 14, 2005 in Des Plaines, Illinois’ (photograph) in BusinessInsider.com.  Available at https://www.businessinsider.com/then-and-now-mcdonalds-restaurants-through-the-years?r=US&IR=T#perhaps-the-biggest-change-in-the-mcdonalds-brand-since-its-debut-in-1948-is-the-menu-18 (accessed 20^th May 2020)

M^cDonalds.ie (2020) ‘M^cDonald’s use bundle pricing on items such as Happy Meals to make buying more products together more affordable’ (photograph) from mcdonalds.ie.  Available at https://www.mcdonalds.ie/iehome/happiness_rules.html (accessed 20^th May 2020)

Mein T (2018) ‘As well as high streets, M^cDonald’s focus on high footfall areas such as airports.  This double height unit in Sydney Airport is particularly impactful’ (photograph) from www.insideretail.com.au.  Available at https://insideretail.com.au/news/mcdonalds-opens-world-first-at-sydney-airport-201805 (accessed 20^th May 2020)

Fuentes M/Getty Images (2004) ‘Ronald M^cDonald smiles with a Happy Meal for adults at a M^cDonald's restaurant on Thursday May 6, 2004 (photograph) from www.businessinsider.com.  Available at https://www.businessinsider.com/then-and-now-mcdonalds-restaurants-through-the-years?r=US&IR=T#today-mcdonalds-is-still-trying-to-innovate-ways-to-make-the-ordering-process-more-efficient-17 (accessed 20^th May 2020)

Nangia P/Bloomberg (2013) ‘Separate slots for "veg" and "non-veg" products at a M^cDonald's near New Delhi’ (photograph) from Bloomberg.com.  Available at https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-07-03/what-apple-can-learn-from-mcdonald-s-in-india (accessed 21^st May 2020)

M^cDonald’s (2017) ‘They're not too bad, surely?’ (photograph)from irishmirror.ie.  Available at https://www.irishmirror.ie/news/weird-news/mcdonalds-reveals-brand-new-uniform-10287761 (accessed 21^st May 2020)

WatashiwaMnM (2013) ‘M^cDonald’s in Time Square’ (photograph) from Tripadvisor.co.uk.  Available at https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g28953-i66573639-New_York.html (accessed 21^st May 2020)

Bhasin H (2019) Process in Marketing Mix (online).  Available at https://www.marketing91.com/process-in-marketing-mix/ (accessed 22^nd May 2020)

Entrepreneur (2016) Positioning (online).  Available at https://www.entrepreneur.com/encyclopedia/positioning (accessed 22^nd May 2020)

Charna M (2020) We have stepped up standard, hygiene cleanliness at our outlets, Robert Hunghanfoo, M^cDonald’s India (online).  Available at https://www.timesnownews.com/india/article/we-have-stepped-up-standard-hygiene-cleanliness-processes-at-our-outlets-robert-hunghanfoo-mcdonald-s-india/581096 (accessed 22^nd May 2020)

Futurestate (2014) M^cDonald’s Business Process (online).  Available at https://www.futurestate.ie/mcdonalds-business-process/ (accessed 22^nd May 2020)

Quast J (2020) M^cDonald’s makes restaurant traffic top priority (online).  Available at https://www.fool.com/investing/2020/02/04/mcdonalds-makes-restaurant-traffic-top-priority.aspx  (accessed 22^nd May 2020)

Essays, UK (2018) M^cDonalds Workplace Hygiene (online).  Available at https://www.ukessays.com/essays/management/mcdonalds-workplace-hygeine.php?vref=1 (accessed 22^nd May 2020)