Small Business Marketing Strategy Principles

Question: Discuss about the Small Business Marketing Strategy Principles. Answer: Analysis of segmentation variable Geographic: According to Darrell (2013), it has been seen that majority of the Australian customers prefer the food items of McDonalds. In Australian market, the company has done a business of $4 billion. Darrell (2013) opined that more than 55% of the customers in Australia visited McDonalds in 2014-15. In Australia, it is giving strong competition to the brands such as KFC. The locations are very convenient to the customers and this is one of the primary reasons behind McDonalds success. Demographic: As discussed by Richards et al (2015), in Australia, McDonalds target customers belong to all age groups. The store ambience is made in a way to attract mainly the young people and also to provide comfort to all its customers. However, the urban youth are the target customers. Richards et al (2015) stated that customers visit the retail shop of McDonalds minimum 2.7 times in four weeks. Psychographic: One can see health-consciousness among the Australian people. The products of McDonalds contain excessive amounts of calorie and fat, which the customers do not prefer always. The food quality is the sole reason of its reduction in sales; however, still most of the customers go to the McDonalds relying on its goodwill. According to Maslows Hierarchy of needs, MacDonalds target is to build an intimate relationship with its customers, satisfy their psychological needs and make them happy. Although they failed to provide healthy foods, the brand has retained their business. Benefit and User-rate segmentation: It is a part of behavioral segmentation. By targeting the psychological needs of the customers, the brand has tried to provide a good environment. The product is positioned in the market as a satisfier to their psychological needs with a variety of products too. Most of the customers prefer eating burgers. So the brand has focused on serving delicious burgers to all. McDonalds has established its brand name not only through fast foods but also through its various Corporate Social Responsibilities. The recent annual report has proved this point. Targeting strategy of McDonalds According to Gerhardt et al (2014), target market strategy includes four divisions. These are- Undifferentiated marketing, multi-segment or differentiated marketing, concentrated marketing, and customized marketing. McDonalds target market strategy is an undifferentiated marketing. Gerhardt et al (2014) opined that the company does not segregate its customers in terms of their age, race, gender, or economic condition. Australias fast food market is growing with time. Popularity of KFC along with the McDonalds prove this fact. People of all age groups visit McDonalds to taste burgers, which has made the managers focus on producing delicious burgers. They do not have any specific target customers. Still, the young urban youth prefer McDonalds fast food items. As Gerhardt et al (2014) discussed that sometimes the excessive fat and calorie in the food products give negative results. The primary aim of McDonalds is to ensure a hazard free and user-friendly atmosphere. Low food processing time, nutrition, affordability, and taste are the primary factors, which they keep in mind during their service. McDonald uses only one marketing mix strategy that does includes price, placement, product, and promotion. It is a fast food brand with reputation of producing best burgers in Australia and all customers are influenced to visit the shop quite frequently. Product positioning of McDonalds According to Qureshi and Hassan (2013), product positioning helps the brand to make its mark. McDonalds marketing strategy also does this successfully. McDonald allures the customers not only in Australia but also in other parts of the world. While making the marketing mix strategy the company has given immense focus to establish the brand, therefore, the product positioning is an important part of McDonalds business. Sachdeva (2015) stated that at present, they are focusing on more variety in their products so that they could limit the brand value. As opined by Crawford (2015), the objective is to sustain volatility through increasing the creativity. Again, their focus has not shifted from emphasizing on a particular product that establishes McDonald as a brand. It is the burger that is liked by most of the customers. According to Rowley et al (2016), the Corporate Social Responsibility that they undertake also helped establishing the brand. The SWOT analysis of the brand will make this clear. Strengths: The brand name, new range of products, CSR, and the profits that they gain are their Strengths. Weaknesses: Unhealthy foods, high prices of products and bad after service are the main weaknesses. Opportunity: They can produce healthy food items too besides fast foods. Threats: As discussed by Jaworowska et al (2013), Competitors such as KFC is a threat to McDonalds. Apart from that their high calorie and high fat contained food items are banned in some countries. Conclusion McDonalds marketing strategy is analyzed based on the three factors. These are- Segmentation, Target market, and Positioning. It is called the STP of marketing strategy. McDonalds leads the world business as the largest producers of fast foods across the globe. In Australia, more than half of the country people visit McDonalds stores in fewer intervals. They have introduced new products which are alluring the customers. Still, the brand has established itself as the producer of delicious burgers. However, McDonalds does not segregate its customers and try to serve for all age groups. In some areas of the world, they have customized products for varied range of customers, although in Australia, the burger is sold in large numbers and McDonalds have focused on this item only. Although the products are unhealthy, the customers eat them. The primary reason behind it is the user-friendly environment that satisfies their psychological needs. They provide them good service in a low cost. As they do not have any specific target groups, they do not have multiple pricing systems. It has resulted into a huge amount of profit that they achieved. On the other hand, the SWOT analysis of organization has proved that McDonalds is facing competition from KFC, which is their biggest threat. Other threats and weaknesses of McDonalds include the unhealthy food items because of which it is banned in many countries. References Crawford, A., 2015. McDonald's: A Case Study in Glocalization. Journal of Global Business Issues, 9(1), p.11. Darrell, O., 2013. McDonalds marketing strategy. Docs. school Publications. Gerhardt, S., Hazen, S. and Lewis, S., 2014. Small Business Marketing Strategy Based on McDonald's. ASBBS Proceedings, 21(1), p.271. Jaworowska, A., Blackham, T., Davies, I.G. and Stevenson, L., 2013. Nutritional challenges and health implications of takeaway and fast food. Nutrition reviews, 71(5), pp.310-318. Qureshi, A. and Hassan, M., 2013. Impact of performance management on the organisational performance: An analytical investigation of the business model of McDonalds. International Journal of Academic Research in Economics and Management Sciences, 2(5), p.54. Richards, Z., Thomas, S.L., Randle, M. and Pettigrew, S., 2015. Corporate Social Responsibility programs of Big Food in Australia: a content analysis of industry documents. Australian and New Zealand journal of public health, 39(6), pp.550-556. Rowley, B. and McMurtrey, M.E., 2016. McDonald's and the Triple Bottom Line: A Case Study of Corporate Sustainability. Journal of Strategic Innovation and Sustainability, 11(1), p.33. Sachdeva, A., 2015. Evaluation and selection of differentiation as a strategy for McDonalds.