P1: Marketing is a social process, which identifies, forecasts and satisfies the needs of the customers in a profitable way. Marketing strategies are overall plans, which fulfill the needs of the customers . Marketing techniques ensure the effective delivery of a market plan. The three marketing techniques available are growth strategies, survival strategies and branding techniques. The four categories of growth strategies are “market penetration, market development, product development and diversification” . Market penetration refers to increasing the number of consumers buying the product. Market development refers to marketing an existing product to a new market. Product development refers to selling a new product to the existing customers. Diversification refers to marketing new products to new customers. Survival strategies include developing new strategies in order to survive in the market, such as downsizing the business. Branding refers to the creation of a unique name and reputation of a product through advertising campaigns. I would discuss about the marketing techniques of Walmart and McDonald’s.
Walmart is the retail giant in the world, which stands at the first position in the Fortune 500 list. The company has over 8500 stores with 55 names in about 15 countries . Headquartered in the United States, Walmart is the largest retailer in the country. Walmart employs several marketing techniques, which are responsible for the success of the company. The low price makes the customers loyal to the company as they are able to avail the best deals, thereby fulfilling the criteria for market penetration . Another strategy is easy accessibility. Walmart stores are available on the internet too, which makes the process of marketing easier for the company. Branding is another technique followed by Walmart, which a wide variety of products under different names ranging from electronics, toys, groceries, beauty products and many others . Walmart also employs branding through social media websites.
McDonald’s is the largest fast-food retailer in the world with over 35000 restaurants in over 100 countries. The company has a huge network of franchisees, employees and suppliers to offer the highest quality food to its consumers . McDonald’s has a strong commitment towards quality food and superior customer service. The company employs the product development strategy as its success mantra. The products mentioned on McDonald’s menu do not change for extended periods, which ensure that the menu is always familiar to the consumers . Introducing seasonal menu invites new customers to the store. Due to a wide network in several international countries, McDonald’s creates several products to satisfy the needs of the customers in the local markets. The company also modifies the tastes of the products to fit the local taste of the country.
P2: Consumer laws ensure the functioning of businesses within the constraints of laws. Sale of Goods Act of 1979 ensures that the traders sell goods that belong to satisfactory quality. This law ensures an accurate description of the products. For example, if a cloth contains a label saying 100 percent cotton, according to the Sale of Goods Act of 1979, the product must use pure wool in the cloth and not mix other materials, such as silk. Another law is the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations of 2008. According to this law, organizations must treat the customers in a fair and honest way. Businesses must refrain from using dishonest sales promotions and aggressive tactics.
Consumer Credit Acts of 1974 and 2006 is another important law, which applies to businesses that offer goods on a credit basis. Such businesses must obtain licenses from Office of Fair Trading and settle the disputes by Financial Ombudsman Service. Businesses must provide an update of the loan to the customers. Another law, Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000 applies to businesses, which operate an e-commerce website or a mail-order catalogue. Such businesses must provide to the customers certain information regarding the business, goods and services, payment and delivery arrangements, and cancel options for the consumers to cancel the order. The Data Protection Act of 1998 protects the data of the customers from unfair use. Businesses maintaining the information of their customers in the database must be fair and lawful.
For example, McDonald’s maintains an information system which stores the information of the customers, such as their name, address, phone number and payment details to reduce the waiting time for home deliveries . The company takes utmost care to make sure that the data of the customers is secure. The security measures followed by the company not only attract a huge number of customers, but also lead to an increase in the productivity of McDonald’s. On the other hand, Walmart offers services in the form of both retail stores and e-commerce website. In spite offering products at lower prices, the company takes great care in ensuring that the customers have no complaints about the products in terms of quality. The main reason for lesser number of returns and cancel orders received by Walmart is due to the fact that the company follows the laws efficiently to ensure customer loyalty .
M1: I would like to compare the marketing techniques used in Wal-Mart and McDonald’s. Walmart uses market development strategy by establishing online stores, which are transparent with reviews of all kind. Online marketing impresses the customers at a large scale as all the customers are not always comfortable to visit the store and make the purchase. The company uses the strategy aggressively to highlight the brand. Similarly, McDonald’s also uses its e-commerce website to place orders online and offer a quicker delivery of products. The branding strategy of Walmart is the main reason behind the company’s largest market share. On the other hand, McDonald’s focuses on the branding strategy through its logo, the golden arches . The company identifies the customer’s needs and aims at fulfilling those needs better than its competitors to enhance its brand image. Walmart effectively implements the market penetration strategy to increase the number of customers by establishing great number of stores and pricing the products at the least price possible . The company makes the best use of the mobile commerce trend by targeting the digital consumers.
On the other hand, McDonald’s implements the market penetration strategy by targeting the consumers of all age groups. For children the company includes fun activities in its restaurants . For teenagers, the saver menu is available at affordable prices both at the stores as well as online. McDonald’s attracts the business customers by serving the tasty food at a lesser time. The company also employs the diversification technique by offering a wide variety of menu to its customers, both domestic and international in vegetarian and non-vegetarian variants . Similarly, Walmart also implements the diversification technique offers a wide range of products ranging from electronics to grocery products, beauty to health products and many others. McDonald’s utilizes the product development technique by introducing special items on the menu occasionally.
D1: I would discuss about the effectiveness of the market techniques used by McDonald’s. The company’s effectiveness is visible from its progress graph, which constantly moves in the upward direction. With the effective use of the market techniques, McDonald’s makes sure that the products it supplies fulfill the demand demands of the customers . The company maintains a long relationship with its clients by sending newsletters on new offers, deals and discounts. By obtaining frequent feedbacks from the customers, the company makes regular changes to its products and prices, in order to retain the existing customers, as well as attract new customers, thereby effectively employing the technique of diversification . McDonald’s utilizes the market penetration technique through the “Happy Meal,” which offers a specialized menu at an affordable price.
In order to ensure the efficiency of the market penetration technique, the company communicates with its target customers through TV and internet advertisements, billboard and posters. McDonald’s uses the branding strategy effectively by offering its products at a higher quality, lower price and faster time when compared to its competitors. Since McDonald’s operates its restaurants all over the world, the company makes sure to increase its customer base through local franchisees and retailers . To attract the international market, McDonald’s adopts its menu to the local customers’ tastes and preferences. The hard work of the company, its effective marketing techniques and strategies contributed to the success of McDonald’s in maintaining a larger customer base in the fast-food restaurant segment.
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