Company Background

Discuss about the case study Business Foundation for Marketing Goals and Plans.

For this research paper, I would like to select McDonald’s Australia Holdings company as a research company. This paper would be helpful to develop a marketing plan for the success and growth of the organization. Along with this, this research paper would portray a target market and also produces a new sustainable product that the firm may introduce in its target market to attract more customers. This research paper would also be beneficial in order to provide background information and to conduct SWOT analysis of the organization. Moreover, by considering the SWOT analysis, this paper would be helpful in order to describe the segment variables as well as target market of the organization. This paper would also elucidate the customer value that is provided by the new product of the firm. Furthermore, this paper would also be valuable in order to explain how the new product fits with the SWOT analysis through describing one strategy profile being addressed.

McDonald’s Australia Holdings Limited is a private company that establishes as well as manages a chain of family restaurants. In other words, McDonald’s generates its profits from the establishment as well as management of the McDonald’s chain of restaurants in Australia. The head office of the company is located in Thornleigh, New South Wales. It is a subsidiary of McDonald’s Australia Property Funding LLC.  The company employs just about 6,600 employees to serve the customers in an effective and a proper manner (McDonald’s Australia, 2016). Along with this, the organization generates income by providing food and beverages services to the customers. For case, hamburgers, cheeseburgers, French fries, chicken, desserts, and beverages are the major products/services that the form provide to its customers. In addition to this, McDonalds uses different and innovative marketing strategies as well as tactics in order to accomplish competitive advantages over the competitors.

SWOT analysis refers as a study that is assumed by business organizations in order to make out their internal strengths as well as weaknesses, and their external opportunities along with threats. The below given table is helpful to represent the SWOT analysis of McDonald’s:

In this section, I would like to discuss the SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis of McDonald’s Australia Holdings Limited. I will describe all the major elements of the SWOT analysis in an effective and a proper manner.

SWOT Analysis

Explanation of the SWOT Table: The above given table is helpful to identify the internal strengths and weaknesses of the company. Along with this, the table is also valuable to make out the external opportunities and threats of the firm. All the major elements of SWOT analysis are described as below:

The strengths of McDonald’s make it a global leader in the fast food restaurant market.   The major strengths of McDonald’s are as below:

Strong Brand Name and Value in the Global Market: McDonald’s has a strong brand name and image in the market that makes it competitively strong in the marketplace (Yuece, 2012).

High Quality Food: McDonald’s offers safe and high quality food to the customers that also make it superior in the market.

Strong Financial Position: The financial position of the McDonald’s is very strong. For case, in 2015, the firm generated approximately $25 billion revenue in all over the world.

Highest Fast Food Market Share: McDonald’s holds highest market share in the industry. For case, it holds 77% market share in burger fast food industry. It is also one of the major strength of the firm (Boone and Kurtz, 2015).

Partnership with Best Brands: McDonald’s has its partnership with best brands and also serves products of popular brands such as: Coca Cola, Heinz ketchup, Dannon Yogurt, and so on to its customers.

Affordable Price: McDonald’s offers a large variety of food & beverage products at a very affordable and reasonable price to its customers (Wright, Frazer and Merrilees, 2007).

Healthy Environment and Professional Training To Employees: McDonald’s provides a very healthy environment to its customers and employees. Moreover, the firm also provides professional training to its employees; so they can deal with customers in a professional and polite manner.

The weaknesses of McDonald’s are connected to the products, market focus, and processes of the firm. The major weaknesses of the firm are as follow: 

Low Product Differentiation: McDonald’s is providing the similar fast food products the same as its competitors to the customers that is the major weakness of the firm (Mcfarlin and Sweeney, 2008).

Unhealthy Food Menu: McDonald’s takes in unhealthy meals as well as drinks in its menu that has become a major reason of obesity.

Children Targeting Strategy: McDonald’s mainly focuses and targets to the children to increase the profitability of the firm (Fleisher, and Bensoussan, 2015).

Negative Publicity: McDonald’s is identified for carbs, fat, sugar and salt loaded food that is also one of the major weakness of the firm.

Finding

The opportunities of the firm are associated to its product mix as well as global growth. This element of the SWOT analysis is a sign of the external strategic factors that hold up the success and growth of business (Boone, and Kurtz, 2014). The core opportunities McDonald’s are as below:

Product Diversification: The firm has the opportunity to develop new and diverse products to increase its sales and revenues.

Upgraded Menu: In current, the demand of healthier food has been increased. In this situation, McDonald’s may upgrade its menu by including healthier and organic products/services to capture this opportunity in an effective way (Lamb, Hair and McDaniel, 2012).

Initiate of Home Meal Delivery Services: McDonald’s must capture the opportunity of delivering foods at home or offices in order to improve its customer base effectually.

Adaptation of New Technology:  McDonald’s must make use of advanced technologies to deliver very fast services to its customers (Boone and Kurtz, 2015).

McDonald’s threats are based on the socio-cultural trends as well as competitive rivalry. The major threats to the business are as below:

High Competition: High completion is a major threat that limits the business growth of the firm. The main reason behind it is that, in current, the restaurant industry has become highly competitive (Payne, and McDonald, 2012).  

Healthy Lifestyles Trend: The healthy lifestyles trend is also a major threat to McDonald. It is because of it put off consumers from eating at McDonald’s that offers unhealthful products to the customers.

More Health-Conscious Customers: Many consumers has become very health conscious. They prefer organic products and healthier products. This has become the major subject of concern or threat to the McDonald’s.

GMO Regulations: GMO regulations are also a major threat for the McDonald’s. It is because of they have the prospective to limit products of the firm. In current, McDonald’s does not have an inclusive policy on GMO ingredients (Boone and Kurtz, 2010). In this way, this element of the SWOT analysis explains that McDonald’s should develop new policies as regards GMO ingredients products and also produce healthier products in order to attract health-conscious consumers.

On the basis of the explanation of all the major elements of the SWOT analysis, it can be said that McDonald’s can enhance its business capability all the way through continuous global expansion, more than ever in high-growth markets. In addition to this, the firm can condense risks by developing new products and also entering new industries that is linked to the fast food restaurant industry. On the other hand, the firm should use effective strategies in order to improve its position in the marketplace.

McDonald’s should target different age group customers in place of the children to improve the market position in long run. The firm should make changes in its products and also introduce different flavors, different taste fast food, and beverage products to target as well as attract the different age group customers.

McDonald’s should introduce healthier and organic products in order to attract health-conscious consumers. For example, the firm should introduce fresh juices, energy drinks, and fruit & vegetable smoothies in order to retain health conscious consumers in an effective way (McDonald, 2007). Along with this, McDonald’s should provide organic products, vegetables & fresh fruit, and the products that contain all-natural ingredients to the customers.

The success of an organization totally depends on its customers. McDonald’s should provide full value to its customers in order to improve its position in the market place. McDonald’s can give full value to the customers all the way through providing healthy products to them. Moreover, McDonald’s should listen in its customers carefully and also implement suggestion provided by them in order to enhance the market position in an effective and a more comprehensive manner.

The SWOT analysis points out that the unhealthy foods or products loaded with carbs, fat, and sugar is the major weakness of McDonald’s (McDonald, 2007). As a result, McDonald’s should adopt and implement an innovation strategy in order to produce fresh juices, fruit & vegetable smoothies, energy drinks, fruit & vegetable juice, and vegetable foods products  to retain its existing customers and to attract new customers in an effective and a significant manner.

References

Böhm, A. (2009). The SWOT Analysis. Australia: GRIN Verlag.

Boone, L. and Kurtz, D. (2010). Contemporary Marketing 2011. USA: Cengage Learning.

Boone, L. E. and Kurtz, D. L. (2014). Contemporary Marketing, Update 2015. Australia: Cengage Learning.

Boone, L. E. and Kurtz, D. L. (2015). Contemporary Marketing.USA: Cengage Learning.

Davidson, H. (2012). Offensive Marketing. Australia: Routledge,

Fleisher, C.S. and Bensoussan, B.E. (2015). Business and Competitive Analysis: Effective Application of New and Classic Methods. Australia: FT Press.

Lamb, C.W., Hair, J. F. and McDaniel, C. (2008). Essentials of Marketing. USA: Cengage Learning.

Lamb, C.W., Hair, J.F. and McDaniel, C. (2012). Marketing. USA: Cengage Learning.

McDonald, M. (2007). Malcolm McDonald on Marketing Planning: Understanding Marketing Plans and Strategy. Australia: Kogan Page Publishers.

McDonald, M. (2007). Marketing Plans: How to Prepare Them, how to Use Them. Australia: Butterworth-Heinemann.

McDonald’s Australia. (2016). About Macca’s. [Online]. Available at: https://mcdonalds.com.au/about-maccas [Accessed On: 4th Aug. 2016].

Mcfarlin, D. and Sweeney, P.D. (2014). International Management: Strategic Opportunities & Cultural Challenges. Australia: Routledge.

Mcfarlin, D.B. and Sweeney, P.D. (2008). International Management 2008 Edition: Strategic Opportunities And Cultural Challenges. Australia: Dreamtech Press.

Payne, A. and McDonald, M. (2012). Marketing Planning for Services. Australia: Routledge.

Wright, O., Frazer, L. and Merrilees, B. (2007). McCafe: the McDonald’s co-branding experience. Journal of Brand Management, 14(6), pp. 442-457.

Yuece, I. (2012). SWOT Analysis of McDonald’s and Derivation of Appropriate Strategies. Australia: GRIN Verlag.