7Ps Of McDonalds
The 7Ps:
Product- McDonald’s is well known to sell a wide range of fast food products such as
hamburgers and cheeseburgers, Big Mac, , Filet-O-Fish, several chicken sandwiches, Chicken
McNuggets, wraps, French fries and Fried Chicken and rice ( some Asian countries) . The
company also offers desserts such as McFlurry , sundaes, and soft serve cones. Aside from
these, they also sell variety of beverages such as soft drinks and coffee .
Price- As for their pricing strategy, McDonalds follows cost leadership business strategy. Their
foods and drinks are offered for competitive prices. The fast food chain even offers their
customers the possibility to dine for a fraction of costs that are charged by other fast food
competitors in the market. In addition, their products are at a very affordable cost for a fast food
chain, ensuring customer’s repurchase.
Place- As of today, there are 36,258 McDonald’s restaurants spread across 119 countries.
McDonalds aims to open their restaurants in both urban and rural areas using their aggressive
expansion strategy. They build quality restaurants that are mostly clustered around crowded
neighbourhoods, airports, malls, tollways and some colleges. These places have a high chance
of customer engagement since these places are often crowded with people who are their
potential customers.
Promotion- McDonalds have a variety of promotional strategies which includes utilizing
their “Happy Meals” products heavily to kids promoting that once purchased they are able to
get benefits which are the toys. They also promote their products through different media
outlets such as TV, social media, billboards. They also place banners and pamphlets all
around their outlets. Lastly, they also have a promotional strategy that utilizes their customers
by giving car stickers that customers can use to get free products such as ice creams, sundaes,
drinks and other menus. However, the true intention is to increase customer recognition and
awareness to potential customers because their logo is clearly visible to everyone when the
stickers are put on their car windshield therefore, they get free promotion by utilizing their
customers.
Process- Their process is fully transparent to their customers especially regarding to their
food manufacturing process. Customers are able to see their foods being processed after
purchasing on the counter as the kitchen is visible. They give good training to their licensees
to ensure uniform processes in their chains. They often also invent new methods of food
packaging following current trends or seasons (Christmas , Ramadhan , Easter ,etc).
People- McDonalds focuses heavy on the “people” around them such as giving their
employees larger roles in decision making process and they also provide good quality and
suitable training to further hone their skills to make sure their employees are in accordance
to the standards of McDonalds . They also give stars and bonus (employee of the month) as
their performance to keep their employees motivated as they work.As for their customers,
they have fast and friendly services and they provide clean and comfortable environment
suited for families visiting. They also ensure constant customer interaction to make
customers feel comfortable when buying from McDonalds. For delivery, their delivery crew
carries a basic operation of the restaurant to ensure customer satisfaction.
Physical Evidence- Their physical evidences include the use of their mascot ( Ronald
McDonalds) which the customers can see and touch which associates the mascot to the
Brand itself. Another is their social media accounts where customers are able to see clearly
the menus with full details such as ingredients and nutrition facts. Their franchise buildings
are also a part of it by maintaining similar restaurant layouts with their trademark colors of
McDonalds which are red and yellow, with comfortable chairs, tables and sofas for
customers to dine in comfortably. The last one is their employee uniforms, customers can
see that employees all over their chains are wearing the same uniform again with their
trademark colors (red and yellow) and grey hats.
What can McDonald do to have better value:
Product- They should be able to act fast on opportunities in expanding their product options
that are currently in demand in the market. Examples are products that are Vegan and
vegetarian are currently in demand as people are interested in having a healthier lifestyle
during the pandemic. Therefore, McDonalds can see this as an opportunity to jump in and
create “special menus” targeted to customers that favors vegan/vegetarian options when
purchasing McDonalds.
Price- For pricing strategies, McDonalds could create value meals with cheap prices that are
affordable for customers that still view their products as difficult to purchase because of
financial reasons. Like their competitors (KFC) which serves value meals with cheaper prices
that is affordable for everyone. Customers that previously was not able to purchase due to
financial reasons but want to buy and taste McDonald’s menus will now have the
purchasing power to do so and McDonalds will also have an increase in potential customers.
Place- As for place, McDonald’s aggressive expansion strategy is a very good strategy to
expand their brand as a whole and in my opinion, this needs to be kept. Opening chains
where potential customers are mostly middle-upper class people will be most effective. In
big cities where people are often too busy to cook and prepare food, McDonalds will be
much needed help for them to get quick, easy and affordable food to keep them going
throughout the day.
Promotion- For promotion, utilizing social media will benefit McDonalds highly. In this
digital age where the use of social media is at the highest, taking the opportunity to
promote and interact with potential customers through social media is a good strategy.
Popular social media sites such as Instagram, Facebook and Tiktok should come to their
consideration. Instagram can be used to promote their products through paying
advertisements as well as Facebook. For tiktok, creating challenges that is associated with
their products and encourage people to join in the challenge can be a promotional strategy.
Process- For the process, keeping what they have been doing for years is most suitable.
Keeping their processes transparent to customers will be a key to keep trust from their
customers and ensuring their loyalty therefore improving their brand power in the market
for a long time.
People- Putting the “people” first will benefit McDonalds in the long term for both
employees and customers. Employees will feel appreciated by the actions, trust and ability
to take part in the decision-making process. Customers will feel that their rights are
protected and appreciated by the constant interaction and the ability to give feedback on
their services. This freedom of expression will enable customers to feel comfortable and
stick with McDonalds for a long time.
Physical Evidence- Keeping what they have now is good and should be continued, their
mascots, their employee uniforms, websites, social media accounts and restaurant layouts
will give a certain brand image in their customer’s head for a long time. All these things will
forever be associated with McDonalds as a brand.