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The Marketing Communication Process

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The Marketing Communication Process

The marketing communication process or promotion is the coordination of a marketer’s

communication efforts to influence attitudes or behavior (Solomon, Marshall, & Stuart, 2016).

When using marketing communications to inform consumers about their products businesses

must consider the many different promotional elements available to them and which methods

will be the most effective. Successful businesses in today’s market like McDonald’s understand

how to use market research and analytics and make efficient use of the promotional mix to

include advertising, sales promotion, personal selling, public relations, direct marketing, and

word-of-mouth to communicate with multiple target audiences effectively.

Market Research and Analytics

Businesses conduct marketing research to understand the consumer’s preferences,

attitudes, and behaviors. Marketing research combined with SWOTT analysis helps a company

to gather information and identify opportunities in marketing and identify problems and

weaknesses within the organization. In 2003 McDonald’s posted a quarterly loss greater than

$300m and was forced to close over 700 restaurants in various countries (Szmigin, 2016).

Through market research and analysis, McDonald’s discovered a trend in the marketplace that

indicated a move towards healthier foods and a desire for better taste and quality from fast food

franchises. Responding to the analysis of their market research, McDonald’s began offering

salads and eliminated its supersize option. Through the conduct of market research and

analysis,McDonald’s rebounded from its declining sales.

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The Promotional Mix

A promotional strategy is how businesses communicate its products value proposition to

its target market and is executed through the mix of advertising, sales promotion, public

relations, personal selling and word-of-mouth (Solomon, Marshall, & Stuart, 2016).

Advertising

McDonald’s advertises extensively through multiple channels that include television, magazines,

newspapers, radio and social media sites. McDonald’s uses strategic advertising to increase its

brand’s image by communicating to the consumer the customer value proposition. McDonald’s

also uses retail advertising to attract customers using coupons.

Image: McDonald's earningsretrieved from: https://dreamers2016.wordpress.com/category/food/

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McDonald’s also uses tactical advertising to create a sense of urgency within its target market.

When compared to other forms of advertising, tactical advertising is used for the short term and

is usually dedicated to targeting some special event.

Image: retail distribution of couponsretrieved from: http://macdonaldbranding.blogspot.com/2011/02/6-type-of-mcdonalds-advertising.html

Image: "Dim Jack" advertising campaignretrieved from: http://macdonaldbranding.blogspot.com/2011/02/6-type-of-mcdonalds-advertising.html

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Sales Promotion

Sales promotionsare any form of incentive geared towards the customer with the intent of

generating rapid short-term sales. “Sales promotion includes incentive offering an interest

creating activities which are generally short-term marketing events other than advertising,

personal selling, publicity and direct marketing (Pohwani, 2013).” McDonald’s uses promotion

strategies such as gift cards, the monopoly sweepstakes and menu upgrades like the McPick 2

deal, one dollar soft drinks, and two dollar McCafe’s.

Although these sales promotions are generally run for a short-term, they are effective at

increasing sales during that period. Sales promotions differ from advertising in that they are

meant to last for a short duration and appeal to a consumer’s rationale while advertising is a

long-term investment where the primary objective is to create an enduring brand image

(Pohwani, 2013).

Image: McPick2 dealretrieved from: https://www.eater.com/2016/1/8/10716408/mcdonalds-pick-2-burger-king-value-menu-pizza-hut

Image: McDonald's soft drink promotionretrieved from: http://hotcanadadeals.ca/mcdonalds-canada-dollar-drink-days-promotions-get-any-size-soft-drink-or-small-or-medium-iced-coffee-for-1/

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Personal Selling

“Personal selling refers to marketing communication by which a company representative

interacts directly with a customer or prospective customer to communicate about a good or

service (Solomon, Marshall, & Stuart, 2016).” Personal selling is a critical task for McDonald’s

as it interacts with the customer on a daily basis. It can be as simple as the employee making sure

all the promotional deals are made aware to the customer and more complex selling points such

as McDonald’s additional free Wi-Fi and the incorporation of dual drive-through order lanes to

speed up the ordering process. All McDonald’s employees from the front cashier to the drive-

through personnel are involved daily in the action of personal selling.

Public Relations

A business uses public relations (PR) to build relationships with its customers by influencing the

attitudes and perceptions towards its brand (Solomon, Marshall, & Stuart, 2016). In an

increasingly health-conscious world,McDonald’s has faced scrutiny over its unhealthy menu

items and has launched a PR campaign to dispel rumors and uphold its brand’s image.

McDonald’s would use the social media site Twitter and pay to be placed at the top of the trends

list to show people it’s new commercials highlighting the healthy ingredients used in its products

(Obrien, 2012). Additionally, McDonald’s took to a Q&A PR tactic on YouTube and Facebook

to answer questions from consumers with regards to its food (Li, 2014).

Direct Marketing

Direct marketing is a form of advertising which gives businesses a way to use direct

communications with the consumer to a variety of media such as text messaging, emails, pliers,

phone calls in promotional letters (Wolfe, 2017). Although McDonald’s does not engage heavily

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in direct marketing, it could take advantage of opportunities in this area through direct coupon

mailing and opt-in weekly text specials.

Word of Mouth

Word-of-mouth marketing can be explained as an oral recommendation from a satisfied

customer to another potential customer; this is a highly effective form of promotion.McDonald’s

ran an ad during the 2015 Super Bowl which introduced their new campaign “pay with lovin” in

which restaurants in the United States allowed customers to pay for the orders with love instead

of cash. This ad and campaign garnered a large word-of-mouth gain from consumers.

“McDonald’s word-of-mouth levels reached his second highest levels in about a year and a half

with 29% of adults 18 and over reporting that they talked about McDonald’s with friends and

family within the past two weeks compared to 24% before the campaign started (Marzilli,

2015).”

Image: McDonald's word-of-mouth chartretrieved from: http://www.brandindex.com/article/pay-lovin-modest-success-mcdonalds

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Conclusion

Through the use of market research and analysis, McDonald’s was able to rebound from

a significant drop in sales in 2003 by identifying the problem and adjusting to the new trends

using new marketing strategies. These marketing strategies were implemented through the

promotional mix of advertising, sales promotion, personal selling, public relations, direct

marketing, and word-of-mouth. The result of McDonald’s marketing communication process is a

strong brand image that is currently in the top ten most recognizable brands in the world.

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References

Li, S. (2014). McDonald's launches campaign to answer pink slime, other rumors. Retrieved

from http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-mcdonalds-ad-campaign-20141013-

story.html

Marzilli, T. (2015). “Pay With Lovin’” Is modest success for McDonald’s. Retrieved from

http://www.brandindex.com/article/pay-lovin-modest-success-mcdonalds

Obrien, K. (2012). How McDonald’s came back bigger than ever. Retrieved from

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/06/magazine/how-mcdonalds-came-back-bigger-than-

ever.html

Pohwani, P. (2013). McDonalds: sales promotion. Retrieved from

http://www.managementparadise.com/prakash_dudes/documents/10683/mcdonalds--

sales-promotion/

Solomon, M. R., Marshall, G. W., & Stuart, E. W. (2016). Marketing (8th ed.). Boston, MA:

Pearson Education.

Szmigin, I. (2016). How McDonald’s made the golden arches glisten again. Retrieved from

https://theconversation.com/how-mcdonalds-made-the-golden-arches-glisten-again-

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Wolfe, L. (2017). Direct marketing basics. Retrieved from https://www.thebalance.com/direct-

marketing-basics-3515532