Market Segmentation and Target Marketing:
Both market segmentation and target marketing look at the different consumers and target them so
they can make sales. McDonalds uses both of these very successfully. An example of this is their
varied target market, with customers such as families, teenagers and people who are short on time
such as a busy working man. They also have increased their sales by placing their stores in
convenient locations, an example is a service station, meaning when people are travelling for long
distances they can get food without having to travel out of their way. McDonalds do a lot of research
and planning before they decide to bring out a new product to their menu as they would need to
know what will appeal to their customers. An example of this could be the happy meal which is
targeted directly to children by offering a toy with a smaller meal with an option of carrot sticks
instead of fries, the toy included will appeal to a child whilst the healthier option will appeal to the
parents. McDonalds use a range of marketing techniques such as the ones listed above, they all help
to establish the four P’s:
Product:
McDonalds over time have added a large variation of products to their menu which have been very
successful and brought in the company lots of sales. This can be shown by the customers already
knowing what products they sell without having to look, such as the cheeseburger. The products
they sell appeal to a wide range of the market by looking at their wants and needs, this can also help
when bringing in new limited products to their menu.
Over recent years there has been an increase in trends of the amount of people that are eating and
keeping healthier. McDonalds have noticed this change in the market and have introduced products
to their menu which are healthier and would appeal to consumers, such as salads and the option to
have grilled chicken instead of selects. By doing this it again increased their sales as they
accommodated for people who had different wants and needs.
McDonalds is constantly making changes to their menu and their products but sometimes some of
these can be negative and have a bad effect on the business, an example of this could be the
amount of salt that McDonalds put on the fries that they sell which customers have complained
about. However due to this they have reduced the salt amount and there is an option to have no salt
if you do not like it so they did not lose reputation.
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-2544958/UK-sales-figures-proving-tasty-
McDonalds.html
The article that I have put a link to above shows McDonalds performance at a time when they were
not moving forward and were not making increased profits. However they introduced smoothies
and a range of iced drinks to their menu which appealed to people as they were similar to Starbucks,
but they were cheaper so they got consumers coming in to purchase the new range of drinks.
Both market segmentation and target marketing look at the different consumers and target them so
they can make sales. McDonalds uses both of these very successfully. An example of this is their
varied target market, with customers such as families, teenagers and people who are short on time
such as a busy working man. They also have increased their sales by placing their stores in
convenient locations, an example is a service station, meaning when people are travelling for long
distances they can get food without having to travel out of their way. McDonalds do a lot of research
and planning before they decide to bring out a new product to their menu as they would need to
know what will appeal to their customers. An example of this could be the happy meal which is
targeted directly to children by offering a toy with a smaller meal with an option of carrot sticks
instead of fries, the toy included will appeal to a child whilst the healthier option will appeal to the
parents. McDonalds use a range of marketing techniques such as the ones listed above, they all help
to establish the four P’s:
Product:
McDonalds over time have added a large variation of products to their menu which have been very
successful and brought in the company lots of sales. This can be shown by the customers already
knowing what products they sell without having to look, such as the cheeseburger. The products
they sell appeal to a wide range of the market by looking at their wants and needs, this can also help
when bringing in new limited products to their menu.
Over recent years there has been an increase in trends of the amount of people that are eating and
keeping healthier. McDonalds have noticed this change in the market and have introduced products
to their menu which are healthier and would appeal to consumers, such as salads and the option to
have grilled chicken instead of selects. By doing this it again increased their sales as they
accommodated for people who had different wants and needs.
McDonalds is constantly making changes to their menu and their products but sometimes some of
these can be negative and have a bad effect on the business, an example of this could be the
amount of salt that McDonalds put on the fries that they sell which customers have complained
about. However due to this they have reduced the salt amount and there is an option to have no salt
if you do not like it so they did not lose reputation.
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-2544958/UK-sales-figures-proving-tasty-
McDonalds.html
The article that I have put a link to above shows McDonalds performance at a time when they were
not moving forward and were not making increased profits. However they introduced smoothies
and a range of iced drinks to their menu which appealed to people as they were similar to Starbucks,
but they were cheaper so they got consumers coming in to purchase the new range of drinks.
