In the Foundational Components of Marketing there are external variables that you are unable to control, however these external variable will need to be considered when planning a marketing strategy. McDonald’s have many external variables to consider before rolling out a new Marketing Plan. I will cover a few of these variables in this paper. Along with these external variables, there are internal variables that you do have control over and these are called the 4P’s; Product, Placement, Price and Promotion.
EXTERNAL VARIABLES * Segment (Competition) – McDonald’s has a tremendous amount of competitors in their market. A majority of these competitors are the standard fast food restaurants; Wendy’s, Burger King, Hardees’s and even Taco Bell. Recently McDonald’s started offering gourmet coffee, this brought in new competition that until recently was never in the range. Five years ago gourmet coffee company’s (Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts) where not competitors. * Demographics (Market/Customer) – McDonald’s targets just about the entire population (nationally and internationally). They change their menus depending on the restaurant location. Recently, they began selling smoothies and specialty coffee in the US (McCafe). They also began selling McWraps in Europe and not in the US because the geographical location. Included with the geographical location, another important demographic they have to target is culture. The health conscience/organic minded people are a group that may not be as important as college students. Their main target market is children, youth and young families. Demographics are an important variable that needs to be considered. * Core Competencies (Organizational Fit) – McDonald’s is known for having very inexpensive products to serve the customers’ needs. They strive to provide quality products to the customers consistently day after day. This should definitely be viewed as a very