Marketing Case Studies Flashcards
McDonald’s - strategic role of marketing goods and services
Accelerating the Arches
- New Growth Strategy
- Major focus on brand and affordability
- Goal is to increase brand advocacy
Apple - interdependence with other key business functions
When Apple discontinued the iPhone 5 and launched 5c and 5s instead,
- The operations would have to restructure to suit the demands of the differing products
- The human resources would have to retrain the employees to construct the different products
McDonald’s - production, selling, marketing approaches
- Shifted from Selling to Marketing Approach
McDonald’s - factors influencing customer choice – psychological, sociocultural, economic, government
Psychological
- Displays signature items close to entrance without a price, exploiting a concept known as ‘‘decision anchoring”, where all subsequent purchase decisions are made in reference to that first image seen by the consumer
- “price anchor”, where the customer feels “better” about buying a cheaper, traditional meal - and in fact may even buy more as it is perceived as great value
- “health halo”, where the proximity of healthy foods near unhealthy foods creates the perception of healthiness
Sociocultural
- McDonald’s delivers value, quality and convenience to the customer – focus on offering ‘‘compelling value”
Economic
- In an annual report, McDonald’s stated: “Our results of operations are substantially
affected by economic conditions … and by a variety of factors including hostilities, epidemics…”
Government
- For a period of time, during lockdown, stores could only open for Drive-Thru, takeaway and delivery
Apple - factors influencing customer choice – psychological, sociocultural, economic, government
Psychological
- The iPhone 5c was released in green, blue, yellow, pink and white
Sociocultural
- Society’s needs and uses for a phone – social media, gaming, and streaming – resulted in Apple developing and promoting the iPhone’s camera, screen and processing specifications
Economic
- Created ‘budget’ models and re-released outdated models in poor economic conditions
Government
- China’s governmental policies delayed the release of the iPhone in China as officials were concerns over the privacy issues and accessibility of third parties to the accounts of users
Apple - consumer laws [-] deceptive and misleading advertising
In 2015, a class action was filed against Apple by more than 100 iPhone 4 and 4s users in the United States who claimed that the company was intentionally rendering their phones unusable via iOS upgrades. The legal action extended to complaints regarding Apple’s advertising campaign, claiming it misled consumers by suggesting the upgrade would increase the performance and battery life of the iPhones
Apple - consumer laws [-] price discrimination
Apple is legally bounded to selling its products at a same price throughout Australia to all retailers and consumers
Apple - consumer laws [-] implied conditions
It is implied that the iPhone:
- are fit for purpose
- correspond with their description
- will have spare parts, repairs, and Apple will comply with express warranties
Apple - consumer laws [-] warranties
According to Apple, the warranty states that “customers are entitled to a replacement or refund for a major failure and for compensation for any other reasonably foreseeable loss or damage … to have the goods repaired or replaced if the goods fail to be of acceptable quality … Repair of the goods may result in loss of data.”
McDonald’s - ethical – truth, accuracy and good taste in advertising, products that may damage health, engaging in fair competition, sugging
The products could damage one’s health hence advertising is unethical
Ethical Considerations
- Product causes obesity
- Target market is children
In 1997, the McLibel case was when McDonald’s was found guilty of exploiting children in advertising
Apple - ethical – truth, accuracy and good taste in advertising, products that may damage health, engaging in fair competition, sugging
Ethical Considerations
- Product placement
- E-waste
- Radiation from exposure to devices
McDonald’s - situational analysis - (SWOT), product life cycle
Life Cycle of McDonald’s French Fries
Introduction: In the 1940s, French fries replaced packets of potato chips
Growth: The growth of MacDonald’s led to the French fries becoming a global icon
Maturity: In 1990, under pressure, McDonald’s changed the recipe for cooking the French fries, eliminating beef tallow, heavy in saturated fat - danger to health. Change affected quality in taste
Post Maturity/ Renewal: Creation of variations, such as ‘‘Loaded fries”, “Twisted fries’, “Chicken salt fries”, and “Cheesy fries”
McDonald’s - market research
Uses customer data for research
McD Tech Labs, established in Silicon Valley, aims to analyse customer data
Apple - market research
Collects most of its data through feedback surveys
McDonald’s - establishing market objectives
Senior Marketing Executive, Alistair Macrow, outlined McDonald’s overall market objective, stating: “Raising our marketing ambition is about elevating our focus. Moving beyond brand engagement - when customers feel a personal connection and eat McDonald’s - to brand advocacy - when people feel really good about visiting McDonald’s.”
TL;DR turning the brand engagement into brand advocacy
