Digital Marketing Communication Process

Everyone loves McDonalds! I bet right now you are thinking about the yummy food at McDonalds. McDonalds is one of the biggest and most popular fast food restaurants in the world. The McDonald branding is known to everyone and has become the Golden Arches. McDonalds has been a company that has made an impact on people since the 1950s and have been handled many forms of promotions and adverting with different products. McDonalds is a well-known name and brand that people can recognize very quickly. McDonalds has such a great marketing team that when they have new products McDonalds can advertise it and with no time people are running to McDonalds to try the newest product. McDonalds uses a promotional mix. A promotional mix is “a specific combination of promotional methods used for one product or a family of products. Elements of a promotion mix may include print or broadcast advertising, direct marketing, personal selling, point of sale displays, and/or merchandising” (Business Dictionary, 2018).

Advertising is a major part of McDonalds promotional mix. For many years people have seen promotion in the form of billboards, television commercials and newspaper or magazine ads. When looking at these advertisements you can see that McDonalds is eye catching and somehow relates to the customer. Due to branding, advertising is very easy for major corporations like McDonalds. McDonald’s has had many different images associated with the brand. Brands like McCafé has become another important part of the McDonalds brand. Another great brand is the breakfast McGriddles. Therefore, the desired outcome of the “Golden Arches” and the McCafé brands have been met by McDonald’s. This is because people can recognize the McDonalds logo instantly. As easy as it is, the marketing team here continues to be creative in how they promote McDonalds and their products. Advertising like this is a great way to promote different aspects of the company. In one commercial a viewer can see what McDonalds stands for, what type of food they serve and what they are doing for their local community.

McDonalds did not have to, but they decided to incorporate digital marketing into their mix, because with technology changing and becoming more and more part of people’s way of life. McDonalds wanted to stay on top of the other companies. Therefore, McDonalds created a website, subscriptions, and pages on the major social networks, like Facebook and twitter, and an application for mobile devices. Many companies merely have information on their websites, information about the product or service, the history of the company and maybe some coupons. McDonalds went out of the way to not only have their main website where you can find the same information, they have links to other McDonalds owned websites like happymeal.com. Having “interactional features especially for children makes the website fun and exciting” (McDonalds, 2018). This keeps children wanting the product because McDonalds has found a way to stay on their mind even when they are not thinking of food which is amazing to see. There are also links for sites that cater to “teens, one for the Latino community as well as the African American community” (McDonalds, 2018). This helps with the promotion of not only their product but their career opportunities' demographics.

Over the years McDonalds has offered consumers some of their favorite products via sales promotions. McDonalds has many products that come around every so often and only last for a limited time. Since McDonalds already has loyal customers, sales promotions it is great to help build long term customers used advertising of limited time products. This has created a customer based that looks forward to the next sale. The products as mentioned before are favorites, products are not new or groundbreaking, just limited. Only allowing someone access to something for a limited time makes the want for it stronger. McDonalds and many other companies have found this as a great way to manipulate this emotion and offer things like semiannual sales.

By McDonalds using modern and traditional forms of the promotional mix they are exhibiting integrated marketing communications. McDonalds has stayed consistent with their products, and they keep a lot of the same products that everyone loves which had helped the McDonalds brand. Furthermore, by a company like McDonalds having these products allows their brand to remain strong. No matter the type of promotion it all conveys the same message and has been consistent with McDonalds’ brand. Bringing together adverting, sales promotions and digital marketing is a strategy that has been working for them for years and are just some of the ways McDonalds and the marketing team chose to promote their products and company.?

References

1. Business Dictionary. (2018). Promotion Mix. Retrieved August 27, 2018, from Business Dictionary: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/promotion-mix.html
2. McDonalds. (2018). Happy Meal. Retrieved August 27, 2018, from McDoanlds: http://www.happymeal.com/
3. McDonalds. (2018). McDonalds Information Page. Retrieved August 21, 2018, from McDonalds: https://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en-us.html 

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