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Marketing Research and Functions: Maryland Chicken and KFC

Paper Type: Free Assignment Study Level: University / Undergraduate
Wordcount: 5400 words Published: 15th Dec 2020

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Purpose of the Marketing Function

The role of marketing function is key in a business like KFC as it is a way of appealing to its varying customer base, such as existing customers who have purchased a product from KFC. They could also attract potential customers if the product being sold is successful. This leads to an increase in brand awareness and a profitable business. It’s important for KFC to know what the customers need/want as it allows them to understand the wishes of the customer therefore providing products that many customers can buy, which will fulfil customer satisfaction and allowing many to be reassured by the business. Customers’ needs is a where a person desires a certain product at  certain time by purchasing the product, for example a customer might want to buy a burger so KFC need to make sure that there is chicken in the burger as that is a need . Customer want is different to what a customer needs are for example they might want a particular type of sauce this makes sure that the additional features are what the customer asked for .Your expectations would be that the burger would have to be freshly made.

The marketing function also needs to communicate and work with other functions within the business such as finance which is where the organisation within KFC manages the money and the statements and financial situation of KFC. Marketing has to work within the budget set by the finance department .The HR (Human resources) function is in charge of employing new staff and checking safety of the staff. They have to employ marketing professionals who have the right skills for the department. The IT (information technology) organisation is in control of the hardware and software of the business and making sure that employees can access their computers without any trouble or technical difficulties. Within marketing they have to manage the website and the social media technology to ensure they can communicate with their customers. Customer service is where they are faced with problems that the customers have to take care such as complaints, any questions that the customer might have. The production is in charge of checking, assembling and manufacturing the goods his allows marketing to deliver the packages to different areas. Lastly R&D (research and development) which is key in a business like KFC who come up with better technology capacities allowing  further growth within the business. They have to make products that marketing have to advertise .These departments have to work together In order for the business to achieve their aims and objectives. By not working together would mean that the business is not as productive and efficient. It could lead to the business either failing or decrease in revenue. Therefore if the departments are not working together it would mean that the business is not run smoothly.

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Setting Marketing Aims and Objectives linked to Strategic Objectives

Every business has aims which are long term goals and objectives which are short term goals. The aims and objectives of KFC are to become international and open new restaurants in different countries providing a quicker service to their customers. This would allow KFC to be ahead of their rivals such as McDonalds, Burger king, Pizza hut etc. the marketing objective is what a business does In order to reach their overall marketing aim so KFC would be to provide up to date facilities to its customers with fresh and healthy food, which can meet customer requirements and the service is quick and efficient.

The objective needs to be specific for example a certain amount of sales needs to be made about 25% of increase in sales by 2016. The objective needs to be measurable but the business has to track the progress through a database or chart. The objectives need to be achievable and a target that you are close to for example KFC have to open 3 shops within a year and is more realistic then opening 10 within two weeks as it seems near impossible. The objectives need to be timely so clearly stated as to when it will be achieved by, for example KFC need to make sure that that they can open more shops internationally in 2016 with a accurate date  and not say “around 2016”. By using SMART makes sure that the business can focuses on the future of KFC and provides a focus for marketing decision-making and effort.

The stages involved in Marketing

Business Objectives

KFC have business objectives that they would want to achieve so it would mean that they need to set SMART objectives. The SMART objectives of KFC are to provide quality food for their customers, being able to maintain their businesses reputation through providing a good service and increase in profit.

Market Analysis

KFC use market analysis to analyse the current market, which means that they can compete with their competitors by knowing what their competitors provide that they don’t have. KFC check what is going on with their on-going competitors through loyalty card schemes by giving data on the customers buying habits .Through researching on their competitors   through their websites and company reports allow them to gain insight to businesses such as Burger King. Primary research is where a business gathers information through surveys, questionnaires which are from their own sources, whereas secondary research is information from others e.g. Google, magazines or leaflets in where KFC get their information from an external source.

Market Strategy

Market strategy allows a business to plan a way in which they will fulfil their objectives. This means that they have to decide on an effective approach that will make KFC reach their objectives sooner. One way in which KFC could set out their market strategy would be separating people depending on age for example they might want to increase the production of kid meals .In that case they would have to do more market research on how many potential customers are children that come into KFC. Allowing them to have a more revenue and meeting customer satisfaction. The market strategy could influence there potential customers through the increase of advertisement on buses, TV and other sources. Which is mass marketing as it makes sure that the product is accesses by other customers in a more wider area .KFC advertisement to a niche market who only willing to buy a certain product such as the “KFC bargain bucket “ which is very popular amongst the customers at KFC  which would mean they advertise and emphases  on the product.

Marketing Mix

It’s important for KFC to focus on the product, price, place and promotion when KFC is marketing their product as it is crucial. The Product that KFC provide should be of good quality so that KFC are confident that they provide a service that is better than their competitors which allows KFC to be aware of their competition within that food industry. They make chicken based takeaway food. On average takeaway food at KFC costs £15 or a medium bucket of chicken and their chicken burgers are £4.79 which is slightly more than Mac Donald’s about £ 3.09 for an individual burger.

Identifying Market Structure

Number of Firms

KFC have a huge numbers of firms worldwide about 23,000 stores however in the UK alone KFC have 784 stores making it the second largest fast food company. This indicates that KFC is a global company within a global market .

Market Share

Market share is the proportion of a  market controlled by a particular company or product by sales or volume. For example KFC has a market share of 10.8% of the U.S. fast food industry. KFC in china have a market share of 27% making it the largest share of KFC globally. Within Singapore their market share is 6.1% globally in food industry. Market KFC brand value is worth $15.131 million dollars. Also KFC has worldwide sales of about 4.48 billion.

Market Volume

Market volume is the total amount of units in a certain marketplace over a given time. For KFC this means how many meals they produce for their customers. They need to know quantity so they can then purchase the right amount of orders from their suppliers.

Identifying Potential Market Growth

KFC identifies potential market growth by looking at markets with the most potential. They will look at the revenue for the countries around the world and decide where they are going to open more restaurants.

Competitor Analysis

Competitor analysis allows KFC to identify competitors by evaluating their tactics which shows their strengths and the weakness of similar products relative with KFC for example KFC can look at the locations of burger king or MC Donald’s and open shops closer to them . They might meet look at competitors such as MC Donald’s and Burger king look at where they are located and open shops near to their competitor, which would mean that they have more access to potential customers. KCF might want look at the differences between their price range and their competitors. They have to make sure that their prices either match or are lower then the next given competitor. They might do this by looking through MC Donald’s and Burger kings menu.

Market Mapping

Marketing mapping is  plotting various market conditions on graphs that identify trends within the food industry and allows business such as KFC to solve any issues within their business. So they might have to improve their products to allow them to be in another quadrant and offer high quality service allowing them to standout. In this market map KFC is ranked as a low quality and high price compared to other fast food outlets. They may identify a gap in the market and seek to create an offer that changes the way customers perceive them .

 

Carrying out Market Segmentation

Market segmentation allows KFC to split their customers into different categories to enable the targeting of specific products or service to that particular group. For example they may have halal food in a certain place where there is a concentrated amount of Muslims. KFC have their ages ranging from 6-65 years old, middle class and cater more for families.

Demographic Segmentation

Demographic segmentation is where KFC divides the market through different variables such as age, gender, marital status, family size, income, religion, race, occupation, nationality, etc. KFC have their ages ranging from 6-65 years old, KFC look at the marital status such as middle class and cater more for larger families.

Geographic Segmentation

Geographic segmentation is a strategy that helps a customer in a particular area. For example KFC throughout India has different foods to suit the local’s expectation for instance in North India chicken is the mainly selling product whereas in South India the vegetarian items sell better. Such as a “veggie fried chicken” which is the most famous product in India.

Behavioural Segmentation

This is where KFC have to look at the different type of customers and adapt to their buying habits of the customer by looking at the usage of the product and how long they have been using the service KFC provide .The benefits it has to the customer, all of these factors allows them to keep in mind the needs and wants of the customers much better when providing food for their customers.

Psychographic Segmentation

Psychographic segmentation allows the business to be able to take in account the lifestyle, hobbies, interests, opinions and value. By doing so allows KFC to see if there is an gaps within their business. For example, in Australia, KFC sponsor the male test cricket. Cricket is watched and mostly played by men. So therefore one of their target audiences is men who like cricket.

Benefits of Marketing Segmentation

The benefit of market segmentation is that it allows business such as KFC to meet the customers’ needs and attract the right audience. By introducing a new advert to promote new product or service   which look appealing. For example good deals on the family bucket “Family Feast – 10 Pieces” which is a way of KFC to fulfilling customers satisfaction. Other way to fulfil customer satisfaction is through alternative and customizing a product for a customer. This allows KFC to meet a customer’s special requisites allowing KFC to build customer loyalty as it show that they are considerate and think about their customers for example, KFC has a halal KFC in (Hyson green)

Benefits of marketing segmentation are that it allows KFC to adapt to different product pricing for different markets, considering the price sensitivity of the customers in each market. For example whether a KFC placed in a rundown area would be made so that it is affordable for the residents who live nearby. KFC look at their target audience which are middle class and working class families and set the right prices for their customers accordingly.  This allows KFC to have a price that is not high or too low.

However there is also a negative side to Market segmentation for KFC as it is very expensive as it has to be tailed and customised for the people nearby.

Many organizations, like McDonalds and Maryland Chicken have their marketing infrastructure already put in place and various techniques in order to measure the impact of their marketing. Firstly there are 3 key factors involved in this; sales and trends, income and awareness.

Sales

Looking at the sales of a product is a good way to look at the impact of marketing. For example, if KFC has sold one million chicken pieces within the month of April and in that month they have marketed to a very high extent, then that may overall showcase that the marketing was thriving due to such a huge amount being sold. However, if KFC marketed to a high extent but sales were low then it’d display that KFC marketing in this time frame  was ineffective; KFC would be able to reflect on that data by using this information to improve and review what is wrong within their business.

Income

This allows businesses like KFC to analyse income which has been generated by the increase in sales. For example KFC latest product the burger “Dirty Louisiana” KFC calculate the increase of the prices overall of this product and the overall revenue increase that KFC is aiming for. KFC’s profits through measuring it on a time period they make in 24 hours, in a fortnight or a month. The way this can be measured is the sales ledger that is a record of all the purchases a business makes on each product. The sales ledger has an account for each client that is generally referred to as trade debtors for KFC or another business such as Maryland chicken by seeing all the data on the sales ledger so that the business can see if the item is attractive to the general client. This contributes to higher general money flows and allows a business like KFC to handle a business more strategically, leading to higher revenues.

Awareness and Customer Feedback

The primary use of customer feedback and consciousness is to collect and gather data about the business and how clients consider it to be accomplished and evaluated through feedback forms, and websites asking them how their experience has been. This enables if the client is more content with a product through a marketing strategy such as a marketing campaign then the campaign has been a success and the longer the campaign the longer a company’s consciousness stays and the brand awareness is enhanced. In order to preserve customer loyalty, marketing a product always seeks to raise brand consciousness and boosts sales and profit. A company such as KFC may at the end of a person’s meal ask how the customer service was.

If the client has mixed opinions, the employees of the KFC can solve this by having a conference with the staff to solve the issue and the inconvenience. This would enable them to detect errors and improve the company’s customer service. If the client said that the waiting time is too long on a customer feedback form, KFC could fix this by getting more tables in their restaurants. This will allow the company to serve more customers at once as this would be correcting the faults that was identified on the customer feedback form improving the quality of customer service.

Marketing Campaign:

On 27th February 2017 KFC created the “Dirty Louisiana” which allowed them to help in their marketing campaign. They did this because they recognized the view that many people had about KFC and the fact that it is dirty by responding positively and creating the burger to get rid of stereotypes also shows different meaning to “dirty” through internet slang . Therefore, they created this product to assist increase their sales revenue and earnings; because individuals would have come to KFC to get this product because they now understand that KFC is not downgraded.

Sales and Trends:

As seen from the statistics above, the sales unit grew from 1060 to 1200 in 2017, which demonstrates that KFC’s marketing campaign was successful as sales per unit increased. It has continued to develop it, which demonstrates that as a company and market they are improving.  KFC really profited from the dirty Louisiana product because it helped boost sales and income also helped raise company awareness. This is because by using internet slag to attract the young crowd, KFC followed the social trend.

Awareness:

KFC’s own website is used to promote its fresh products, with handy transitions, impacts, product descriptions, price promotions, etc. All these factors are intended to capture the eye of the consumer to tempt them to purchase KFC products. KFC also promotes its products via social media, on websites such as Twitter, which enables KFC to reach its clients online, so that they can readily evaluate their product by offering any updates, help, etc.

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Income:

The revenue was on the decrease before this marketing campaign was published because some individuals were cutting down on KFC fast food because of claims that KFC was filthy and unhygienic and wanted to get rid of that rumour. So KFC recognized this and published the “Dirty Louisiana,” so individuals with a adverse view of KFC can shift their viewpoint and go to KFC and buy this dinner, which will assist increase and create more revenue and income from sales.

Describe the Constraints on Marketing for a Specific Business

When given a damaged product which could have serious effects on a company such as KFC. The Consumer Protection Act and the Consumer Rights Act are all applied by government so that they can stop business from advertising fake and inappropriate advertising so that the business cannot take advantage of the missing data or the rights of a consumer. If a many does do this they would be faced with severe consequences and might lead to charges being brought upon them. They would be punished by not telling customer about any additional costs or interest when purchasing a product, not informing the customer that the product is not in good condition when purchasing an item.

Consumer Rights law allows customers to be protected from false advertising or mistreatment, an example would be if KFC mixed up your order with another customers order, they are missing food from their order that has not been given to them or if the food is burnt. This law allows the customer to be able to get a refund or file a complaint against KFC.

Voluntary Constraints

Voluntary constraints are not legally enforced but are in place to make customers feel comfortable and making sure that customers are not offended for example Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) who is an organisation who monitors the content of advertising in media, including websites, posters, TV adverts etc. They make sure that the advertising is truthful and clean .This is reassuring as if a customer wants to make a complaint of a misleading and dishonest part of an advert the ASA will look into it to make sure that it meets the standard requirements of advertising.

The advertising codes of practice are a set of moral rules that an organization should follow, since they are more moral and not legally binding, they are just a bunch of ethical guidelines that inform companies how they should avoid misleading their customers by advertising with these selected regulations and how they can market each industry, such as vehicles and alcohol products, thus enabling companies to advertise properly.

Ethical Constraints

Ethical marketing is where a company sees the values of the people and believes in doing what is morally correct. It is not against the law but is seen as unethical if a company is not ethical as it might ruin the reputation of their business as people may decide to not want to buy from the business which could impact the business in a negative way. The business needs to make sure that they treat the staff and customer with civility. In the case of KFC if they do not inform a customer about the food being  halal this could be an issue as it is breaking the Trade Description Act 1968 so they have to make sure that they state that the meat is halal or not.

Cultural Constraints

It’s important for a business to make sure that they consider cultural constraints such as language, religion, tradition and local custom when promoting or informing about a product .For example KFC have to make sure that they don’t use rude gestures or language when advertising as certain gestures are not allowed in different countries for example making a circle with your index finger and thumb might mean “yummy” or “good” however in Brazil it means you are a “big fat zero “.KFC needs to make sure that they do not make that mistake as it can lead to the business having a damaged brand image which could lead to the business losing profit .Also KFC have made this mistake previously when  trying to translate “Finger Lickin’ Good” in a different language they mistranslated in Mandarin as “Eat Your Fingers Off.” In 2011.However in this case KFC did actually gain publicity as today it is the most popular Western fast food in China more than 1,200 franchises.

Financial Constraints on Marketing

By having a budget makes a business investigate the most suitable marketing method to help advertise with money as every business has a restriction on how much they can spend this could potentially be a good idea as it could be a marketing advantage. They could use TV adverts, cinema adverts or radio adverts on a local scale etc.

Maryland will not be able to afford a TV campaign so they might advertise through poster / leaflets or on cars that have been hired by Maryland and be able to get themselves on local radio .However KFC will not advertise like Maryland as they have much bigger business compared to KFC as they have a much bigger allowance on how much they can spend on marketing campaigns.

If Maryland has a favourable cash flow, by paying the bills, the company can remain active on a day-to-day basis. If they have bad cash flow, they will have to carry out a loan in order to continue paying for the company expenses, so cash flow is influenced by how effective the company is rather than leaving them in debt.

The Liquidity of a business is affected by net cash flow if KFC have enough net cash flow at the end of the month, they will be able to pay their short-term debts they owe.

Technical Constraints on Marketing

To promote a product they produce, KFC must develop distinctive marketing and advertising systems themselves. Their IT abilities and legal limitations could restrict all of this or be an advantage for them.

IT skills

To develop an advertisement for their company, KFC would require the assistance of external organizations to produce an advertisement for a television advertisement as they are a big business. These kinds of advertising involve the requirements of individuals working in a region they are specializing in, for instance, impacts or editing. Making a website also needs less technical expertise, which makes it incredibly cheaper to create and cost.

Employees

These can be an enormous technical restriction on a business as the amount of individuals working for a business affects the corporation’s productivity. If employees are in limited supply, a company like McDonalds may not be able to finish duties effectively enough, so employees are required to maintain the business running that can assist with the marketing aspirations of the company

Broadcast Codes

Ofcom is a government-controlled organization that has to cope with all communication techniques in the UK; they have to ignore everything in terms of internet advertisements for television advertisements, advertisements in the form of text messages or email advertisements.  They are similar to the ASA as people can come to them to file any complaint etc.

Code on the Scheduling of Television Advertising

This involves certain guidelines that TV advertisers authorized by Ofcom must comply legally when advertising on any platform. They are therefore supervised by Ofcom who checks whether the advertisement is smooth and visible unless businesses either need to alter the advertisement or disband it entirely.

Religious service may not include advertising or teleshopping breaks during the service.

Limitation and Penalties

Any failure to comply with the Ofcom or ASAs policies could result in the company having to pay penalties, and the more time a company shows non-compliance with these policies, the greater the penalties. These penalties can lead to a reduction in marketing by reducing the marketing budget that businesses have. However, companies are afraid of penalties, so this will result in decreased advertising capacity and content.

Trading Standards

They are called the legal backstop of the ASAs. They are there in such a way that they would check for any inconsistencies that KFC has in their advertising and ensure that they meet professional norms. Trading standards position these and limit advertisers to these companies in order to preserve equilibrium they have a function to provide leadership and support to assist combat consumer and company harm.

Several options are available when selecting a market research method. Due to the large scale and available information found online on the web or in books, the best method used in this scenario is secondary study. This provides an easier and more effective way to select a method, as it involves simply researching facts, numbers and statements to show a point. Secondary research is simply the job of investigating the present data or the outcomes of the study in more detail. From Twitter tweets, secondary data can be anything from newspaper articles, books, quotes, figures and facts. One of the perfect advantages of using secondary data for this project is that, due to internet access, almost all the time the information collected is completely free and can generally be achieved very quickly.

Simply finding current information and applying it to a study or project context in the event of secondary research is the challenge. In many cases where secondary data can not be found or where the primary research is not relevant, it is the only option that leads to obtaining their information in the individual doing things such as surveys, interviews or observations.

For scientists and project managers, there is no absence of choice when it comes to instruments, including websites and services such as Google Trends, Google Search, Google Analytics, market information websites, social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, etc. Instead of maintaining alternatives slim and restricted, the best bet is to use different instruments to discover the best outcomes for the data needed, as data can be discovered in different sources and sometimes using multiple sources gives a better image.

There are several accessible market segmentations, product testing, advertisement testing, satisfaction and loyalty assessment, brand awareness and reach, etc. when it comes to the sort of market research to be performed. When it comes to understanding what to use, this depends on the circumstances of the company like Maryland Chicken.

Market segmentation: An instance of this might examine questions in order to capture attitudes behaviours, demographics and needs.

Product Testing

This would simply require a thorough knowledge of how a product meets the needs and specifications of the customer owing to the nature of the company; this is of paramount importance for both company and marketing. This should help to identify threats and benefits, products with greater income potential, marketing messages to improve or alter the perception of product marketing and audience, etc.

Advertising Testing

Comparable to product testing, this merely tests how the advertising campaign tariffs, this includes taking a prospective campaign straight to the customer and receiving a reaction from them enables the company to concentrate on efficient marketing campaigns.

Satisfaction and Loyalty Analysis

This technique is simply intended to identify customer satisfaction variables and to measure the probability that a client or set of clients will probably continue to use a specific service or product, to determine the impact of loyalty and repeat purchases, to provide insights into product gaps and service results, to better support the development of customer retention and loyalty programs etc

Brand Awareness and Reach

This element merely includes the understanding and prospective reach of a specific brand by the customer. This can be performed through annual studies of elements such as brand recall, brand recognition, brand identity, belief, confidence, commitment and client profiles.

Market Research

This is how businesses conduct research into their rivalry to see how they do this in their respective sectors efficiently. This means taking hints from them and implementing them in their own businesses to reciprocate. It’s also about seeing what the customer likes and using the results of the most popular product and company to see if they’re gaining or losing profit or not, and how they can change the company strategy. If they lose profit, all this is done to achieve a clearer

knowledge of the industry that the company is dealing with, for instance, if Maryland were to  carry out market research, they w

 

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