Research Paper on McDonald's in Morocco

Introduction

The largest fast-food company, McDonald's first store was opened in California in the US on May 1940 by its sole proprietors, Richard and Maurice McDonald. Almost a century later, the company is in over 100 countries and operates over 37,800 locations worldwide. Its delicacies are famous globally, and it would not be an unusual thing to find loyal consumers who have difficulties going through a day without grabbing one or two of the various food brands offered by the international enterprise. The company operates in all continents in the world except Antarctica, and its entrance closed this into Africa for the first time. On 18th December 1982, the giant food entity landed into its last continent through the famous Morocco where it opened its first store in Africa (Alon p120, 2010). More so, this was the first time the company was selling in a land dominated by the Arabians. It was in a country where probably less than 100 citizens knew about its vastness and influence in the food industry across the globe considering that it was less than three decades after gaining independence from the French and Spanish. Or would this have been enough time for the people to explore what the world had for its people at the time? Maybe so or maybe not, but the most important thing was that McDonald's International Fast Food Enterprise needed specifically unique marketing strategies to lure the people of this new country and continent into consuming its delicacies like the rest of the world and continue the trend even for the future years to come.

Three decades since the entrance of McDonald's into Morocco, its products have become one of the most consumed franchised fast foods in the country. The entity has 45 locations in the country so far with an annual consumption of over 800,000 consumers per outlet. It is a significant number considering the area and the kind of consumers who are mostly Muslims. In such a region, there are limitations such as selection on the type of ingredients used in preparing the various food brands offered by the company (Alon p129, 2010). For instance, Muslims do not eat some kinds of meat including pork and bacon so the restaurants have to ensure they distinguish whatever they are offering the customers to avoid unnecessary errors that might affect their productivity.

Nevertheless, the giant food entity has, since its introduction in Morocco, implemented important marketing strategies such as utilization of incentives to draw and retain customers. Also, the promoters have used the advantage of the qualified residents such as Ouassila El Bakkali, who is the corporate communication manager in the country, to understand and explore the cultures, beliefs, and attitudes of the locals as the primary target market. McDonald's aims at creating a broader market in Africa and more so, in Morocco being its first market in the continent.

Mission Statement

The following paper is guided by a mission statement that entails; to establish the various factors that might be affecting McDonald's operations in Morocco through PESTEL Analysis and identify how it can use SWOT Analysis to create and implement effective market strategies.

Purpose

The primary aim is to utilize the results obtained through the two analyses to develop a firm conclusion and provide useful recommendations on the relevant changes that McDonald's Fast Food Company can enact in its management system to enhance its marketing abilities in Morocco.

PESTEL Analysis

A giant entity operating globally like McDonald's has to deal with a lot of factors that affect its performance and productivity. The aspects are different and unique in each country such that the company has to ensure there is diversity in the way it promotes and sells its various brands. Consumers in the US, where the headquarters are located, are different from those in another nation like Morocco that exhibits different cultures and beliefs. Each has a different preference from the other while some must follow and respect the norms of their faiths, ethnicity or nationalities when choosing what to purchase or eat in the market (Alon p125, 2010). It is, therefore, necessary to establish the implications of these factors on the company's operations and the influence they might have on the marketing and distribution of products.

Political Factors

Like any other business operating globally, marketing of McDonald's products are affected by various political aspects in Morocco including government policies on health and diet, trading laws and public health principles (Ling p. 215). An Islamic country such as Morocco is expected to have specific rules and policies that are administered and monitored by the government. For instance, it is the public administration's responsibility to ensure that the citizens are provided with healthy food that is served in kempt and organized places. It would be against the laws of the land to operate without the necessary licenses or fail to meet the required standards of operating a restaurant in a foreign country. More so, Morocco has mixed laws including Spanish, French and Islamic of which are different from the US system. It, therefore, poses a challenge to McDonald as it needs to have a management that understands these laws to ensure smooth marketing of products in the country.

Economic Factor

The world's economy is the most significant aspect in this category that affects the marketing strategies of an international entity such as McDonald's. The global economic trends have considerable influence on the local economies. Morocco, however, is a developing country that has recently indicated rapid growth, unlike the past years of which this is a positive thing regarding McDonald's operations in the country. A fast-growing economy implies that people are opening up more businesses and are earning more. Hence, when people have money, they have the chance to buy what they desire, and that includes food which is McDonald's primary commodity. The market will open up where the company will be able to promote its products and attempt to win the consumer's preference; thus, enhancing its profitability.

Social Factors

Morocco is country that is rich in culture and heritage considering its people's beliefs and the strategic location at the border with the Mediterranean Sea (El Rhazi, Nejjari, Romaguera, Feart, Obtel, Zidouh, Bekkali, & Gateau, 2012. Countries in this region are keen on what they eat with their preference being fruits, seeds, bread, cereals, and nuts. More so, they somehow detest consumption of red and processed meat. Such cultures have a direct impact on the promotion and distribution of McDonald's products where most of them are cooked using bread and meat. While some people love bread, there are others who are not fans of red meat making it a challenge when marketing the company's products. It is an opportunity as much as it is a threat to the productivity and retention of customer's preference of which can be interpreted to be a positive as well as a negative implication.

Technological Factors

Morocco is a developing country implying that it is highly adapting to the current technological trends of social media trading. Thus, McDonald should take this as a significant opportunity to enhance its marketing advantages by utilizing the various online platforms to advertise and market its brands (Paysinger, 2015). Through technological, the large entity would be in a solid ground to capture the attention of many people in the citizens and not only the Moroccans, but also the foreigners in the country.

Environmental Factors

In the contemporary business world, marketing of various brands depend highly on reputation, and so, environmental protection has become one of the major concerns of companies operating globally. McDonald's in Morocco has to consider certain things as the production of ecologically friendly products such as contributing to the maintenance of a safe atmosphere where the consumers will feel secure and essential whenever consuming its products. More so, it should have sustainable business strategies to ensure it can survive in the competitive market among big rivals such as the Pizza Hut.

Legal Factors

Some of the legal issues that would affect the marketing of McDonald's products in Morocco include the implementation of laws advocating for animal rights and health regulations enacted by the government. It is the responsibility of the management in the country to ensure the rules are complied with to avoid unnecessary confrontations that might affect its marketing processes.

SWOT Analysis

McDonald's Food Company has several strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that could have positive and negative implications on its performance in the Moroccan market (Crawford, 2015).

Strengths

The giant company has adequate financial access to acquire significant resources and to ensure it copes with the market demands including licensing of the brand and providing what the consumers want including the food tastes that would favor a Muslim community such as the McArabia. Also, it has built its reputation over the years, and this offers it a competitive advantage to create a significant platform in Morocco that is capable of drawing and retaining customer's preferences.

Weaknesses

The fast-food company has always regularly been criticized for providing unhealthy food to its consumers leading to increased weight. Morocco among other Western African countries has policies advocating against obesity. It is a challenge for the company to convince the consumers that its foods have low calories and wouldn't contribute to their bodies' weight increment.

Opportunities

Morocco as a developing country offers a lot of opportunities such as technology advances that the company can use to promote its products, increased urban lifestyles where many people are locating to urban areas seeking employment and building up businesses and augmenting middle-class population due to salary and income increments.

Threats

McDonald's is faced with several threats in the Moroccan market including restrictions by government regulations, public health agencies and federal policies regarding obesity. Such aspects could have a significant negative impact on its market share in the country because they involve the interests and opinions of its target market.

Marketing Objectives

The primary objective of McDonald's in the Moroccan market is to create a competitive advantage through the implementation of essential strategies to ensure it achieves its organizational goals. Currently, Morocco is one of the best countries in Africa to invest in considering its rapid growth and environmental stabilities. Also, it has become a tourism hub due to its beautiful sites such as Marrakesh, Casablanca, and Essaouira with the industry acquiring 7.1% of the overall employment in the country (Paysinger, 2015). More so, it is a strategic position at the Mediterranean Sea gives it another point where people would want to be associated with this nation.

Correspondingly, these are opportunities for the giant fast food company and which it can use to its advantage. The investment and tourism activities in the country make it a cultural diverse since people from all over the world enter the country with various motives including business, recreational activities and political practices. The diversity creates different customer preferences such that people with different beliefs will have varied tastes. It is essential to identify the part of the region that makes the highest population of citizen-consumers who are mostly Muslims and establish their preference (Amine p....