Introduction
The marketing environment consists of the internal and external forces which influence the development of the company in relation to its strategy and success within the market. It is possible to determine the internal and external environments where internal environment is related to the company’s organization and inner issues and external environment consists of the micro-environment and macro-environment.
It is possible to discuss the particular features of the micro-environment and macro-environment with references to the fast food industry in Australia, analyzing the aspects of KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) company’s progress. The fast food industry develops quickly in Australia, and fast food restaurants have the largest share in the market in spite of decreasing the public’s interest in fast food products.
It is necessary to concentrate on exploring the characteristic features of the micro-environment and macro-environment in relation to the fast food industry, using the example of KFC because this company is among the leaders within the market.
The Impact of KFC on the Factors of the Micro-Environment within Australia
The micro-environment depends on the factors which are correlated with the organization of the industry. The factors which affect the company’s development within the industry are customers, clients, partners, and competitors (Elliott, Rundle-Thiele, & Waller 2011). Although the micro-environment is not controlled by the company, the organization can affect the factors with references to developing the effective relations and strategies to influence the definite aspects of the micro-environment.
To success within the industry, it is important to satisfy the customers’ demands with the help of orienting to the target audience (Armstrong et al. 2009). The level of satisfaction of clients and customers also depends on the effectiveness of the company’s relations with partners which can be the organization’s financiers, suppliers, and retailers.
Competitors are the most challengeable factor for the definite company’s progress with the market. To succussed in the rivalry, it is necessary to analyse the competitors’ strategies, the market trends, and customers’ preferences.
The success of KFC within the market is affected by such factors as customers, partnership, and competition. Nevertheless, KFC can also influence all these factors. The customers who are interested in the company’s products are individuals and families. KFC restaurants are located at the places which are often visited by the public, and the target audience of the products is diverse.
To influence the customers’ buying ability and to increase their interest in the production, the company added some more dishes (the variety of burgers) to the traditional menu consisted of fried chicken and changed the suppliers to have the products of the highest quality (KFC: Kentucky Fried Chicken 2012).
The company can also influence the cooperation with partners developing the strategies for satisfying the both sides (Colagiuri & Caterson 2008). KFC pays much attention to the quality of the services provided, and the company is inclined to change the suppliers, retailers, advertisers, and logistics firms which do not respond to the company’s requirements.
In the industry, KFC competes with such companies as McDonald’s, Hungry Jack’s, Healthy Habits, Oporto, and Henny Penny, In spite of the fact KFC is discussed today as the leading company within the fast food industry in Australia, its main competitor is McDonald’s. To gain the leading position within the market, the company can influence the competitors indirectly, increasing the quality of the products, expanding the menu, and changing the price strategy.
It is necessary to pay attention to such aspects as the worldwide reputation of McDonald’s, the orientation of Oporto on the chicken products, and Healthy Habits’ following the popular trend to propose the food appropriate for the healthy diet (McDonald 2011).
The Macro-Environmental Trends Influential for KFC
The macro-environment is based not on the particular aspects of the definite industry, but on large societal forces which are influential for all the markets (Elliott, Rundle-Thiele, & Waller 2011). These factors are political, economic, socio-cultural, technological, and legal forces which are used to conduct the PESTL analysis for any company.
It is important to concentrate on each force to present the full context for the market. Political forces are influential for marketing with references to regulating the principles of providing services, trading, and business developing (Armstrong et al. 2009). The political factor is correlated with the legal factor, and it is also important in relation to the issues of the quality control and regulating system.
The Australian government controls the companies’ following the act on food quality issues and regulates the principles of the fair competition within the market. KFC should follow the regulations developed to organize the cooperative relations between companies, consumers, and partners and to control the norms of the competition within the industry (Krug n.d.). KFC is affected by political and legal forces as any other company which operates within the fast food industry.
It is possible to identify three macro-environmental trends which can significantly affect KFC over the next twelve months in Australia. These trends are associated with the economic, socio-cultural, and technological forces. The economic environment is very changeable because it is influenced by the alternations in the political and social spheres. Moreover, the development of the international economy is also influential.
During last three years the economy of Australia was recovering from the consequences of the global economic crisis. Today, the situation is changed and the period of slowdown ended. However, economists predict the next crisis in year. The development of KFC can be affected negatively with references to price strategy which depends on the customers’ buying ability and competitors’ policies. The level of profits can decrease significantly.
Moreover, it is necessary to pay attention to the factor of the government’s support of businesses in the situation of the economic crisis. According to the global economic development, in twelve months KFC can be influenced by the changes in the country’s economic sphere, as a result of global tendencies.
The next important factor is connected with the socio-cultural force. Socio-cultural factors reflect the consumers’ attitudes toward the product according to the developing tendencies in the society (Kotler et al. 2003). It is important to note that such factors as gender and age are not significant for KFC marketing because of the large target audience.
However, the changes in the public’s food preferences can affect the company’s progress considerably. It is possible to speak about increasing the impact of such social tendencies as the orientation to the healthy food. Operating within the fast food industry, KFC limits its possibility to respond to the latest socio-cultural tendencies.
Technological changes can affect the process of producing definite goods or they can be used to improve the provision of services and contacting with customers (Kotler et al. 2003). The changes in the technological process can also affect the particular features of KFC marketing strategy.
Following the changes in the customers’ preferences, it is possible to add some alternations to the menu and provide some changes in the technological process to increase the quality characteristics of the products and services. From this point, it is possible to predict the usage of new cooking equipment and technological innovations to improve the process of producing. These trends can bring positive effects on the company’s productivity.
Possible Ways of KFC’s Responding to the Macro-Environmental Trends
The risk of the next economic crisis is discussed with references to all the industries in spite of their specifics. KFC can respond to the negative changes in the economic environment, attracting more customers with the help of flexible pricing policy and providing more variables.
Today, KFC is one of the most successful companies which operate within the fast food industry. The company has the good reputation based on the high quality of products, and the target audience increases continuously. That is why, it is possible to state that some changes in the company’s marketing strategy directed toward lowering the costs can be effective to respond to the economic changes.
Tendencies associated with the socio-cultural forces can be addressed with references to using the changes in the technological sphere. To respond to the customers’ increasing interest in the healthy food which is promoted with the help of the media and social programs, it is possible to add the dishes to the menu which meet the requirements of the healthy diet and use the innovative technologies to improve the technological process of cooking to compete within the market successfully.
Conclusion
The internal and external forces which influence the marketing processes also affect companies from the point of the macro-environment and micro-environment. KFC is one of the leading companies which provide their services within the fast food industry in Australia. The successful development of the company depends on the effective marketing strategies used to compete in the industry with such companies as McDonald’s, Hungry Jack’s, Healthy Habits, Oporto, and Henny Penny.
Thus, the priorities of KFC’s marketers are to affect the relations with customers and succeed in the industry’s competition. Moreover, the trends associated with economic, socio-cultural, and technological forces can be discussed as influential for the company’s development in twelve months.
Reference List
Armstrong, G, Harker, M, Kotler, P, & Brennan, R 2009, Marketing: an introduction, Pearson Education, Australia.
Colagiuri, S & Caterson, I 2008, “KFC sponsorship of cricket”, Medical Journal of Australia, vol. 189 no. 7, pp. 415-416.
Elliott, G, Rundle-Thiele, S, & Waller, D 2011, Marketing, John Wiley & Sons, Australia.
KFC: Kentucky Fried Chicken 2012. Web.
Kotler, P, Adam, S, Brown, L, Armstrong, G, 2003, Principles of marketing, Pearson Education, Australia.
Krug, JA n.d., Kentucky Fried Chicken and the global fast food industry: case study. Web.
McDonald, K 2011, Fast food in Australia. Web.