McCain Foods Marketing Strategy

In today’s highly competitive global market, no businesses should overlook marketing. There is so much in marketing that just getting attention of the prospective customers. Marketing covers a wide range of business strategies that include advertising, promotions, public relations, and sales. It is the process of “introducing and promoting the product or service into the market and encourages sales from the buying public” (Exforsys Inc.). Marketing can break or make the success of the organization because production and distribution depends largely on it.

All of the business industries rely on market to get the products and services across to the consumers. However, the level of competitiveness in marketing depends on the type of industries. The most competitive industries in terms of marketing are the beverage and food industry. One of the most undeniably successful companies in terms of marketing is McCain Foods Limited, which has gone global and continues to expand its reach. Many business analysts agree that McCain Foods’ has a winning marketing strategy. McCain Foods’ Marketing Mix is the strategy that ensured the company success within the food industry.

This paper will examine and evaluate how McCain Foods Limited achieved success through its Marketing Mix. In order to provide more conclusive discussion on the subject, this paper will also provide brief description of the company in order to provide background on how much the company has grown through it marketing mix marketing strategy and will also provide brief discussion on the fundamentals of marketing mix.

Company Profile of McCain Foods

McCain Foods Limited is world’s largest and leading manufacturer of French fries, frozen potato products and other oven-ready frozen food products. It is quite apparent that McCain Foods is effective in marketing. On the company’s official website, a good marketing statement welcomes visitors. It reads:

McCain is dedicated to creating good food and a better life for our consumers, customers, employees, and the communities we work in, worldwide. Our goal is to consistently win with customers and consumers by making them smile.

From a wide range of innovative food products that are better for you and fun to eat to sharing our expertise in sustainable agricultural practices with developing countries to reducing our environmental footprint, McCain is creating smiles around the world (McCain Foods Limited).

The company was established in 1957 and is privately owned by four McCain brothers- Harrison, Wallace, Robert and Andrew, who all live in Florenceville, New Brunswick, Canada. According to Forbes, McCain Foods Limited is the second largest private company in Canada with over 20,000 employees and 55 production facilities in 12 countries across the world’s six continents (Forbes). The company’s operation is so massive that it processes one million pounds of potato products each hour and sells one-third of the world’s frozen french fries products in over 110 countries.

Basics of Marketing Mix

‘Marketing mix’ is a general phrase used to describe the different kinds of choices organizations have to make in the whole process of bringing a product or service to market (Mind Tools Ltd). According to marketing resource editor Michelle Arevalo, marketing mix refers to the different tools a company uses to effectively promote its business in the marketplace. These are often separated into what is known as the four P’s of marketing: product, price, placement and promotion. The four Ps of marketing which are product, price, placement and promotion, is one way – probably the best-known way, according to Mind Tools Ltd, of defining the marketing mix, and was first expressed in 1960 by E J McCarthy.

How did McCain Foods’ Employed Marketing Mix

The Times 100 Business Case Study on McCain Foods Limited’s marketing mix provide good insight on the strength of McCain Foods in effectively employing marketing mix.

Product

In terms of products and product development, the Times 100 points out that the company’s philosophy supports the ‘calories in/calories out’ principle, which states that to maintain a healthy weight, calories consumed should not exceed calories used. This can be clearly seen and recognized in McCain Foods’ It’s All Good’ tagline which implies that McCain Foods’ product does not taste good, but also fits with healthy diets.

McCain Foods have a wide range of food products that includes healthier options such as Oven Chips.

As for quality assurance, McCain manages its own potato seed development. Accordingly, “after specially selecting the seeds, McCain works closely with around 300 farmers to ensure the potatoes are grown to a high standard and harvested at their peak. Only the best potatoes are chosen to make McCain chips and potato products.” (The Times 100, The Times Newspaper Limited)

Price

In terms of pricing, McCain Foods employs varied pricing strategies that are directed to adding value for money. This customer-center approached has been working quite effective. One of the strategies employed by the company is providing the consumers with extra perks. An example cited by the Times 100 is the: ‘extra-fill’ packs can give the customer up to 30% extra free. Accordingly, McCain Foods also “offer its products at a special promotional price using price-marked packs to encourage people to try the product.” (The Times 100, The Times Newspaper Limited)

Place

Place, does not refer to the location of the manufacturing facilities, nor does it describe the place of headquarter operations. In marketing context, particularly in marketing mix, place refers to the channels companies used to position its product in the market.

According to the business case study, McCain Foods does not sell directly to its consumers but faithfully strategizes itself as a true business-to-business organization. McCain Foods’ products are placed to wholesalers and retailers such as supermarkets. The company considers these wholesalers and retailers are their point of sales. By being a B2B organization, McCain Foods does not use its own vehicles to distribute its products to the consumers. By going to wholesalers, McCain Foods’ products are also being marketing to other businesses such as restaurants.

Promotion

In advertising, McCain Foods Limited employs good use of rhetoric in product promotion to persuade people to patronize their products. Ethos, the use of emotions, is well employed in MCCain Foods’ It’s All Good tagline. McCain is strongly committed in not advertising to children under 12 years old. In terms of the product labeling, the company ensures that “the retail labeling on its products carries clear information on levels of fat, saturated fat, salt and sugar to help shoppers choose healthier options. Its labeling is in line with the Food Standards Agency (FSA) traffic light scheme and the food industry’s Guideline Daily Amounts” (The Times 100, The Times Newspaper Limited).

As can be seen in the brief examination on McCain Foods’ effective use of marketing mix, it can be clearly concluded that indeed the company’s success is its reliance to the effective combination of all four parts of the Marketing Mix. McCain’s strategic placement which offers savings, through major wholesalers and retailers as point-of-sales, benefits the company as whole. In terms of marketing, when pricing, promotion and products are customer-focused, it can be said, as McCain Foods have proven, customers will provide patronage.