Team-PR5MM18-2225
Burger King
Burger King, a Florida-based fast-food chain, is known for its
quirky marketing campaigns that have revolutionised the global
QSR industry. Learn about the marketing mix, how it uses
technology, along with its bold marketing tactics leveraging
social media and elements of mobile marketing.Burger King is
one of the world’s largest burger chains. It was founded in 1954
in Miami, a year before McDonald’s started operating. Today it
serves 11 million customers globally every day. It has
maintained its global footprint using out-of-the-box marketing
campaigns that are memorable. These omnichannel marketing
efforts have proven the chain’s dominance in the Quick Service
Restaurant (QSR) industry.
With fierce competition in this sector, it continues to surprise
its target audience and rivals. And, it needs no introduction for
its witty, honest and consistent marketing stunts. A major part
of this fast-food chain’s success comes from offering innovative
customer experiences across different geographies. But there
are some factors to consider for a multi-billion dollar brand. A
report from ResearchAndMarkets.com stated that the global
fast-food market will reach $931.7 billion by 2027. This growth
will be at a CAGR of 4.6% from 2020 to 2027.
Another study by Midwest Marketing Education in 2018 stated
that hamburger fast food restaurants were dominating the US
market. According to this research, the top market leaders
were McDonald’s, Wendy’s and Burger King. McDonald’s with
the largest market share in the world started losing out to
Wendy’s and Burger King around 2016.
Modern-day Target Audience-Another concern was the change
in buying behaviour of their primary consumers. The study
states that consumers were becoming more health-conscious.
‘Cheaper healthy food’ threatened the dominance of the three
hamburger fast-food chains.
Similarly, the demand for ‘exotic cuisine’ – Asian and Mexican
dishes sold by the growing number of casual fast-food eateries
forced McDonald’s and Burger King to diversify their menu.
Cosumers here are the millennials who prefer diversity icuisines
with more affordable optionsJust like the other fast-food chains,
it started re-franchising around 2012. The brand sold off stores
and 59.3% of revenue came from store operations, according to
Restaurant Finance Monitor.
According to the Midwest Marketing Education study, the chain
could focus on its marketing strategy after these steps.
The fast-food chain also rebranded in 2020 after 1999 with a
new visual design. It was important for the brand to
communicate to all consumer touchpoints in today’s digital age.
According to Marketing Dive, the new design elements
considered many contemporary factors ranging from the
environment to minimalism in aesthetics. In terms of the 4Ps of
marketing, Burger King has many advantages.
Price – It offers competitive pricing that is more or less based
on cost leadership. That is, it looks into traditional market
factors such as supply and demand, pricing of competitors, etc.
Just like its competitors it also offers combo meals that are
cheaper in price compared to the separately sold items.
Promotion – Burger King uses a variety of channels to promote
its products. It offers sales promotions with deals and discounts,
advertising, social media and more.
Burger King is one great example of gamifying marketing
communication. According to the CEO of Burger King India,
Rajeev Varman, the food chain was the first in the Indian QSR
industry to introduce a loyalty programme.
Product – You can check the Burger King menu on the mobile
app or on food delivery services apps. It segregates its products
by burgers, desserts, beverages, sides, etc.
Place – Another important factor to note here is its product
range that varies across countries. It gives its franchises control
over the menu.
For instance, after opening up in India, it introduced six
varieties of sandwiches and snacks that were vegetarian.
After FY21, it introduced a new range of 4 Whopper burgers
that catered specifically to the Indian tastebuds.
Social media is the biggest ally of Burger King in the
digital space. At the same time, it also generates traffic from
paid ads and SEO.
Social Media Marketing
Burger King uses a variety of tactics on social media
to gain brand awareness and audience engagement. On
Instagram and Twitter, the US-based Burger King handles have
over 1.9 million followers.
It prioritises quality of content over quantity, which
is generally the case with its rivals and many other brands.
On Twitter, you will find mostly replies and
according to Falcon.io they comprise 97% of the posts. Burger
King maintains a healthy reply rate of responding to customers
and followers within a day. Competing with Rivals – Burger King
competes with its rivals on Twitter. For instance, Wendy’s
promoted a post offering 4 for $4. Burger King offered a better
deal and it referenced its rival.Coming to the fast-food chain’s
Instagram posts, it references pop culture to engage fans. To
promote the third season of Stranger Things, it collaborated
with Netflix. It came up with the idea of serving an upside-One
famous example of this strategy is the ‘Whopper Detour’
campaign in 2018 that applied geofencing.
Geofencing allows marketers to advertise to
smartphone users within a specific radius. It is a mix of
different technologies GPS, radio-frequency identification
(RFID), Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, etc.
During that time, Burger King had revised its
mobile app design and promoted the feature of order-ahead.
All the mobile app users had to do was go near
(600m) select McDonald’s locations. Once they get near, they
would receive a notification offering a Whopper burger for one
cent. According to Marketing Dive, this campaign generated 1.5
million downloads of the app.
Parting Thoughts
Burger King takes risks with its marketing
campaigns. But it is successful by combining social listening,
technology and standard SEO practices. down burger in a
custom-themed Stranger Things box.
