Burger King: Promoting a Food Fight
Burger King: Promoting a Food Fight
ALL ABOUT THE CASE
CHALLENGING CONVENTIONAL WISDOM
Events:
2003 and 2004
2003 – Outcome of BK’s performance and its competitors
- it turned out that: - MC Do (No. 1), reported 9% sales jump to a total of $22.1 billion - BK (No. 2), sales slipped about 5% to $7.9 billion - Wendy (No. 3), had spiked 11% to $7.4 billion, putting it in a position to overtake BK
2004 – Burger King CEO Grad Blum’s move
- reviewed the company’s 2003 outcomes - fired the firm’s advertising agency Young & Rubicam (Y&R) - award the advertising of BK Company to Crispin Porter + Bogusky (Crispin)
The Advertising Agencies:
Young & Rubicam (Y&R) versus Crispin Porter + Bogusky (Crispin):
Y&R - had gotten the $350 million BK account only 10 months earlier - to help revive BK’s sales, it had developed a campaign with the theme “THE FIRE’S READY” which focused on BK’s flame-broiled cooking method versus frying - observers found the message to be FLAT and UNINSPIRING and the declining sales sealed Y&R’s fate
Crispin - creative shop that was known for its offbeat, unorthodox, and even irreverent promotions - found an inexpensive ways to gain attention, veering away from the traditional mass media - had produced award-winning, low-budget campaigns - out-of-the-box, results-oriented agency - developed some loose rules: - zero in on the product - kick the TV commercial habit - find the sweet spot (the overlap between product characteristics and customer needs) - surprise = buzz = exposure - don’t be timid - think of advertising as a product rather that a service
HIT AFTER HIT FOR THE KING
Crispin’s Promotion Strategy for BK Company:
1. recommended going back to the firm’s
ALL ABOUT THE CASE
CHALLENGING CONVENTIONAL WISDOM
Events:
2003 and 2004
2003 – Outcome of BK’s performance and its competitors
- it turned out that: - MC Do (No. 1), reported 9% sales jump to a total of $22.1 billion - BK (No. 2), sales slipped about 5% to $7.9 billion - Wendy (No. 3), had spiked 11% to $7.4 billion, putting it in a position to overtake BK
2004 – Burger King CEO Grad Blum’s move
- reviewed the company’s 2003 outcomes - fired the firm’s advertising agency Young & Rubicam (Y&R) - award the advertising of BK Company to Crispin Porter + Bogusky (Crispin)
The Advertising Agencies:
Young & Rubicam (Y&R) versus Crispin Porter + Bogusky (Crispin):
Y&R - had gotten the $350 million BK account only 10 months earlier - to help revive BK’s sales, it had developed a campaign with the theme “THE FIRE’S READY” which focused on BK’s flame-broiled cooking method versus frying - observers found the message to be FLAT and UNINSPIRING and the declining sales sealed Y&R’s fate
Crispin - creative shop that was known for its offbeat, unorthodox, and even irreverent promotions - found an inexpensive ways to gain attention, veering away from the traditional mass media - had produced award-winning, low-budget campaigns - out-of-the-box, results-oriented agency - developed some loose rules: - zero in on the product - kick the TV commercial habit - find the sweet spot (the overlap between product characteristics and customer needs) - surprise = buzz = exposure - don’t be timid - think of advertising as a product rather that a service
HIT AFTER HIT FOR THE KING
Crispin’s Promotion Strategy for BK Company:
1. recommended going back to the firm’s