Essay/Term paper: Burger king and its advertising campaigns

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Economics

Burger King and Its Advertising Campaigns


Burger King is a reliable burger company which has had its ups and downs.
In 1974, it came out with a slogan of "Have it your way" and at this time it
also had a 4 % market share. Burger King's idea was to have the customer have
their burger done their way rather than a standard burger. In the early 80's
Burger King was trying to keep sales growing so they had to keep changing their
advertising. In 1982 "Battle of the burgers" and "Aren't you hungry for a Burger
king now?" were the slogans used. In 1983 "Broiling vs. frying" and 1985 "The
big switch". All these ads throughout the years helped increase market shares
from 7.6% to 8.3% from 1983 to 1985. "Search for herb" was a slogan used by BK
about a person that has never tasted a whopper burger, this campaign was
supposed to increase market share by 10% but in reality only increased it by 1%
it was a disaster. In 1986-1987 "this is a burger king town" and "best food for
fast times" brought a lot of attention to the company. In 1988 "We do it like
you do it" was used often but a year later they came out with two new slogans
which confused the customer. In 1989 "Sometimes you gotta break the rules" and
"BK tee vee" with MTV and Dan Cortese with "I love this place". This was another
huge setback for BK because people on the go and parents found this ad loud and
irritating. BK at this time has failed to establish a solid image that would
differentiate it from its competitors. Ads if anything only confused consumers
as to what advantages BK offered. In 1993 it had a market share of 6.1% were
McDonalds had 15.6% and BK's sales were growing slower than its rivals.

Failed advertising campaigns weren't the only problem's, they also had
internal problems. Management lacked focus and direction and has struggled with
marketing mix decisions. Franchises became confused and angered, service was
slow and food preparation wasn't consistent. Burger King lost its core product-
flame broiled burgers, made the way the customer wanted them. Another thing that
hurt them was the fact they didn't lower prices to keep competing with their
competitors this led to a below average sales growth. Many in store promotion
also failed. In 1993 a new CEO was introduced, this allowed for huge turnaround
and in fact it did. He helped please the franchises and responded to their
problems and listened to their recommendations. Then later he lowered prices and
hired a new advertising agency.

1. In reading this case analysis I figured Burger King to advertise the Whopper,
but throughout the past years they didn't do this. I figure the whopper or the
flame broiled ads would have been more productive and probably would have
resulted in greater sales margin. I also feel that the ads should have
distinguished themselves from what other ads by letting the people know that
burger king wasn't just another standardized burger. Throughout the years, BK
tried to establish the market by becoming someone they weren't. I feel the ads
used by BK should have been simple and to the point. This would have caused less
confusion and more honesty with the customer, this is because you don't want to
advertise a pizza or a taco if your selling burgers. Other objectives BK wanted
was to target teens with the MTV approach. This also failed because people found
it loud and annoying. Then they tried a sit in type of restaurant, which also
failed because people want a fast food low price meal not a high priced, sit
down meal. Advertising is any paid form of non personal presentation and
promotion of ideas, goods or services by an identified sponsor. Advertising is a
good way to inform and persuade the customer. Advertising objectives are based
on past decisions about the target market, positioning and target mix. There are
five steps to making a major advertising decision these steps are as follows:
Objective setting, Budget decisions, Message decision or media decision, and
campaign evaluation. Along with these steps BK should also remember to inform,
persuade, and to remind. These three are a must that a company should aim at,
for example: in informing BK used the ad "Broiling vs. frying" in 1983 letting
the consumer know that their burgers were broiled and not fried. In persuading,
I think BK over did it and that is why I feel that they didn't retain market
share. They tried to be someone they weren't with slogans like "search for herb"
in 85 and many others like "BK Tee Vee" trying to persuade the younger
generation and "Sometimes you gotta break the rules". These slogans and more
tried to persuade the consumer. In reminding their customers BK has done a good
job. They've at least expanded nationally and internationally and always have
commercials everywhere with a juicy whopper on the screen, reminding the viewer
that BK is the only place a whopper is made.


2. BK's past advertising and corporate strategy failed because BK did the two
biggest mistakes they could have done. First they didn't listen to the customer
and second they didn't advertise their main product a maintain a target market.
In not accomplishing any of these two strategies in the past it allowed their
rivals to get a lead on them. In 1993 McDonalds, for example, had a market share
of 15.6 percent compared to BK's 6.1 percent. This is because they established
their market and didn't try to invent new strategies. Burger King started to
lose market shares when it first came out with the search for herb, and then it
declined again when it tried to target the teenage generation rather than
staying loyal to the general customer. It tried targeting the younger generation
through MTV. This became insulting and irritating to the old customers and to
the quiet more relaxed people and even all the young children who prefer clowns
than some man screaming on TV . BK did not listen to its customer, they tried to
establish a restaurant type of business, rather than their fast food burgers.
Fast food patrons really wanted low prices and quick but high quality food, not
a higher priced, sit down meal. The corporate strategy and the past advertising
wasn't the only problem and wasn't the only one at fault for BK's failure. They
also had internal problems. Management has had troubles with the market mix
decisions. Service was slow and food preparation was inconsistent and many
stores needed remodeling. BK didn't focus on its burger ,instead they were
trying to experiment with pizza's and ice cream. This caused confusion ,and
confusion brings problems. To add to the problems BK was more expensive than
McDonalds or Wendy's combos, which was also hurt sales for Burger King.

3. For the new advertising campaign I would personally target the young and the
old generation. I would also be very health conscious and try to establish
myself as an environment safe corporation. Burger King is huge, they have the
ability to do what they please, but they better make sure the customer are happy.
I would make new slogans, and put new ideas for kids and grown ups to enjoy. I
remember when I was growing up I used to love going to Burger King for a burger
and getting a little toy. Now, you get a toy but the prices are so high you
really end up paying for it anyway. I wouldn't leave out the teenage to mid-
twenty's crowd, but I feel they are less influence by ads and specials, they
will buy what is probably better and cheaper. Besides if you target them when
they are small growing up then when they already grow they look they like you
anyway. That is why you have to target the young and make sure you are good to
them. New slogans are hard to come by in specially into this society where you
better watch what you say or you will get suit. I do not really believe in
slogans, I personally rather buy quality than to hear how good it could be. For
me seeing is believing and I do not believe everything I hear.

4. I recommend a couple of things for Burger King to do. One has already been
accomplish, this was I would first change the CEO. In this case Jim Adamson
stepped in July 1991, since then Burger King has made a turn around. He
listened and responded to franchise problems and recommendations. He locked
into a strategy of concentrating on BK's core products flame broiled, bigger
burgers. He launched a new pricing structure which will compete with that of
McDonald's. Burger King also needed to get some effective advertising, and I
believe Mr. Adamson also accomplished this, seeing BK has grown since 1991. He
went back to the basics which I think was the most important part of a Company's
rebuilding, because this how you got to where you are and if all else fails,
it's like starting again with experience. BK became known as "The voice of the
people" opposed to McDonald's been known as the voice of the Corporation. I
also feel BK advertising has improved. Now you see burgers on TV compare to Dan
Cortese a couple of years ago. You also see people having a good time and
eating a whopper. I feel Burger King is a company with many obstacles but it is
also a company that if is stuck to its basic game plan, it could regain a great
deal of the market share. If I was to give a recommendation it would probably
be for BK to stay been loyal to your customers and to try to keep the market
share.