Supervisor: Media, Strategy, and Analytics

Markets: United States

PROBLEM...

When we first started working with Burger King in 2004, the brand was in severe decline. Burger King had seen a 22% decline in store traffic over a several-year period, and was in the midst of 21 straight months of negative comp store sales. On top of that, the food culture was telling people to eat salads, not Whoppers. McDonald’s began offering and advertising salads and wraps in an attempt to clean up the image of the category. And they had the money to burn to do so, typically outspending BK 3-to-1, with nearly double the restaurants. Trying to keep up, BK was launching unsuccessful new products and ignoring their own name and legacy. Additionally, their marketing efforts targeted both frequent and casual users of the category. We were challenged to refocus the brand in order to take on a formidable competitor and bring the brand back to the forefront of pop culture.  

SOLUTION...

We started by brining back the popular 1970's tagline, "Have It Your Way," then targeted "superfans" - guys who liked nothing better than  a big, juicy burger, coke and fries. But there was no place in a health-conscious culture to unapologetically indulge in the joy of taking down a big burger. We also learned that these guys weren't really getting things their way very often. So we empowered these superfans to eat a meal they liked the way they wanted. And, in turn, they adopted the brand as part of their culture, and used it to pervert the norms established by McDonald's.

We were able to turn around this once-proud brand and helped Burger King jump back into the pop-culture conversation. We brought back the "King" and he immediately starting showing up at Halloween parties across the country. Whopper Sacrifice, where Facebook users were asked to sacrifice ten marginal friends in exchange for a free Whopper, is still recognized as one of the most famous social media applications ever created. And Whopper Freakout, where for the Whopper's 50th birthday, we took this marquee burger off the menu for a day, and caused Whopper lovers to understandably freak out. It reminded America of how much they really loved the Whopper. 

RESULTS...

Through these efforts, BK reversed its decline and saw 20 quarters of positive of US sales. Average restaurant sales hit a record high. Top-of-mind awareness more than tripled, and traffic increased for the first time in more than a decade. 

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