Introduction
Burger King is the second-largest leading fast-food chain company in the world which specializes in providing one of the best quality hamburgers and sandwiches for their customers at an affordable price. Today, it is operating in more than 80 countries, more than 100 nations, and 100% are privately franchises owners, which serves as a strong brand equity presence in the market. It also offers soft drinks, salads, hot dogs, and some other breakfast items as complimentary. The main headquarter of the company is in Miami, Florida which is in the United States, and it was founded by James McLamore and David Edgerton. The main intention of the company is basically to provide food to their customers which must be reasonably priced, attractive, and maintain hygienic in clean surroundings. It wants to offer the best quality products so that it can fulfill the needs, demands, and requirements of customers. Burger King owns around 15,738 outlets and the country has expanded its business operations in various countries to expand as well as to diversify its product range to build its target customer’s base. Although there are intense competition and tremendous challenges, the company still holds a very strong position with the guidance of interesting marketing strategies in the market. The company believes in creating mutual understanding as well as the most important thing that is to gain trust for the organization from customers and maintain their customer relationship management. Even in the future, Burger King has planned to increase, add some new food products to its fast-food chain which gives one advantage for the company to upgrade its business operations across the world. Currently, Burger King has an employee turnover of over 35000+ and their annual revenue is around the US $ 1.78 Billion.
Burger King Lifetime Journey
The story of the Burger King commenced on the way back to 1953 where it was named Insta – Burger King. In the year 1954, the company faced some serious financial problems due to the lack of budget for the Miami-based franchisees. It was a very tough time but until then James McLamore and David Edgerton acquired the ownership of the company from Kramer and Matthew Burns to mitigate the crisis through which the company was renamed as the Burger King. The company’s name was renamed successfully but they needed a concept so that the business can commence. The two of them decided to buy a cooking device called an Insta Broiler.
Insta Broiler was the first cooking device that was quite useful for cooking burgers, and it was proved to be so successful that their franchises required almost all the Insta broiler cooking devices to cook the burgers. James and David held the position to restructure the corporate chain to the next level and later the company soon expanded over 250 locations in the United States. In 1967, they sold the company to Pillsbury Company. The management of the Pillsbury’s made a lot of attempts to reorganize as well as restructure the fast-food restaurant chain between 1970 to 1980. Burger king thought that their competitors were moving ahead but their company was not that in a position to compete with them in the market. So, in the year 1978, the company decided to hire one of the executives from the famous fast-food chain restaurant McDonald to boost and revamp the structure of the company by introducing a project called operation Phoenix.
Under the terms and conditions of franchise agreements signed with McDonald’s, Burger King had broadened their menu card and redesigned their restaurant store to expose that look and feel of the company for their competitors and customers. But despite being made huge changes and given a lot of effort, the financial performance of Burger King and its parent company McDonald suffered a huge amount of loss. At that point in time, in 1989 it was acquired by British Grand Metropolitan Diageo who damaged the major franchises of other businesses and were removed from the market due to which the total value was decreased.
The company wanted to gain its independence by giving another chance by acquiring the ownership of the company from Diageo through with the help of TPG Capital investment firm Venture Capitalist company of somewhere around $1.5 billion (USD) and it took place in 2002. In 2006, the company had applied for IPO (Initial Public Offer) to convert into the listed company from the unlisted company to oversubscribe the shares.So, when the deal was completed, Burger King’s stock was removed from the NASDAQ, New York Stock exchange which later became a public limited company. The company had to repair their business structure and continued to work without the help of McDonald’s and stood on their own feet and continued their business in the long run.
Strategies of Burger King
Let us talk about the core strategies of Burger King which include the transformation of the production stage to the promotion stage of product or product range. This will happen by understanding the 4 Ps of Marketing Mix which is as follows: –
Product Mix
Burger King usually operates their business as one of the quick and fast delivery food providers. The main food that they basically primarily focus on is to make Hamburgers as it is their primary product. The product line of Burger King includes:
- French Fries
- Breakfast Meal
- Shakes and cold drinks
- Chicken products
- Side dish
The company also deals with offering some other alternatives products such as Salads, Chicken Caesar, Veg Salad, fish cutlets, and some other value meals. Its’s product range is very much wider as compared to the other competitors in the industry.
Price Mix
Let us understand the main pricing strategy of Burger King and their strategy is based upon generic. The company tries to minimize the cost to regain its profits. It is divided into two types. They are Price bundle strategy and Market Oriented strategy.
- Market-oriented strategy: Under this strategy the company tries to establish the price of the product based on market trends and conditions such as a change in customer preferences, competition, and environmental changes.
- Bundle Price strategy: Under this strategy customers can purchase their value meals and meals for children which are very much affordable for buying the food products. We can say that the company relies much more on-trend of the market to make their decision on prices.
Place Mix
Burger King provides foods and services outlets that can be availed by everyone all over the world. This is one of the most vital and important components of Marketing Mix which is the place where the firms are entitled to conduct a transaction with their customers in the target segment market. The company uses various effective distribution channels of how the company can position its products such as mobile apps, restaurants, company websites. Customers can use Burger King mobile applications so that they can have a look at different coupons for some different discounts and offers as well. The company mainly focuses on improving the physical existence of fast-food outlets.
The presence of Burger King in the USA is prevalent. Almost all the states have its store. Among those, 4 states with most Burger King Stores are New York, Ohio, Illinois and Michigan. The residents of NYC love to visit Burger King New York as per their needs and preferences.
Promotion Mix
Every time this may happen that the existence and awareness of the product are not being reached successfully to customers. Burger King also focuses on adopting different strategies to encourage and enhance the promotion of products and services among its customers for that the company must apply various tactics to retain customers such as advertisement, sales promotion, publicity, and personal selling. It also focuses mainly on advertising the products through the medium of media channels such as printed media, TV, Radio, social media channels, and so on. The company also focuses on promoting its products by providing financial and economical support to some educational courses. So, this will help in making the brand image of Burger King strong.
Burger King NY
Burger King New York is an American multinational fast-food chain in New York City. The chain is known for its flame-grilled burgers, sides, and desserts. several Burger King locations offer menu items such as the Whopper, French fries, soft drinks, and milkshakes, among others. The fast food chain also offers breakfast items, vegetarian options, and combo meals. In addition to dine-in options, many Burger King Locations in New York City offer take-out and delivery services.
Rebranding of Burger King
After 20 years, Burger King was redesigned in 2020 with a new logo, distinctive uniforms, and innovative packaging developed by Johns Knowles Ritchie’s creative agency.
They were also paying tribute to the brand’s legacy with the logo’s alteration. And they believe that this reimagined design will reflect the firm’s confidence, wit, and simplicity. Modest Burger King branding tactics, such as the new logo, package with item names inscribed on it, and text font, are well-considered and researched decisions.
Burger King Campaigns that Made a Difference
If people look at Burger King advertising strategy, they’ll find that the one thing they aim to convey is the firm’s trustworthiness. They make an effort to persuade people that Burger King values its consumers. For example, the “Moldy Whopper” campaign, which won an award in 2020, drew a lot of attention worldwide. The goal was to demonstrate to their consumers that their food was free of preservatives.
Another Burger King marketing strategy, dubbed “Whopper Detour,” offered consumers a one-cent “Whopper” when they got within 600 feet of any McDonald’s store. This Burger King advertising was a huge success, with almost 4 million people downloading between October and December 2019, which was precisely what they needed. They not only took advantage of their competitors, but they also adapted quickly to every difficulty, even the pandemic.
When COVID-19 swept the globe, Burger King wasted little time implementing its touchless technology in its restaurants.
Another bold Burger King strategy was releasing an open request to McDonald’s, requesting a combination of their meals. McDonald’s, as predicted, declined their offer. On the other hand, Burger King had nothing to lose, and everything went according to plan. As word spread, the company’s revenues soared by orders of magnitude over that period.
Burger King Marketing Strategies
Burger King emphasized local advertising, such as billboards, hoardings, and roadside advertisements. They make sure that every Burger King marketing project they have planned for their clients is visible to the public. This is a wonderful way to encourage local customers to visit Burger King inadvertently.
They also make sure that the menu and all other feasible aspects are tailored to the people’s needs and preferences in the area. To satisfy its localized demands, they have a highly specialized targeting approach. Burger King market share is less than 2% of the global fast-food industry, but the company’s success is undeniable.
Burger King’s Humanitarian Concern:
Burger King has run several initiatives in this area, which have helped them gain popularity. “Have it your way” is one such program that focuses on illness prevention and hunger eradication in every home.
With it arose the “McLamore Foundation,” which awards scholarships to worthy students who are both motivated and qualified. These efforts have greatly assisted in keeping and even enhancing the company’s humans.
What is Burger King’s Slogan?
Burger King’s new tagline is “Be Your Way.”
The case study on Burger King shows that Burger King Corporation has spent the last 50 years putting work into its strategy, particularly the quality component, to acquire competitive advantages in the fast-food sector.
Burger King Products Quality:
Burger King produces high-quality items because they make an effort to guarantee that their food is safe and that their food preparation techniques are thorough and consistent. According to a Burger King case study, every step of the manufacturing process is held to the highest standards to provide fresh and tasty meals to customers worldwide.
- Food Safety – Burger King’s Supply Quality Assurance team (SQA) is in charge of quality assurance. They manage suppliers and assess their compliance and performance using diverse and overlapping controls that make up a complete food safety program. To ensure its menu items’ safety, they implemented a Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) management system.
- Food Freshness – Burger King, created the “Made Fresh Only for You” idea to ensure that each customer receives the freshest possible product.
- Raw Material Controls – To guarantee that supplier testing is in place and running effectively, Burger King uses extensive testing at all stages, from raw material to completed product. Multiple and overlapping testing for a range of microbiological organisms and quality criteria has been performed on every lot produced for the Burger King system.
- Secure Supply Chain – The suppliers are chosen based on their ability to adhere to BKC regulations regularly. Samples must be forwarded to BKC-approved independent labs for analysis along the supply chain. Furthermore, all distribution centers have a 24-hour electronic temperature monitoring system to ensure that their meals are kept at a consistent temperature.
- Restaurant Level food Safety – HACCP concepts are used at Burger King restaurants, and its methods are documented in the operations guide and made available to staff immediately, ensuring consistency. Burger King maintains food quality with a piece of high-tech equipment known as the “Kitchen Minder.”
- Procedure Controls – Burger King uses third-party field audits and water micro-samples to test for various germs on all of their products, which they do through their suppliers, and SQA audits them using tight guidelines.
- Training – Utilizing the Seed Training Program, they teach their employees to use the same procedures every time. Burger King has introduced the Right Track Training Staff Program, which gives restaurants a toolset for conducting effective workstation training and improving operational standards.
Burger King Service Quality
It’s more challenging to assess service quality than to assess product quality, and it’s one-of-a-kind since it’s based on personal preferences and comparisons.
- Communication – Customers receive feedback on their orders from Burger King employees, allowing them to double-check their orders. They will double-check the order before passing it off to ensure it is correct. In addition, the manager also engages with consumers.
- Quick Response – The Burger King motto is Friendly and speedy service. As a result, the employees are expected to supply whatever the client requests in a timely and precise manner. Burger King accepts client orders continuously to provide speedy service, which cuts down on serving time and ensures high-quality service.
- Training – A division of Burger King is in charge of developing worldwide training initiatives, such as in-restaurant training systems. Employees are well-trained not only in handling food but also in providing excellent service. Burger King has also established an incentive system to encourage staff.
- Inspection – Burger King has its inspection procedure, including a two-day yearly inspection of each franchise and many unplanned visits. These measures are taken by top management to observe and solve problems simultaneously. In addition, the franchise manager plays a vital role in maintaining good service quality.
Swot Analysis
Strengths
- The largest brand in the fast-food chain industry.
- They have various diversified product ranges.
- A number of the outlets is excellent enough to capture the audience.
- Focuses on innovation.
Weaknesses
- The business model can easily be able to intimate
- The restriction is there in the product mix
- Difficult to handle no of franchises
- Inefficient quality management
Opportunities
- Expansion of business is possible in emerging markets
- Introduction of the new food segment
- Understand the need and preferences of customers
- Strengthen the market presence and portfolio diversification
Threats
- The problem of the Recession.
- Increase in competition level.
- Global Pandemic.
- Public awareness and legal issues.
Conclusion
In the conclusion, we can say that Burger King is one of the well-established and fast-food restaurant chains which has the potential enough to enhance and innovate the operations of the business in the long run. The company always believes in innovating the product and also, they will always assist in enticing their customers in providing good products and services without breaking their trust. Even though they will work on introducing new segments and product mix to expand further in the market and keep healthier food products as compared to other competitors.
