Overview Burger King Holdings Ltd. is based in Florida. It operates and franchises ffast food hamburger restaurants through its subsidiary, Burger King Corporation. In Philippines, it operates through PERF restaurants and has 23 locations. It has been in Philippines since last 11 years and its major offerings are Burgers, Fries and Dessert. Its unique selling propositions are its range of Whoppers. Its main differentiation point is its American flavor.
Problems in the case The major problem identified for Burger King is communicating Burger King's value proposition to its target market. The company's current communication efforts have not been able to increase its brand awareness. It is also facing tough competition from the leading player Jollibee and McDonald's. In fact, in light of this competition, the management is contemplating the retention of its main differentiation point i.e. its American flavor. Burger King lacks a clear brand image and has fallen short in giving consumers a valid brand experience. Consumers aren't loyal to Burger King and they fail to see positive differentiation between Burger King and other competitors.
Potential Solutions For potential solutions, we went back to marketing basics. We looked at the 4 P's of Burger King and analyzed potential upsides of them. Some of our recommendations are as follows 1. Introduce new low price menu items. This is because Burger King is perceived as being more expensive than its competitors. An average price of a meal at Burger King was 175 PHP. In a price sensitive place like Philippines, only a particular section of society would be able to splurge on Burger King. Even the market research finding has indicated that Price is one of the primary factors taken into consideration before choosing a restaurant. 2. Highlight the American flavor. Burger King has over the years maintained a truly original American flavor. America and its culture is seen as a role model in Philippines. Hence, there is a friendly and associative linkage to the American culture and corollary to the American food. Burger King needs to build on this through Promotion. The current promotions are less than the competitors due to the lesser number of outlets and due to its smaller market share. There is a recommendation to increase advertising based on children. There is a perception that the kid's food offered by Burger King wasn’t good enough. This perception needs to be investigated and tackled. Children are an effective way to increase foot falls in Burger King. One way of doing it can be to move the current communication messages from 'Anger' to 'Fun'. Anger as an emotion is unusual communication for Philippines. The Filipino culture is a pacifist culture and anger may not go down well with the majority. 3. Introduce Burger King breakfast.
Burger King Case Study
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Group 3 Section B
Burger King can introduce a limited breakfast menu. This will target office goers and college kids. The management is also of the opinion that introduction of breakfast menus will be a helpful item in projecting the brand.
4. Product Highlighting. The whopper sub brand is a unique sub brand associated with Burger King and is its most sold product. The whopper sells in multiple sizes and different fillings. There are drinks, desserts, fries and sandwiches. Our recommendation is to project the Burger King product as a great taste that the consumer can afford rather than a quick getaway food. Burger King does not make you sacrifice taste for value and satisfaction. Whenever consumers think of Burger King, they think of big, satisfying and juicy burgers. To put it in one sentence - 'Consumers should associate Burger King with food that ignites the senses.' 5. Place Burger King is suffering from a constraint of having just 23 locations which are positioned in malls with high footfalls. This makes sense as these malls attract the richest consumers. However, if the financials and operations allow it, Burger King can look at expanding its current place from malls to strategic places near colleges or offices. This mandates that these demographic section of society may be willing to experience Burger King but is unable to do so because of location and time constraints. If the operating model is robust enough, Burger King should look at The basic premise of the suggested solution is to increase Burger King's brand value and the proposition it offers to the consumers. These suggested recommendations are targeted with a premise to increase the brand recall of Burger King.
Burger King Case Study
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Group 3 Section B
Pro's and Con's of the solution suggestedPro's: 1. Burger King has an authentic American taste which can be leveraged in attracting the trendy and westernized Filipino segment. 2. As per the Market research findings, consumers are clamoring for larger variety and cheaper prices from Burger King. 3. Consumers are very satisfied with Burger King's quality, ambience and additional service. Hence, this positive feature can be extended to more locations and more segments of the society like large families. 4. More number of outlets help in brand building, creating loyalty and improved the access. Con's: 1. Reducing the price or introduction of low priced items may lower the brand equity of Burger King. 2. The low end burgers may be considered as 'Not worth it' by consumers. 3. Burger King may be perceived as a niche brand as it is not catering to the local Filipino taste. 4. The suggested recommendations place less focus on competitors. It focuses more on internal up gradations. 5. More locations would mean more human and financial resources. Human resources would need to be trained. Location acquiring may take time as in the South East Asia region. Hence, the recommendation of adding more locations might take time and extended effort.
