McDonald & Burger King’ rivalries in advertising

burger-king-vs-macdonaldsA savage advertising war 

This war is dated from 27 year ago a,d already the two giants of the Fast Food industry didn’t show any mercy to one another.  Both giants from the fast food industry fight for years to attract a maximum of customers in theirs restaurants. And advertising is one of their favorite play ground to challenge themselves and tool to drive traffic to their restaurants. We will look here divers campaigns that both brands made and which had a certain impact on the audience or not. Besides we will focus and highlight on the work that they made in the American and French markets.

This commercial, here bellow, from Burger King clearly is an aggressive example of what both firms fight. Actually, this television ad was on the screens in 1986 of all Americans.

This second commercial which was realized in 2002 on the German market, is a ad from Burger King show us the famous icon of the GoldenArches buying secretly a burger at his competitor restaurant.

In their recent advertising campaign, the number two in the fast food industry have been incorporated famous personages and celebrities in their commercials  in there re-branding strategies in order to promote their new  healthily menus including salads and smoothies. So, the corporation broadcast a series of quirky commercials featuring well known people. And  the message was that if you want to be as sexy as those celebrities; you can eat healthier even in Burger King. In fact,  eating fruits and vegetables is none only possible in a fast food but they should take example to them. With the gimmick « Come on and get it !». We can notices here that the company did not use their mascot but common people. Just like their main competitor, Burger King is not longer the one in the middle of the attention but the client.

Actresses such as Salma Hayek, footballer like David Beckham, the singer Mary J. Blige and so on had signed for the the titans of burgers. If you want to have a clear idea of what  they did you can just check out and click here bellow to ones of those videos.

As regards McDonalds in France, we can first underline the change of color of the logo. Indeed, the brand switch from a red background to a green one. This change of color symbolize the re-branding strategy that the company had taken. In fact, McDonald express this way that he is concern about sustainability. Besides, the corporation has a Youtube channel that is full of videos that explain how the brand is involve in different sustainable programs such as fair-trade.  Another way for the brand to promote their work and efforts. But also to show to their customers that they are also concerns about serious issues that the world have to face. Furthermore, the brand position themselves as an actor of diversity. From their ads for young people looking to learn how to become a manager and expand their job opportunities. To the recent advertising campaign: « Venez comme vows êtes » which promoted diversity with a fun touch.

The following McDonald’s commercial dated from 2012 and was aim for the French market. This famous advertising campaign was named « Venez comme vows êtes » – «  Come as you are » was one of the most interesting video campaign that the brand lately since the corporation here place the customers on the center of all attention. Plus, we can see how going to one of the brand’s restaurant is a festive experience among all people from different range of age.  Therefore, this campaign came out during a strategic  period since the all country was absorb with a very debate subject: the question about gay marriage. So in a very subtle way McDonald answer to the question. Anyone is welcome to there restaurant and they don’t have to feel ashamed, they will always be warmly welcome and serve. A great story that was made to attract but also engage customers.

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Besides, this type of campaign are powerful weapons which help to fight back bad publicity about the fast food chain. Since the fast food industry is in the hearth of painful battle which point their business practices. The popular films, Super size me is one of this bad publicity that paint McDonald in a poor even ugly  light.

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Here bellow you will be able to have a look to the McDonald’s commercial for the French Canadian market in 2011. The campaign was called « Souvenirs d’enfance » meaning « Childhood memories » and had have to trigger emotions and memories from childhood. But also to reminds us that McDonald have been in our lives for years now and it will still. Moreover, trough such commercial the brand redefine their archetype as a friend who always been present during the evolution of their customers lives at divers stage.

Plus, both ads we can clearly read the brand mantra and their aim to be involve in their customers existence. Even though, the golden arches adapts their advertising campaigns according to the country that aim, we can underline the fact that the brand tend to promote an experience instead of their products. A strategic direction which has the purpose to bring emotions. Thereby, they put their clients in the center of the attention by telling them that they made the brand.  Customers are almost the heroes of the brand’s story.

In term of advertising, we can ignore the risky path that Burger King had took few years ago the United States. In fact, the brand used quirky images under the seduction archetype to promote theirs product. More edgy and sexually oriented this marketing strategy was not the most successful.  Here are some examples of what the brand did. Obviously it is impossible to ignore such campaign even though the advertising campaign was judge inappropriate and was he subject of many debates.  And was a failure for the corporation, theses prints make people react and actually talk about the brand.

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More recently actually this year,  the corporation organize a viral campaign which have the goal to make people think that the brand had change their name. In fact, a large campaign which have the purpose to introduce to the public eyes the new low fat french fries. A new product which confirm the brand aim to create wealthier menus.  Fries King was the name the corporation used to trick everyone. In addition, this new product can bee seen too as product which will fight back the success of McDonald’s french fries. Unfortunately, the campaign went viral but was not really appreciate by customers as we can see here bellow.

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The issue of this failure is also that the brand took a hashtag that already stand for something else. An commonly use expression. We can conclude here that despite Burger King’s risky actions they succeed somehow to make people talk about the brand. Positively or not but at least they gain interest from customers. Can we say here the common expression which say that there is not bad publicity?  Well, the brand definitely always bring content that catch people attention but they should be more careful because those type of gaffe can simply just annoyed in the long run.

 

 

 

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In the other hand, McDonald still spend a lot on advertising. In fact, they create creative content which play with various emotions. But also show that the brand is almost a distant member of their family just like a friend. While Burger King is more daring. Indeed, the fast food corporation act on making their customers laugh or shock them.

Marvy Lungyeki

Sources:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/caroltice/2013/09/26/what-burger-king-got-wrong-with-low-fat-french-fry/

http://business.time.com/2013/10/02/the-web-hates-burger-kings-fake-name-change/

Social Media Strategies

McDonalds’s

McDonald’s is certainly one of the most recognizable brands around the world. And it’s always been a leader in the fast food industry. The brand has a strong social media strategy to communicate with fans and build a active image. Here is a quick look at how McDonald’s play with different social networks.

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Facebook

The McDonald’s US fan page has nearly 30 millions fans and France fan page has more than 1 million fans. It’s other local market pages also attracted several hundred thousand likes.

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The brand post relatively frequent and each post always attract thousands likes. That shows that McDonald’s is one of the most liked brands on Facebook. Unlike most of the brands, McDonald’s post not only product promotions, but also interesting social style photos related to the brand and social activities to help children. This is a smart way to show that it concerns people and the world instead of just concentrating on the brand.

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For the fan page France, McDonald’s is more concentrate in the promotion of products. But at the same time, they also post some news regarding the new films and art activities which tends to be more attractive for French people. The brand really use the same strategy to adapt national needs and interests to bring more customers. On the Facebook pages, McDonald’s makes no apparent efforts to respond to comments it receives which is a field to improve.

 

Twitter

On contrary to its Facebook page, McDonald’s makes more efforts to keep interactive on Twitter. The brand is also more active on Twitter with several posts each day to share with nearly 2 millions fans.

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The posts on Twitter are mainly product promotions and events that were held by McDonald’s. It also uses hashtags to create buzz and events. The team  makes efforts to respond to followers. It responds about 20 to 30 followers per day, but based on the comments it has, the brand can be more interactive with customers. The brand has the same strategy to have local Twitter account, but they less active than the US account.

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Pinterest

On Pinterest, McDonald’s only has one main account while it has separate accounts for its local markets on Facebook and Twitter. Most of the contents is pinned from the brand’s websites. It has more than 500 hundreds images and 18 boards.

McDonald’s tries to invite users to pin related photos to the board. It’s a good way to make people feel involved and an opportunity to build a community. But McDonald’s didn’t use Pinterest to hold contest like many other brands did. It could be a good way to increase engagement and interactivity with followers.

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Instagram

McDonald’s has also different accounts for national markets on Instagram. The USA account has 77 thousands followers but only 66 images which is not a big amount. Instagram is a simple and effective place to share photos and videos. On Instagram, the brand posts mostly related life style images and videos which is correspond the use of Instagram. But McDonald’s should take more advantage of this popular social network and be more interactive with followers.

One thing need to mention is the fact that, on Instagram, the brand receive more negative comments than other social networks. Sometimes the comments are really offensive. But the brand didn’t do any responses for this. This is very dangerous for brand image and makes no added value for being present on this social network.

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Burger King

Regarding Burger King’s social medias strategy, we will focus on the US market since it is their first market and that the brand is not yet presents in France.So, we will analyze here the strategy of the corporation in the main current social media’s platforms. Actually, this path was taken just  when Russ Klein took the position of President of Global Marketing, Strategy, and Innovation at Burger King Corporation in 2003. It was a difficult time for the company. In fact, with profits and sales decreasing and franchisees unhappy, he had to take some drastic actions in order to redefine the brand’s perception. Indeed, the BURGER KING brand had lost their popularity since  the vast majority of consumers were aware of the Burger King brand but no longer found it interesting.

 So, Klein’s mission was to rejuvenate the Burger King brand and rebuild relevance to the consumer. What followed was a series of strategic decisions and innovative even risky marketing campaigns that would give freshness to the brand image. Instead of traditional advertising, the company created Burger King related content intended to entertain consumers, give the brand social currency and also create a sense of mystery. The firm chose then an inexpensive non-traditional media channels such as internet micro-sites and social networking sites to reach target consumers. Many of the innovative marketing tactics used by Burger King relied on interactive and digital media channels. The most talked about of these initiatives was a website called: The Subservient Chicken. Here is the link to the mini-website : http://www.subservientchicken.com/pre_bk_skinned.swf

This website became an internet phenomenon, attracting hundreds of millions of visitors and winning various awards for its ingenuity as a viral marketing campaign. BK went on to establish highly trafficked Burger King branded MySpace pages, special programs where users could create their own Burger King( as you can read on the « community » post)  ads online, and other non-traditional marketing programs. The Subservient Chicken campaign was quickly proclaimed a success, based on critical acclaim from advertising critics as well as significant traffic to the website. In early 2006, Burger King was known as an innovator in content driven marketing and for their creative use of social media thanks to such campaign.

We will know study the presence of the 2nd major actor of the fast food industry.

 

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Burger King’s Twitter account hack.

Of course, just like their main competitors, Burger King has a Twitter account which helps the brand to convey all of their news in terms of products, promotion or campaigns. Therefore, the company recently was been the victim of a misadventure. Indeed, the fast food company’s avatar was changed and name to “McDonalds” and sent a McFlurry of questionable and offensive tweets. This accident was not all bad news for Burger King since the account added 5,000 new followers in the first 30 minutes of the hackers took over. Surprisingly, this accident was a major buzz and fun-filled many followers.

This is the official Twitter’s account page of the fast food:

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And here is the page was hacked:

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And we can read here ones of the most funniest tweets from this misadventure:

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The info-graphic here bellow describes pretty well how the brand handle the problem but especially what are the astonishing results of this mishap:

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Regarding Burger King presence on Facebook, we can underline here the fact that the brand detains less “likes” than the french Facebook’s page of Mcdonald. Actually, this screen shoot here above is the U.S Burger King’s Facebook fans page. On Facebook, the number two on the fast food industry has a page for each of his markets and implements difference types of campaign in order to entertained their fans and affecionados. Plus, on this platform, the brand regularly posts pictures of new products or current promotions.

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instagram.001As regards, the brand Instagram activities, we can see thanks to both screen shoots place above that Burger King has two distinct Instagram’s accounts. The first one, is the one is dedicate to sale promotions and the second is completely reserve to the customers. In fact, on this account the followers can tag their own pictures in orders to win free burgers.

On this platform, the clients are put in the center of a attention and are the ones who leads the account really. Actually, they have to prove through their pictures their love to the brand but also that in each Burger King’s restaurants : “TASTE IS KING”. Furthermore, this a easy way to gain a larger fans community and also bring value to their clients while  they are enjoying themselves. However, the brand detains also others accounts for the others countries where they are implemented.

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When it comes to Pinterest, the fast food firm also has an account for their main market like the U.S or the United Kingdom.Concerning the American’s account, Burger King in this platform aim to show their products but also to put on the front once again their clients like with their #tender moments hastag. This content sharing service allows the brand to have another fun virtual experience and relationship with all of their customers.

Authors: Viriginie Mialon, Bingying Zhang, Marvy Lungyeki, Maya Al Chaarani, Sandra Essafi

Sources:

http://business.time.com/2013/10/02/the-web-hates-burger-kings-fake-name-change/

http://mashable.com/2009/02/06/social-media-smartest-brands/

http://mashable.com/2013/02/18/reactions-to-burger-king-twitter-hacked/

http://mashable.com/2013/02/18/burger-king-twitter-account-hacked/

http://mashable.com/2013/02/18/burger-king-twitter-account-hacked/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/caroltice/2013/09/26/what-burger-king-got-wrong-with-low-fat-french-fry/

Click to access 6-0025.pdf

Brand Community

The Mcdonalds’ Community

Mcdonalds creates a community all around the world by using Gamification and crowdsourcing in order to involve its customers. The goal is to create a buzz around the brand and to let people feel part of the “team McDonalds”.

Some examples:

–        In America: Fans were asked to do a video for the launch of the new product“Fish mac Bites” in which they had to promote the product in animation and music. This create a community around the brand because people gather themselves to create it and win. Winners were rewards with money (the jackpot was 40,000 $)   http://tongal.com/work/71agq3

 

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–        In Canada: McDonalds offer to its customers a gamification: Candidates has to create a little story by introducing characters that embodies McDonald’s product. The winner will be reward by: a private movie screening for him and his friends and of course recognition.  

–        In Germany: the first crowdsourced burger; the rule are simple: people were asked to prepare their own burger. On It technology they were able to create their own recipe. The challenge was not only to have a new burger idea but also to share this idea with other, to communicate this new recipe, to do its promotion. The winner will be the person whom collected the most of vote.

make your own http://vimeo.com/40618555 

 

 

The Burger King’s Community

In France: When Burger king announced its come back a community of French fans was created naturally. This people decided to create some Facebook pages to exchange their impressions about this return and share their joy.

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Before, this comeback, French Fans already set up a community with a petition and Facebook pages to claim the return of the king!

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–        In Norvege: They launched an application called Whopper Sellout, the goal is to test the loyalty of Burger King’s customers. In fact, fans have 2 possibilities : 1)     Confirm that they are real fan of the brand by clicking on the thumb 2)     Express they preference for McDonalds and click on the BigMac. Those whom clicked on the Big Mac were erased from the Burger King Facebook fan page. This allows the company to create a real and loyal community and after all create a buzz around the brand.

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Authors: Viriginie Mialon, Bingying Zhang, Marvy Lungyeki, Maya Al Chaarani, Sandra Essafi