The Role of Marketing Strategies in Burger King's Success

Burger King is an American company of hamburger fast food restaurants, which was founded in 1953 as Insta – Burger King in Jacksonville, Florida. The company then changed its name to Burger King in 1954 in Miami, Florida and headquartered the company there as well. They operate in 50 states and 56 countries with over 10,000 outlets across them serving over 15 million customers each day. Burger King sell over 2 billion of its hamburgers each year across globe putting them as the second largest fast food chain, behind McDonalds in terms of sales and profitability. Their signature product is called the Whopper which was introduced back in the 1957 and has been a success since.

Burger King has over 10,000 restaurants across 50 states and 56 countries selling their goods which include of burgers, salads, drinks and sides. Adding on, Burger King has most of its restaurants in America and that’s its main source of their sales and revenue. However, other parts where Burger King operate in also has high sales such as in India because they have over 100 outlets and still growing in the country. Also, Burger King sells in parts of Africa which is becoming a success due to consumers being attracted as Burger King has adapted the goods in which people like there. Due to them operating in many countries they have adapted their goods to meet the needs and wants of customers. This is done by research on the consumers in the country, which include things like what they like in taste, how much they eat, what they can or not eat and many more factors.

Burger King in UK

In the UK, Burger King has over 500 restaurants in which millions of people go there throughout the year. The UK menu is different to other Burger King menu’s in other countries due to the wants and needs of customers. The customers in the UK enjoy large or medium burgers and deals that offer a lot of food which can fill them up. Burger King in the UK is delicious and mouth-watering offering their customers with quality ingredients such as the meat, vegetables and soft bread. The UK menu includes things like the crispy chicken burger, smoky black angus burger, cheeseburger, sundae’s, two types of salad’s, King deals which includes fries and a drink, kid’s meals and many more. People in the UK consider on healthy living this is why Burger King has adapted its menu and sells chicken salads and normal salads. Adding on, the burgers have a lot of vegetables such as lettuces and they offer fruit drinks such as orange juice. Another way they have adapted their menu is by the sizes of the burgers as they know people like to have food that is filling, for example the whopper is around 6 inches. Also, Burger King offers breakfast burgers in the UK due to many people worKing from early hours in the UK in which they will buy from a shop and they include variety of different things they could buy for breakfast. Burger King try to meet the demand of their customers.

Burger King in India

In India, Burger King has over 100 outlets in India and is one of the fastest growing quick service restaurant brands in India. For Burger King to operate in India and be successful they had to adapt their menu to meet the demand of the Indian customers and operate in many cities. The Indian population is very big, which obviously means that there a lot of potential customers for Burger King in which they opened restaurants in many cities across India. This is because it will allow everyone to be able to go to a store which is close by and experience Burger King. Adding on, Burger King done many adaptions to their menu due to what Indian people like and what they can eat or not. In India people tend to like spicy, hot food and don’t eat beef for religious and beliefs reasons. Therefore, Burger King sold burgers like veg chilli cheese, masala whopper Veg and chicken chilli cheese. Also, Burger King changed the beef burgers they offer in other countries and kept most of them chicken in India but also changed it by putting ingredients like chicken tandoor grill which is very popular in India already and made it suitable for a burger. Burger King also adapted the menu to meet the needs and wants of the Indian customers by having milkshakes and smoothies because of India being a very hot country in summer term.

Strategies

Partnership

A partnership is used to bring different parties together and are usually for the longer term in which different businesses join through legal processes. Partnership are bought together for commercial reasons or to share expertise. The partners in the partnership own all the businesses assets and owe all the liabilities which means they have unlimited liability.

Advantages: The advantage of a partnership is that there is more opportunity for the partners to make more money and eventually more profit due to two or more people being the leaders of the business which is better than one as they have more expertise within them. Another advantage of a partnership is that more capital is available for the business because there are more than one person contributing to the bustiness which also allows a higher chance for the business to become a success.

Disadvantages: The disadvantage of a partnership is that there is a higher chance and risk of disagreements between the partners which can be negative for the business can cause many problems. Another disadvantage is that the liability for each of the partners is unlimited which means if the business is in debt or has a huge lose their assets are on the line.

This strategy is used by Burger King as they have a partnership with Postmates in the USA. The partnership consists of Postmates, a delivering business, delivering Burger King goods to customer houses. 'Having made nearly 300,000 deliveries from BURGER KING®, Postmates has proven that we can drive a meaningful lift in sales.' This shows how successful the partnership was and shows that it has helped both businesses to reach a new level. The reason for Burger King to create a partnership with Postmates was to increase their sales and find a quick way for customers to get their food. The benefit was that Burger King got a lot of sales and show the opportunity that Burger King has for starting deliveries through their own business.

Joint ventures

A joint venture is a business arrangement in which two or more parties come together to share and join resources for the purpose of accomplishing new things for the businesses. This task can be a new project or any other business activity. In a joint venture, each of the participants is responsible for profits, losses and costs related with it.

Advantages: The advantage of a joint venture is that it allows a business to growth without it needing to borrow money from a bank or other types of finance. Another advantage is that it allows the access to new resources for example new people or technology.

Disadvantages: The disadvantage of a joint venture is that it may cause communication problems to occur with in the businesses which can be very bad. Another disadvantage is that the balance of power isn’t the same as one has more knowledge and the other is more of an expertise.

This strategy has been used by Burger King as they mastered a joint venture agreement with Bridgepoint. The reason for this was to expand and strengthen the Burger King brans throughout the United Kingdom. The joint venture gave Burger King development rights across the UK and allowed Bridgepoint to acquire one of the biggest franchisees. “We are thrilled to announce this agreement to increase the pace of growth for the Burger King brand in the UK, one of the world’s largest quick service restaurant markets.” This shows the benefit to them and how they become a success very quickly. Adding on, it was a risk control for Burger King because they didn’t have any risks when trying to develop the business as they had all the rights and helped them as they knew it was to be okay and have lower chances of any loss.

Subsidiary businesses

A subsidiary business is one where the parent company has got a holding of its shares of 50 percent or more. It is controlled by the parent company but can operate in another country whilst following the laws such as tax laws.

Advantages: The advantage of a subsidiary business is that good controls are in place to expand the business internationally and it has a higher chance of it happening. Another advantage is that investment can be made in an existing subsidiary, so the international business takes over existing experience and knowledge of the country in which they want to trade.

Disadvantages: The disadvantage of a subsidiary business is that the local knowledge of the business may not please the needs of the parent company. Another disadvantage is that the company may be hostile to being taken over. Also being a subsidiary, it limits the freedom of maKing decisions and can cause issues within the business.

Agencies

Agencies are a type of way for business to use to expand internationally. Export agencies help business to trade internationally in many ways. One way they help is by giving a lot of information about the market the business wants to operate in. Also allows business to know some contacts which can also help the business. Another way they help is by identifying the opportunities in other countries the business can favour from and allow the business to have ideas in their mind. However, the disadvantage of agencies to a business is that it can be quite expensive.

Licensing

Licensing is a business arrangement in which one company gives another company an approval to manufacture its product for a specified payment in another country as a licensee. It gives permission for another business to sell services and expertise. Also, licensing agreements can be used to protect copyright patents and other methods of agreements.

Advantages: The advantage of licensing is that it’s a low investment in the new country which is beneficial for a business as it means they don’t have to spend a lot and save the money to do other things with. Adding on, the licensor has easy access to new markets. Another advantage is that its quite cheap for the licensor to expand with the help of other companies helping them.

Disadvantages: The disadvantage of licensing is that it can cause loss of control for the licensor due to the licensee using it more. Another disadvantage is that the licensor is at risk of the licensee damaging the reputation of them if its not carried out correctly.

Burger King being a fast food chain has a license to sell alcohol in the UK. They applied for several licenses and where granted a license for their branch in Bury St Edmund’s. The reason why Burger King done this is to attract more older customers to buy burgers, sides and also being able to buy alcohol. This is also beneficial as it allows them to expand their business and even have the opportunity to partner with the best sellers of alcohol in the UK.

Adding on, Burger King has another license for the selling of salty snacks, which is used in over 30 countries where Burger Kings snack chips are current sold. This has allowed the business to access new markets with their goods which they only sold in a few countries and helps them expand, becoming even bigger.

Franchising

Franchising is when businesses agree to pay to run a franchise in other countries in which they can sell the businesses goods through a legal agreement between a franchisor and the franchisee.

Advantages: The advantage of franchising is that it allows the business to expand internationally and allow their goods to be sold all over the world. Another advantage is that it allows the brand name to get out to the public and cause it to become more well known across the world. Also , franchising can allow sales to increase and eventually profits to become higher.

Disadvantages: The disadvantage of franchising is that the fees to run a franchise are quite expensive and the decision should be taken with full care. Another disadvantage is that the reputation of the business can worsen if the franchises don’t work to expectation causing customers to have negative feedback for the business. Also, it could cause less control over the businesses brand due to the amount of franchises.

Burger King started franchising in 1961 and since then has many franchises all over the world. Burger King had a lot of growth allowing them to open many franchises which were all successful and keep trying to start operating in new markets and take opportunities. It allowed them to expand quickly and efferently allowing them to become very successful. Moreover, it created a well-known brand across the customers in which people can recognise the business through their logo. The resources they had to consider was the capital cost of each franchise they opened, which was cheaper compared to other businesses. Also, the training for the staff so they can produce the best goods whilst having a great customer service.

Sub-contracting

Subcontracting means that one business undertakes work on behalf of another. Also, its a concept of assigning tasks under a contact to another party known as a subcontractor. Moreover, the subcontractor may be asked to give advice for some time.

Advantages: The advantage of sub-contracting is that it’s useful when you’re not an expert in the area and it can help you a lot in terms of understating the concepts. Another advantage is that it allows to be sure that you are getting an expertise help.

Disadvantages: The disadvantage of sub-contracting is that the subcontractors may and could bid for the work but the payment for the work the subcontractor does, must be paid from you.

Outsourcing

Outsourcing is a practice used by different companies who transfer amounts of work to outside suppliers rather than completing it internally. Outsourcing allows the core business to continue to keep doing what it has to.

Advantages: The advantage of outsourcing is that it keeps the business very focused on what they need to do and waste less time. Another advantage is that it keeps costs under control due to arrangements, which means there’s less risk of financial problems occurring. Also, outsourcing allows the access to specialist skills or expertise

Disadvantages: The disadvantage of outsourcing is that it can cause problems with the quality of the goods. Another disadvantage is that it can lack of control which means things can be all of the place and cause problems.

This strategy has been used Burger King as they outsourced their IT support and its technology infrastructure to Perot Systems Corp. They have done this to make their IT infrastructure more efficient, quick and flexible as it plays a critical role for Burger King. The main reason they outsource their IT infrastructure is to develop their business and access to more expertise to handle these things.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the strategies that Burger King used played a huge part for their business’s success. Burger King used partnership, joint venture, licensing, franchising and outsourcing as strategies for their international operations and development of the business. The benefits of using these methods was that it allowed the business to expand and grow very quickly, attracting customers and getting a lot of sales. Burger King’s partnership allowed sales to increase and create an opportunity they can take advantage from. They where many very successful due to franchising as it allowed them to access new markets with new customers and developed their brand dramatically because they had started to operate in many countries across the world. Out of 10 the strategies were 8 successful because Burger King started operating in new markets whilst selling their goods adapted to the demand of that country. Also, it allowed them to become the first every fast food business to sell alcohol in the UK which attract a new target market. However, I wouldn’t give it a 10 because the strategies that were used by Burger King didn’t allow them to seek new information and advice from an expertise which could have helped Burger King more in terms of what new markets they should access and what changes they can make.