Burger King Troubles

Recently Mary J. Blige was in a commercial for Burger King’s new Ranch Crispy Chicken Snack Wraps, in which she made a cover of her hit song “Don’t Mind” with lyrics altered to be about the sandwich. This was supposed to be seen as a good move by Burger King to capture customers with the hit singer, but it blew up in their face. Bloggers and Blige fans were upset about the commercial claiming it to be racist and offensive. With this news, Burger King quickly pulled the commercial claiming licensing issues but this makes marketers believe the restaurant chain is in deeper trouble than we’re seeing. Five years ago, Burger King was the second largest fast food chain in the U.S. but now Subway and Starbucks have taken its spot. The real problem for Burger King is that they have no marketing strategy or brand. If you look at the other fast food chains, you’ll see that they each have a specific brand they hold:

McDonald’s – convenience food

Starbucks – coffee lovers

Subway – healthy fresh food

Wendy’s – the ‘burger with integrity’

Burger King – ????

It seems as though everyone has figured out which path to take in order to be equal competitors, except for Burger King. Personally, I don’t even think of hamburgers when Burger King is mentioned, I think of chicken sandwiches because that’s what I’ve always gotten. And as a child, it took me a while to realize their logo was shaped to look like a hamburger. Burger King hasn’t done a great job at setting their brand. Do you think Burger King can get the company out of this rut and back in the competitive market? What are some marketing strategies they could use to get back in with the big league fast food chains?

In Repsonse To Lyndzi's Post: "Top Brand In The World"

"When you see the Apple symbol/logo what do you think of? What are your first thoughts that come to mind about the brand or product?"

When I see the Apple logo, I automatically think of iPod’s and technology. The sleek white/silver apple makes me think of technology and the future because of its simplicity. And whenever I think of what the future will be like, I think of a world that is completely in control by Apple where everything everyone owns was created by Apple. I don’t think this idea is too far-fetched either. Look at what Apple has already done to take control. The company has only been around for nearly forty years but has changed the technology industry tremendously. Even just from 2000-2011, there has been a huge increase in the amount of Apple products that you see everywhere. They make it a big deal to be a household name. What is your favorite Apple product and how has the brand/product made a difference in your life?