Category: Burger King

Introduction:

In today’s consumer-driven society, marketing strategies play a significant role in shaping public perception and influencing consumer behavior. Burger King, one of the world’s leading fast-food chains, utilizes various advertising techniques to promote its brand and attract customers. This analytical essay explores the presence of propaganda in Burger King’s marketing campaigns, analyzing the methods employed by the company to convey persuasive messages and shape consumer attitudes.

Body:

Emotional Appeal:

Propaganda often relies on emotional appeal to persuade individuals to adopt a particular viewpoint or take a desired action. Burger King employs this tactic by creating advertisements that evoke strong emotions in viewers. For instance, their commercials often feature heartwarming stories, humor, or nostalgia to create a positive association with the brand. By triggering emotions such as happiness, joy, or sentimentality, Burger King attempts to forge a connection with consumers and generate brand loyalty.

Bandwagon Effect:

Another common propaganda technique used by Burger King is the bandwagon effect. This strategy aims to convince individuals to join a particular group or engage in a specific behavior by highlighting its popularity. Burger King’s advertisements often depict large crowds enjoying their meals, emphasizing the idea that “everyone is doing it.” By suggesting that choosing Burger King is the norm, the company influences consumer behavior and creates a sense of belonging and conformity.

Loaded Language:

Propaganda frequently employs loaded language, using words and phrases that evoke strong emotions and associations. Burger King strategically selects language in its advertising campaigns to shape consumer perception. For example, the use of terms like “flame-grilled” and “mouthwatering” creates a sensory experience, making the food seem more appealing and desirable. By utilizing such language, Burger King aims to create a positive impression and entice consumers to choose their products over competitors.

Celebrity Endorsements:

Another form of propaganda employed by Burger King is celebrity endorsements. By associating their brand with well-known figures, Burger King attempts to transfer the positive qualities and appeal of these celebrities to their products. Celebrity endorsements create an aura of credibility and influence, as consumers may perceive the endorsement as a personal recommendation. This technique leverages the popularity and influence of celebrities to persuade individuals to choose Burger King.

Subliminal Messaging:

Subliminal messaging is a controversial propaganda technique that aims to influence individuals without their conscious awareness. While it is illegal in many countries, there have been debates about its subtle use in advertising. Burger King, like many other companies, may use subtle visual and auditory cues to influence consumer behavior. Although the extent of its use in Burger King’s advertising is not conclusive, it is important to critically analyze the potential presence of subliminal messaging in their campaigns.

Conclusion:

Burger King’s advertising strategies incorporate various propaganda techniques to shape consumer attitudes and influence purchasing decisions. Through emotional appeal, the bandwagon effect, loaded language, celebrity endorsements, and potentially subliminal messaging, the company strives to create positive associations with their brand and products. It is essential for consumers to be aware of these techniques and critically analyze the messages conveyed to make informed choices. By recognizing the presence of propaganda in Burger King’s marketing campaigns, individuals can become more conscious consumers and make decisions based on their own values and preferences.

Introduction

Burger King is a global fast food restaurant with its headquarters in the USA. It initially started as a franchise restaurant chain. The company is publicly traded with various investment firms. In September 2010, the company was sold to 3G capital. As from 2009 it had more than 12,000 outlets in 73 countries (Burger King, 2010, p. 2).

United States accounts for 66% of this outlets with most of them (90%) being privately owned (Burger King, 2010, p.3). As a matter of fact, the company serves more than 11.4 million customers in a single day while employing 37, 000 employees. In an international perspective, licenses are sold on a regional basis.

Discussion

Core competency

The company’s core competence is in its franchising. Initially its strategy involves diversification of franchising to increase its operational performance. Because of its competence in franchising the company has been able to open 12,000 outlets in more than 73 countries around the world (Jargon, 2010, p. 7).

This relates well with the strategy it had chosen to use in penetrating and retaining the market. It had discovered that with franchising it was easy to have a good market control and as a matter of fact it has used it well to compete with other market competitors.

In America, licensing is done on a per store basis. On the other hand, various international location licenses are usually given on a regional basis.

This means that the franchise will exclusively own all the development rights in that given country or location (Martin, 2007, p. 6). Because of this, the company has been able to in initiate various franchises in different countries thereby making it easy to advance its business. Although other competitors have been vibrant, they have not been able to challenge it well.

Value chain activity

The way Burger King cooks its hamburgers has been distinct from its competitors. In addition, it offers its customers distinct options in relation to how they want their burgers done. Franchising is a value chain activity which has enabled the company to add value to its products.

This activity has made it easy for the products to reach the market through well coordinated avenues. Regional franchising has been responsible for opening new restaurants. This has also in another way enhanced the performance of standards oversight in all restaurants thereby ensuring that they offer the best products to the market (Smith, 2006, p. 9).

Following the company’s initiation in 1954, it has advanced from offering basically burgers to more diversified arrays of offerings. In addition, the company has introduced many products to enhance diversity in the market. These products have been designed to suit various diverse market needs and interests.

Later expansion

Burger King globally expanded later than its main fast food competitor McDonalds. This has created various advantages and disadvantages. By expanding later, the company has been able to get demand for fast foods; built by early entrants. This has also enabled it to identify numerous opportunities that it has used to its advantage. Later expansion also allowed it to know its competitors weaknesses and therefore gave it an upper hand in dealing with customers.

There are various disadvantages that the company has faced as a result of late entry. In small markets it has not been able to get adequate suppliers (Jermaine, 2003, p. 12). On the other hand, this has made it to use a lot of money in advertising and marketing to get more customers unlike its competitor that was able to lock in customers.

Foreign countries ventures

When a global company such as the Burger King, ventures into domestic markets it had experienced numerous benefits as well as challenges relative to the local companies. An international company like Burger King can be able to advertise and launch a proper marketing campaign more effectively because they have a large financial pool of resources than the local company.

These companies have a large pool of human resources to choose from and therefore they will be able to attract a lot of talent. In addition, they have experience on how to deal with various dynamic market needs unlike their local competitors (Martin, 2007, p. 8). Wholesomely, they will be able to enhance their potential for expansion of the business. Although they have all these advantages, they are also likely to encounter various disadvantages.

For instance, they might not be able to understand the local market better than their local counterparts. This means that their strategies can fail. International companies can not be well received in countries that value their own companies’ as they might be viewed to be foreigners. The company will also have to incur added administrative costs as a result of expansion. On the other hand, they might be forced to deal with special regulations and licenses (Jermaine, 2003, p. 5).

Two-thirds of Burger King’s restaurants and revenues are in its Americas region

This has been the company’s core market and as a matter of fact it has got a lot of revenues. One-third of the company’s market is elsewhere and this is not supposed to change in any way. Since Burger King has an upper hand in the American region it should not shift this in a bid to capture other emerging markets (Burger King, 2010, p. 7).

Rather, it will be wise for the company to continue advancing its global expansion activities to increase its market share. Loosing the American region for other markets elsewhere is not viable at all since it is a mature market. The company should expand on its existing market share by engaging in more franchises.

A Large youthful population and numerous shopping hubs

It has a priority of venturing into countries numerous shopping hubs and a huge youthful population (Burger King, 2010, p. 6). This has been a good strategy that the company has used to its advantage. Youths form majority of the population in many countries and this will enable the company to have a large market share. Most of the foods that the company offers suit the youths well and that is why they are likely to buy more.

They are also well known to have a good brand loyalty compared to other age brackets and that is why the company prefers them. Shopping centers are well known to customers and it will be easy for the company to market its activities. In addition, a shopping centre has the entire infrastructure that the company needs to open an outlet and as such will be less costly. With a large number of shopping centers, the company is able to access many people and make more sells.

Headquarters location

The company has its headquarters in a nine storey building in Miami. Initially, the company had opted to move away from Miami to another area but this was rejected by politicians (Burger King, 2010, p. 13). The company’s headquarters are very strategic and that is why nobody has been willing to see it change to another place.

This headquarters have not weakened its global position in any way. It has strengthened its global competitive position in a broad perspective. This is because the company has opened other branches in different regions that have helped to monitor progress. The headquarters have only been used to coordinate activities. Through coordination from its headquarters, the company has ended up strengthening its global activities.

Tools and strategies for the future

The company continues to expand globally and as such needs good tools and strategies to enhance growth. As the CEO, the company needs to focus on emerging economies as they will likely give it an opportunity for growth.

More attention should be paid on diverse market needs to diversify our products. This is because various countries have different customers who are well informed. Therefore to satisfy them, the company will have to do a lot of research to know the best locations. The company will also need to asses the market well to know the best cost effective locations.

Implications of the challenges

These implications mean that the company will have to do a lot of market research to ensure that it satisfies its customers well as they are ever coming up with different needs. The future will see a lot of increased competition and the company needs to be innovative with its products to be strategic.

There are occasions where the company has launched products but they have not been well received. This means that it needs to be involved in more partnerships that may end up being healthy. For enhanced sustainability more diversification is needed as far as franchising is concerned.

Conclusion

Burger King is a global company and as such has more opportunities to expand further. Its franchising activities have been successful and only need a little reinforcement for enhanced sustainability.

Reference list

Burger King. (2010). Company information. Retrieved from https://www.bk.com/about-bk.

Jargon, J. (2010). As Sales Drop, Burger King Draws Critics for Courting ‘Super Fans. New York: Wall Street.

Jermaine, J. (2003). The burger king and queen of Mattoon. Illinois: The Illinois Times.

Martin, A. (2007). Burger King Shifts Policy on Animals. New York: The New York Times.

Smith, A, F. (2006). Encyclopedia of junk food and fast food. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group.

The allegation that Burger King has been supplying consumers with burgers and whoppers contaminated with horsemeat is one of the most discussed issues in various media outlets. When the scandal erupted, Burger King remained adamant that its products were safe for consumption. However, the analysis of the content of burgers and whoppers in various outlets of the fast-food chain in the United Kingdom revealed the Company’s unethical conduct.

Also, police investigations exposed a slaughterhouse owner at the center of the horsemeat scandal who slaughtered animals that horse owners considered unfit to race. Investigations confirmed that the slaughterhouse provided the meat Silvercrest used to produce Burger King’s products (Poulter, 2013).

The horse DNA in Burger King’s products raised doubts on the ability to verify the safety of the Company’s products considering that a different company, Silvercrest, processed the burgers and whoppers. The fact that Silvercrest processed contaminated burgers for other fast food chains such as Tesco and Co-op clearly illustrates that the problem at Burger King began in the processing stage of its products.

The lack of Burger King’s engagement in the processing of its products made the Company vulnerable to the impacts of unorthodox practices by Silvercrest. In this regard, Burger King had limited control over the quality of products obtained from the company responsible for processing its products.

Burger King overlooked the fact that Silvercrest had the independence to operate within a scope outside Burger king’s policies. Thus, the Company altered the recommended ingredients to increase its profits without considering the impact the unethical practices would have on fast food chains.

The protests regarding the horsemeat contamination had significant effects on Burger King’s reputation since consumers had entrusted the fast-food chain with the responsibility of ensuring the safety of customers who bought the Company’s burgers and whoppers. As soon as the Company learned that its products contained horse DNA, it withdrew the remarks that Burger King’s products did not contain portions of horsemeat.

The Company’s decision to accept the flaw in its products depicts the truthfulness in its vision to maintain customers’ trust in Burger King’s products. The Burger King management provided customers with details regarding the horsemeat scandal and thus mitigated the impacts on its reputation and future endeavors.

Although Burger King was keen on protecting its reputation, Silvercrest sought to maximize profits by compromising on the quality of the products it processed. The fact that unethical conduct by one company can have multiple effects on other companies raises concerns on the need for enterprises such as Burger King to adopt systems, procedures, and policies that grant them control over the activities of all parties involved in the production.

Burger King decided to transfer the processing of its products to another party to increase the Company’s economies of scale. However, the horsemeat scandal illustrates that Burger King overlooked the threats on its reputation were Silvercrest to default its code of conduct.

The damage on Burger King’s reputation was significant considering that the fast-food chain is a multinational company. Burger King’s decision to withdraw its products from the UK stores once it learned about the contamination was crucial in preventing further damages to the Company’s reputation. Burger King’s reputation would have suffered adversely had the Company remained silent on the horsemeat issue.

References

Poulter, S. (2013). Burger King admits selling beef burgers and Whoppers containing horsemeat | Mail Online. Home | Mail Online. Web.

Introduction

Burger King is an international chain of hamburger fast food restaurant with its headquarters in the United States. The company franchises more than 10,400 restaurants and owns about 1,000 for a chain wide with locations in all 50 states and 56 countries. From the late 1990’s to 2000, Burger King was brought down by declining sales and worsening franchisee relationship. In 2002, Texas Pacific group purchased it, thereby reviving it. And until now, they have used their strategies for new advertising agencies and campaigns, revamped menu and new restaurant concepts called BK whooper burger to keep it moving. B

urger King in the UK market has been experiencing lots of challenges such as competition from other fast foods such as McDonalds and KFC which are largely saturated in the US. Also, inconsistency of food and services from one franchise to another has led to decrease in consumer demand. Burger King food is made from wheat, beef and other products that are very expensive, hence commodity price rise being considered as another major problem. Health and obesity are other problems facing Burger King in the UK where people are turning to the less fat foods like the KFC which eliminates trans-fat.

Body of the paper

Emerging markets, such as Brazil, Russia, India and China, attract and threaten investors due to their rapid economic growth, potential competitors and vexing problems like corruption, financial crisis and weak intellectual property rights. India as one of the emerging markets plays an important role in the global economy due to its degree and market tempting opportunities. In comparison to other developed countries, India faces socio-economical problems, such as poor infrastructure and high population, which are often used by investors as opportunities to introduce their ideas to the peaking market (Krishnan and Prabhu 1999).

The target product being the Burger King in the Indian market is likely to face competitive disadvantage with other fast foods restaurants such as the KFC with most of the population being Hindus. To overcome this, the Burger King company may consider the need to introduce non beef products in order to serve the consumers’ needs, and in return, the business will prevail. The main reason for this is that the religion of Hindu people tends to consider cows or cattle in general as sacred animals, and hence consuming meat is to a limited scale. Furthermore, most Indian businesses are run by family members, therefore, labor costs are low meaning fixed prices.

In consideration to this, if Burger King company were to enter the Indian market, then it would have to produce burgers with global quality due to their quality perception but at a local price putting in mind that consumers have inadequate buying influence here. This in turn would lead to losses but to alleviate this, needless features and components in a burger could be removed by the first studying the customers’ local needs and preference. In such emerging markets, local companies have to reduce price by reducing the product quality which in this case, Burger King faces the challenge of upgrading the quality of its products with reduced prices.

Conclusion

Emerging market story is largely one of growth and opportunity, therefore, this excitement can easily end when companies are faced by corruption, termination of contracts, reckless expropriation and other risks in those markets. These risks can be mitigated by companies limiting their ambition, so as not to meet them largely, and improvising on mechanism like audits and internal attention where high standards for their organizations are set to reduce corruption. When the challenges become unbearable, companies may resort to exiting the market (Krishnan and Prabhu 1999).

Major hindrances to entering Indian market are its FDI regulations, high import taxes and difficulties in obtaining licenses to open more franchises which depend on policy makers and government officials. But to avoid this, timing is very important because one can move into the market by posing themselves as partners in progress or by advancing traditional corporate social responsibilities to occupy institutional voids.

Reference List

Krishnan, R & Prabhu, G 1999, “Creating Successful New Products: Challenges for Indian Industry.” Economic & Political Weekly, pp. M114-M120. Web.

A topical ad for a one-dollar menu from the Burger King fast food chain was taken for review. The design of the commercial is emphatically cheap and artificial: a man in a plastic mask of a medieval king sits on a throne in the middle of a restaurant kitchen. First of all, advertising captivates with its authenticity, that is, the proximity of the form to the content. The ad emphasizes this in a deliberately ironic way, thus humorously elevating the value of its product.

Restaurant staff are standing around the king and scattering money, which happens against the background of the green screen with the imperial chambers. This implies that the person on the throne refers to the visitor who saved money by going to Burger King. Advertising puts the buyer on a high pedestal in relation to the service system, which, however, is presented in a reduced manner. Thus, a certain trust is built between the viewer and the advertisement, based on an awareness of economic difficulties. Played in an ironic way, it is not taken seriously, and therefore only attracts the client. The humor used in advertising also facilitates the emotional connection of the viewer with the product, that is, it provides the pathos of the message.

Voice acting plays an important role in the video. The commercial is targeted at a male audience of middle and lower economic means, which is heard in the rough, but friendly intonation of the announcer. In this way, the ethical trust of the buyer is earned. The remarks themselves imply that the purchase of a one-dollar menu is a volitional decision of the client, in particular, the slogan “Your way – way better” is notable (Burger King, 2021). The viewer is logically convinced that it is profitable to buy at Burger King, and this is confirmed by visual metaphors. The screen dying out behind the king at the last second of the advertisement emphasizes the irony and makes one think that buying at Burger King is a pleasure worth its little money.

Work Cited

Burger King – $1.00 Your Way Menu. “2021 Commercials Vol 4 (TNT – January 3)” YouTube, uploaded by Commercial Break, 2021, Web.

Introduction

The hospitality industry in the US particularly restaurants face many challenges in providing for customer service needs. Customers are continuously becoming more sophisticated and so are the kinds of services and products which they need (Jing & Jin-Zhao, 2009). Increasing competition has made most restaurants to align their customer service with the changing trends of customer service needs.

The trends in the hotel industry have included the use of payment card, Point of Sale systems as well as dietary changes. There have been changes in menu and emerging flavors as well as ingredients in several restaurants in the US.

Burger King

Burger King is a fast food chain restaurant that was opened in 1953. It has branches and stores in the US, South America and Europe and currently operates in 73 countries (Dairy Foods Magazine, 2005). Its menu comprises of hamburgers, chicken, meatless sandwiches, French fries, salads, fish, desserts, breakfast menu, soft drinks as well as milkshakes among others (Dairy Foods Magazine, 2005).

Over the years, the company has evolved in its customer service and expanded its franchises and stores. It has had menu expansions and changes to provide for a wide demographic market and to keep up with the changes in customer trends.

Changes in the menu

In response to the recent obesity trends in the US as well as in other countries, Burger King has started to adjust its menu. It is also modifying its food preparation practices. Today, it offers lower-fat menu items like salads. The company also includes dietary guidelines as well as other nutrition data in its nutrition guides.

In January 2008, Burger King set off a program aimed at eliminating extra trans-fat in the company’s products and in its place adopt pure vegetable oils which do not have hydrogenated fats (Lauren, 2008). By 2009, the company had completely changed new oils. The company also introduced products like apple fries, broiled chicken tenders as well as Kraft macaroni aimed at addressing the increase concern on obesity in young children in Western nations (Adam, Alford, & Balch, 2003).

These products offered low-fat in children’s meals. In 2009, the company reduced the amount of calcium in its Chicken Tenders by about 33% and also shifted to non-fat milk products (Dairy Foods Magazine, 2005). It also uses calcium-fortified apple juice in making its beverage products. The company has also changed its menu in order to accommodate different vegetarian dietary. The vegetarian options include salads among others.

The changes aimed adapting to positive nutrition in the society has added menu options and dietary needs of customers which in turn, has increased its demographic market. By making these changes, customers believe that Burger King understands the needs of its guest and are sensitive to individual needs.

Reasons for making changes

Burger King’s changes in the menu to reflect the changes in diet trends in the US were wise and in the positive direction. It was aimed at reducing the increasing obesity among the US citizens and its other nations of operations. It also aimed at creating a health-conscious society through provision of dietary guidelines. The changes also helped the company compete favorably with its competitors like McDonald’s.

Conclusion

Burger King has greatly expanded and transformed its products and service to conform to the changing needs of customers. It provides for a wide demographic market. Its sensitivity to customer trends has greatly helped it establish itself in the market.

Reference List

Adam V. P., Alford, C. A., & Balch, V. (2003). Children love to meet, but some want to veg out. Plymouth: Plymouth Evening Herald.

Dairy Foods Magazine. (January 2005). Burger King milk. Web.

Jing, W., & Jin-Zhao, W. 2009. Issues, challenges, and trends that facing hospitality industry. Management Science and Engineering, 3 (4): 53-58. Canadian Research & Development Center of Sciences and Cultures. Web.

Lauren S. (2 October 2008). Burger King switches to trans fat free oil. New York Times. Web.

Burger King is a multinational corporation that was established in 1954 with its headquarters in Miami. The company boasts as the second largest company operating fast food chain after the McDonalds Company. In addition, the firm has realized massive opening out of its operations in over seventy nations. Over the years, the company has continuously stressed on diverse points of strategies that have seen Burger King achieve increased competitive advantage over its competitors.

Further, Burger King has seen steady growth in sales and revenues over the years because of the location of its head office. In fact, the bulk of Burger King’s clients originate from the Caribbean and Latin America. In essence, through Miami headquarters, the organization has seen increased expansion in sales, recognition and increased brand image across the globe.

Business Operations

Burger King’s close to seventy-five percent of the operations are majorly carried out in the US and Canada exhibited by the location of its restaurants and incomes. The company should continue with most of its operations and thus should not change the relationship. In fact, the company has many of its clients in these countries due to the presence of large population.

Further, the company has developed more reputation among the masses in these countries thereby attracting an increasing number of clients who purchase the products. Moreover, the other markets in which the firm operates have low populations who purchase its products.

Burger King Company has been able to achieve enhanced competitiveness of its products and services in the global arena through the efficient synchronization of variety of innovative techniques as well as the incorporation of numerous flow of expertise. Just to begin with, the firm’s ability to offer distinct and strong trademark has enabled the augmented competitive advantage over its rivals.

For instance, the corporate adoption of flamed broiled technique as opposed to grills as well as preparing the hamburgers as per customer requirements through the “have it your way” theme ensure satisfaction among the buyers of purchasing healthy products. Further, the strategies enhance the customers feel towards the company’s brands.

The company’s focus on customers through entering into franchise with other companies is another key competency of Burger King in gaining competitive benefits (Daniels et al., 2011). Through franchising, the corporate is able to modify its products to ensemble the needs of customers from diverse backgrounds thereby ensuring increase in sales of the products.

The corporation’s systematic approach towards configuring and coordinating its value chain entails operations in the nations whose populaces are high such as India and Pakistan as well as having large inclination towards intake of beef. In addition, the corporation coordinates its value chain through going into franchise with the local companies to sustain its expansion globally (Bell et al., 2004).

Moreover, firm has been able to learn from the mistakes of other companies and using the mistakes as instruments for expansion. Franchising has proved to be the best activity that has created more value to the company since it enables the expansion and distribution of the organization’s products to broader markets with little investment.

The late expansion of the company globally as compared to its competitor had its pluses together with the minuses. Beginning with the advantages, the company is able to ride on the demand and delivery infrastructures that are already created by the firms that entered the market earlier.

In addition, Burger King is able to continue with the promotion of its products without suffering from the expenses on product development. On the contrary, the firm faces the disadvantage of inadequate number of suppliers who may only be willing to carry out business transactions with a specific number of clients.

Of more importance, the company’s desire to enter the local markets comes with rewards and drawbacks. First, the firm has the benefit of using sophisticated expertise in their operations thereby gaining competitive gains over the local companies. Therefore, Burger is able to achieve increase in its sales and increase revenue. In addition, through entering is markets, the firm is offered with increased choice of markets for its markets as well as low production costs.

Further, the corporate is able to gain access to bounteous of resources through lobbing of the governments that are interested only in the short-term economic gains of the operations (Coviello & Jones, 2004). Moreover, Burger King is able to reduce its tax liability in the nations that have high tax rates and elevate the tax legal responsibilities in low tax rate nations through transfer pricing that alters the cost of their products.

On the other hand, the company is faced with the shortcoming of increased expenses through taxations. Further, Burger King is likely to suffer from the resistance of from the local companies in an attempt to establish itself in their locations. The firm is also likely to overlook its social responsibilities in the host country thereby contributing to environmental degradation.

Moreover, there is a possibility that Burger King would transfer all its revenues to the headquarters in Miami and not spending in the corporate activities in the host nations. Every nation has its own cultural beliefs and the operation of the company would suffer from the incorrect forecast of the cultural behaviors of the host country.

The recent past has witnessed increased inclination of the company’s operations towards the youth as well as locations with many shopping centers. Burger King’s preference of the youths has had its advantages. In fact, the group represented by people under the age of fifty years embodies the youth. The company prefers the youth since statistics show that large amounts of currencies are in their hands.

As a result, taking advantage of the youth in the transaction of business leads to the augmented volume of sales. In addition, the company is able to augment its trade readily as well as spawn repeated visits by the youth through carrying out product adverts (Acedo & Casillas, 2005). Further, the company is able to obtain adequate space to conduct and facilitate its operations across diverse locations where there are numerous shopping stalls.

Tools and Strategies in the Deciding Future Company Locations

The company’s SWOT analysis is critical in the examination of the strengths and weaknesses faced by the corporation. In addition, the technique is vital to the business in forecasting the opportunities available in the new location that are able to spur growth. Further, the technique would enable the company identify the potential threats that could arise (Denker, 2012).

Moreover, the application of PEST analysis would be invaluable in assessing how the political, economic, social and technological aspects such as recessions, political turmoil and innovative advancements influence the new business location. Competitive analysis would also be priceless in identifying the activities of the potential competitors.

Conclusion

Burger King continues to enjoy massive revenue from the high rate of expansion of operations to other parts of the world. Further, the corporation’s differentiation strategies in its operations have enabled increase in the number of customers over its competitors. However, the company faces the challenges of ownership and management since it does operate independently but functions as a conglomerate division due to franchising of its operations.

Further, through operating franchises, the company has been unable to devise and implement articulate growth strategies. Moreover, the threat of McDonalds’ competition could jeopardize the amount of Burger King’s revenue through reducing Burger King’s customer base.

References

Acedo, F. J. & Casillas, J. C. (2005). Current paradigms in the international management field: An author co-citation analysis. International Business Review, 14(2), 616-639.

Bell, J., Crick, D. & Young, S. (2004). Small Firm Internationalization and Business Strategy. International Small Business Journal, 22(1), 23-56.

Coviello, N. E. & Jones, M. V. (2004). Methodological issues in international entrepreneurship research. Journal of Business Venturing, 19(4), 485-508.

Daniels, J., Radebaugh, L. & Sullivan, D. (2011). International business, environment and operations. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Denker, A. (2012). Elaboration case study: Burger King. Munich: GRIN Verlag.

The first Tim Hortons restaurant was opened in 1964 in Hamilton, Ontario. Ever since that time the chain of Tim Hortons restaurants is focused on good quality products, always fresh meals, successful leadership and excellent service. These features are the base of the company’s great success today. Over the time the chain of Tim Hortons restaurants has grown into one of the world’s strongest competitors in the fast food market. The chain specializes on serving good quality coffee, having exceptional bakery and providing the customers with a variety of baked goods and also selling home style lunches.

Nowadays, Tom Hortons is one of the biggest companies of Canada with a fairly deserved iconic brand status. The strategy of Tim Hortons restaurants is to develop high customer loyalty and cooperate with communities and franchises of the region where it operates. In order to maintain the guest loyalty, the restaurants are determined to satisfy the rapidly changing tastes and preferences of their clients. Tim Hortons chain is known for its excellently brewed coffee, the selection of types, flavors and blends of Tim Hortons coffees is large.

Today, the restaurants serve a wide range of cappuccinos, hot chocolates, teas of various kinds, home style soups, fresh sandwiches and baked goods such as bagels, donuts, pastries, muffins, cookies and croissants. Tim Hortons restaurants are open twenty four hours a day, they sell take away meals and have dining rooms. These restaurants operate in conventional locations such as shopping malls, as well as unconventional ones such as gas stations, universities, airports and hospitals. Tim Hortons’ strategy is to be flexible and fit anywhere.

Burger King was founded in 1954 in Miami, Florida. This company operates and franchises a large number of fast food hamburger restaurants all around the world. Today, it is number two in the list of the biggest chains of hamburger restaurants all around the world. Statistically, by 2013 the chain included thirteen thousand six hundred and sixty seven restaurants in over ninety five countries. Nearly fifty per cent of these restaurants are situated outside of the territory of the United States and Canada.

Among the food items presented by Burger King restaurants there are burgers prepared on a grill, sandwiches of various kinds, soft drinks, French fries. The most recognized and demanded Burger King product is WHOPPER, a burger sandwich that was first introduced in 1957. The company is proud of its cost efficient and very quick service providing the customers with high quality fast food products at affordable prices. The company’s revenues are earned in two ways.

First – the retail sales at the restaurants of the chain, and second – the franchise incomes earned due to the reputation of the Burger King brand, these revenues are based on the royalties occurring from the percentage of sales of the franchise restaurants, and also from the fees paid by the franchisees of the brand for the properties occupied by them. The company managers believe that the high percentage of the franchised restaurants is one of the strengths of the business as it creates an advantage for the Burger King system that needs to grow. The model of this business is franchise dominated; in fact, the whole system was founded mostly by its franchisees. One of the main disadvantages of the system is its high dependence of its multiple franchisees and its limited control over them.

The merger between Canadian based Tim Hortons and Burger King that is worldwide is often discussed these days. The debate about the merger explores various points of view on the happening. It is important to mention that after the merger Burger King that used to be based in Florida is planning to move their headquarters to Canada. The issues of the merger of the two corporations and the relocation of the American Burger King to the neighboring country are viewed as an unpatriotic gesture from the side of the global franchised company.

Some of the American politicians even addressed their audiences in the United States encouraging the citizens to stop visiting Burger King restaurants and give the preference to such fast food places as Wendy’s and White Castle. To my mind, this approach definitely makes sense, because a large global corporation is intentionally changing its citizenship and transferring all of its revenues to the north. Besides, for the Canadian society it is also unpleasant to put up with the fact that a foreign company bought their national icon of a business. At the same time, from the point of view of the business owners and shareholders this maneuver is justified due to the opportunity of tax inversion.

This operation is not a new trick; it has been practiced for years by multiple American companies. Tax inversion allows the businesses to escape the complicated and high American taxation. In my opinion, this is a wise decision from the point of view of the business holders, this is why I agree with the merger and find it a clever thing to do for both Tim Hortons and Burger King. Tax inversion and its popularity are also explained by the process of globalization and the companies’ desire to embrace the global citizenship in the corporate world.

The merger between Tim Hortons and Burger King would not have happened without the agreement of both of the corporations. This means that both of the sides are hoping to benefit from the process of cooperation. This merger has attracted a lot of public attention to the issue of tax inversion and revealed the attempts of the Congress and the government of the United States to reduce this practice or at least limit it. This is done in order to prevent the flow of income from leaving the territory of the United States.

The politicians of the country are trying to employ various measures to stop their native businesses from moving abroad in order to lower their taxes. The question of tax inversion is discussed within the topic about the merger between Burger King and Tim Hortons even though the C.E.O. of Burger King publically announced that this deal had nothing to do with the tax savings. The leaders of both companies noted that they were hoping to benefit from joining their resources and acquiring bigger markets.

In reality, it is clear that the relocation of Burger King headquarters will make an impact on the size of the taxes for the company, moreover, Burger King has immense opportunities for the new market exploration on the territory of Canada. At the same time, Tim Hortons is going to receive an opportunity to explore international markets. The benefits Burger King is going to obtain from the deal are larger than the ones of Tim Hortons.

The merger of two large corporations is definitely going to be highly profitable for both Tim Hortons ad Burger King. The new corporation is going to be much bigger and stronger and able to compete with serious rivals such as McDonalds. Besides, the companies have an opportunity of sharing insights and improving their own performance. For example, Burger King had to struggle for their morning customers with companies such as Starbucks, while Tim Hortons is an unbeatable leader in Canada that enjoys the status of a national icon and favor of the majority of the citizens. From the point of view of politics, Canada is the side that wins from the merger, because the revenues from the worldwide Burger King are now going to be centered there.

The post-merger brand is going to strengthen the performance of both Tim Hortons and Burger King, which will bring bigger incomes to both of the participants, this means that the companies are going to pay bigger taxes and feed the Canadian economy quite a lot. Moreover, Canada is known as Burger King’s biggest market, this aspect is definitely going to be explored by the brand, the number of properties owned by Burger King franchise there is going to grow. The new brand in going to do a large portion of its business on the territory of Canada, the merger is also going to focus on expanding Tim Hortons outside of Canada. All of these transformations are going to promote the Canadian economy a lot.

Introduction

Burger King is a famous American fast food company that, in the past, competed with McDonald’s for the title of the most widespread and popular burger company in the USA and abroad. It distinguished itself from other fast-food companies by encouraging the customers to create their brands and recipes, thus allowing more room for alterations and modifications, which McDonald’s’ conveyer belt method of foodservice and production did not allow (Hunger & Wheelen, 2013). This innovative approach allowed Burger King to stay afloat and retain a loyal customer base even after the food chain fell into disarray after becoming a part of Diageo. Due to Diageo’s poor management practices, the brand lost franchising power. Burger King was later sold to TPG capital in 2002. Some of the company’s investors include Bain Capital and Goldman-Sachs, which currently control up to 25% each (Hunger & Wheelen, 2013). Since 2010, the number of customers served by Burger King has been growing steadily (Burger King, 2018). The company’s current employee count is over 40,000, and the number of individual customers served exceeds 12 million a day (Burger King, 2018). The purpose of this strategic audit report is to analyze the strengths and weaknesses, as well as the internal and external factors influencing the company and provide alternative strategic solutions to solidify its positions in the market.

Vision and Mission

Burger king’s vision statement is as follows: “We proudly serve the best burgers in the business, plus a variety of real, authentic foods all freshly prepared just the way you want it” (Burger King, 2018, para. 1).

Burger King’s mission statement:

“We will prepare and sell quick service food to fulfill our guest’s needs more accurately, quickly, courteously, and in a cleaner environment than our competitors. We will conduct all our business affairs ethically, and with the best employees in the world. We will continue to grow profitably and responsibly, and provide career advancement opportunities for every willing member of our organization.” (Burger King, 2018, para. 2)

As it is possible to see from the company’s vision and mission statements, Burger King is a customer-oriented company that emphasizes the quality and uniqueness of every individual customer, as they seek to allow the customers to “have it their way” when it comes to deciding how their food is going to be served and prepared. The quality of their product plays a very important part in Burger King’s strategy, as the franchise cannot match McDonald’s and their conveyer belt method, meaning it has to offer the customers something in return for increased waiting times.

Strategic Planning

External Factor Analysis Summary

Internal Factor Analysis Summary

Strategic Factors Analysis

SWOT Analysis

SWOT analysis is an efficient framework used to analyze companies and business plans by defining their four key parameters in terms of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (Kolbina, 2015). The analysis presented above highlights all the major factors that influence Burger King at the moment. As it is possible to see, it maintains a solid position in the US market but faces various difficulties when trying to expand abroad. The company should capitalize on its strengths to pursue the available opportunities, while at the same time taking steps to mitigate their risks and threats, particularly in regards to its poorly planned marketing campaign.

Porter’s Five Forces Analysis

Based on Porter’s Five Forces analysis presented above, Burger King should focus on acquiring more market share and implementing a more aggressive approach towards potential competitors and new entrants, with the possibility of acquiring promising enterprises that have the potential of becoming competitors in the future (Dobbs, 2014).

CAPM Analysis

Due to being a franchise and the youngest publically-traded company, Burger King’s asset performances are sensitive to repetitive risk. Its R-squared values are relatively low, standing at 0.062, which suggests a 6.2% risk of Burger King from market sources, while the balance of corporate risk is between 73-74% (Capps & Cassidy, 2016). Based on these values, the company is unlikely to attract any returns higher than already expected using historical data. Burger King has a positive alpha value, which means that the funds are likely to yield returns higher than the expected beta. Both alpha and beta values for Burger King are high, which makes the company attractive to investors, as their funds have a high potential rate and high capability of return (Capps & Cassidy, 2016).

Alternative Strategies

Market Expansion

Instead of trying to expand in an already enriched US market, Burger King should expand into new regions and markets where the presence of strong competitors is equally low. The company should use its vast experience and resource base to establish itself in these markets by purchasing several local brands and expand from there, basing the expansion strategy on various national food traditions and preferences.

Rebranding and New Products

Burger King made a name for itself by being one of the few franchises that allowed the customers to offer their recipes and ways of making a burger. However, this approach was since copied by many other food chains, the most prominent example being Subway, which offers plenty of choices in regards to their sandwiches and fillings. Inventing something new and groundbreaking would help rebrand the company and breathe life into its marketing campaign.

References

Burger King. (2018). About us.Web.

Capps, C. J., & Cassidy, C. M. (2016). Expanding the competitive profile matrix (CPM): Introducing the financial competitive profile matrix (FCPM). Academy of Strategic Management Journal, 15(2), 9-14.

Dobbs, M. (2014). Guidelines for applying Porter’s five forces framework: A set of industry analysis templates. Competitiveness Review, 24(1), 32-45.

Hunger, D. J., & Wheelen, T. L. (2013). Cases in strategic management. New York, NY: Pearson.

Kolbina, O. (2015). SWOT analysis as a strategic planning tool for companies in the food industry. Problems of Economic Transition, 57(9), 74-83.

One of the products which are currently in the maturity stage of the cycle is the fast food of Burger King, and there are two main reasons for this standpoint. First, it is clearly established in the market as it has been successfully competing with other similar restaurants for many years (“Burger King Market Share is Surprising”). Second, the pace of its growth has been reported to be slow as the market share is relatively small and does not increase (“Burger King Market Share is Surprising”). Therefore, Burger King’s offers are in the maturity stage, but their sales can be improved when changing policies.

A strategy that can be useful for extending the life of the product is boosting innovation in the range of items on the menu to enhance profits. The decision to frequently update them might be beneficial for ensuring Burger King’s popularity among customers in the long run, and the prices should also be readjusted. They can be established with regard to those of competitors to make them slightly lower to attract people, and the distribution strategy should be selective to guarantee demand in specific locations. In advertising, the company could rely on what makes it different from McDonald’s (“Burger King Market Share is Surprising”). As for a sales promotion, an optimal solution would be introducing freebies for a limited period of time.

To summarize, the growth of Burger King in the future depends on timely efforts in modifying operations. They include introducing new items, realigning the prices as per demand in specific locations and lowering them, and distinguishing itself from other companies while providing freebies to attract customers. These ideas might help the business survive in the long run since popularity should be prioritized in the context of a low market share.

Work Cited

“Burger King Market Share is Surprising.”Financhill, 2021.