MARKING MIX

Marking Mix

Marking Mix

Introduction

Burger King is a reliable burger company which has had its ups and downs. In 1974, it came out with a slogan of 'Have it your way' and at this time it also had a 4 % market share. Burger King's idea was to have the customer have their burger done their way rather than a standard burger. In the early 80's Burger King was trying to keep sales growing so they had to keep changing their advertising. (Smith, 2006, 27) In 1982 'Battle of the burgers' and 'Aren't you hungry for a Burger king now?' were the slogans used. In 1983 'Broiling vs. frying' and 1985 'The big switch'. All these ads throughout the years helped increase market shares from 7.6% to 8.3% from 1983 to 1985. 'Search for herb' was a slogan used by BK about a person that has never tasted a whopper burger, this campaign was supposed to increase market share by 10% but in reality only increased it by 1% it was a disaster. In 1986-1987 'this is a burger king town' and 'best food for fast times' brought a lot of attention to the company. (Smith, 2006, 27)

In 1988 'We do it like you do it' was used often but a year later they came out with two new slogans which confused the customer. In 1989 'Sometimes you got to break the rules' and 'BK tee vee' with MTV and Dan Cortese with 'I love this place'. This was another huge setback for BK because people on the go and parents found this ad loud and irritating. BK at this time has failed to establish a solid image that would differentiate it from its competitors. Ads if anything only confused consumers as to what advantages BK offered. (Smith, 2006, 27)

Product

An important point to remember while preparing a menu is that your customer has a choice. As the customers have wide options for spending their money, Burger King emphasises considerably on developing a menu which the customer wants.

However what is liked today by customers may be disliked tomorrow, as the customers' choice change over time. Marketing continuously monitors customers' preferences. Burger King continuously monitors its products for lifecycle management and phases out the old ones with the introduction of new ones. Products go through a life cycle, (John, 2002, 116) which is illustrated below: Burger King has in its menu products with Indian names.

Although Burger King is primarily known for its burgers, but burgers are not the only products served. Burger King has a variety of products like Pizza, Wraps, and fries both in vegetable and non vegetable categories. Apart from the standalone pizza, wraps and other products they also have these served as combos and meals like, the vegetable combo meal which has McVeggie burger with French fries and a beverage. (John, 2002, 116)

Happy meals are other combo meals which are targeted towards children, these include a burger with beverage and there is a toy which children can play with and take ...