Burger King have been known to use classic media channels to create memorable campaigns that transcend the medium itself, what is it about newspapers that excites you?
At Burger King we focus on the idea first. We are in a constant hunt for great ideas which help connect our brand to people and land our key brand attributes. Because of that, the choice of medium comes as a consequence of the type of idea we have. Some ideas land itself better on traditional media, triggering earned media through PR and conversation though social media. In my view, despite the fact that it may sound contradictory, there is something cool about traditional media, especially newspapers. Something that makes the idea come across serious and credible. Even Facebook used traditional media/ newspapers when they apologized for the "breach of trust".
What kind of strategy focus do you need when compared to digital?
Sometimes people overcomplicate media strategy. In many cases, when that happens, it's because the discussion started with the media strategy and not the idea itself. We focus on the idea first. And second. And third. After we nail the idea, we discuss the media strategy. In our most famous campaigns we sometimes use traditional media to trigger social media and PR. And sometimes we use social media to do that. It really depends on the idea. So, the focus is not on a media discussion, the focus is on the idea and the idea only.
What are the channels that you think are going to become increasingly important for Burger King over the next 5 years?
It's hard to answer this question without falling a bit into cliche. Of course digital and social media will continue to grow. With that said, I believe that what we call traditional media will still be there, maybe in an evolved form. So we will continue to focus on mastering mainstream channels while experimenting and learning how to get the best return on investment (and engagement) on growing channels.
The biggest enemy of change is resistance – how, in a time of constant change, can leaders encourage employees to embrace change and not resist it?
By championing a vision, by bringing people along in the journey, by always explaining the rational of things and by leading by example.
What are the biggest marketing challenges Burger King has faced?
All brads in super competitive categories are not short of challenges. We always have the challenge to keep pushing the boundaries in terms of creativity. We are not the top spender in our category. So everything we do needs to stand out and be quintessentially Burger King. We also need to make sure we deliver against the basic fundamentals of our market, such as keep increasing the quality of our food, convenience (presence everywhere), value (range of options from affordable to premium) and service (a nice in-restaurant experience).
Around technology, how as a marketer do you ensure you stay on top of the latest developments?
I read a lot about technology but I am not so concerned about knowing everything about everything. We have great partner agencies. We have a great marketing team. As a team, we probably know a lot about technology.
What advice do you have for people just starting their career?
Be obsessed about what you do. If you are currently not obsessed bout what you do, find something that you are obsessed about.
Burger King’s campaigns have been brilliantly disruptive. You always seem to use the press to great advantage. What’s the key to ensuring it doesn’t backfire?
We always filter the ideas through the brand lenses. We are not looking for disruption for the sake of disruption. We are looking for ideas which will stand out and help land our brand positioning. Honestly, we are not so concern about ideas "backfiring". We manage the brand with a clear vision and clear set of principles. If something doesn't go well, we learn a lesson and move on. We don't allow fear to paralyze us. In fact, we know that the ideas which work the best for us do make us uncomfortable at first.
