The classic fast food chain, Burger King, has decided to jump on the meatless bandwagon by replacing their Whopper patty with an Impossible Burger patty.
Target: Vegans! Or those fence sitting vegans... or those skeptical of just how close a plant based burger can taste like a whopper. It's definitely for a smaller specific target of Millennials and Get Z's who have sworn off fast food chains when they decided to become full vegan. It is also for those who are looking to try out something new or who like to follow food trends since many fast food restaurants recently have been making these small menu changes.
Insight: Burger King doesn't want to fall behind the trend. Forbes has named 2019 as the "year of the vegan" and fast food restaurants are worried about falling behind. However, with the vegan trend comes the vegan junk food trend. Fast food restaurants such as White Castle and Carls Jr. recognized the junk food trend and changed one of their menu items to have a meatless patty. With all of this happening, its no surprise that Burger King makes the change on one of their most famous menu items, the Whopper. Currently the plant based food industry makes around $13 billion sales, that's $13 billion that the fast food industry could miss out on if they don't make some of their options vegan.
Brand Idea: It is true and extremely relevant that vegan food is on the rise. About a quarter of Americans ranging between 25-35 have made the switch to veganism, it has been on the rise for years before this, but in 2019 it will become completely mainstream. To introduce their new whopper, BK released a commercial showing people in St. Louis trying the burger for the first time without knowledge that it was fake meat, and then being completely surprised when they are told its the impossible burger. This resonates with those who are on the fence about trying fake meat and shows them that nothing is really changing, just a better impact on the environment. Vegans already know about the impossible burger, so this will pull in a less targeted audience to the BK in St. Louis, then if successful, it will go worldwide. This switch is not too differentiated from the other fast food chains, they all have offered a meatless option for one of their most famous menu options, but BK takes a different approach with how its advertised. This way, it looks more inviting and friendly to a crowd that is standoffish or thinks that the vegan lifestyle is not for them.
Objectives: Burger King hopes to join the trend of those steering clear from meat. They think that without this they'll fall behind. "If ya can't beat them, then join them" is their main reasoning. It is a limited time option now, but if successful, they hope to expand into other BK locations.
Strengths: BK will look trendy. Younger Americans have turned away from BK quite some time ago, I remember growing up we would joke about who would actually eat at BK (even though, I was a closeted fan). Bottom line, they don't have a great reputation. This will hopefully shed a new light on who they are as a company. The new meatless burger also costs $1 extra, meaning this could result in higher profits for their whopper, along with those returning back to BK just to try the meatless whopper.
Weaknesses: There are some discrepancies in BK's values in that, yeah its great that they are selling a meatless option, but they are also still a huge contributor to the meat industry. Some are worried about the effects of 'green marketing' because of this, but at the end of the day, it is still a step forward, even if a small one, for the fast food industry.
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