To Copy or Not To Copy:
Adding Smoothies to the Burger King Menu
An integrated social media research study
Prepared by Conversition
May 2012
Methodology = Listening + Asking
Listen to Learn
Collect
Clean
Categorize
Calibrate
2
• Scour the internet for
relevant messages
• Clean out spam and nonrelevant chatter (e.g., fun
engagement conversations
on Facebook)
• Categorize the verbatims
into relevant content areas,
e.g., pricing,
recommendations,
commercials, celebrities
• Calibrate the sentiment into
5-point Likert scale buckets
Ask to Confirm
Hypothesize
Design
Analyze
Report
• Review the social
media listening
data for
hypotheses
• Design unbiased survey
questions to answer those
hypotheses
• Analyze the results and
identify meaningful
segments
• Report on major differences
and conclusions
The Smoothie Buzz Belonged To Burger King
In April 2012, a collection of social media conversations about
smoothies generated many mentions of Burger King, far more than
Jamba Juice, a restaurant that specializes in smoothies.
3
On April 2, Burger King Introduced Smoothies
Why? Before April 2 2012, no one talked about smoothies at Burger
King. The new product launch was immediately recognized in social
media, but the buzz quickly declined.
75
0
4
People Like The Smoothies
Thanks for the healthy option!
• “Mom I want a healthy smoothie and some
free fries from bk! :D”
• “David Beckham can enchant any person
including me. It is nice to know that Burger
King is offering some healthy smoothies. “
5
400
100
B2B
T2B
300
75
200
50
100
25
0
0
Taste
Healthy
Favourite
Box Score (%)
Sample Size
Sample Size
They taste great!
• “Guess what ? I just had a smoothie from
burger king, and it tasted greeeaaatttt (;”
• “This Burger king tropical mango smoothie
is like an amazing tropical paradise in my
mouth lol this thing tastes so good”
• “The strawberry banana smoothie from
burger king is the BEST smoothie.! Omg it's
so good :)”
But People Complained: You’re a copy cat
100
Sample Size
Sample Size
What’s the deal with the ice?
• “What smoothie only has chunks of ice?
That’s burger king”
• “Crushed ice with flavoring is not a
smoothie burger king”
• “burger king smoothies taste like water”
400
B2B
T2B
300
75
200
50
100
25
0
0
Ice
6
Creativity
Watered
Down
Box Score (%)
Aren’t you just copying Mcdonalds?
• “Burger King copying McDonalds for theirs
smoothies.. #Wtf? #BeOriginal”
• “Burger King's such a copycat these
smoothies are identical to McDonalds'
smoothies”
Ask to confirm:
Copy Cat Concerns
• A small but significant number of people remarked that Burger
King was simply copying McDonald’s. Will this lack of nutritional
creativity have a negative impact on the product’s success?
• Are loyal brand users happy regardless?
• Are competitive users angered?
Ice Concerns
• A small percentage of people indicated that the smoothies were
watered down or that the ice pieces were too big.
• Is there an issue with the consistency of the ice or is this just a minor concern from a
few voices?
7
Ask: Competitive Comparisons
• Consumers generally like smoothies and rate all brands, except Tim Horton’s, at about the same
level
• BK loyals, purchasers, and triers have more positive opinions of BK and competitor smoothies,
perhaps because of the recent attention focused on the category
• But, McDonald’s loyals, and those who feel Burger King is just copying McDonald’s rate BK
smoothies slightly less positively – but still positively
Top 2 Box “Do you like
Smoothies…”
Sample Size
In general?
At Burger King?
At McDonald's?
At Starbucks?
At Tim Horton's?
Total
BK
Loyals
McD
Loyals
BK
McD
Purchasers Purchasers
499
57
127
253
82%
81%
84%
83%
68%
90%
98%
91%
87%
81%
81%
73%
85%
84%
56%
87%
85%
90%
86%
73%
Tried BK
Smoothie
Copy
Cats
377
241
188
83%
81%
87%
83%
69%
92%
86%
86%
86%
74%
85%
78%
84%
77%
56%
Loyals: “If you could go to only one of the following restaurants for the
rest of your life, which one would you choose? “
8
Ask: Is there a copy cat concern?
• Across the entire sample, about 70% of people indicated they would be somewhat or much
more likely to purchase something at McDonald’s.
• Even loyal McDonald’s customers, and those who say Burger King is just copying McDonald’s,
indicate they are somewhat or more likely to purchase at Burger King now.
• Unfortunately, only a third of people feel that this menu addition was the result of research. This
problem could easily be rectified by sharing the focus group and research experiences that led
to the decisions.
Why did BK launch smoothies?
Total
BK
Loyals
499
57
127
253
377
241
188
Customers asked for them
To be like McDonald's
To have more healthy
beverages
Market research demanded it
26%
39%
40%
32%
14%
46%
24%
58%
37%
29%
39%
41%
28%
43%
40%
24%
33%
39%
28%
100%
37%
34%
32%
32%
33%
35%
32%
35%
Likely to purchase (T2B)
70%
91%
62%
76%
70%
77%
64%
Sample size
9
McD
BK
McD Tried BK
Loyals Purchasers Purchasers Smoothie
Copy
Cats
Ask: Is there an ice problem?
• Though only a few social media comments noted an ice problem, this was confirmed via
unaided responses to ”why your best friend should NEVER try a smoothie from Burger
King”
–
–
–
–
–
“ice not completely crushed “
“too much ice in smoothie (not creamy)“
“poorly blended - chunky ice bits “
“The ice doesn't get ground up “
“I had one once that was more ice than friut “
• And, when prompted, even 16% of Loyal BK customers, felt that the ice was not crushed
enough
• Burger King must address this issue more carefully to determine whether a slight tweak to
the recipe will cause more harm than good.
Which of the
following are
concerns for you?
Sample Size
Watery
Ice isn't crushed
enough
10
Total
BK
Loyals
McD
Loyals
BK
Purchasers
McD
Purchasers
Tried BK
Smoothie
Copy
Cats
499
57
127
253
377
241
188
19%
24%
16%
16%
20%
23%
16%
21%
19%
23%
20%
24%
15%
25%
Listen to Learn, Ask to Confirm
•
•
•
Burger King recently updated their menu to include smoothies, an option
already offered by several major competitors
Though untrue, social media picked up on the Copy Cat notion. The
problem appeared to be more bark than bite as even consumers who
yielded that complaint intended to purchase at Burger King.
However, many consumers do not realize that the menu additions were the
result of much market research
• This could be rectified via a communications campaign that shares video or verbatims from
the research experiences
• A few complaints in social media led to the
discovery of a trickle of complaints in the
survey research.
•
11
Burger King must conduct further research to
determine if a tweak to ice consistency is
worthwhile.
Thank you
12