Burger King Splits Budget Between Two Ad Agencies
Burger King introduced a new double on Thursday--not a burger but a double bill of New York ad agencies to handle its $215-million advertising business.
The unusual move places the agency D’Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles in charge of Burger King’s corporate “image” advertising and hands Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising the task of creating ads for the Miami-based fast-food chain’s individual products.
“I’m a big believer in doing the unexpected,” said Gary L. Langstaff, Burger King’s executive vice president of marketing. Although Langstaff would not be specific, he said the next Burger King ad campaign--not expected to break until next fall--will be a clear departure from traditional fast-food advertising.
Indeed, Burger King officials concede that the chain needs a lot of help. “This is a non-traditional approach,” said Barry J. Gibbons, chief executive of Burger King, “but for us it is far more important to be right rather than conventional.”
Analysts say advertising and marketing--not the product itself--has long been Burger King’s biggest problem. “They’ve tried to be all things to all people,” said John Hollingsworth, a former Burger King group vice president of marketing and now a Laguna Hills fast-food analyst. “As a result, all they’ve done is confuse everyone.”
Trend Is Growing
Perhaps even more interesting than which ad agencies Burger King selected is that it chose two agencies instead of one. This trend of major advertisers splitting their ad budgets between agencies seems to be growing. Recently, computer giant International Business Machines Corp. made a similar move when it split its advertising. But some wonder if this is an appropriate move for Burger King.
“What Burger King needs is one point of view,” said Leonard Pearlstein, president and chief executive of the Los Angeles ad firm Keye/Donna/Pearlstein. “You’re not likely to get one point of view from two agencies.”
Marketing Horror Story
The recent history of Burger King advertising has been a marketing horror story, according to fast-food specialists. The Pillsbury subsidiary--which was acquired by British-based Grand Metropolitan PLC in January--has worked with four ad agencies in about two years.
“They’ve been all over the lot,” said Ed Wax, chairman of Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising, who plans to begin plotting strategy with Burger King officials Monday. “You have to stick with an ad campaign through thick and thin, and that’s going to be our job.”
Meanwhile, West Coast owners of Burger King restaurants are hoping that the ads click this time. “It’s not a question of who has the best product, but who has the best advertising,” said Earl Norsworthy, who owns Burger King franchises in Carson and Inglewood and has seen business drop considerably over the last few years. “All I want is something that will make my register jingle.”
