Episode 82 - Burger King Whopper Heist Ad Reviewed by HSBC, WeAre8, Tesco Mobile and Boots UK
In this week’s Advertisers Watching Ads, we’re reviewing Burger King’s latest ad in collaboration with Netflix, Whopper Heist, chosen by our partners Contagious. Does this clever one-off moment connect to the brand enough? Is it only just turning heads in the short term or will it have the desired long-term effect on consumers?
And what did our guests Hamish Goulding (Head of Global Brand Strategy at HSBC), Laura Chase (Chief Revenue Officer at WeAre8), David Brewerton (Head of Digital and CRM at Tesco Mobile) and Pete Markey (Chief Marketing Officer at Boots UK) think about it?
Transcript
The following transcript is automatically generated so may not be 100% accurate, but will give you a good idea of what was discussed.
Tom Ollerton 0:07
Hello and welcome to Advertisers Watching Ads. My name is Tom Ollerton. I'm the founder of Automated Creative, and this is a weekly show where brands watch other brands' ads, and then have a chat about what's good and bad about them. We're brought to you as ever by contagious.com so please go check those guys out. But before we get to this week's ads, let's meet this week's guests.
Hamish Goulding 0:28
Hey, I'm Hamish Goulding, Head of Global Brand Strategy at HSBC.
Laura Chase 0:32
Hi, I'm Laura Chase, and I'm the Chief Revenue Officer at WeAre8.
David Brewerton 0:37
I'm David. I lead acquisition marketing for Tesco Mobile.
Pete Markey 0:40
I am Pete Markey. I'm the Chief Marketing Officer for Boots.
Tom Ollerton 0:43
Hi, guys. Thank you so much for joining us today. Let's see this week's ads.
OK, Pete, what was your reaction to that when you saw it?
Pete Markey 2:24
It's a clever stunt as a mechanic, isn't it? Sort of thing that would be amazing for an award entry. It's sort of one of those kind of worn off moments in time where you tap into something that's culturally relevant, interesting and ride on the back of it. I think the technology in the mechanics were really clever. I guess I just left reflecting what it does for sort of long term brand health for Burger King, how they build on a platform like that outside of it being a sort of one off clever moment. That being said though, I thought the idea was clever. I'm a big fan of tapping into cultural and relevant moments when you can with your brand.
Laura Chase 2:58
I really love it. I think obviously they've done a great work over the years, and I love it when brands do different innovative things. And I do think consumers are going to enjoy that as well because it brings together a great show and that their brand and their product in a really nice smart way. I think it's going to stop people is going to get their attention, they're going to engage in the game. They're going to potentially roam around the city trying to find more Whoppers. They're going to go in and they're going to get that Whopper. They're probably going to buy a bit more. Overall, really fun, really different. Great job, Burger King.
Hamish Goulding 3:32
It is a really powerful idea, but it does feel very contained and very tight. If you're not going to whip out your phone at any given chance to engage in something that surrounds you. Who else can really sort of take part in it? And I think that's that's a bit of a challenge.
Tom Ollerton 3:48
Do you think it actually worked in the way that it said it worked? David, what was your view?
David Brewerton 3:54
My initial thought was how, how are people beyond it being on out of home, screens around the city? How people actually even aware of that they can go and do this? So to your point, you know, making people aware that this is a thing that's going on at any given time and then actually going to do it is very different to just being in a rough location and then getting a notification to say that you can do it. So I've got my doubts. It feels a lot more like the sizzle reel that we've seen is was the end product rather than the actual activation itself, just to say, "Oh, we did this really cool thing, guys." And that kind of call it was rather than the actual activation of the participation in the activation itself.
Tom Ollerton 4:32
So, Pete, would have made this better for you?
Pete Markey 4:34
"Whopper Heist," felt like, didn't necessarily land, so I think it was different integration problem with the content of the show. There could be involvement from the stars of the show, connected to content of the show. Is there a way for Burger King or burgers to turn up in the show? So it just felt it was just that sort of reason for being was missing a bit because it's just so this loose connection with the word 'heist.'
Tom Ollerton 4:52
Laura, you're working for a new ish platform. What is your view of this kind of work on your platform? Do you think this represents the future or is this kind of digital stuntery that we were sort of familiar from sort of Domino's in the like ten years ago? Does this feel like old school digital sensationalism, or will this always work as long as good ideas can get in front of people?
Laura Chase 5:13
I think if something surprises a consumer makes them stop, gives them something in return, which obviously this does, then there's a, there's a place for it. I think obviously, yeah, there would have been lot of people in the city that point in time that this would have given them something quite fun and interesting to do, and that would have had quite positive impacts on their perceptions of, of Burger King. So I think there's always a place for, for this type of thing, and I think it helps drive the industry forward as well. And we need, we need people testing slightly different execution, slightly different ways of using more traditional formats, which is why I always like to, you know, I think it's good to celebrate brands who are, who are trying to do something in a slightly different way.
Tom Ollerton 6:00
What can the industry really learn from this?
David Brewerton 6:02
Trying to bring a new way and actually a measurable way of using what would traditionally be a difficult channel to get that instant feedback from. I really like that. But I think in terms of scalability, it is lacking a little bit there, but I like the innovation, like the thinking of the use of traditional format, for sure.
Pete Markey 6:24
I'll start with the negatives and go to positive. I think, to me, there's something here is a learning about the power of needing to have a longer term brand platform. We talked about McDonald's, the other great examples, KFC. You can see how having a strong, sustained brand platform really helps you. I think Burger King feel like they jump tweet ideas too much. I'm not sure there was tech consumer with them. It is stunt to stunt. I don't where that always brings the audience with them in the right way. That being said, I think... Use of technology, the use of riding on something culturally relevant in a way that brings consumers in using digital technology and a bit of a treasure hunt approach. I really enjoyed, I really liked it. My challenge for Burger King, and I guess the industry would be to think beyond the stand alone in terms of how this fit into the broader brand purpose, what we're trying to do, a bigger brand platform and how we would sustain long term growth and long term differentiation, which I don't think a standalone is going to do. Might win you some lovely awards. But as we've seen the numbers, it's not going to help you alone with long term growth.
Hamish Goulding 7:21
Yeah, I agree with that, and I think, you know, when you see a McDonald's voucher being some, on the front cover of the Metro, it's got distinctive assets all over it. Two for two quids or whatever. I don't have to do anything. I can just rip it off and take it to McDonald's and get high value. So they're using kind of traditional media with values, a customer and then providing such certain distinctive brand plan, very cheap media. And this is quite... You going to work quite hard to get the benefit of this. I think we all applauded for the right reasons of using innovation in tech and all that sort of stuff. If you compare the two brands at the moment, the different scales where they're at... A metro cover voucher probably a lot cheaper than building this tech platform, getting people to use it within their app, expecting all these barriers to entry, the NFC issues and so. So I think sometimes the oldies are goodies, and it's just about finding that kind of balance in that mix and maybe Burger King getting a bit distracted by what's new and exciting. And maybe McDonald's, for example, doesn't know what works. They're just pounding the channel in that sense. I really applaud whether trusting to use tech, use is interesting, blending of physical and digital channels, associations and partnerships, building audience tribes, all that sort of stuff. Fantastic job and the big test for me is, "Would I buy it?" And I thought, I probably would. I feel I probably would, as long as it tied into that brand narrative piece for a long term. I think I'd probably take it, take a pass on this and we did, we did something similar on airports recently until, until lockdown, but it's just back... How consumer behave, then COVID equals QR codes since it opened up that whole set of opportunity around that. What will be the catalyst for NFC? I'm not sure yet, but it will come, and you've got to applaud them for trying to create that behavior.
Tom Ollerton 9:10
Well, look, unfortunately, we are running out of time for recording, so what I'm going to do is ask you all to vote for how good you thought this was. Three, two, one... A three, a three, a four and a three. Well, what's that between the three?
Laura Chase 9:27
Three and a half?
Hamish Goulding 9:28
Just give them a finger.
Tom Ollerton 9:31
Thank you so much, and we will see you all next week.
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