THE SILENT DRIVE-THRU

TitleTHE SILENT DRIVE-THRU
BrandBURGER KING
Product/ServiceMOBILE APP
Category G04. Social Behaviour & Cultural Insight
Entrant SUPERSON Helsinki, FINLAND
Idea Creation SUPERSON Helsinki, FINLAND
PR SUPERSON Helsinki, FINLAND
Production SUPERSON Helsinki, FINLAND
Additional Company IIRIS COMPANY Helsinki, FINLAND
Credits
Name Company Position
Tuomas Karvonen Superson Business Development Manager
Antti J. Peltonen Superson Specialist
Patrick Lindholm Superson Creative Manager
Samppa Vilkuna Superson Chief Executive Officer
Emmi Kupari Superson Executive Producer
Antti Toivonen Superson Executive Creative Director
Jaakko Jokela Iiris Company Editor
Tuomas Nurmi Iiris Company Cameraman
Christopher Rehn Iiris Company Producer
Kirppu Saukkonen Superson Graphic Designer
Vivi Staffans Superson Marketing Trainee

Why is this work relevant for Direct?

This campaign is Direct campaign, because the whole idea of Silent Drive-Thru is a direct one-to-one customer experience that reaches the consumer through the Burger King App.

Background

Situation: Burger King Finland had soft-launched their new food ordering app 6 months ago before our campaign. The app had not gained enough users and it didn't differ from the competitor's apps. The media budget was 0€ so we had to do something interesting to get earned media. Brief: Burger King wanted to illustrate the speed and ease of ordering through its new app to boost downloads while increasing visibility. Objectives: Our main objective was to get attention in the traditional media and social media and get more downloads for the app. We also wanted to increase sales orders through the app. Core KPI's: 10 media hits in the Finnish newspapers. +20% increase in downloads. +10% increase in sales orders.

Describe the creative idea (30% of vote)

Finns are stereotypically known to be the shyest people on Earth and people tend to hate small talk in Finland. So, to serve Finns the way they’d prefer we tapped into this cultural insight and created something new. World's first 100% Silent Drive-Thru service. A service where you don't need any verbal communication, created for the silent Finns. The Silent Drive-Thru only works through the Burger King mobile app. Customers can order and pay through the app, and then pick up their food from a dedicated Silent parking spot at the restaurant without having to speak to Burger King staff. Instead of queuing in the traditional drive-thru lane, customers who order through the app can choose a convenient time to collect their orders and a Burger King employee will bring it straight to their vehicle.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

We needed to do something concrete that would appeal to the target audience and thus gain attention in the traditional media and on social media. During the app launch, Burger King also opened a new restaurant in Helsinki that did not have a traditional drive-thru. We developed a service that replaced the traditional drive-thru and only worked through the new mobile app. As such, the subject was not very interesting and would not have received attention. Our creative idea gave us a bold angle that the media might be interested in and it had great potential for virality. Our target group was Burger King customers and fast food consumers. We also defined the core target group as the digital natives, who are the first to adopt new mobile apps. We identified these as the main target groups because they were already familiar with fast food and food ordering apps.

Describe the execution (20% of vote)

We started by designing the Silent Drive-Thru UX service. Then we implemented it in the mobile app and in the newly opened Burger King restaurant. This took 3 weeks of time. After the service was live in all touchpoints we sent out a press release to Finnish and global media. We also contacted a few journalists personally to ensure that this concept would get coverage. Immediately within a few hours, we got wide coverage in the Finnish media and the next day the global ones joined in. After traditional media had covered The Silent Drive-Thru, it started trending in social media from Reddit to Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Silent Drive-Thru service was launched in one Burger King location and quickly expanded to another restaurant. The client's goal is to expand the concept to at least 15 Burger King restaurants around Finland.

List the results (30% of vote)

App downloads: +45% growth. Source: BK internal data Total impressions (social media + online articles): 411 045 557 Source: Media cards, fiam.fi, Meltwater, SimilarWeb, ComScore. Sales orders through the app doubled within a month after the launch (and have kept doubling every month since). Source: BK internal data App ranking rose from 15 to 5th in the food & drink category within a month after the launch. Source: AppAnnie Earned online articles in Finland: 20 Earned online articles globally: 96 Source: Meltwater Silent Drive-Thru fastens the ordering process on average 7 to 8 minutes, compared to regular drive-thru’s. Source: BK internal data

Please tell us about the social behaviour and / or cultural insights that inspired your campaign

The whole campaign was built around the cultural insight of Finnish people being introverted. Every Finn knows the stereotype, but are OK with it and don't take it too seriously. Finns are masters of self-deprecating humor and regularly just joke around the theme of them being shy and introverted. This cultural insight and social behavior was the backbone of our campaign. By both poking fun at and celebrating the stereotype of Finns who don’t enjoy small talk, the silent drive-thru appeals to its target audience through humor.