THE SILENT DRIVE-THRU

TitleTHE SILENT DRIVE-THRU
BrandBURGER KING
Product/ServiceMOBILE APP
Category B02. Mobile Apps
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
Samppa Vilkuna Superson Chief Executive Officer
Patrick Lindholm Superson Creative Manager
Antti Toivonen Superson Executive Creative Director
Emmi Kupari Superson Executive Producer
Jaakko Jokela Iiris Company Editor
Tuomas Nurmi Iiris Company Cameraman
Christopher Rehn Iiris Company Producer
Jaakko Jokela Iiris Company Editor
Kirppu Saukkonen Superson Graphic Designer
Vivi Staffans Superson Marketing Trainee

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 mobile 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 get more 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

Finns are stereotypically known to be the shyest people on Earth. 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

The best way to drive app downloads is to stand out from the crowd by creating an entertaining story to promote the app and reward customers for downloading it. The solution, to offer a service exclusively available through the Burger King app, is more creative than simply offering an in-app promotion or discount. 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

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 the 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

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