Title | THE WHOPPER REPLY |
Brand | BURGER KING |
Product/Service | BURGER KING WHOPPER |
Category |
A03. Travel, Leisure, Retail, Restaurants & Fast Food Chains |
Entrant
|
UNCLE GREY Copenhagen, DENMARK
|
Idea Creation
|
UNCLE GREY Copenhagen, DENMARK
|
Media Placement
|
UNCLE GREY Copenhagen, DENMARK
|
PR
|
UNCLE GREY Copenhagen, DENMARK
|
Production
|
UNCLE GREY Copenhagen, DENMARK
|
Credits
Lars Samuelsen |
Uncle Grey |
Executive Creative Director |
Andreas Hoff |
Uncle Grey |
Associate Creative Director |
Magnus Breum |
Uncle Grey |
Associate Creative Director |
Cecilie Jelstrup Larsen |
Uncle Grey |
Art Director |
Hans Augustenborg |
Uncle Grey |
Art Director |
Kasper Andkjær |
Uncle Grey |
Digital Director |
Charlotte Porsager |
Uncle Grey |
Client Service Director |
Regitze Borgaard |
Uncle Grey |
Account Manager |
Johan Thrane |
Uncle Grey |
Digital Strategist |
Marie Elbæk |
Uncle Grey |
PR Co-ordinator |
Rasmus Lind |
Uncle Grey |
Photographer |
Jesper Hellvik |
Uncle Grey |
Editor |
Marcus Voldum |
Uncle Grey |
Account Manager |
Camilla Andersen |
Uncle Grey |
Copywriter |
Gustav Thuesen |
Uncle Grey |
Account Manager |
Newsha Dalman |
Uncle Grey |
Strategist |
Valdemar Mühlhausen |
Uncle Grey |
Digital Strategist |
Linea Fabricius |
Uncle Grey |
Designer |
Why is this work relevant for Direct?
”We’ve never seen anything like this before”
That’s how Facebook responded to the campaign which was executed entirely on Facebook using the comment functionality where Burger king could reply to McDonald's fans - with personalised messages directly targeting individuals.
This loophole gave us the opportunity to offer our own product to our fellow burger retailers customers, activating potential clients directly in a competitor-owned digital space.
By using this direct marketing strategy we managed to work around an otherwise rigid system, and drove online customers from Facebook directly to our physical restaurants.
Background
In recent years, Burger King Denmark has initiated a wide range of improvements to better the customer experience. From made-to-order Whoppers, to fresher ingredients, to new and improved restaurants and of course, a better customer service.
The brief was to change the perception of Burger King’s online customer service and drive new customers to the restaurants to try the Whopper.
Objectives:
Promote Burger Kings online customer service
Increase customer service as a core Burger King attribute
Get McDonalds customers to sample the Whopper
We made a deep sweep of fast food brands social channels to understand past customer interactions and how to improve them in the future, which paved the way for
“The Whopper Reply”.
Describe the creative idea (30% of vote)
Burger King took over McDonald's Facebook page.
With a cheeky tone of voice we helped McDonald’s provide some long-lost customer service to more than 1100 neglected Facebook posts. With “The Whopper Reply” we helped McD get back to disgruntled online comments and complaints with more than just an answer; every reply included a voucher for a free flame grilled Whopper that McCustomers could pick up at the nearest BK.
To make each voucher personal, we developed a digital tool that applied the first name of every individual to all the links we shared, thus linking every reply with a personal greeting when people arrived at the voucher page.
This way we created thousands of unique URL's to make the experience even more direct.
Describe the strategy (20% of vote)
To make an impactful message about Burger King's ambition to elevate customer service, we went deep into data gathering in order to find the right approach for a campaign.
Our research proved that burger lovers were left hanging on McDonald’s Denmark’s Facebook page and local restaurant-pages - and discovered that only about 10% of the comments and complaints had been answered.
Neglecting a highly engaged audience on social channels was our opportunity – and our approach was too help. Not just our own customers but McDonald's too, as the target audience is pretty much the same.
We replied to every individual with a free burger, proving our knack for customer service with a clear CTA to sample our hero product, the Whopper.
Describe the execution (20% of vote)
After months of confidential planning, we gathered a team of 15 copywriters to write as many funny and unique replies as possible over the course of one night to make sure that every online community manager from McDonald's were sleeping and wouldn’t block Burger King’s profile.
We wrote more than 1100 unique responses on McDonald’s Denmark’s Facebook page as well as over 30 local pages stretching more than 8 years back in time.
At 8AM we launched a film about the project that we edited overnight and tagged McDonald’s saying “we’re here for you” as a last comment on the stunt we just pulled and our main piece of evidence that created PR for the activation.
Fans of McD woke up to long-awaited replies on comments they had made – and free Whoppers as a reparation. The reactions were beyond positive.
List the results (30% of vote)
• Reach
248 million impressions worldwide.
• Engagement
Consumer reactions:
80% of the online reactions were positive towards the initiative.
• Claimed vouchers:
93% of all vouchers got claimed in the restaurants.
• Influencers:
Micro-influencers distributed the campaign with an engagement rate of 8,6%.
• PR:
Over 100 news articles both national and global. 95% positive.
• Achievement against service level on social media:
Burger King went from a disadvantage to at tie in the battle of the burgers: BK up with 10,19%, McD down with 16,37%
• Preference towards Burger King against McDonald's:
The campaign tips the scales in Burger King's favour.
Increasing intent significantly: BK up with 4,62%, McD down with 9,12%
• The target audience say:
Perception of great customer service in relation to BK went up 110%
• Preference to visit Burger King instead of McDonald's went up 43% across the entire country.