Burger King

What type of segmentation strategy is Burger King using and is it effective? What recommendations do you have to change it or make it better?

The cooks were busy in the Burger King kitchen in 2016. Every few months, they released a new item for the more adventurous fast-food customers to try out.

At the end of January 2016, Burger King introduced new Jalapeño Chicken Fries, Dr Pepper Shakes, and Oreo Irish Mint Shakes. All three items were available for a limited time. The Jalapeño Chicken Fries were a spicy twist on the original Chicken Fries, made with white chicken meat and breaded with jalapeño seasoning. The Dr Pepper Shake was a hand-spun, creamy treat with the flavor of Dr Pepper. The Oreo Irish Mint Shake was a new take on the Classic Oreo Shake but with a minty flavor. It was hand spun and featured Oreo cookie crumbles.

“Our guests can’t get enough of our spicy menu items, not to mention our Chicken Fries, so we’re giving them more of both with this new addition to our Chicken Fries lineup,” said Alex Macedo, President, North America, for the Burger King brand. “And if our Jalapeño Chicken Fries get a little too hot, our Dr Pepper Shake or Oreo Irish Mint Shake is the perfect way to cool off.”

Then in February, Burger King announced the addition of flame-grilled hot dogs to the menu at participating restaurants nationwide. The hot dogs, named Grilled Dogs, are made with 100 percent beef and are flame-grilled on the same grill and using the same techniques as the Whopper sandwich.

It is estimated that Americans eat over 20 billion hot dogs each year. With the additional of Grilled Dogs to the menu, Burger King will now serve hot dogs in more locations than any other restaurant chain in the United States.

“The introduction of Grilled Dogs just made sense to our guests and for our brand,” said Macedo. “We’re applying over 60 years of flame-grilling expertise with the Whopper sandwich to make Grilled Dogs the next great American icon.”

The Classic Grilled Dog is a flame-grilled hot dog topped with ketchup, mustard, chopped onions, and relish, served on a fluffy baked bun. The Chili Cheese Grilled Dog is a flame-grilled hot dog topped with warm chili and shredded cheddar cheese, and served on the same bun as the Classic. Both are available separately or as a combo meal.

March brought another limited-time offering: The Angriest Whopper sandwich. The Angry Whopper sandwich was a popular previous limited-time menu item. The Angriest Whopper took it to another level, featuring flame-grilled beef, thick-cut bacon, American cheese, iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, crispy onion petals, jalapeños, creamy mayonnaise, and spicy “angry sauce” all on a fiery red bun that had hot sauced baked in.

After giving their customers’ stomachs a few months to settle, Burger King was back at it again in June 2016. For a limited time, they offered Mac n’ Cheetos, a collaboration venture with Cheetos. The snack was a portable combination of creamy mac n’ cheese covered with crispy Cheetos flavor. It gave customers the unique experience of eating warm mac n’ cheese like they would a bag of chips.

“Mac n’ Cheetos are a doubly cheesy combination of warm mac n’ cheese covered with that crispy Cheetos flavor everyone loves,” said Axel Schwan, Executive Vice President and Global Chief Marketing Officer for the Burger King brand. “No one understands snacking better than Cheetos, and our expertise at Burger King restaurants is serving guests on the go, so it just made sense that we come together to reinvent this favorite food like it’s never been done before.”

Burger King was founded in 1954 and is now the second-largest fast food hamburger chain in the world.

Sources: B. Mogan, “Burger King Restaurants and the Cheetos Brand Unleash Very Cheesy Collaboration for Summer ’16,” Burger King, June 27, 2016, accessed October 23, 2016, https://www.bk.com/news-press/burger-king-restaurants-and-cheetos-brand-unleash-very-cheesy-collaboration-summer-’16 (Links to an external site.); B. Mogan, “Burger King Restaurants Introduce New Jalapeno Chicken Fries and Two New Shake Flavors,” Burger King, January 27, 2016, accessed October 23, 2016, https://www.bk.com/news-press/burger-king-restaurants-introduce-new-jalapeño-chicken-fries-and-two-new-shake-flavors (Links to an external site.); B. Mogan, “Burger King Restaurants to become Largest Restaurant Chain in U.S. to Serve Flame-Grilled Hot Dogs,” Burger King, February 11, 2016, accessed October 23, 2016, https://www.bk.com/news-press/burger-king-restaurants-become-largest-restaurant-chain-u-s-serve-flame-grilled-hot-dogs (Links to an external site.); B. Mogan, “New Angriest Whopper Sandwich with Red Bun Debuts at Burger King Restaurants,” Burger King, March 30, 2016, accessed October 23, 2016, https://www.bk.com/news-press/new-angriest-whopper-sandwich-red-bun-debuts-burger-king-restaurants