Burger King: Developing a Marketing Mix for Growth SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Burger King: Developing a Marketing Mix for Growth
In 2015, Burger King, one of America's oldest fast-food chains, continues to face fierce competition from McDonald's, Wendy's and the emerging fast-casual restaurant chains. As a result, Burger King needs to develop a marketing mix that will distance it from its competitors and narrow the gap with McDonald's, the industry leader. The marketing mix will also influence Burger King's allocation of resources between domestic and international markets. Fabrizio Di Muro is affiliated with University of Winnipeg.
Swot Analysis of "Burger King: Developing a Marketing Mix for Growth" written by Fabrizio Di Muro includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Burger King facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Burger King: Developing a Marketing Mix for Growth case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Marketing and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Burger King: Developing a Marketing Mix for Growth casestudy better are - – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, wage bills are increasing, technology disruption, increasing energy prices, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, geopolitical disruptions,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing commodity prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Burger King: Developing a Marketing Mix for Growth
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Burger King: Developing a Marketing Mix for Growth case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Burger King, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Burger King operates in.
According to Harvard Business Review, 75% of the managers use SWOT analysis for various purposes such as – evaluating current scenario, strategic planning, new venture feasibility, personal growth goals, new market entry, Go To market strategies, portfolio management and strategic trade-off assessment, organizational restructuring, etc.
SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix
SWOT analysis of Burger King: Developing a Marketing Mix for Growth can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Burger King: Developing a Marketing Mix for Growth case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Burger King
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Sales & Marketing field.
4. Making a Sales & Marketing topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Burger King
Strengths Burger King: Developing a Marketing Mix for Growth | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Burger King in Burger King: Developing a Marketing Mix for Growth Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of Burger King
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Burger King does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Burger King: Developing a Marketing Mix for Growth firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Burger King to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Burger King to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Burger King in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Burger King in the sector have low bargaining power. Burger King: Developing a Marketing Mix for Growth has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Burger King to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Burger King digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Burger King has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
Diverse revenue streams
– Burger King is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Burger King: Developing a Marketing Mix for Growth case study a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.
Analytics focus
– Burger King is putting a lot of focus on utilizing the power of analytics in business decision making. This has put it among the leading players in the industry. The technology infrastructure suggested by Fabrizio Di Muro can also help it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Burger King is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Burger King: Developing a Marketing Mix for Growth are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Training and development
– Burger King has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Burger King: Developing a Marketing Mix for Growth Harvard Business Review case study by analyzing – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Burger King: Developing a Marketing Mix for Growth Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
High brand equity
– Burger King has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Burger King to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Burger King has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive segment. Secondly the value chain collaborators of the firm in Burger King: Developing a Marketing Mix for Growth HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Weaknesses Burger King: Developing a Marketing Mix for Growth | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Burger King: Developing a Marketing Mix for Growth are -
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Burger King: Developing a Marketing Mix for Growth that the firm needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department in the case Burger King: Developing a Marketing Mix for Growth can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Burger King is planning to shift buying processes online.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Burger King: Developing a Marketing Mix for Growth HBR case study still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Burger King has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Fabrizio Di Muro suggests that, Burger King is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Burger King, firm in the HBR case study Burger King: Developing a Marketing Mix for Growth needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Burger King is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Burger King needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Burger King to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Burger King has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Burger King: Developing a Marketing Mix for Growth, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Sales & Marketing strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Burger King has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Burger King is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Burger King: Developing a Marketing Mix for Growth can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Need for greater diversity
– Burger King has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Burger King: Developing a Marketing Mix for Growth has high operating costs in the. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Burger King 's lucrative customers.
Opportunities Burger King: Developing a Marketing Mix for Growth | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities highlighted in the Harvard Business Review case study Burger King: Developing a Marketing Mix for Growth are -
Buying journey improvements
– Burger King can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Burger King: Developing a Marketing Mix for Growth suggest that firm can provide automated chats to help consumers solve their own problems, provide online suggestions to get maximum out of the products and services, and help consumers to build a community where they can interact with each other to develop new features and uses.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Burger King in the consumer business. Now Burger King can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Burger King to increase its market reach. Burger King will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Developing new processes and practices
– Burger King can develop new processes and procedures in Sales & Marketing industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Burger King to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Burger King can build a diversified supply chain model across various countries in - South East Asia, India, and other parts of the world. This reconfiguration of global supply chain can help, as suggested in case study, Burger King: Developing a Marketing Mix for Growth, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Loyalty marketing
– Burger King has focused on building a highly responsive customer relationship management platform. This platform is built on in-house data and driven by analytics and artificial intelligence. The customer analytics can help the organization to fine tune its loyalty marketing efforts, increase the wallet share of the organization, reduce wastage on mainstream advertising spending, build better pricing strategies using personalization, etc.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Burger King is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Burger King: Developing a Marketing Mix for Growth case study suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Burger King can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Burger King operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Sales & Marketing industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Burger King can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Burger King has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Burger King to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Burger King: Developing a Marketing Mix for Growth case study. Burger King can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Burger King can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the Sales & Marketing segment.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Burger King can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Threats Burger King: Developing a Marketing Mix for Growth External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Burger King: Developing a Marketing Mix for Growth are -
High level of anxiety and lack of motivation
– the Great Resignation in United States is the sign of broader dissatisfaction among the workforce in United States. Burger King needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Increasing wage structure of Burger King
– Post Covid-19 there is a sharp increase in the wages especially in the jobs that require interaction with people. The increasing wages can put downward pressure on the margins of Burger King.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Burger King has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Burger King needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Sales & Marketing sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Burger King in the Sales & Marketing industry. The Sales & Marketing industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Burger King can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Burger King with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Burger King high dependence on third party suppliers can disrupt its processes and delivery mechanism. For example -the current troubles of car makers because of chip shortage is because the chip companies started producing chips for electronic companies rather than car manufacturers.
Environmental challenges
– Burger King needs to have a robust strategy against the disruptions arising from climate change and energy requirements. EU has identified it as key priority area and spending 30% of its 880 billion Euros European post Covid-19 recovery funds on green technology. Burger King can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
Backlash against dominant players
– US Congress and other legislative arms of the government are getting tough on big business especially technology companies. The digital arm of Burger King business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Burger King demand
– There is a high probability of declining consumer confidence, given – high inflammation rate, rise of gig economy, lower job stability, increasing cost of living, higher interest rates, and aging demography. All the factors contribute to people saving higher rate of their income, resulting in lower consumer demand in the industry and other sectors.
New competition
– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for Burger King in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Capital market disruption
– During the Covid-19, Dow Jones has touched record high. The valuations of a number of companies are way beyond their existing business model potential. This can lead to capital market correction which can put a number of suppliers, collaborators, value chain partners in great financial difficulty. It will directly impact the business of Burger King.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Burger King: Developing a Marketing Mix for Growth Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers in the HBR case study Burger King: Developing a Marketing Mix for Growth needs to zero down on the relative importance of each factor mentioned in the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants.
We can provide the relative importance to each factor by assigning relative weights. Weighted SWOT analysis process is a three stage process –
First stage for doing weighted SWOT analysis of the case study Burger King: Developing a Marketing Mix for Growth is to rank the strengths and weaknesses of the organization. This will help you to assess the most important strengths and weaknesses of the firm and which one of the strengths and weaknesses mentioned in the initial lists are marginal and can be left out.
Second stage for conducting weighted SWOT analysis of the Harvard case study Burger King: Developing a Marketing Mix for Growth is to give probabilities to the external strategic factors thus better understanding the opportunities and threats arising out of macro environment changes and developments.
Third stage of constructing weighted SWOT analysis of Burger King: Developing a Marketing Mix for Growth is to provide strategic recommendations includes – joining likelihood of external strategic factors such as opportunities and threats to the internal strategic factors – strengths and weaknesses. You should start with external factors as they will provide the direction of the overall industry. Secondly by joining probabilities with internal strategic factors can help the company not only strategic fit but also the most probably strategic trade-off that Burger King needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.