By Kamal Patro
As the lockdowns have become stricter with every passing month in the UK and Rest of Europe, it has taken its toll on small eateries and local restaurants some of which are on the verge of shutting down.
Looking at the extremity of the issue, the fast-food giant announced that they would not advertise their products for a certain time and offer space to local independent restaurants in the UK, France to use & promote its Instagram account for free until they are good to go and open up.
Burger King’s new strategy of supporting struggling small businesses shows its intent on giving back to the community to the best of its ability.
Explaining its act of generosity, Burger King tweeted to all of its loyal customer base “They need you more than ever!”, before exhorting everyone not to forget their local restaurants the next time they need to satisfy their hunger cravings.
This can also be seen as a marketing masterstroke by the brand as this provides them with positive PR which can be seen through the media coverage they received after this step. During these difficult times, initiatives like these hit a special chord amongst the general public which could lead to long term benefits for the corporation.
Burger King has a good history with regards to crossing the fast-food divide, like when they invited their whooper fans to go for local McDonald’s products and also when they showed their willingness to collaborate with them bringing out a whole new product — the McWhopper, combining the best-known entity of both the big brands. This clearly shows their intent on supporting the fast-food industry as a whole.
The response from the local communities has already been extremely positive and this move has resulted in growth in sales for the restaurants being promoted on BK’s Instagram account. It has also put the onus on other big corporations to come up with initiatives like these to help out those who are suffering the most in these times.
While this is a move in a positive direction, it is important to understand how much does a move like this actually help the restaurants in need long term, and should big corporations like BK do more to help them out maybe by providing monetary support to relieve some of the financial distress caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The article is written for 180 Degrees Consulting, Delhi Technological University, under the campaign #MarketingForACause. To read more content shared by our other consultants, please check out our LinkedIn page- https://www.linkedin.com/company/180dc-dtu
