Burger King has long wanted customers to have it their way. Now it wants them to feel like royalty, even if it means taking a little bit longer to scarf down their Whoppers and fries.You Rule.As part of a franchise-wide rebranding, the iconic burger chain is requiring its restaurants to put ‘good vibes’ ahead of speed. Or even the quality of its food. That means, for instance, offering a paper crown to each and every customer, regardless of the their age or gender and offering up personal greetings no matter how corny or banal. It’s all part of a USD$400 million effort to boost flagging sales and increase traffic to its stores.“Say it’s a guy who’s like 38 years old, no kids in the car and I got to say to him: ‘Do you want a crown?’ You can’t help but smile when you say that, and he can’t help but laugh back,” said Deborah Derby, the chief executive officer of Burger King’s largest US franchisee, Carrols Restaurant Group Inc. which operates more than 1,000 outlets in the Lower 48. “It forces that extra two minutes of engagement.”.It comes after fast food sales in Canada cratered from nearly $100 billion prior to the pandemic to about $30 billion in 2022, according to market data.Company research by Toronto-based Restaurant Brands International Inc. — which also owns iconic Canadian doughnut and coffee retailer Tim Horton’s — has shown that customers perceive friendly staff to be faster than they actually are and vice versa. One way to potentially curb complaints about the food and the service is the requirement workers offer guests the signature cardboard crown, it said. Staff are also required to say “You Rule” as often as possible, a new spin on the company’s decades-old tagline of ‘Have it your Way’.Burger King is conducting secret store visits to make sure they do just that. The chain also verifies that Whoppers are coming out at the proper temperature and within precisely 85 seconds after ordering.According to its research, the top franchisees who follow the requirements generate on average 65% higher profits than those that don’t. It’s important, because only the top ranked operators will be allowed to expand with multiple outlets..On the Burger King Canada website, the company says the slogan You Rule “is a key part of the new Burger King brand positioning and will impact every Guest touchpoint from traditional advertising to the in-restaurant experience.” “‘You Rule’ is about celebrating everyday royalty and puts the Guest at the forefront of everything the brand does. And, as an added nod to the powerful Burger King equity, it comes to life through a new take on the classic ‘Have it Your Way jingle from the 1970s.In all, Canadians spent about $29.8 billion on fast food in 2022, up 8.2% from 2021 but down from $93 billion pre-pandemic in 2019. Last year it employed 396,000 people, mostly in Ontario. Sales are expected to recover to $50 billion by 2027.According to the Clever Canadian website, Burger King ranks 14th among Canadian fast food chains in terms of customer satisfaction and sales, behind KFC but ahead of Pizza Hut.The top fast food brand in the country? Bonus points if you guessed Timmies, which generated more than $5 billion in sales in 2022 — nearly a fifth of all industry revenue — from 4,500 outlets. That was followed by St. John’s based Mary Brown’s chicken.
Burger King has long wanted customers to have it their way. Now it wants them to feel like royalty, even if it means taking a little bit longer to scarf down their Whoppers and fries.You Rule.As part of a franchise-wide rebranding, the iconic burger chain is requiring its restaurants to put ‘good vibes’ ahead of speed. Or even the quality of its food. That means, for instance, offering a paper crown to each and every customer, regardless of the their age or gender and offering up personal greetings no matter how corny or banal. It’s all part of a USD$400 million effort to boost flagging sales and increase traffic to its stores.“Say it’s a guy who’s like 38 years old, no kids in the car and I got to say to him: ‘Do you want a crown?’ You can’t help but smile when you say that, and he can’t help but laugh back,” said Deborah Derby, the chief executive officer of Burger King’s largest US franchisee, Carrols Restaurant Group Inc. which operates more than 1,000 outlets in the Lower 48. “It forces that extra two minutes of engagement.”.It comes after fast food sales in Canada cratered from nearly $100 billion prior to the pandemic to about $30 billion in 2022, according to market data.Company research by Toronto-based Restaurant Brands International Inc. — which also owns iconic Canadian doughnut and coffee retailer Tim Horton’s — has shown that customers perceive friendly staff to be faster than they actually are and vice versa. One way to potentially curb complaints about the food and the service is the requirement workers offer guests the signature cardboard crown, it said. Staff are also required to say “You Rule” as often as possible, a new spin on the company’s decades-old tagline of ‘Have it your Way’.Burger King is conducting secret store visits to make sure they do just that. The chain also verifies that Whoppers are coming out at the proper temperature and within precisely 85 seconds after ordering.According to its research, the top franchisees who follow the requirements generate on average 65% higher profits than those that don’t. It’s important, because only the top ranked operators will be allowed to expand with multiple outlets..On the Burger King Canada website, the company says the slogan You Rule “is a key part of the new Burger King brand positioning and will impact every Guest touchpoint from traditional advertising to the in-restaurant experience.” “‘You Rule’ is about celebrating everyday royalty and puts the Guest at the forefront of everything the brand does. And, as an added nod to the powerful Burger King equity, it comes to life through a new take on the classic ‘Have it Your Way jingle from the 1970s.In all, Canadians spent about $29.8 billion on fast food in 2022, up 8.2% from 2021 but down from $93 billion pre-pandemic in 2019. Last year it employed 396,000 people, mostly in Ontario. Sales are expected to recover to $50 billion by 2027.According to the Clever Canadian website, Burger King ranks 14th among Canadian fast food chains in terms of customer satisfaction and sales, behind KFC but ahead of Pizza Hut.The top fast food brand in the country? Bonus points if you guessed Timmies, which generated more than $5 billion in sales in 2022 — nearly a fifth of all industry revenue — from 4,500 outlets. That was followed by St. John’s based Mary Brown’s chicken.
