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Awards are great, but do they sell burgers?

We all know Crispin Porter + Bogusky's groundbreaking work for Burger King -- subservient chicken, Whopper Freakout, Whopper Sacrifice, etc. -- because the campaigns have generated a groundswell of consumer word-of-mouth while simultaneously nabbing every major award. To make a long story short, these campaigns have shown the creative potential available in interactive advertising.

But an article today from Ad Age presents a unique wrinkle: For all the well-publicized work CP+B has done, it hasn't helped the King gain any ground against its biggest rival -- McDonald's. In fact, despite the hoopla surrounding CP+B's viral videos and Facebook apps, Burger King has actually lost ground to Ronald and company.

"Between 2003 -- the year before Burger King hired Crispin as agency of record -- and 2008, Burger King's share of the burger-chain market fell to 14.2% from 15.6%, according to Technomic," according to the article.

To be fair, it's not necessarily the agency's fault. BK's campaigns have centered on selling their premier (read: more expensive) menu items, and then along came the recession. But in the end, what's more important: forward-thinking advertising that breaks new ground in new media, or beating the competition?

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Rich Cherecwich

Rich is the deputy editor for iMedia Connection. He is responsible for developing, editing, and...

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