What Has Burger King Been Cooking Up For China?

Think of a fast food chain in China which sells burgers. Let me guess, it’s yellow, has arches and can be found on every street from Shanghai to Shenzhen, am I right?

By the end of 2008 China had 2012 Macdonald’s outlets, whereas long standing nemesis,  Burger King had less than 20. While it seems Burger King cannot compete on the same tact as Mcdonalds, with the launch of new innovative campaigns and a slight restructuring of business modelling – we could yet see a revitalised BK.

Presently, BK has launched a campaign for it’s newest seasonal offering the “长长长享堡” or the ‘super seven incher’. For the next month Burger King will host an online competition for contestants to upload their most innovative ‘big mouth’ images for a chance to win BK coupons and even a mobile phone. This light hearted, short term campign is in stark contrast to the controversial ad campaign for the same burger in Singapore.Yet it is from the same island, that we could see big changes afoot for BK in China and the rest of Asia, big changes…

At the end of July, Burger King took a large depature from their franchise/franchisee business model and launched a flagship store on Singapore’s busy Orchard Road, owned solely by the Burger King Company (BKC). Whilst store remodelling of BK franchises has been taking place world wide to combat recession slumber, this move is part of a much bolder plan which could see Burger King firmly reposition itself as a lifestyle fast food outlet, as opposed to a fast food afficiandos answer to Mcdonalds.

The Singapore concept store rolled out to much fanfare, showcasing a sleek new design described as “punk-meets-industrial“. The store also features full wifi access and personalised listening zones. Customers can dine out to the sounds of their own mp3 players by plugging into dedicated speakers fixed into the special booths. A nice touch.

To further add to the lifestyle aspect and to plant their feet in pop culture, BKC also opened up BK Studios, featuring streetwear style interpretations of the Burger King imagery by US designers. BK studios was also a place for people to customize  tshirts, sneakers, skateboards, etc. and display their creativity all courtesy of BK. Five local pop culture icons of Singapore were invited to design graphics for the launch and a Burger King tshirt line is currently being retailed by local streetwear brand, Flesh Imp.

Concurrently, BK has also opened it’s first “Whopper Bar” in Singapore, the first in Asia. This sports bar meets fast food joint outlet extends upon the slogan “have it your way” with experts on hand to guide you through the customized burger building process.

The plans to roll out the “Whopper Bar” to the rest of Asia have already been made explicit, and we’re bound to see one soon in Shanghai. So it seems, BKC have been using Singapore as a fertile testing ground for Asia and Asia-pacific. If one thinks logically, and assumes that like Singapore which saw the launch of the flagship store directly after it’s “super seven inch” campaign, then perhaps a BK flagship store for China is not too far away…

I can definitely see a BK flagship store being well received in China. The disregard for higher prices in places like Häagen Dazs, reflect the fact that young Chinese still empahsise perceived quality and social setting in their purchasing decisions. Also, if there are no plans to roll out this style of store across China and into lower tiered cities, then fears of Chinese pragmatism outside of the top tiered cities isn’t a concern.

If successful the flagship store should act as a catalyst for reinvogorated sales accross franchised stores and thus help to realign the brand image of BK.

I for one relish (pun intended) the idea of the sound booths (perfect for student fast food get togethers) and while I have my own personal reservations about the BK influenced tshirts, I can’t see the same objections from a younger Chinese market. Previous streetwear collaborations between HK brand Silly Thing and Mcdonalds was mutually beneficial and didn’t seem to degrade any brand image – can Burger King do the same with a mainland streetwear brand? Either way, 2010 could be an exciting year for the Chinese burger fan.