1. Introduction
Burger King is world’s 9th largest fast food brand. The company holds strong position at international stage. However, currently, Burger King is facing stiff competition, and is struggling with various internal and external challenges.
This article conducts the Burger King SWOT analysis to identify Burger King’s key strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
2. Company overview
| Company name | Burger King |
| Year founded | 1954 |
| Headquarters | Miami, |
| Industry | Fast food |
| Number of countries | Over 100 |
| Number of outlets | 19,789 |
| Burger King Revenue 2022 | $1.9 billion |
Burger King Products | Burgers, Sandwiches, Fast food items, Salads/Veggies, Beverages, Desserts
Burger King Competitors | Wendy’s, Yum, McDonalds, KFC, Pizza Hut, Subway, Starbucks
3. Burger King SWOT analysis
3.1. Burger King strengths 2023
3.1.1 Strong brand value
With $6,700 million brand worth, Burger King is among world’s most valuable fast food brands:
Source: Statista
3.1.2 Wide market reach
With over 19,789 stores, Burger King is currently present in more than 100 countries. It makes Burger King one of the world’s largest quick service restaurants.
3.1.3. Strong presence in home market
Burger King has strong presence in its home market. In 2023, Burger King is considered 6th largest fast food brand based on number of locations in USA:
Source: Scrape Hero
3.1.4 Innovative marketing
Burger King successfully uses the emotional and humorous advertising tactics to create WOM.
In 2020, Burger King grabbed everyone’s attention by encouraging customers to purchase from McDonalds in tough times:
Other than emotional advertising, Burger King is also skilled in humorous advertising.
For instance, in order to mock the McDonalds, Burger King dressed up as McDonalds for Halloween. Its ad campaign ‘come as a clown, and eat like a king’ not only teased McDonalds in a humorous way, but also generated 15% more sales all over the world.
These all tactics help Burger King in breaking the clutter, and grabbing everyone’s attention in overly saturated and noisy market.
3.1.5. Value for money
Mission statement of Burger King emphasizes on offering best value for money. Here is the Burger King Mission statement:
“Reasonably priced, high quality food, quickly served in clean and attractive surroundings”
In 2022, Business Insider conducted McDonald’s vs burger king comparison, and found Burger King to be winner, as it offered better value for money.
3.1.6. Innovative app
In 2019, Burger King grabbed everyone’s attention by launching its augmented-reality app:
Its mobile app is considered among the most innovative and best apps in the fast food market.
3.1.7. Successful rebranding
In 2021, Burger King rebranded itself to enhance the customer experience. The successful re-branding efforts enabled Burger King to outperform McDonalds. Customers visit intentions increased by 39%, and brand got 1.1 billion impressions in first week of rebranding. Burger King’s stock also increased by7.8%.
3.2. Burger King weaknesses 2023
3.2.1 Slow pandemic recovery
Burger King is experiencing slow pandemic recovery compared to its competitors- Wendy and McDonalds, as depicted in following graph:
Source: Bloomberg Second Measure
McDonald experienced 25% growth in 2020, Wendy’s sales growth was 18%, while, Burger King lagged behind with only 8% sales growth.
3.2.2. Low customer loyalty
• Alalanda and Ahmed (2021) conducted a McDonald’s vs burger king case study by surveying 60 parents, and confirmed that children were more loyal to McDonalds than Burger King.
• Palm’s (2022) survey with 5,173 customers also found that Burger King lags behind Chick-Fil-A and In-N-Out-Burger in customer loyalty.
• A 2022 customer loyalty survey by PR Newswire put Burger King behind KFC and other fast food brands based on customers’ willingness to recommend the brand:
Source: PR Newswire
3.2.3. Customer dissatisfaction
The American customer satisfaction index shows the customer satisfaction of Burger King is declining since 2017 due to poor quality and customer service issues. The satisfaction score in 2017 was ‘77’, which declined to ‘75’ in 2022:
Source: Statista
As per Wall Street Journal, Burger King is gradually losing the battle of Burger Giants due to overly complex menu, slow operations and outdated restaurants. Before 2020, Burger King was U.S’s 2nd largest fast food brand. In 2022, it has slipped to third position, behind Wendy’s.
Following graph shows the Burger King’s market share in the global fast food industry:
Source: Zippia.com
Above graph shows that Burger King holds only 1.2% market share, which is lesser than KFC, Subway, Dominos and Starbucks.
3.2.5. Falling revenue
Following graph shows the Burger King revenue growth has fallen over time:
Source: self-drawn (data collected from Statista)
3.2.6. Controversies
Burger King frequently gets roasted for its controversial actions. Here is the snapshot of Burger King’s sexist advertising that it posted on international women day:
Source: Washington Post
From serving non-veg whoopers to vegans, to passing sexist remarks, Burger King is damaging its reputation in competitive marketplace.
3.2.7. Deceiving advertising tactics
In 2022, Burger King was accused of false advertising. The brand faced allegations for making its food look too large in its advertisements.
Following image was presented in the South Florida court:
Source: NBC News
The company was alleged for showing its whoopers look 35% bigger in advertisements.
3.2.8. Franchise conflicts
Burger King is currently facing challenges in managing its franchise model. The constant change of franchise ownership, cash flow problems, and lack of sustainability in franchise modelling are some major issues that create conflict between Burger King and Franchise owners.
3.2.9. Price increase
Due to rising production cost, Burger King has increased its price, and is currently under fire by its customers after a series of price hikes.
After analyzing internal environment, we now conduct the PEST analysis of burger king to identify the opportunities and threats that reside in Burger King’s external business environment.
3.3. Burger King opportunities 2023
3.3.1. Technological development
Emerging technologies (like AI, robotics, Wi-Fi) present new opportunities to the fast food restaurants, enabling fast food brands to offer better in-store experience.
Burger King is actively investing on these technologies to stay ahead of competition. In 2022, Burger King announced Wi-Fi upgrade to create in-restaurant game powerhouse. It can elevate an overall in-store experience.
3.3.2. Automatic delivery system
Trend of automatic delivery through robots is on rise in quick service restaurant industry, as depicted in following graph:
Source: PMQ Pizza Media
As shown above, automation and robotic technology can potentially fill 82% of restaurant positions, including- customer service, food preparation, and other management related positions. It may enable Burger King to resolve skilled labor shortage issue, enhance operational efficiency, and optimize customer service experience.
The trend of consuming vegan and plant based meat is on rise:
Source: Statista
Considering the trend, Burger King may add healthy, vegetarian and plant based products in its menu to diversify the customer base.
3.3.4 Business expansion
Following graph shows that global fast food industry will grow with CAGR 4.9% from 2021 to 2029. The regional analysis shows expansion opportunities will be available in North American, European, Asia Pacific and Middle Eastern region:
Source: Maximize Market Research
Currently, Burger King has weaker presence at international stage compared to McDonalds and KFC. Burger King may consider expanding operations in developing markets to fuel the business growth.
3.3.5 Mobile app delivery
Even when the pandemic is over, there is a constant rise in the consumers’ preferences for online food delivery:
Source: E-strategy Trends
Burger King may bring innovations in its mobile app to capture the attention of young customers. Its augmented reality app has already grabbed the customers’ attention. Such innovations can help Burger King in expanding its tech-savvy, young customer base.
3.4. Burger King threats 2023
3.4.1. Rising inflation
Rising shipping and food inflation along with constant wage increase is creating cash-flow problems for Burger King. In 2022, the constant inflation rise led two Burger King franchisees towards bankruptcy.
3.4.2. Intensifying competition
Competition in the fast food industry has got intense. The key players including KFC, McDonalds, Subway, Starbucks, Dominos, Pizza Hut and Burger King are in a fierce price war to snatch market share.
Intensifying competition is shrinking the growth opportunities available to Burger King and other fast food players.
3.4.3. Growing health consciousness
A 2022 survey with 1,000 U.S adults showed people are actively trying to eat healthy food:
Source: Statista
This growing health consciousness is hurting the fast food businesses including Burger King.
3.4.4. Looming economic recession
Consumers’ purchasing power is reducing, which has reduced their basket size.
Source: QSR Magazine
The above graph shows the traffic to search restaurants declined by 4.1% in 2022 compared to 2021. The looming economic recession has become a threat for Burger King, and overall global restaurant industry.
3.4.5. Boycott campaign
Burger King faced boycott campaign in 2021 after passing sexist remarks. The company shared sexist post ‘Women belong to kitchen’ on international women day. It created an uproar on social media, resulting into the ‘Burger King’ boycott campaign.
3.4.6. Lawsuits
Burger King faced several lawsuits in last year, like- allegedly serving contaminated meat to customers, deceiving customers through false advertising, and facing sexual harassment allegations. Such lawsuits not only cause economic costs, but also threaten the brand reputation.
4. Summary- Burger King SWOT Analysis
| Burger King Strengths • Strong brand value • Wide reach • Innovative marketing • Value for money • Innovative app • Successful rebranding | Burger King Weaknesses • Slow pandemic recovery • Low customer loyalty • Losing market share & falling revenue • Controversies • Deceiving advertising • Franchise conflicts • Price increase |
| Burger King Opportunities • Technological development • Automotive delivery system • Healthy menu • Business expansion • Mobile app delivery | Burger King Threats • Rising inflation • Intensifying competition • Growing health consciousness • Looming economic recession • Boycott campaign • Lawsuits |
5. Recommendations
After discussing the Burger king problems and solutions, now we conclude the discussion by summing up key points.
• Address the controversies through effective communication and PR strategy.
• Avoid using deceiving advertising tactics that hamper customer trust.
• Resolve the conflicts with franchise owners through effective management.
• Take cost cutting measures rather than increasing the product prices.
• Invest more on technological developments (like Robotics, AI and gaming etc.) to optimize customer experience.
• Add healthy items to its menu, and introduce plant based meat products.
6. Conclusion
Based on Burger King SWOT analysis, we conclude that Burger King’s competitive positioning is currently being challenged by other players. The company must quickly respond to the changing external environment, and overcome its weaknesses to avoid the downfall.
Burger King’s innovative marketing strategy is its core strength that can help company in handling the stiff competition. Read our article on Burger King marketing strategy to know more about its marketing and promotion tactics.
7. References
Most valuable fast food brands worldwide 2021 | Statista. (2023, April 12). Statista.
ScrapeHero. (2023). 10 Largest food chains in the United States in 2023. ScrapeHero.
Bous, S. (2021). How Burger King pulled off the year’s most successful branding campaign. Fast Company.
ACSI: Burger King restaurants in the U.S. 2022 | Statista. (2022, July 27). Statista.
Flynn, J. (2023). 15+ Telling Burger King Statistics [2023]: Burger King Revenue + Sales. Zippia.
Burger King’s revenue 2022 | Statista. (2023, April 13). Statista.
Heil, E. (2021, March 8). Burger King’s ‘Women belong in the kitchen’ ad is a cautionary tale, experts say. Washington Post.
Burger King accused of false advertising in lawsuit alleging Whoppers are too small. (2022, April 4). NBC News.
Roper, W. (2020, November 10). Large Chains Push Plant-Based Meat Value. Statista Infographics.
Erickson, D. (2019). Food Delivery App Users, 2018-2023 [CHART]. e-Strategy Trends.
Buchholz, K. (2023, February 24). Are Americans Trying to Eat Healthy? Statista Infographics.
Is a Recession Coming for Restaurants? (n.d.). QSR Magazine.
