Patrick Doyle understands what makes people buy fast food. As the CEO of Domino's (DPZ), he oversaw the famous "Pizza Turnaround" marketing campaign where he admitted that the chain's pizza just wasn't very good.
"The old days of trying to spin things simply doesn't work anymore," he said at the time "Great brands going forward are going to have a level of honesty and transparency that hasn't been seen before."
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The reality is that while Doyle was right that Domino's needed better food, he also understood that the chain simply needed to move from bad to good enough. Nobody orders from his former chain because it has great pizza. People buy from Domino's because it's cheap, really easy to order, and incredibly convenient.
So, while Doyle made a public show of fixing the Domino's menu, his real contribution was a relentless focus on execution. Now, as he embarks upon his new job as executive chairman of Burger King owner Restaurant Brands International (QSR), he seems ready to deliver the same combination of putting a public focus on food while investing heavily in improving operations.
Image source: The Packaging Company/TheStreet
Burger King Has One Edge Over McDonald's
Doyle does have a strategy for making customers care about his chain, which has fallen well behind McDonald's (MCD) in recent years.
“McDonald’s is pretty good at the burger business,” Doyle said during a conversation with investors. “There’s no question. They’ve done a great job of reimaging their units. Their units look terrific today. I think their loyalty program has been working very well for them. There is a lot that has gone right over there.”
But, he said, “they do not sell the Whopper.”
Doyle believes that the iconic sandwich, which has been a focus of Burger King's marketing and limited-time-offer strategy in recent years, is the key to its comeback.
“The Whopper may actually be a better brand than Burger King,” he told investors. “The Whopper itself is an extraordinary hamburger. There’s a lot you can do with that.”
The Whopper Is Not Doyle's Real Focus
While the Whopper has been (and will continue to be) a great marketing tool, Doyle's real focus is catching up with McDonald's when it comes to technology. The new executive chairman has joined at a time the company has agreed to make a $400 million investment in the Burger King brand.
"The plan includes Burger King investing $400M over the next two years, comprised of $150 million in advertising and digital investments to 'Fuel the Flame' and $250 million for a 'Royal Reset"' involving restaurant technology, kitchen equipment, building enhancements and high-quality remodels and relocations," the company shared in a press release. "This investment will work to enhance ongoing Franchisee investments to modernize the Burger King restaurant portfolio, and when combined with our brand re-positioning plan, menu enhancements and focus on operational excellence, will help drive our overarching goal of improving the guest experience and attracting more traffic back to the brand over time."
Doyle agrees with this strategy and believe the chain needs buy-in from its franchise owners to undergo its turnaround.
“This is what this business needs. We need to be partnering with our franchisee, in this case Burger King. This is a business that clearly needs momentum, and so they’ve gone in and they’ve said, 'You know what? We’re going to commit advertising dollars upfront. If we can get your profitability to this level, then you’re going to commit to spend this much more on advertising,'” he added.
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