Fast-food chains use many tactics to get fans excited about new and returning menu items.
Sometimes they use a limited-release strategy where an item appears only in select markets. By letting some, but not all, of a brand's fans taste a new or returning menu item, a chain can build both traditional and social-media buzz, in particular anticipation for a national release.
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McDonald's (MCD) -) did this recently with its returning Breakfast Bagels. The chain slowly brought them to various markets nationally, promoting them with billboards. It was a local campaign that slowly became a national one.
The chain never announced the return of one of its most-requested past items. Instead, it brought it back selectively, which built buzz for its eventual nationwide return.
Yum Brands' (YUM) -) Taco Bell has a different marketing strategy: It calls on fans to vote on which classic past menu item they want the chain to bring back. That leads to some tough choices, but at least most fans of the chain have tasted both items.
Burger King is borrowing Taco Bell's fan-vote method, but it's putting a spin on the promotion.
Instead of pitting two past favorites against each other, the Restaurant Brands International (QSR) -) chain is offering customers the choice of an old favorite or a completely new item that has never appeared on a Burger King menu.
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Burger King fans face a tough choice
Burger King is asking fans to choose between one of its most popular Whopper variants and a new flavor of Chicken Fries that received a limited local-market test but is otherwise a completely new menu item.
Members of the BK Royal Perks loyalty program now can vote for whether the Ghost Pepper Whopper or the new Ghost Pepper Chicken Fries should make a limited-time appearance on the chain's menu.
Fans vote through Burger King's app. The chain has not specified when a winner will be decided, but it's fair to say that the contest is likely to close before Halloween, so the winner can be on the menu for the spooky holiday.
"The Ghost Pepper Whopper made its nationwide debut back in October 2022 while Ghost Pepper Chicken Fries were made available as part of a very limited test at select locations back in 2021," Chew Boom noted.
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Burger King builds around the Whopper
While McDonalds has multiple billion-dollar brands, Burger King really has only the Whopper. The chain has leveraged that with all its versions of the famous burger, and it was the subject of a recent marketing campaign.
Restaurant Brands Chief Executive Josh Kobza spoke about those efforts during the company's second-quarter-earnings call.
"Our Ways to Whopper campaign reminded guests that they can have it their way and choose between one of the over 220,000 ways to build the Whopper," he said.
"We layered this campaign with the Whopper Jr. Duo, our core discount initiative, and the Spider-Verse Whopper promotion, both of which were targeted towards building the next generation of Whopper lovers."
Those efforts were successful, according to Kobza.
"These campaigns drove higher average tickets and attracted younger guests without impacting core Whopper volumes," he shared.
