Will the real Burger King please stand up?
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This week, Burger King unveiled its new futuristic 20/20 store concept. Wow. The only thing missing from this concept is George Jetson and his boy Elroy.
This announcement follows another recent fast food makeover from McDonald’s that has designed a comfortable, café-like atmosphere. These makeovers are designed to increase dine-in traffic and compete head-to-head with fast causal restaurants like Panera and Atlanta Bread Company.
For many brands, creating a branded experience is a great way to bring the brand to life. For example, the Starbucks brand was built around the delivery of the “third place” experience. Other brands like Charmin and even Tide have thought out of the box (or package) to find ways to better connect with consumers and create a true experience around the brand.
But, what type of brand experience is Burger King trying to deliver? Will people remember their BK experience? Probably. Does the design reinforce its unique flamebroiled burgers? Well, the red flame chandeliers make me think so. Will it drive sales and increase brand loyalty? Only time will tell.
Let’s just hope its signature fragrance isn’t part of the welcome at the new stores.
A New Spin on Laundry
A recently launched product may change your life: or at least, your laundry. Purex recently introduced Purex Complete 3-in-1 to the laundry detergent market. Based on the concept of “laundry simplified,” Complete 3-in-1 is the ultimate all in one laundry solution. The product offers a unique approach by combining detergent, fabric softener, and antistatic into one single sheet. The laundry sheet is used first in the washing machine as a detergent. It then travels to the dryer, acting as a fabric softener and antistatic agent activated by heat. Purex claims that their new sheet is not only cost effective, eliminating the need for multiple laundry products, but environmentally friendly as well. The product uses less water that is added to liquid detergents and less packaging to keep our landfills free from empty bottles.
The Complete 3-in-1 name, though a bit lengthy, is descriptive in nature most likely to convey the product benefits transparently to a consumer that may not have heard of the product before cruising down Aisle 7. The only down side of the name may come with future product extensions like “unscented” or “hypoallergenic”. The packaging could potentially become a bit crowded with descriptors.
Currently, Procter & Gamble detergent brands (Tide and Cheer) lead the market with a commanding 57.1% of the liquid detergent market and 75% of the powder detergent market (statistics according to IRI). But with such an innovative product, Purex stands to gain a bit of that share by taking a stand as a first mover. There are likely to be several ‘me too’ products popping up from other brands soon.
Contributed by Laine Beyerl
