Burger King, Fighting Recession, Plans to Boost Its TV Ad Budget
Burger King, trying to combat the recession and appease unhappy franchisees, plans to increase its media advertising budget by cutting back on other marketing expenses, executives close to the company said.</br></br>The company wants to pour most of its beefed-up budget into network television, the executives said.</br></br>A Burger King spokeswoman wouldn't comment specifically, but she conceded that "we are looking at various ways to become more effective in marketing, which includes taking a look at our TV advertising and how we buy {advertising} across the board." But she declined to elaborate, saying details are "highly confidential, proprietary and very competitive."</br></br>The No. 2 fast food chain, like most of its competitors, has been struggling with declining traffic and sales at its restaurants. At the same time, franchisees have been openly miserable over the "Sometimes you've gotta break the rules" campaign. The chain's top ad executive, Gary Langstaff, resigned late last month; he has been succeeded temporarily by Barry J. Gibbons, chief executive officer of Burger King, a unit of Grand Metropolitan PLC.</br></br>The impetus to bolster ad spending comes directly from Mr. Gibbons, who began revamping ad plans immediately after Mr. Langstaff's departure, industry executives said. The extra ad muscle would support a new campaign breaking in April or May, with the probable new slogan, "Your Way. Right Away," they said.