The fast-food wars have always been fought on two fronts: the one where you try to sell more hamburgers, and the one where you try to convince people you are the kind of place that sells hamburgers worth buying. Burger King and Wendy's, the perennial also-rans to McDonald's, are now engaged in both simultaneously.
Burger King's turnaround effort, which the company has branded "Reclaim the Flame" with the sort of earnestness that suggests someone in a conference room believed the name would inspire franchisees, appears to be gaining traction. The chain has reported sales improvements, a development that will be welcomed by Restaurant Brands International, the parent company that has spent recent years watching its flagship burger brand drift into a kind of operational malaise.
Part of the effort has involved a return to basics — or at least the appearance of one. Tom Curtis, the president of Burger King U.S., has been publicizing his personal phone number and inviting customers to call with complaints and suggestions. One caller, a man named Parker from Great Falls, reported a broken sign at his local restaurant. The company fixed it and then promoted the exchange on social media. (Whether Parker expected to become a minor character in a corporate narrative when he picked up the phone is unclear.)
Wendy's, meanwhile, is contending with what executives like to call "brand drift," which is the polite way of saying that consumers have started to forget why they should care. The Dublin, Ohio-based chain, which has long positioned itself as the quick-service restaurant for people who believe they have slightly better taste than the average drive-through customer, now finds itself squeezed by competitors on all sides.
The two chains have been fighting this particular battle, in one form or another, since the Reagan administration. That neither has yet managed a decisive victory may be the most telling detail of all.
Original story published in adage.com: "Burger King and Wendy's fight for relevance - Ad Age"