Working for the king?
This piece in yesterday’s Ad Age made me think. I realized I am not sure whether to laud or question CP+B and the BK work.
We should all be ultimately accountable to business results. And, at times, it has seemed some BK initiatives build no brand more strongly than CP+B’s. Often, these have been followed by numbers pointing to BK’s failure to create gains on their arch nemesis.
But, in some ways, I root for the agency and The King. They have been bold. They have taken risks together. And some part of me believes that had it not been for their efforts the BK brand would have slunk into the shadows altogether.
Sure, we can measure and re-measure how much real growth BK has had versus McD’s. But, can you measure what would have happened to BK in a world where the work from CP+B never existed?
June 24th, 2009 at 4:35 pm
I hit this too and it has me thinking. The opinion or player that feels left out of this debate is the franchisee. They absolutely must buy into the brand and vision. They pay for the right and access to what the brand stands for and what it can do for their small biz. For them to get the maximum value they must execute and deliver on the promises made and dreamed up by corporate and the agency. That’s why it’s critical you don’t overlook the importance of one key point: help them understand that their willingness to sacrifice is what will determine their ultimate success.
The BK brand was in decline and, although not gaining on McD’s, the business environment they find themselves in today would look a whole lot worse without the work and “brand” as Russ K. and CP+B have it looking now.
I agree with CP+B, time is the missing component here. Stay focused. Stay committed. Execute like mad. But never lose sight that in a franchisee network the small business owners have a lot more on the line than anyone. Help them understand and believe and then everyone’s job gets a little easier.
A final thought, if great work fails to get great results over time, then maybe it really wasn’t great to begin with.