Planet Earth. 2020. Need I say more? You certainly have grasped the drama.
At the time I was working as an designer & art director in the Burger King squad at Ginga Agency, and on any given Tuesday, Burger King had an unpretentious meeting and dropped the job bomb of the year. It was time to develop and execute the brand's Black Friday action.
Here is a bit of context:
Black Friday for Burger King - which from now on we will call BK Friday - is the big event of the year for the brand in Brazil. In previous years, Burger King was scaling up the size of the action and accumulating successes with giant queues in stores all over the country, sales records, brand exposure and managing to surpass its main rival, McDonald's, in remembrance and perceived value.
However, in 2020 there was a small detail to be considered. A pandemic. I think you heard about it. And then the challenge that was already big, became a mission worthy of MacGyver.
And so our epic began.
The cards were on the table...
We needed to come up with a solution that:
- Had an impact similar or greater than previous years;
- Met customers' expectations;
- Reached Burger King's goals;
- Avoided generating crowds in stores (because of social distancing and pandemic);
- Was primarily online;
- Was prepared to avoid and minimize any technical issues.
The Process
After the initial briefing meeting with Burger King, we started an internal ideation process at Ginga. We gathered the creative, planning, media, service and development teams. As an extra, we always sought to involve BK people in the sprints, with the idea of including them in the process as soon as possible to contribute and be part of the construction.
This strategy of mixing the whole team and doing targeted sprints has proved to be quite effective. By having people from different areas and backgrounds, the ideas were naturally more diverse and, when combined with each other, they became deeper and richer.
With each sprint we were able to narrow down and refine the paths and, in sequence, already validate with Burger King until we finally reached one that met all the requirements. I present to you the BK Friday Grilled Games!
Grilled Games
The idea was to use a limitation, the need to be online, to our advantage. Creating simple yet entertaining games to be played on either mobile or computer.
Upon completing the games, the user would receive a coupon, which could then be redeemed within a month's time, ensuring that there was no need to rush and crowd the stores to purchase the products.
We worked in alongside with the development team to ensure that the website and games not only be ready and viable in time, but also to minimize the risk of bugs and failures, considering responsiveness and the number of users who would access the games on the day of the action.
In sync with the media team, we also developed all the communication pieces for BK Friday, to ensure that the hype was generated.
This is the result of our effort:
Key Results:
- 452% increase in Burger King App downloads
- More than 4 million minutes played in the games we created
- 1 million discount codes and offers distributed
- Number 1 brand in engagement on Black Friday in Brazil
Conclusion
It goes without saying that it was a mad rush, but the methods used and the team were so amazing that the feeling at the end of it all was one of joyful exhaustion. Knowing that the mission was accomplished with a happy Burger King, respecting the limits of the pandemic and satisfied customers, despite the occasional little challenges that always arises.
