Real Burger Case Study

Analysis and Evaluation 2 (BMAM 52301)

Under Supervision of: Dr. Mohamed Kesseba
Submitted by: Norhan Ayman
8/12/2020
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1. How would you evaluate RB vision, positioning and strategy?

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Real Burger was a company with a great vision. However, turning this vision into reality was impossible.
As Real Burger was fully focused on the brand which deviated their way from their vision,“why isn’t there
a healthy, higher quality fast food chain in the market?” The tag line of the company was “Real Burger”
which will have the good quality of food, but later they used stored and processed food thus making
customer unhappy. The only thing became famous was their Juices, which again deviated from what Tarek
& Omar want to build their franchise for.

Another main problem resulting in failing of the business was the huge focus of RB founders on brand
image. It was translated to a weak brand focused launch strategy that neglected the production and
operations management. The startup was good in the short-term period. The key successful factor of RB
brand management was based on its differentiation strategy and the synergy of its competitive advantages
with promotional tactics. The long-term goal of building a franchise system was not attained because of
lack of a long-term strategy.

In fact, Real Burger brand management strategy was good enough for the penetration phase of their
product life cycle (PLC). It developed a strong brand logo and promoted their products through creative
and interesting ways (protests, discounts, etc...) that caught much attention It was an effective strategy for
a short-term period. Unfortunately, this branding strategy was poor for a long-term period. It was not as
effective as needed to build strong brand awareness, establish a good position in a highly competitive
market environment and to prepare for building the franchise empire.

Not only the brand management strategy was somehow weak, but also it caused a dangerous neglection
of the process and operations management. The starting point of this problem was the hiring process.
Assigning a store manager based on his warm relationship with the business owners and not on the
knowledge, skills, experiences and his possible added value was a big mistake to be paid for.

Budget allocation was also a weakness to be considered. The company spent an important amount of its
structure cost on consultancy, research, and marketing. However, founders forget about allocating enough
money to improve the efficiency and the effectiveness of its productions process. A good example of a
better budget allocation could have been providing employees with adequate trainings to significantly
boost their performances and thus, increase customer satisfaction.

The control phase of the productions and operation management was poor. Improving the stores design,
reducing the preparation and service time, and adapting the overall vision of the business to the market
realities could have been important moves the business can do to not only improve the customer
experience on the short term, but also improve the company’s market position on the long run.

In a nutshell, I believe that Real Burger was fully focused on the brand which departed their way from the
vision, through the marketing matrix strategy of Real Burger, They can’t successfully deliver their
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concept to consumers in terms of unique products, location selection, community involvement, and
tangible as well as intangible assets. Most importantly, the key successful factors of RB are based not
only on its differentiation strategy but also the synergy of its competitive advantages with
promotional tactics. Their aggressive marketing techniques failed to respond to the market environment.

I agree that Real Burger had poor market planning, poor strategy, poor implementation and poor control.
while the implementation of the strategy is more important than simply getting the strategy right:It is easy
to formulate a good strategy but success depends on whether that strategy can translate into actions that
generate profit for the firm.For example, both McDonalds and RB have the same strategy of offering
gourmet-quality fast food, however due to their differences in the implementation of strategy, this
consequently led to virtually the opposite results.

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2. Evaluate RB execution and marketing functional effectiveness –the marketing mix (Pricing -
Promotional effectiveness - Product and Place)
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2- Marketing mix aspects which went wrong:

a-Place
The place of the store where they build went wrong. They bought a store in a constructional site which get
diverted from all the people and customers. Real Burger also had to alter its signage from “Real Burger” to
“RB” due to insufficient funds. This weakened the brand, particularly since this occurred at an early stage
when it needed to establish image differentiation. They lost the word BURGER. If the store was renamed in
full, people by seeing the name would think that the store is good for burgers not for Juices.

RB stores aesthetically looked like a typical fast-food chain, such as Burger King, failing to differentiate its
physical appearance from competitors. Competitors who focused on gourmet food created a more upscale
dining experience, while RB was too similar to a fast-food chain. Real Burger was unsuccessful at filling
this gourmet fast food gap, which led to consumers choosing a fast-food chain or the more distinguished
high-end dining options, but not RB.

b-Product
The quality of food prepared changed drastically below average when they hired a consultant who started
using processed and stored food. As well as time efficiency is crucial in the fast food market, and although
for the most part they provided speedy service, some customers reported waiting ten minutes

c- Promotion
They promoted their brand through a TV episode which were actually good, but he forgot to keep in mind
that it was a startup company and funds are limited. So, rather spending fund for building and operation in a
store, or to hire some professional they spend all the funds to advertising that. They focused more on the
brand than on vision and value of the store.
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d- Price
Real Burger paralleled their prices with their competitors (Burger King, McDonalds), However, the firm’s
market research detected that consumers would be willing to pay premium price for higher quality food.
Therefore, a higher price may have proved beneficial, as the target market would have paid the extra price
for better quality.

Recommendations:
 Appoint a business person who has run a fast food outlet before. He will be knowing all the needs
that a customer wants and will be able to fulfill their demands.
 High the outlet name as Burger and promote it in a way such that your store will be known to be
best in Burger.
 Don’t focus much on brand name putting. Promote a video of your burger making. People who are
health conscious can get to tap into your making of food and they will visit your store.
 Make sure to gather customer feedback through feedback form or need of a strategic partner rather
than a consultant.
 Real Burger should place more focus on their intended target audience.
 Also RB need to focus on the core of their business, rather than PR and advertising.
 Deeper thought into planning the everyday running and staffing of Real Burger .
 Greater research into store locations which encompass entirely, RB's socio-demographic.