A Marketing Magazine email blast arrived this AM and above the fold was a story on the newest Harvey's Restaurants campaign from BBDO Toronto that launched November 26. The goal is to reinforce its brand offering (build your own burger) and enlarge its customer base. The idea is that people can log on to its microsite to build their own special burger and with the help of a "lawyer" they can get their burger copy protected. Since the launch, people have registered 4,000 unique burger combinations—during the first four hours one burger a minute, on average, was registered (how many employees does BBDO have?)
Look, I like the idea (tho' it's obvious it has been watered down from what was presented to the client) but it's not quite there. First, there are a few execution issues. This isn't me being a stickler for the tiny details, because it's forgetting about those little touches that can ruin a concept. For instance, on the site's video we are introduced to Morely Gunn, the guy who can register your burger and protect it from bounders. Anyway, the image show him in his office, but notice the door. Unless he is in the lobby, the lettering should be reversed. It loses authenticity.
How do you think people would have reacted if that happened in, say The Maltese Falcon? Either it was a dumb mistake or it thinks people are idiots.
The other execution problem is this:
Second, I have questions about to whom the campaign is directed. Harvey’s (which makes great burgers, BTW) has an older customer base but wants to go after the Millennials. It wants to skew to a younger audience because the older ones, who just happen to represent over 50% of consumer spending, control 70% of all the wealth and dominate almost 95% of CPG categories just aren’t good enough. It would rather have the customer with the fewest disposable dollars and higher debt-to-income obligations than any other demographic.
Finally, to grab that younger crowd, Harvey’s relies on Social Media. I guess that’s because, you know, the older crowd doesn’t use the Interweb. Don’t get me wrong here, I like the idea, but the targeting is misguided. It is based on an assumption that is can't possibly be verified.
The way I figure it, if Harvey's is killing it with an older demographic, why not increase market penetration of that older segment instead of trying to increase market share with destitute Millennials? And it wouldn't have to discount the product (and the brand) to do it.
*DISCLAIMER My creation is "The Meat and Other Stuff Burger."
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