MIAMI —Burger King is set to launch a print campaign focusing on its diversity initiatives to encourage more minorities and women to become employees, franchisees and suppliers.
The “Real People, Real Success” campaign includes three testimonial ads, two featuring current Burger King franchisees and the other showcasing a supplier. As of last month, the ads were slated to break soon in such publications as Hispanic Enterprise, Black Enterprise and Latino Leaders, according to Cirabel Lardizabal Olson, Burger King’s director of inclusion and external affairs. —Burger King is set to launch a print campaign focusing on its diversity initiatives to encourage more minorities and women to become employees, franchisees and suppliers.
“At Burger King we are very interested in increasing the number of minority and women franchisees and suppliers,” she said. “This campaign is targeting those entrepreneurs.” —Burger King is set to launch a print campaign focusing on its diversity initiatives to encourage more minorities and women to become employees, franchisees and suppliers.
The chain’s effort comes amid franchisee-focused marketing campaigns by other chains, ranging from 5,000-plus-U.S.-unit Dunkin’ Donuts to the small Bar-B-Cutie chain, a Nashville, Tenn.-based operator with 14 restaurants. —Burger King is set to launch a print campaign focusing on its diversity initiatives to encourage more minorities and women to become employees, franchisees and suppliers.
The approach taken by Burger King, which has more than 7,000 U.S. units, is different from those other efforts because it’s focusing exclusively on minorities and women. In highlighting success stories, however, the campaign is similar to the way McDonald’s Corp. showcased celebrities, athletes, artists, photographers and others in its “My First” TV campaign, which was a recruitment tool to promote job opportunities at the chain. —Burger King is set to launch a print campaign focusing on its diversity initiatives to encourage more minorities and women to become employees, franchisees and suppliers.
One ad in the Burger King campaign is a stylized black-and-white portrait highlighting a Cuban-American man who began his career as a restaurant employee and now owns about 40 Burger King restaurants. —Burger King is set to launch a print campaign focusing on its diversity initiatives to encourage more minorities and women to become employees, franchisees and suppliers.
Another focuses on an African-American woman who is one of Burger King’s largest suppliers. The third features Texas BK star Robespierre St. Juste, a Haitian native who rose through the Burger King ranks from an assistant manager to operating 15 restaurants in San Antonio. —Burger King is set to launch a print campaign focusing on its diversity initiatives to encourage more minorities and women to become employees, franchisees and suppliers.
St. Juste offers this testimonial: “What started as a temporary job became an amazing and successful journey, filled with opportunity for growth and development. For the past 25 years, Burger King restaurants have not only been my real job, they’ve also been my real life.” —Burger King is set to launch a print campaign focusing on its diversity initiatives to encourage more minorities and women to become employees, franchisees and suppliers.
The campaign is part of Burger King’s longstanding diversity initiatives, Lardizabal Olson said, but it’s on a larger scale than previous efforts to attract minorities and women as employees, franchisees and suppliers. The campaign also is an acknowledgement of the diverse demographics of the Burger King market, she said. —Burger King is set to launch a print campaign focusing on its diversity initiatives to encourage more minorities and women to become employees, franchisees and suppliers.
As it seeks to increase the number of minorities and women in its system, however, Burger King faces competition from other chains that are doing the same. —Burger King is set to launch a print campaign focusing on its diversity initiatives to encourage more minorities and women to become employees, franchisees and suppliers.
Domino’s Pizza has implemented a program that helps minority general managers become franchisees and provides small, minority-owned businesses opportunities to become suppliers. —Burger King is set to launch a print campaign focusing on its diversity initiatives to encourage more minorities and women to become employees, franchisees and suppliers.
McDonald’s Corp. has programs targeting potential Hispanic and African-American franchisees and last year did $5.2 billion in business with supply companies owned by woman and minorities. —Burger King is set to launch a print campaign focusing on its diversity initiatives to encourage more minorities and women to become employees, franchisees and suppliers.
The number of African-American and Hispanic-owned Burger Kings has risen 8.5 percent since 2000, according to the company. Its website showcases such franchisees as Al Cabrera, who owns 178 units and is the chain’s largest minority franchisee. Charles H. James, whose C.H. James Restaurants Holdings operates 40 units, is the largest African-American franchisee. Herman Li, president of the Burger King Asian Franchisee Association, owns more than 50 restaurants. —Burger King is set to launch a print campaign focusing on its diversity initiatives to encourage more minorities and women to become employees, franchisees and suppliers.
Burger King chose to take a success-story approach in the ad campaign to illustrate the variety of opportunities for women and minorities, Lardizabal Olson said. —Burger King is set to launch a print campaign focusing on its diversity initiatives to encourage more minorities and women to become employees, franchisees and suppliers.
“It was applicable to so many different parts of our company,” she said. “I think the campaign is very strong. Everybody has a different idea of success.” —Burger King is set to launch a print campaign focusing on its diversity initiatives to encourage more minorities and women to become employees, franchisees and suppliers.
The campaign initially will run 12 months, she said. Three more ads are in production and will be rotated into the ad schedule. The people who will appear in the ads were picked after discussions with franchisees and suppliers, Lardizabal said. —Burger King is set to launch a print campaign focusing on its diversity initiatives to encourage more minorities and women to become employees, franchisees and suppliers.
One of the initial ads was shown during the national conference of the National Council of La Raza, the largest Hispanic civil-rights group in the United States. Burger King has received “nothing but positive feedback” since then from franchisees and suppliers, she said. —Burger King is set to launch a print campaign focusing on its diversity initiatives to encourage more minorities and women to become employees, franchisees and suppliers.
“The beauty of this campaign is that you don’t get tired of it,” Lardizabal Olson said. “You can always come up with success stories. This can have a life of its own.” —Burger King is set to launch a print campaign focusing on its diversity initiatives to encourage more minorities and women to become employees, franchisees and suppliers.
