In revived fast food icon race, Burger King and KFC show promise

Ted MarzilliCEO YouGov Direct
June 16, 2015, 8:46 PM GMT+0

Since the race of revived fast food icons began one month ago, the King and the Colonel are potentially drawing more customers than the Hamburglar.

With these characters re-appearing in new campaigns (including a real life showing of The King next to American Pharoah’s trainer at The Belmont Stakes), consumer perception research service YouGov BrandIndex researched how much these resurrected mascots might be moving the needle with fast food eaters.

While ad awareness increased the most for McDonald’s and KFC with fast food eaters, Burger King saw the greatest sustained growth in purchase consideration, a key measurement of potential revenue, despite having the lowest ad awareness of the three.

From mid-May through mid-June, McDonald’s saw its ad awareness among fast food eaters increase from 50% to 54%. KFC, after the Colonel’s return, rose seven points from 34% to 41% over the same time frame. By comparison, Burger King moved a softer 33% to 36%.

However, when it comes to potential consumers walking through the door, results are more muted. Burger King and KFC marginally increased their purchase consideration scores – each increasing 1% from mid-May to mid-June. And McDonald’s consideration scores decreased slightly from 49% to 47% of fast food eaters who would consider buying at the Golden Arches the next time they go out to eat. Current consideration scores for Burger King are 37%, which is near its high for the year. KFC stands at 28%.

McDonald’s leads the category with a 47% purchase consideration score, despite lower general consumer perception levels than all its rivals, a trend noted in an early YouGov BrandIndex analysis. YouGov BrandIndex speculated that the scale of the brand’s footprint in the US helps to keep its purchase consideration scores elevated.

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