Storyboard: Living off the Land

Burgerville boasts that some of its most popular dishes aren’t available year-round.

By Margaret Littman, Contributing Editor -- Chain Leader, 4/1/2005

In the 24-7 world of fast food, not having what the customer craves is not generally considered good marketing.

But Burgerville has found that not giving people what they want—at least part of the year—doesn’t have to mean that customers will take their appetites elsewhere.

Burgerville is not your typical QSR. With 14 of its 39 units in the usually chain-unfriendly city and suburbs of Portland, Ore., and product quality that leads regular customers to claim they don’t eat fast food, the chain doesn’t have to play by the rules.

Over the last year, the $54 million concept has evolved to a more sustainable positioning. Its new ad campaign emphasizes using local ingredients, purchasing from local suppliers and being a meaningful member of the local community.

“We thought, ‘What if the chain was about supporting the community?’” explains Tara Wefers, vice president of marketing communications for Holland Inc., Burgerville’s Vancouver, Wash.-based parent.

Sean Blixseth, president of R/West, the ad agency that has worked on the Burgerville account for the past 11 years, says that some people perceive that chains hurt local economies, because they can cause small businesses to fail and therefore reduce the number of jobs. But Burgerville is out to prove that doesn’t have to be the case, that a chain can contribute to the local economy by being a part of the community. “We live here. These are our families here in this community,” he adds.

Helping the local economy includes using Walla Walla onions for its onion rings, which increases the average check from $6.15 to $6.39 in months when the Walla Wallas are in season. Burgerville also uses hormone- and antibiotic-free Oregon Country Beef in its burgers, making it the first fast-food chain in the nation to use sustainably raised, all-natural beef certified by Food Alliance.

These actions have lead to accolades. The City of Portland’s Office of Sustainable Development gave the chain one of its best practices awards, while the Oregon Department of Agriculture honored Burgerville with an “Agriculture Progress Award” in 2003. Gourmet magazine named the chain “America’s Freshest Fast Food.”

Good Things Come to Those Who Wait
Such feel-good kudos are nice, but diners, even in earthy-crunchy Oregon, are accustomed to getting what they want.

When Burgerville wanted a local artisan blue cheese for its burgers, the chosen cheese-makers said that quantity would take six months to produce. Burgerville agreed, and then pulled the sandwich from the menu when the supply ran out.

“That showed our willingness to wait for ingredients that were right for us,” Blixseth says.

So Burgerville had to create a “culture of change” in the way consumers think about what they order at the fast-food counter, Blixseth says. The company had to explain why those blackberry milk shakes, Walla Walla onion rings or even a favorite cheeseburger aren’t available every day.

While Burgerville prefers to call its new ad effort “the fresh, Northwest campaign” as opposed to “sustainable,” because sustainability is an ongoing objective, the concept is more complex and abstract than the typical low price or limited-time offer. The objective of the advertising, Wefers says, was not to pitch a burger as a cheap and quick commodity, but instead to show the chain as part of the larger agricultural process.

“We needed to figure out how to take this message to the world, to have this conversation about who we are and how we live sustainably,” Wefers explains.

Letting Nature Take its Course
That big picture is clear in one TV spot, in which neither a restaurant nor a hamburger nor even a milk shake flicks on the small screen. Instead, the 30 seconds focus on a snow-laden blackberry bush, explaining how the chain is waiting for nature to bring the fruits back in season before the milk shakes are back on the menu. The print ads feature the milk shakes, but emphasize the Northwest ingredients, including a subtle map of the region.

“We think these ads explain why there are things we can’t have year round, because we’re out there trying to do something,” Blixseth says.

The company created five TV spots in 2004, including two unaired optional spots that may run in 2005. Because Burgerville saved money by filming all the commercials at once, the chain will spend only $1.2 million for the same amount of advertising in 2005, as compared with $1.7 million in 2004.

Unit expansion is currently on the back burner as the chain—whose stores are all company-owned—instead focuses on remodeling its units to emphasize the new positioning. The new store look is expected to be unveiled in fall 2005, with new units to open in 2006.

“We think all of this is bigger than sales. It is about living here,” Blixseth explains. “We want people to say, ‘Thank you for being here.’”

“Blackberry Bramble” Length: 30 seconds
1. Voice-over: In the depths of a Northwest winter, a blackberry bramble can look rather bleak.	2. But at Burgerville, we know it's just nature,
3. taking its sweet time working on summer's blackberry milk shakes.	4. That's the way we look at the world.
5. Fresh Northwest goodness is worth the wait.	6. And if nature doesn't intend for blackberry milk shakes in January, then who are we to argue?
7. Burgerville: Where you go when you know.