Underdog Canadian quick service restaurant chain Harvey’s lives in a category

dominated by giants. Brands like McDonalds, Tim Horton’s and Wendy’s, who all have

significantly more locations across the country along with the added marketing

resources dedicated to supporting them. Adding to Harvey’s’ challenges was how it had

been spending what little precious marketing dollars it had on short-term, price-value

based tactics (like flyers) at the expense of long-term brand growth.

Customization has long been a point of difference for Harvey’s and being able to top

your burger just the way you want is what makes the Harvey’s experience so special.

Unfortunately, due to being drowned out by the competition and a focus on deals over

differentiation, this fact was starting to be lost on younger QSR customers. Our goal for

this campaign was to re-enforce customization once again.

It’s human nature to want to feel in control, but big burger chains tend to limit our

decision-making power. The success of their business models is built upon enforcing

taste uniformity and consistently pumping out millions of burgers precisely the same

way, regardless of the nuances of personal taste. Not at Harvey’s, it respects the fact

that you, the customer, play a part in making the best burgers. That’s why it offers over

8-million different ways you can top yours to make it your very own. Leveraging this

truth, our strategy became to illustrate the empowering feeling of being in control,

thanks to Harvey’s.

The creative platform that brought it life was rooted in the fact that once you build your

burger at Harvey’s just the way you like it, you become a Burger Boss who gets what

they want, when they want it. Capitalizing on that feeling of being power hungry,

executions within the campaign depicted a range of underdogs in various situations and

scenarios where they’ve climbed the ranks.

The campaign is currently in its second year; a testament to its ability to nudge younger

QSR audiences towards Harvey’s by re-enforcing it’s the only place where you truly get

to be the boss of your burger.

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