Scholars utilise the SWOT analysis or matrix to evaluate projects, ventures, and organisations. However, a search by this author has found scarce material related to academic SWOT analyses in Malaysia. Therefore, this paper took to task comparing and contrasting two successful, local products in Malaysia: myBurgerLab's "Nasi Lemak Ayam Rendang Burger", and Burger King Malaysia's "Nasi Lemak Burger".
SWOT ANALYSIS OF "NASI LEMAK BURGER"
Vinodh Pillai
Faculty of Arts and Humanities
International University of Malaya-Wales, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
1.0 INTRODUCTION
In conjunction with Singapore's National Day this year, McDonald's Singapore unveiled the "Nasi Lemak Burger" as part of a special menu. This unique blend of local and western cultures featured a coconut-flavoured chicken patty, cucumber slices, and a fried egg. The product also included caramelised onions, cucumber slices, and a sweet and spicy sambal sauce, contrastingly different from your conventional burger. Promoted in conjunction with the Singapore Food Festival and although originally sold for a limited time only, the burger made a return to stores after McDonald's issued a statement to say that it was the chain's most successful promotions in recent years, with close to 750,000 burgers sold (The Star Online, 2017a). A separate report stated that the burger was removed from the menu originally after being sold out islandwide (Channel News Asia, 2017).
Within a few weeks, local burger chain store brand myBurgerLab launched the "Nasi Lemak Ayam Rendang Burger" in direct "retaliation". According to Channel NewsAsia, this was a response to locals who had requested for the burger to be made “because Malaysia’s McDonald’s didn’t have it” (Kaur, 2017). The product was launched on August 4th this year for RM 18.80 (à la carte), at all four myBurgerLab outlets (Seapark, Sunway, OUG and Cyberjaya), and ran until August 31st, Malaysia's Independence Day (Lim, 2017). However, a check on the myBurgerLab website shows that the burger is still on its menu. At least 20 different news portals picked up the issue, including Free Malaysia Today, The Malay Mail Online, Channel News Asia Singapore, and The Business Insider Singapore.
A few weeks later, in October, Burger King followed suit albeit late, with the launch of its own “Nasi Lemak Burger”, or rather its own rendition of it. Burger King’s “Nasi Lemak Double Beef” and “Nasi Lemak Ayam Burgers” were served with "fluffy eggs, cool cucumber slices, spicy sambal sauce, all sandwiches in a lightly toasted sesame seed bun" (The Star Online, 2017b). Promotional prices were set at RM10.90 (à la carte) and RM 14.80 with medium fries and coke, respectively. Unlike myBurgerLab’s creation, however, Burger King shelved both products shortly after its promotional period. A check on Burger King Malaysia’s website shows the product is no longer on the menu.
Many scholars utilise the SWOT analysis or matrix to evaluate an organisation or a venture. SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, and the model entails specifying and analysing factors that play into either bringing the project to the arena, or otherwise. This identifies elements or weak points that should be eliminated, and highlights opportunities for growth. Moreover, through the analysis, one is able to have a better understanding of the venture or company at large.
In this paper, the author will conduct a SWOT analysis on these two, successful, local products, namely; myBurgerLab’s “Nasi Lemak Ayam Rendang”, and Burger King’s “Nasi Lemak Burger”. Both products were launched in Malaysia during the last quarter of 2017 to much acclaim, thus justifying the need for an in-depth product analysis and study. myBurgerLab is a local venture based in the Klang Valley, and is known for their trademark charcoal-black buns, while the Burger King chain in Malaysia operates in some 50 areas, and is famous for its Whopper® burgers.
2.0 SWOT ANALYSIS
SWOT Burger King: “Nasi Lemak Burger” myBurgerLab: “Nasi Lemak Ayam
Analysis Rendang”
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myBurgerLab staff) up front at the shop how many burgers were left during promotional period.
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Opportunities - Possibility to get back on the bandwagon and reintroduce product, like myBurgerLab.
- Feature more local dishes in menu.
- Possibility to introduce vegan or vegetarian substitutes or alternatives for product.
- Possibility to introduce vegan or vegetarian substitutes or alternatives for product.
- Could look into other more reliable methods of online reservation, and wider delivery coverage.
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3.0 DISCUSSION
In terms of strengths, both products creatively restructured the conventional "Nasi Lemak Burger" for easy eating, thus prioritizing customers’ needs and placing customer priority at the forefront of its business. myBurgerLab's "Nasi Lemak Ayam Rendang", for one, had a peanut butter base, instead of putting single roasted peanuts on the patty à la traditional Nasi Lemak style (Zenteno, 17). The product also had a considerably small portion of rendang “sauce” in the burger, instead of it pouring it from the sides, while cucumber slices were strategically placed on the peanut butter base to make it stick. Burger King’s "Nasi Lemak Burger", on the other hand, used an egg omelette instead of a leaky, fried egg, quite possibly in line with a cleaner and “user-friendly” approach, just like myBurgerLab.
myBurgerLab was also able to dominate the market first as it was the first Malaysian brand to jump on the "Nasi Lemak Burger" bandwagon, thus capitalizing on sales and garnering profit (Kaur, 2017). The product was launched on August 4th 2017 using their trademark black buns, making it clear that the product was purely a myBurgerLab creation. Burger King, on the other hand, only started selling their version of the "Nasi Lemak Burger" only in October (The Star Online, 2017b). When it came to product marketing, myBurgerLab seemed to be ahead of the game too, by having extensive and detailed announcements featured on social media leading up to launch date of product. This included lengthy Facebook "PSAs", both in English and Bahasa Malaysia, outlining everything customers needed to know about the product and its launch, making the process a convenient one. For Burger King, on the other hand, promotional methods seemed scarce, save for coverage on news portals. A single YouTube PSA was released by Burger King in conjunction with the promotion.
However, in terms of pricing, Burger King seemed to fare better than myBurgerLab. Burger King sold their product at RM 10.90 (à la carte) and at RM 14.80 (with French Fries and a soft drink included) (The Star Online, 2017b). myBurgerLab's product, meanwhile, was sold at RM 18.80 à la carte. Only an à la carte option was available for the product. Its high pricing can be considered to be normal given that it is a gourmet meal; similar meals at myBurgerLab are also priced in the same way. Granted, however, that Burger King’s promotional price was pricier than similar fast food burger prices in the vicinity. A McChicken value meal (with French Fries and a soft drink) at McDonald’s costs just RM 9.95. Meanwhile, Burger King’s product was also launched with two differentiations, Nasi Lemak Ayam and Nasi Lemak Double Beef, thus catering to and respecting audiences with both tastes and needs.
Given that limited products of myBurgerLab’s “Nasi Lemak Burger” were available at the time, customers were told they would be able to ask “Geeks” (name of myBurgerLab staff) up front at the shop how many burgers were left, to save time from queueing up, only to find out the daily quota of burgers had been sold out. This made for a more reliable means of ordering and was efficiently done, according to accounts on social media at the time. In order to facilitate a smoother flow in their kitchens, and also taking into account the relatively smaller crew size of myBurgerLab, the "Ultraman Burger", a popular item on its menu, was shelved during the promotional period, to put all hands on deck for the “Nasi Lemak Burger” launch. Taking extra measures, the group also disallowed pre orders or reservations online for "Nasi Lemak Burger" to reduce risk of missed out communications. This was in light of communication mishaps for previous product promotions at their branches.
In terms of weaknesses, for myBurgerLab, there was a limited number of products available per day; only 100 per outlet during promotional period. No preorders or reservations online were allowed due to possible risk of missed out communications (fear from previous year marketing mishap), thus forcing customers to physically be at the outlets to check on the product’s availability. Given that myBurgerLab also removed the Ultraman burger product from menu during first promotional period to allow for a smoother flow in the kitchen, one could make the assumption that this would have annoyed or inconvenienced regulars wanting to purchase the former. Moreover, myBurgerLab’s promotional set didn't include fries or drink, even until today. On the other hand, Burger King failed to extend the product until today, unlike myBurgerLab. This has been addressed by one author, who argued that Burger King’s limited product mix is a weakness because it prevents the company from attracting customers looking for more options (Thompson, 2017). In terms of collective weaknesses, both companies failed to come out with vegetarian or vegan alternatives, thus actively passing the buck to other chain stores to cater to this group of consumers. There also seemed to be no option for gluten-free and nut-free customers.
In terms of opportunities, Burger King could get back on the bandwagon and reintroduce the “Nasi Lemak Burger” like myBurgerLab. Additionally, it can feature more local dishes into its menu, like McDonald’s (think Bandung McFizz, Coconut Pie, Cendol McFlurry topped with Gula Melaka sauce, and Cendol Melaka Cone). “Burger King has the opportunity to widen its product mix by adding new product lines to attract more customers… has the opportunity to increase service quality as a way of differentiating its business from competitors like McDonald’s” (Thompson, 2017). MyBurgerLab, on the other hand, could also look into online reservation and delivery options - currently the online order function is unavailable, and delivery options are available only in selected areas in the Klang Valley. A check on its website also shows that delivery charges apply, and free delivery services are only available for orders amounting to RM150 and more. Last orders have to be made before 4pm the previous day via WhatsApp, which can prove to be a hassle with last minute orders. Compare this with Burger King, which charges a minimal delivery fee, or that caters to most areas in the Klang Valley, myBurgerLab could definitely expand its base further.
In terms of threats, both brands are at risk of losing customers to purchase their respective “Nasi Lemak Burgers” given the increase in conscious eating and healthy lifestyles. The healthy lifestyle trend is a threat because Burger King’s products are criticized as unhealthy (Thompson, 2017).
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- Arbeit zitieren
- Vinodh Pillai (Autor:in), 2017, SWOT Analysis of "Nasi Lemak Burger" in Malaysia, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/383853
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