Opportunity

For more than a decade, behemoth McDonald’s has encountered a formidable opponent in MAX Burgers – who dropped the “ham-“ from its name to signal its long-term focus on green alternatives – a Swedish quick-serve restaurant chain that is widely acknowledged as having the tastiest burgers in town and the strongest national brand in the industry.

But how do you find new growth as No 1? With a two-pronged approach: by building on your strengths, and by focusing on the few pockets of the customer experience where your biggest competitor still has an edge.

Delivery

Based on an extensive market analysis of growth drivers across several market segments and geographies, NoA Consulting helped MAX develop a marketing strategy for a coherent brand positioning in key markets in the face of fierce competition from both traditional players and new premium burger chains – including concrete “winning guidelines” for how to leverage MAX’s recipe for success when scaling its restaurant footprint and entering new markets.

A major, value-creating element of the strategy was to identify highly specific growth initiatives in key markets. Together with MAX we framed these growth bets based on in-depth market insights and a co-creative approach, and engaged key business leaders in going from planning to execution.

Result

Our partnership started during covid (“never waste a good crisis”) and resulted in MAX coming out of the pandemic with a head-start on competitors and geared for growth across the board. Since the implementation of the strategy, MAX has consistently outperformed the market, cemented its leadership position at home, and keeps narrowing the gap in overseas markets where the “golden arches” still manage to hold on.