brand as business bit:  There’s been a lot of activity in the fast food world these days:  Burger King just launched a new menu and ad campaign, Wendy’s introduced a new tagline and campaign, and Taco Bell is experimenting with a new menu and tagline.

My colleagues over at E-Poll and I thought it would be helpful to get a handle on just how each of these brands is currently performing.  Here are some of their research findings*:

brand awareness:

• Burger King – 86%
• Wendy’s – 80%
• Taco Bell – 79%

appeal:

• Burger King – 53%
• Wendy’s – 63%
• Taco Bell – 54%

high quality:

• Burger King – 13%
• Wendy’s – 26%
• Taco Bell – 9%

So, Wendy’s seems to be leading the pack right now.

Also, I thought the following results to the question “What is the slogan for the brand?” were particularly revealing:

Burger King

• Have It Your Way:   70% (reinstated in 2002 and used sporadically after having been retired in the 1970’s)
• Home of the Whopper:  9% (never really used as a tagline)

Wendy’s

• Where’s the beef?:   23% (used as a headline beginning last fall after having been retired in the 1980’s)
• You know when it’s real:   7% (began in Fall of 2009 and ran for 2 1/2 years)

Taco Bell

• Think outside the bun:  48% (began in 2002 and was just replaced this month)
• Make a run for the border:  21% (ran in the late 80’s/early 90’s for a few years)
• Yo quiero Taco Bell:   7% (began in the late 90’s and ran for a few years)

*results from E-Poll Market Research’s E-Score Brand service which surveyed a representative sample of 1,500 respondents aged 13+ years old in early March.