Burger King’s Secret Sauce: How Agile Insights Drive LTO Success

See how Burger King uses overnight consumer insights to test limited time offers and back the LTOs most likely to be a hit.

Written by

Lindsay Bennett

Burger King has always thrived on innovation, especially when it comes to its limited time offers (LTOs). The quick-service chain loves to surprise its customers with fresh creations, but every new idea risks being a hit or a miss. That’s why Burger King enlisted Ideally to gather insights quickly and guide decisions with real consumer data.


Nelson Choi, the Senior Insights Analyst at Burger King, says his team first turned to Ideally in August last year to test different burger LTO concepts. “Initially, we only wanted to test some burger LTO concepts… And the insights that we got from ideally were really interesting,” Choi recalls. “It gives us an idea of whether we should continue down that path of a new product development and how we should tinker with it while understanding what people care about the most if they see this concept."

Nelson Choi, the Senior Insights Analyst at Burger King, says his team first turned to Ideally in August last year to test different burger LTO concepts. “Initially, we only wanted to test some burger LTO concepts… And the insights that we got from ideally were really interesting,” Choi recalls. “It gives us an idea of whether we should continue down that path of a new product development and how we should tinker with it while understanding what people care about the most if they see this concept."

“Ideally is cost effective and easy to use, especially because the entire process has already been developed and tested, it doesn't take as much brain power or time from your team.”

Nelson Choi

Senior Insights Analyst at Burger King


Fast insights are essential when the new product development (NPD) cycle can be twelve months or longer. With LTOs, timing is everything. Burger King used Ideally to benchmark a tried-and-true burger promotion, and the results were surprising. “One of the concept tests we did was benchmark one of our existing promotions… I think that one was quite interesting because it was tested middle of the pack when it came to offering other flavours and everything…” The findings prompted the team to pivot and create “an LTO version of an LTO,” ultimately discovering that “those concepts that were tested did slightly better in some aspects than the original product itself.”‍

Burger King hasn’t limited Ideally’s use to burger testing alone. The platform came in handy when naming a new bundle, now known in stores as the “King Sampler”, and has proved just as effective for gauging loyalty programme messaging. “We wanted to ensure that the message that we deliver, people understood it and it was relatable,” explains Choi. By simply sharing access to Ideally’s results, teams across the organisation can see data instantly and run with it. No lengthy debriefs required.


Nelson Choi, the Senior Insights Analyst at Burger King, says his team first turned to Ideally in August last year to test different burger LTO concepts. “Initially, we only wanted to test some burger LTO concepts… And the insights that we got from ideally were really interesting,” Choi recalls. “It gives us an idea of whether we should continue down that path of a new product development and how we should tinker with it while understanding what people care about the most if they see this concept."

“Ideally is cost effective and easy to use, especially because the entire process has already been developed and tested, it doesn't take as much brain power or time from your team.”

Nelson Choi

Senior Insights Analyst at Burger King


Fast insights are essential when the new product development (NPD) cycle can be twelve months or longer. With LTOs, timing is everything. Burger King used Ideally to benchmark a tried-and-true burger promotion, and the results were surprising. “One of the concept tests we did was benchmark one of our existing promotions… I think that one was quite interesting because it was tested middle of the pack when it came to offering other flavours and everything…” The findings prompted the team to pivot and create “an LTO version of an LTO,” ultimately discovering that “those concepts that were tested did slightly better in some aspects than the original product itself.”‍

Burger King hasn’t limited Ideally’s use to burger testing alone. The platform came in handy when naming a new bundle, now known in stores as the “King Sampler”, and has proved just as effective for gauging loyalty programme messaging. “We wanted to ensure that the message that we deliver, people understood it and it was relatable,” explains Choi. By simply sharing access to Ideally’s results, teams across the organisation can see data instantly and run with it. No lengthy debriefs required.

Burger King has always thrived on innovation, especially when it comes to its limited time offers (LTOs). The quick-service chain loves to surprise its customers with fresh creations, but every new idea risks being a hit or a miss. That’s why Burger King enlisted Ideally to gather insights quickly and guide decisions with real consumer data.

Burger King has always thrived on innovation, especially when it comes to its limited time offers (LTOs). The quick-service chain loves to surprise its customers with fresh creations, but every new idea risks being a hit or a miss. That’s why Burger King enlisted Ideally to gather insights quickly and guide decisions with real consumer data.

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