I tend to mention trends a lot. We live in a world of trends in every facet. It is wise to stay on top of trends, especially in issues that matter. Our discussions are always solely about business and finance. As such you need to study interesting trends at play at any time. I can mention many of them but today I am focusing on burgers. Lately it dawned on me that there is somewhat of a trend where global celebrities are starting burger brands. This worth talking about and that is what this article is all about. I shall use two examples – MrBeast and Don Jazzy.
Overview Of MrBeast Burger
MrBeast Burger is an American virtual restaurant founded by MrBeast (Jimmy Donaldson). You can check out the article, 3 Lessons To Draw From The Highest Grossing YouTuber In The World – MrBeast. MrBeast Burger was launched on December 19th 2020. Note ‘virtual’ there. This means he started the burger brand with no physical restaurants per se. The virtual nature of MrBeast Burger is in that the brand is delivery only. In other words, it uses a ghost kitchen model. In case you are wondering how it all works: MrBeast Burger identifies already-established restaurants to partner with.
The burgers are then prepared in those partner restaurants. It is then those restaurants that sell the burgers, especially via mobile delivery apps. It is an interesting business model if you ask me. (This is something that entrepreneurs should seriously consider in Zimbabwe). However, MrBeast did point out they would eventually open physical restaurants of their own. They opened their first physical location in New Jersey on the 4th of September 2022. The official opening saw more than 10 000 people attend. More than 6 000 burgers were sold that day. MrBeast Burger is currently available in the US, Canada, Asia, and Italy; you can place an order there.
Overview Of Jazzy’s Burger
Jazzy’s Burger was founded by Don Jazzy (Michael Collins Ajereh), a prominent Nigerian music producer. He is the founder and CEO of Mavin Records. Jazzy’s Burger was launched on the 26th of November 2022, Don Jazzy’s birthday. In addition to the burgers, there are fries, chicken nuggets, and milkshakes. Currently, Jazzy’s Burger is available in Lagos, Nigeria though in time the reach will be expanded. One can order through the Jazzy’s Burger mobile app then your order gets delivered to you. Suffice it to say, Jazzy’s Burger does not yet have physical restaurants. Just like Mr Beast, it uses the ghost kitchen model. It remains to be seen if Jazzy’s Burger will open up physical locations.
Interesting Similarities
From these two examples, you can see they chose burgers. MrBeast has other food-related interests that are not relevant to our discussion today. The other thing is they both chose the ghost kitchen model. They are leveraging the rising popularity of food apps. I also noticed how both of their burgers are packaged. The packaging is so alluring. MrBeast and Don Jazzy’s sets of circumstances are somewhat similar too. I am specifically referring to how they are building these burger brands. They are both celebrities in their own rights. They have substantial followings on social media. They are also both content creators and influencers. All of these elements have been instrumental in building these burger brands.
Zimbabwean Celebrities Need To Be Serious
Part of why I chose this discussion today is because most Zimbabwean celebrities are sleeping. Hopefully, this article will inspire them to start thinking a certain way. We are yet to see Zimbabwean celebrities creating food brands premised on their fame. Let us even digress a bit to merchandise. How many Zimbabwean celebrities can say they are cashing in big time from the merchandise? It is high time Zimbabwean celebrities start thinking about this – creating food brands.
Obviously creating burger brands like these two have done is thanks to their celebrity status. However, the fundamental principles at play can apply to others as well. These are two people who are leveraging their social media influence to profit. This means if you have a significant social media following, you can consider starting a food-related brand. The key is to be widely known enough to have solid pools of potential customers.
The Genius Of What MrBeast And Don Jazzy Have Done With Their Burger Brands
The foundation of it all is taking advantage of one’s popularity, particularly social media influence. This has also created the perfect conditions for word of mouth and referrals. Due to their popularity, followers would want to associate themselves with them. This means they are conditioned to buy whatever their icons offer. Not only that, they also share it with the world because it is trendy. That right there is effortless user-generated content (UGC). In all that, the brands get effortless social proofs which drives more sales.
We have already covered the ghost kitchen aspect. It is a more efficient model of rolling out the business. Plus the convenience of ordering something online and it gets delivered to you drives sales. It definitely costs less than opening physical outlets. Though as a means to scale, physical locations eventually become inevitable in due course. The choice of burgers is actually interesting too. Burgers are a delicacy that can easily prime one to make repeat purchases.
Zimbabwean celebrities and those with significant followings on social media put their thinking caps on. You may not necessarily do burgers though they are bound to sell. You can consider other food or beverage items that are normally bought repeatedly. Other examples are energy drinks, mineral water, snacks, and the like. Rest assured some Zimbabweans can make lots of money from this. The two examples I cited should be inspirational enough to think of something. This article is full of several insights. If you closely go through it you will realize so many more lessons about other things.
