Ad Executive Gets Taste for Hamburgers

Jerry J. Siano says he dreams about hamburgers.

Specifically, Whoppers. It’s not that he’s obsessed with how they taste, but with how they’ll look in his ads. After all, as vice chairman of the New York ad firm N W Ayer Inc., his agency must now convince people that the flame-broiled burgers made by Burger King--his firm’s new, $200-million account--are better than the fried ones sold at McDonald’s and Wendy’s.

And he vows that whatever campaign his firm concocts for Burger King will stick around for awhile.

“We don’t want to do something, and then change it in three months,” Siano said. “That’s been Burger King’s biggest problem.” Burger King’s most recent slogans, created by its former ad firm J. Walter Thompson, were “Fast Food for Fast Times” and “This is a Burger King Town.” Now, however, Siano says the fast-food chain will return to ads that more closely reflect the decades-old slogan, “Have It Your Way.”

In the meantime, however, the ad firm has already delayed its planned introduction of the new Burger King advertising. Late last month, when Ayer was awarded the account, Siano then said that new Burger King advertising would begin in January. Now, he says, it probably won’t air until March.

“We’re not going to rush into something before we’re ready,” he said. “Besides, after the holidays people are fed up with eating.”

Siano is still somewhat flabbergasted that his firm--which has never handled a giant, fast-food account--landed Burger King. But he said the secret was convincing Burger King executives that Ayer had previously helped other large companies overcome advertising problems. “Although we’re not directly in their business,” he said, “we’ve faced the same kinds of competitive pressures.”

Besides creating the “Be All You Can Be” campaign for the Army, Ayer also created the “Reach Out and Touch Someone” jingle for American Telephone & Telegraph, and its ads have helped make Folger’s coffee the best selling brand in the market. Most recently, it has also created new image campaigns for both Avon and J. C. Penney.

Since winning the account, Siano, 52, has spent much of his time meeting with Burger King franchisees. After all, as the No. 2 man at Ayer--and with 23 years under his belt at the agency--he has direct responsibility for the Burger King account.

And when he’s not worrying about Burger King, he’s trying to convince some of Ayer’s other big clients--such as AT&T; and Continental Airlines--that they’re not being ignored. “Let’s face it,” Siano said, “what we did for our current clients is what got us Burger King.”