The task was to create talkability at scale around the launch of the all-new KFC Delivery app and its sponsorship of the ITV Coverage of the FIFA World Cup 2022™, creating a culture-first activation that would drive earned, landing the brand and the Delivery app launch at the heart of cultural conversation.

This needed to be done during a time that was going to be saturated by other brands wanting to make noise too - and with no media spend, whilst staying true to KFC's incredible well-understood and loved brand character.

The brief formed part of a wider TTL brand campaign led by 13 sponsorship idents and a National OOH campaign, bringing to life those familiar ‘struggling to get my KFC home’ situations with the campaign tagline ‘And that’s why there’s KFC delivery’, with a National OOH campaign running in parallel.

How do you launch the all-new KFC Delivery app during a World Cup?

Introducing The Colonel’s Arms - the very first KFC Pub. Merging the iconography of British football and pub culture with the distinctive world of KFC to deliver a fan experience to remember.

Opening for one week only, The Colonel’s Arms delivered all the buzz of a collective viewing experience with the vibes of your favourite local. From a ‘ring for chicken’ KFC Delivery bell, a finger-kickin’ good foosball table, screens galore and perfect pints, to delicious chicken and gravy delivered straight to the table via KFC Delivery.

Footballing legend, Soccer AM host and now Landlord of The Colonel’s Arms, Jimmy Bullard, kicked off a week-long run on the night of the ENG Vs USA match.

“Someone told me about the KFC Pub in Hammersmith and now I can’t think about anything else.” @Dannyjamieson

2022 was a World Cup like no other - a winter tournament!

Our response was built around the simple cultural truth that we would all be heading indoors to watch the World Cup this year and pubs were due to be at their busiest ever. If we wanted to play a role in this moment, we had an opportunity to create the most sought after viewing experience, leveraging the very best of British football fan culture to connect with consumers and influencers in a way that felt both relevant and timely and above all, culturally compelling.

Taking over an disused yet previously loved space in Hammersmith, we transformed the venue with bespoke wallpaper (using a traditional football shirt stripe and a lot of chickens), a ‘ring for chicken’ KFC Delivery bell behind the bar, a finger-kickin’ good foosball table, hanging basket buckets, bespoke brews (Old Spiced Hen or Bucket Aged Cider?), chickens galore and a host of large screens to view the live matches.

The KFC character and attitude was brought to life across every detail - from the pint glasses to graffiti on the toilet doors (Gravy 4 Lyfe) - giving guests so much to discover throughout their visit.

Tickets were made available for all the weeks big fixtures, with walk-ins welcome at any other time. As part of the ticket price, guests could get a free beer and as much freshly delivered KFC chicken as they could eat alongside popcorn chicken half time snacks.

The experience sold out within hours of ticket sales going live.

The key objective was talkability and The Colonel’s Arms certainly ‘delivered’:

331 pieces of proactive coverage

14 pieces of national coverage

213 pieces of regional coverage

7 pieces of global coverage

53 pieces of consumer coverage

2 pieces of broadcast coverage

1,515,460,961 total reach

Serving over 5000 pieces of original recipe chicken (and over 100 vegan burgers!)

89% of Articles include 'KFC Delivery' mentions

100% positive sentiment

Conversation was sustained across a 3-week period - from the announcement to tickets going live to the week-long opening of the pub, making KFC an authentic part of the collective cultural conversation around the World Cup; a hugely busy news period.

The Colonel’s Arms went viral on social, with Reddit threads and meme account creators wanting to experience the first-ever KFC pub, truly showcasing how immediately culturally relevant The Colonel’s Arms became.