KFC arrived in China in 1987, when Western-style fast food restaurants were a novelty in the country. But after three decades, KFC was losing its appeal amongst its most important audience… the younger generation. As KFC’s brand appeal and sales declined dramatically, they needed to transform to build new and lasting relationships with the Chinese youth.

BECOMING A TECH BRAND

There are 225 million millennials in China with 78 million teenagers in the Post 95 generation alone. To reach this vast and diverse generation of consumers required a new approach that is frictionless at every touchpoint on the consumer journey. In cooperation with tech companies like Alibaba, Tencent and Baidu, KFC’s retail experience needs to be transformed to link over 6500 restaurants in a unified digital ecosystem to provide a digital experience for customers.

MILLENNIAL INSIGHTS

With three key insights in mind towards millennials - eating is a trendy social experience; technology has massively changed millennial lifestyles; and they do everything with a purpose - KFC used global insights, local insights and expertise to leverage the creativity and innovation in the KFC brand through content and entertainment. To compete for the attention of the next generation of digital natives, businesses and brands need to take a transformative approach to close the gap between brand inspiration and transaction.