KFC WAS LOSING TRACTION AND LTO CAMPAIGN EFFECTIVENESS WAS WEAKENING

KFC is the original leader of fried chicken in Hong Kong but the brand was losing traction when chicken was also sold by the vast array of fast food options. Limited Time Offer (LTO) promotions ran monthly and weren’t as able to drive orders and sales anymore.

COMPETITION WAS OUTSPENDING KFC SIGNIFICANTLY IN PAID MEDIA

McDonald’s, the main competitor, was outspending KFC by multiples in advertising. With a much smaller budget, KFC had to be creative and find ways to gain publicity through earned media and organic sharing.

OUR CHALLENGE: SHOW THAT EARNED CREATIVE GROWS SALES MORE EFFECTIVELY THAN LTO

With a tiny budget of USD 32,000, we couldn’t afford any advertising and would have to earn attention from, to attract people to visit and eat at KFC.

BECOMING THE TALK OF THE TOWN

Brand Objective: Drive positive sentiment about KFC

Brand Results: With a tiny budget of USD 32,000, we couldn’t afford any advertising and would have to earn attention. Our campaign was covered by major news, business, lifestyle, and technology media, helping us to reach consumers for free.

213 news outlets shared articles

1.2+ billion impressions

US$1.5M earned media value

100% of articles delivered positive sentiment

STRONG SALES, HIGHER ROI WITH EARNED MEDIA

Business Objective: Show that earned creative could deliver stronger traffic and sales than LTO campaigns

Business Results: Our activation held at a single KFC store managed to increase orders and sales for stores across the entire city compared to the previous month when LTO campaigns ran with advertising.

+17.1% in sales over Hong Kong (vs. previous month)

+11.68% increase in orders (vs. the previous month)

‘Brainwave Bucket’ was a tech-led in-store activation.

The Brainwave Bucket look like KFC’s most famous retail asset, the KFC Bucket - but turned upside down, containing a real-time brain activity detection device, for people to wear.

Hong Kongers were invited to try the tech-led, interactive outdoor experience. While wearing the Brainwave Bucket, people were given KFC to indulge in and relax with.

During the session, their bio-feedback was captured and displayed in real-time on the interface of the device’s app. The more a person's stress levels went down, the more free chicken they were entitled to.

Once the session was complete, the app gave a reading of the captured data determining how comforting KFC really is for that person and which reward they received.

KFC COMPETES WITH A WIDE RANGE OF COMPETITORS, NOT ONLY MCDONALD'S

The fast-food market in Hong Kong is highly competitive. With most locals preferring Chinese food from affordable local cafes, it puts western fast food at an inherent disadvantage. Furthermore, people in the city often see “western fast food” as one category, and thus, KFC isn’t only in competition against other major fried chicken players and McDonald’s, it is also competing against burger outlets, pizza delivery, sandwiches, Mexican and so much more.

COVID RESTRICTIONS LED TO BIG DECLINES IN RESTAURANT SALES

Hong Kong was still under one of the world’s strictest Covid-19 regimes at the time of the campaign, which put multiple restrictions on restaurants and caused traffic and sales