In his latest column for MCA, Mark McCulloch – the brand and marketing guru behind Supersonic Inc – gives his view on KFC’s latest marketing campaign, which sees it acknowledge its many imitators littering the UK’s high streets.
Like buses, you wait ages for two pieces of amazing communication from a brand and then they all turn up at once (see column of two weeks ago talking about KFC open invite into their kitchens).
It’s hats off again (sorry, not sorry that it is two columns in a row), but you have to hand it to KFC = they achieved a real Zinger of an ad that firmly placed them as the Daddy of the fried chicken world. They managed to claim higher ground, stamp their authority at being the original whilst putting every other faker in place with just a few words - “Guys, we’re flattered”.
The ad, the line, the thinking had more sass that Beyonce and a better put down than Jimmy Carr could ever imagine.
The most surprising thing about the ad was the shareability of it and the fact that it was in a newspaper meant that people photographed and shared it - LinkedIn seeming to be the channel of choice.
I wasn’t sure many people read actual newspapers any more, so this proved me wrong. A landmark print ad, can go viral on social if you put enough effort in.
The most pleasing thing is that this is classic advertising at its best - a pure brand ad, not direct sales, no call to action. It’s a beautiful thing and will do wonders for their brand health and awareness. They will be measuring that (not many companies in our sector do).
I would love to know what this did to sales, online visits, deliveries, social buzz and softer brand kpis. Again, this puts KFC into an audience that may not be their core, but through admiration and appreciation of an ad well done, their consideration from those who have moved on, feel they are better than the bucket or just haven’t been for a while, will inevitably rise due to a timely reminder of long gone respect for some.
Idea – 10/10
Effort vs Return - 10/10
Execution – 10/10
Impact – 10/10
Summary – 10/10. KFC have fried all copycats forever
I’d be really interested to see what you all thought. Tweet me @supersonic_inc or Mark McCulloch on LinkedIn #markoutoften
