UNTHINK KFC

Presentation by:Leeann MedinaChristopher Mendez

KFC

• World’ most popular chicken restaurant chain

• Over 14,000 KFC outlets

• More than 12 million customers enjoy their “finger lickin’ good” chicken each day

Past Image

• First Franchised in 1959• All-American traditional, quality, home

cooked family fast food restaurant that serves delicious homemade fried chicken

• Up until the early 1990’s, consumers identified with this comfort food and provided little friction towards the high-calorie and high in trans fat food

• Over the last two decades consumers have become more concerned with their health and more sensitive about the negative effects of this type of fast food

PAST PRESENT

KFC’s Past Images

• Colonel Sander’s iconic face, remained relatively constant minus a few tweaks

• Colonel Sander’s image came to symbolize quality in the food industry

• Keeping the logo similar, but changing the name helped keep a familiar image associated with quality home cooking while removing the concept that their product was unhealthy

KFC’S New Logo

• This malleable image has been reconstructed five times in the past five decades to identify with the times

• Every time the Colonel’s image was updated it always maintained the defining elements of his image such as his thick glasses, goatee and southern style string tie

Credibility?

• KFC has strong brand awareness around the name and logo but has had issues with credibility

• 2003- Commercial suggesting that fried chicken is the cornerstone of a healthy diet

• Press Release on KFC website stating, that “fried chicken can be part of a healthy, balanced diet

• The American public didn’t fall for the healthy fried chicken gimmick. The campaign was a failure and did not reflect KFC in a good light

“KFC is healthier than

a BK Whopper!”

Credibility?

• In 2004, KFC commercials began saying the phrase, “Kitchen Fresh Chicken”

• This never caught on because KFC was already branded to the consumers as Kentucky Fried Chicken

FRESH Chicken FRIED Chicken

UNFRIED, UNTHINK

• KFC introduced their new UNFried menu item on April 27, 2009

• Kentucky Grilled Chicken (KGC)

• KFC’s latest attempt to adapt to the recent trends and attitudes towards health, involves another major revision to the name

This name change creates a more vivid reality for

their consumers. It provides the consumer an option

to choose between the fried or grilled chicken.

Pseudo-Event

• April 27th was “UNFry Day”

• KFC offered 2 free pieces of Kentucky Grilled Chicken to all consumers

• This pseudo-event received nationwide publicity

“UNFry Day”

Fried Vs. Grilled

Kentucky Fried:    480 Calories     28 grams fat     6.5 grams saturated fat

Kentucky Grilled:  250 Calories     8   grams fat       2  grams saturated fat

KGC has as 50 percent fewer calories and half the sodium, and up to

two-thirds less fat than KFC's fried chicken

Traditional Media

Traditional media is often watched, listen to or read by people in groups during a period of entertainment or relaxation. This type of atmosphere can generate buzz and curiosity among the intended audience.

“Unthink” Commercials

“Unthink” Commercials

Commercial Analysis

• Promote positive images for the Kentucky Grilled Chicken

• Testimonials from both ordinary KFC consumers and celebrity chefs vouch for this new product

• Creates curiosity amongst the viewers

• Commercials are strategically placed to reach the most consumers possible ie: during sporting events or prime time

Print Ads

• KFC had numerous print ads with the launch of KGC

• Print ads had coupons for Kentucky Grilled

Chicken

• Print ad and coupons could be found in local newspapers, magazines and coupon flyer booklets

Oprah and KFC

“Pseudo events spawn other pseudo-events in geometric progression.” – Boorstin

• May 5, 2009 Oprah promoted Kentucky Grilled Chicken on her show by featuring coupons on the Oprah.com

Oprah and KFC

• As a result, Oprah Winfrey KFC coupons was the fifth most-searched item on Google Trends by Wednesday afternoon, hours after it had been posted

• Millions of coupons were downloaded, and lines of customers were waiting outside KFC restaurants from coast to coast

• Many franchises had to turn people away because they ran out of KGC

Aftermath

In the end it this pseudo event wasn’t measured on how poorly it was mismanaged, but undoubtedly how famous KFC became.

Online Strategies

• KFC is constructing a 24-7 pseudo-event through UNTHINKKFC.com

• KFC’s new image on the site can be described as a fun, active, and social

• The mini-site serves as the campaign hub. The information on this site is repackaged for other websites

UNTHINKKFC.com

UNTHINKKFC.com

• KFC is associating their brand with celebrities

• These personable chefs somehow give KFC grilled chicken some form of “Celebrity cred”

UNTHINKKFC.com

• iPhone App allows users to pretend their hip-hop stars

• Users are given a new meaning to the word Grillz

• The image of KFC as fun and social are reinforced

UNTHINKKFC.com

• KFC is providing outtakes of their current commercial campaign

• Users can be In on the Fiction

• Great way to put unused footage to work

“A work of fiction may have almost any degree of fidelity, as so long as the degree of fidelity can be taken into account, fiction is not misleading.” -Lippmann

YouTube.com

YouTube.com

• Provides an opportunity for KFC to be transparent with their customers

• Pseudo-events can be reinforced once they’ve become self-fulfilling prophecies

Twitter.com

Twitter.com

• Twitter offers KFC an opportunity to create instant pseudo-events

• KFC’s use of Twitter is clearly focused on keeping the message simple and witty

Facebook.com

Facebook.com : Malaysia

Facebook.com

• Facebook segments the online community by geographic location and/or network. It allows the company to provide targeted advertising

• KFC understands the structure of Facebook and therefore tailors to their audiences around the globe

MySpace.com

MySpace.com

• KFC has decided to create a global pseudo-event with their search for a new spokesperson

• With over 160 million users, KFC is attempting to spread their new image in the disguise of a competition

“In order that the faint image of the affair shall mean something to them, they must be allowed to exercise the love of struggle, suspense, and victory.” -Lippmann

iPhone

iPhone

• Grillz = Gross

• The iPhone application is filled with ambiguity. Why was money spent to build this product?

• The ambiguity somehow keeps users interested in the product

Hitmaker

Coincidence?

• Both competitions are searching for a star

• Logos look very similar

Has American Idol won?

Where else can KFC go?

Introducing

What is AIR?

• AIR = Adobe Integrated Runtime

• “Adobe’s AIR blurs the dividing line between rich client and browser by extending Web programming to the desktop.” Forrester Research, Inc

Case Study

Overwhelming?

Overwhelming?

Yikes!

USC Directory

• One click away from the Dock

• Auto-suggest eliminates clutter

• No need to waste time hunting for information

USC Directory

NYTimes Reader

• Receive news content in a more print-like format

• Search returns in a more intuitive format

• Articles and crossword puzzles can be viewed offline

NYTimes Reader

KFC Desktop

• Learn about the latest events

• Print out new coupons

• Watch new Commercials

• Play games offline

• Socialize

KFC Desktop

Questions?

Thank You