Kfc Strategy
KFC thinks it's got the next "Where's the beef?"
The chicken chain, which reported nearly $5 billion in sales last year, is rolling out what it's sure is a viral tagline for what it's sure is a killer new product made for millennials. KFC is so certain that it's giving the launch more support than it's given any in more than a decade—up to an estimated $50 million. And it has tapped an Academy Award winner, David O. Russell of "Silver Linings Playbook" fame, to direct the ads.
KFC is touting as "transformational" Original Recipe boneless chicken, a product essentially like the fried chicken it's known for, minus the bones and skin. The company told USA Today it expects the new tagline, "I ate the bones," to become a pop-culture catchphrase within weeks of the April 14 launch.
"Based on test-market results and the buzz this week, I don't think anything in recent memory compares," said a spokeswoman.
The launch comes at a critical time for KFC, as Chick-fil-A pecks away at its dominance and closes in on the country's No. 1 chicken chain. KFC reported a 1.3% increase to $4.66 billion in U.S. systemwide sales last year, according to Technomic, but No. 2 Chick-fil-A saw a 14.1% increase to $4.62 billion during the same time frame, despite having less than half the number of locations.
KFC's teaser spot shows a man about to enter a store just as a staffer is locking up. When the staffer tells him the store is closing, he says "I'll wait." He's then seen standing patiently in front of the KFC until the next day.
"This is about reinventing our core, our base business," said Shindy Hodack, calendar director at KFC. In addition to moms and families, the new product is aimed at millennials, who value authenticity and convenience and consume boneless products.
KFC's TV ads were created by Interpublic's DraftFCB and "will be hard to miss" with "huge spending" behind them, said Jason Marker, chief marketing officer of KFC, in a video news release. In
The chicken chain, which reported nearly $5 billion in sales last year, is rolling out what it's sure is a viral tagline for what it's sure is a killer new product made for millennials. KFC is so certain that it's giving the launch more support than it's given any in more than a decade—up to an estimated $50 million. And it has tapped an Academy Award winner, David O. Russell of "Silver Linings Playbook" fame, to direct the ads.
KFC is touting as "transformational" Original Recipe boneless chicken, a product essentially like the fried chicken it's known for, minus the bones and skin. The company told USA Today it expects the new tagline, "I ate the bones," to become a pop-culture catchphrase within weeks of the April 14 launch.
"Based on test-market results and the buzz this week, I don't think anything in recent memory compares," said a spokeswoman.
The launch comes at a critical time for KFC, as Chick-fil-A pecks away at its dominance and closes in on the country's No. 1 chicken chain. KFC reported a 1.3% increase to $4.66 billion in U.S. systemwide sales last year, according to Technomic, but No. 2 Chick-fil-A saw a 14.1% increase to $4.62 billion during the same time frame, despite having less than half the number of locations.
KFC's teaser spot shows a man about to enter a store just as a staffer is locking up. When the staffer tells him the store is closing, he says "I'll wait." He's then seen standing patiently in front of the KFC until the next day.
"This is about reinventing our core, our base business," said Shindy Hodack, calendar director at KFC. In addition to moms and families, the new product is aimed at millennials, who value authenticity and convenience and consume boneless products.
KFC's TV ads were created by Interpublic's DraftFCB and "will be hard to miss" with "huge spending" behind them, said Jason Marker, chief marketing officer of KFC, in a video news release. In