KFC's Marketing is the Right Amount of Boundary Pushing

When you're a large, global company there's a lot of risks involved in creating unconventional marketing campaigns. With people watching the moves you make, it can be hard to step up and do something different. Yet, with all the millennial movements taking place, companies are rethinking their marketing. Fast food chains are no exception! Millennial eating habits are changing the landscape so brands are looking for new ways to connect with this generation. Coming up with clever, sassy and unique marketing campaigns are the way to do it, and KFC is doing it so well. Let’s explore some of their best initiatives to date:

FCK ad

In February, KFC UK had a chicken shortage, causing them to close down most of their restaurants. As an apology, KFC UK released an ad that was so simple yet so clever. It even went on to win an award!

source Adweek

If KFC's operations team where half as good as their marketing team, the chicken crisis would never have happened. pic.twitter.com/TrhVJCuPGd

— Paul Wellman (@PaulWellman_) February 23, 2018

Unique Merch.....baby bjorns and fire logs?

KFC has a merch line that blends the normal things, like toques and shirts but also a lot of unique items as well. Something that stands, in particular, is the “bucket Bjorn”. For your chicken bucket, not babies! Also, more recently, KFC created limited edition fire logs that smell like their famous fried chicken.

source: colonel & co

Introducing the 11 Herbs & Spices Firelog from Enviro-Log®, the best way to make a fire smell less like fire and more like fried chicken. Get yours today at https://t.co/u2baCmHQYF. pic.twitter.com/y4TRf4cqQs

— KFC (@kfc) December 13, 2018

The Twitter Stunt

Last year, KFC wiped their Twitter following and only followed 11 people. Though it went unnoticed for a while, it went viral with this tweet:

.@KFC follows 11 people.

Those 11 people? 5 Spice Girls and 6 guys named Herb.11 Herbs & Spices. I need time to process this.— 🅴🅳🅶🅴 (@edgette22) October 19, 2017

As an effort to talk about their famous recipe of 11 herbs and spices, KFC pulled off that hilarious stunt. As a bonus to the guy who figured it out - they sent him an amazing painting. 

Dreams DO come true. #GiddyUpColonel

Thanks @kfcpic.twitter.com/a4skf7MIB4— 🅴🅳🅶🅴 (@edgette22) November 4, 2017

These are just a fraction of some of the great marketing we’ve seen from KFC. It’s refreshing to see big brands not take themselves so seriously, and attempt some out-of-the-box campaigns. We look forward to whatever they come up with next.