KFC spreads its WOW menu outdoors

Popular restaurant chain KFC India, which has a presence across 215 outlets in 60 Indian cities and catering to nearly 10 million consumers every month, has built a youthful, vibrant and contemporary brand in India. But the brand had one challenge – it was perceived as an expensive eating joint. To counter this perception, KFC has launched a new WOW menu which starts at a price as low as Rs 25 and offers “unprecedented variety @ Rs. 35 with meal combos priced at Rs. 49-69.

Considering the scale of the eating joints spread across various cities, OOH medium turned out to be the best suited to communicate its new positioning. The campaign’s objective was to increase the brand’s access to a broader set of consumers, while the communication objective was to convey that customers now had a range of products to choose from at WOW prices. In addition, the media objective was to build quick awareness and maximize the reach of this message on the ground across key markets.

“KFC was launching its new range @ Rs. 25 onwards – KFC WOW! This was the biggest and most important campaign for KFC in India covering 22 cities, so we had to ensure that the campaign was something that would give it the WOW effect. The feel of the campaign had to be big – with this brief, the target audience and KFC stores in mind. Over 250 sites were shortlisted and the entire campaign was executed within the time line, with two eye catching innovations – WOW Bus shelter and eye-catching 3D visual creative to make the creative stand out, shared Pushpendra Singh, National Director, Kinetic Worldwide speaks about the campaign.

The parameters for the media planning were intended to communicate the WOW menu, where they maximized conversion from awareness to walk-ins. Therefore, a significant number of sites were selected within the restaurant trade area. This resulted in a site plan with a mix of media types -signature billboards, bus shelters and traffic medians leading customers to the store and providing a platform for clutter breaking innovation.

The creative was intended to tempt the audience by showcasing a full menu on the outdoor sites. The campaign also included two major media innovations:
• 3D printing – A special flat printing technology was employed which gave the viewers a 3D impression. Viewers were presented with a visual treat, a tray extending out of the billboard seemingly offering them the mouth-watering KFC WOW menu.  
• Bus Shelter Innovation – Bus shelters located close to colleges and key traffic junctions were strategically chosen to lead the target audience to the outlet. The focus here was to emphasize the price point and special illuminated cut letters were installed on the selected bus shelters which highlighted the price point. The illumination added to the visual treat besides communicating the price point.

The campaign was up in these 22 cities for a month encompassing key signature sites in each market. To enable quick awareness build-up, the campaign went live with maximum focus on sites in the first two weeks of the campaign. Post this, the signature sites were retained for a month serving as a constant reminder.

The high-visibility campaign has reportedly resulted in double digit same outlet sales and transaction growth since the launch of the campaign. “It is heartening to know that the campaign has served its initial purpose of building-up of awareness and trials, says Pushpendra Singh.