KFC finds marketing success in Michelin star failure /

Changing perceptions / The negative slang term ‘dirty bird’ was a mental hurdle blocking Australians from associating KFC with quality. However, by linking the brand with the internationally recognised Michelin guide, KFC successfully challenged negative opinion, notably the 65% of Australians following the campaign saying their quality perceptions of KFC went up. The Michelin Impossible campaign also helped the brand recover its original name of ‘Kentucky Fried Chicken’ in the process, which KFC claims considerably helps its perception. This campaign has lessons that any brand can draw inspiration from, particularly those facing negative or restrictive brand perceptions that it wants to break free from.

Keep the fire burning / A content strategy adopted by many brands and agencies follows the hum, sing and shout model. Hum being always-on content that keeps the brand consistently in the public eye, sing is more campaign-focused content that is distributed at regular intervals, while shout communications are reserved for big marketing stunts and events that put the brand into the culture spotlight and on the front page of the media. Some brands choose to focus on shout while neglecting the hum and sing elements. While shouting can be impressive, it doesn’t have the longevity of spreading the elements over long periods of time, which helps to land the message. In essence, this is what KFC Australia achieved with Michelin Impossible: stoking the fire of the campaign through multiple touchpoints over a number of weeks, and building towards the final crescendo that left a lasting impression on its audience.

The underdogs / The underdog effect has been analysed across numerous studies over the last few decades. For example a 2007 study asked 71 participants to compare two differently ranked hypothetical Olympic swimming teams, the results showed that all participants wanted the underdogs to win. A theory for why this happens is called the basking-in-reflected-glory effect, where people associate themselves with other people’s accomplishments. The greater the odds are against them, the greater the glory you feel. By presenting Sam Edelman as an underdog on a grassroots personal mission (rather than a multinational restaurant conglomerate trying to change attitudes), the media and public became more invested in his cause. 

This is a strategy we’ve seen before at Contagious when we covered Bud Light’s bet to purchase the whole city of Philadelphia a beer if they won the Super Bowl. You can read about that campaign in our Insight & Strategy, here. In a similar campaign, Burger King sponsored Stevenage FC, the lowest-ranked team in UK professional football, which you can read about in our Insight & Strategy here.

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