2019

The Challenges
Come 2018 ChineseNewYear (CNY), KFC launched it’s very own salted egg yolk infused chicken: the Golden Egg Crunch (GEC). However, we were just one among 24 food brands riding the salted egg wave. We set out with the ambitious goal to sell out the GEC in 8 weeks, smack in the middle of the most cluttered advertising season. A sellout goal demanded an unapologetically high TOM, which meant investing in TV. With brands going ballistic on TV during CNY, even if we wanted to, we couldn’t afford to outshout.

Insight, Strategy and the Idea
We chose to ‘Outsmart and not Outspend’. Studying TV viewing behaviours, we discovered that 87% of TV viewers browse their mobile as they watch TV. What if we used technology to bridge digital and TV to create a simultaneous experience? What if we could use on the fly creativity to deliver a brand message on digital that is connected to what’s playing on TV at the same time? Using second screen sync technology, we set out to hijack ads of other brands that were advertising heavily on TV during the CNY period. The Idea: Cross screen hijack done right, with the right content!

Media Execution
THE IMPACT PLAN ON TV: 1. We predicted 20 ads that would be popular this CNY, by econometrically modelling 10 years of CNY commercials and understanding patterns on budgeting, reach and social conversations. 2. We singled out the memorable part of each of the 20 ads via an algorithm. 3. Using that we created 20 KFC parody videos, each mimicking the popular 20 ads with a GEC twist. 4. Leveraging on TV sync technology when the popular 20 ads aired on TV, KFC parody videos were activated on mobile. Example: when the Panadol ad played on TV, we deployed a Panadol lookalike video on mobile promoting the GEC, all in real time. We topped up the cross screen hijack with a strong SUSTENANCE PLAN on OOH & RADIO. We bought into 13 large OOH sites nationwide and plastered it with visuals of the GEC and the price, simple! On Radio, we operated on a high frequency with spot buys into 14 stations on Astro, Media Prima and RTM across 4 languages,all calling out the GEC.

Results and Effectiveness
The GEC sold out in 6 weeks (against the targeted 8 weeks), delivering a 38% sales lift. Visits to KFC increased by 2% when category eating out dropped by 5%. KFC achieved the highest brand awareness score in 2 years,12 points ahead of the competition. Our hijack captured 4 million video views, it would have cost us 1260% more with just TV. Our OOH sites reached 43 million people and on radio we delivered 10.6 mil reach. The icing: McDonald’s even responded to our stunt driving even more noise. In all, we garnered RM286,000 in earned media even getting picked up by the likes of Contagious. All in all, one finger lickin’ good campaign!

The Challenges
School holidays spelled trouble for KFC. This is when Malays, our loyalists travel out of town with their families for staycations, forgoing their preferred KFCs in favour of the laksa in Penang and nasi ganja in Ipoh. With their eating patterns changing, we had a huge task ahead. Compete with the culture of traveling during holidays to regain product relevance.

Insight, Strategy and the Idea
We started from ground zero. Using social listening, we set out to understand the pulse of the Malays, by labelling the emotions that accompany every word that they talk about online. We found a range of emotions from stress to anxiety to surprise. But if there was one emotion that unites all Malays: It was comedy. And comedy was omnipresent even when travelling! Long car drives? They’ll pull up Sepahtu (comedy group) videos and laugh through the hours. Bored at their kampung? They’ll switch on the TV to watch MaharajaLawak (comedy competition) to entertain themselves. Comedy just makes every moment better! As KFC, we wanted our fried chicken to be loyal companions to their ‘feel good’ moments. Our idea: Make every comedy platform during school holidays better, with KFC.

Media Execution
We capitalized on the pinnacle of comedy in Malaysia : MaharajaLawakMega (MegaMaharajaOfComedy), the highest rated comedy show and a raging phenomenon with Malays, launching smack in the middle of school holidays. We spun off various assets of MaharajaLawakMega like comedians, content nuggets, episodes, sketches & seamlessly weaved KFC into them. It’s time for some hilarious action!
1. ‘EPISODES’ MADE BETTER WITH FRIED CHICKEN
Our fried chicken became the star of the show with comedians integrating KFC into their comedy sketches. Chicken jokes stormed the media with entertaining episodes across TV and digital.
2. ‘MOVIE AND DRAMA SCENES’ MADE BETTER WITH FRIED CHICKEN
The MaharajaLawakMega comedians took original scenes from 2018′s top Malay dramas & peppered it with a Chicken & Comedy twist. Releasing these parodies on social media unleashed a barrage of conversations.
3. ‘COMEDIAN GOSSIP INTERVIEWS’ MADE BETTER WITH FRIED CHICKEN
Gossip being integral to Malay content, we built a ‘KFCPartyLounge’ for comedians to dish out juicy gossip, while also eating our juicy chicken! These nuggets were amplified via social & video buys and vignettes on TV.
4. ‘RADIO COMEDY SKETCHES’ MADE BETTER WITH FRIED CHICKEN
On radio, we entertained listeners with our audio comedy sketches, all ending with our fried chicken as the star.
5. ‘IN STORE PRANKS’ MADE BETTER WITH FRIED CHICKEN
In KFC stores, MaharajaLawakMega comedians disguised themselves as KFC employees and entertained customers with their pranks, even rewarding them with free chicken. These pranks were recorded into videos released online, prodding conversations aplenty.

Results and Effectiveness
Malays flocked back to their beloved KFCs! Brand shares grew +18% higher than our strongest competitor. Our top of mind awareness with Malays increased +13%. TV content reached 5.6 million Malays. On social, we reached an average of 11 million. Our parody videos were viewed more than 1.6 million times, with average view rates +5.3x higher than benchmarks! And that is how our fried chicken became the nation’s next Maharaja of comedies.