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| Relaunch of "Finger Lickin' Good" |
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| In Spring 2001, KFC was the 5th largest QSR operator in Canada behind McDonalds, Tim Hortons, Wendys and Burger King. However, KFC was losing "meal occasions" to McDonalds who had gained 1.7% share at KFC's loss. Despite tremendous equity in the Canadian market, a combination of business factors (product relevance, limited menu, investment in locations, franchise politics etc) had contributed to a decline in sales and brand tracking measures. On the communications front, the brand had been supported over the past 18 months by a global campaign ("The Animated Colonel") that had initially resulted in a spike in sales. However, advertising tracking showed that the campaign was fast losing relevance and thus was considered a contributing factor in sales decline. |
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| A series of exploratory focus groups were subsequently convened across English Canada to review the "Animated Colonel" campaign. It quickly became clear that, despite initial interest, the campaign had lost traction and the animated figure was considered youth-oriented and irrelevant to the KFC core target. Furthermore, consumers were unable to recall the campaign positioning of "KFC. We do chicken right". Unprompted, most recalled the KFC positioning as "Finger Lickin' Good" — a tagline which had not been supported by advertising in over 4 years. Additionally, core KFC users urged us to advertise "real people in real settings" rather than use an animated figure. Considering the power evidently resident in the forgotten "Finger lickin' Good" equity, the Agency began a program to rejuvenate the proposition. The communication objective required recreating the sensory experience derived from eating KFC. Heavy-users also told us that eating KFC was highly ritualistic and bordered on obsessive. These attributes had been missing from the "Animated Colonel" campaign. |
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| Ogilvy Toronto immediately began work on a pool of four commercials based on capturing the "obsessive behavior associated with enjoying KFC". "True Love" featured a young man whose manic desire for a new Twister sandwich resulted in him braving a bicycle accident and broken arm just to reach a KFC store. "Recycled Air" and "Steam" were both based on the insight that KFC has a unique smell that core users crave. In "Recycled Air", a young man changes the air vent in his car as he drives past a KFC location so he can better enjoy that KFC aroma. In "Steam" a phone call interrupts a woman we believe is undergoing a facial steam treatment at home. As she lifts the towel, the camera reveals she is in fact inhaling the unmistakable aroma from a bucket of KFC. |
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| The return of Finger Lickin' Good met with tremendous enthusiasm from the public. Measurable increases in store traffic and sales coupled with a lift in several attributes on Brand tracking were testimony to the improved relevance and insight in the FLG campaign. In the first 6 months of the FLG campaign store sales rose 5.4% VYA with certain promotions posting +9% VYA. At the time of writing (Q4 2002), FLG is still on-air in Canada and the creative formula remains largely unchanged. Testimony to the success of the campaign insights gleaned in research. |
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