2021 Winner
2021 Winners
KFC
Famous Chicken
In February 2020 KFC’s biggest American rival announced their infamous chicken sandwich would be launching in Canada. KFC had 7 months to plan a campaign that would outsmart their competitors’ launch and ensure they remained the fried chicken G.O.A.T..
KFC and their main fried-chicken rival are locked in a prolonged chicken sandwich battle in the US, consumers there have given their rival the title of the ‘famous chicken sandwich’.
The key competitor’s provocative work even generates earned media and excitement for them in Canada despite the sandwich being unavailable in Canada.
Until 2020 that is.
In February 2020, KFC’s key opposition announced their sandwich would launch in Canada the following September. Big mistake. KFC had 7 months to plan the release of their own sandwich first and throw the first punch in the inaugural Canadian chicken sandwich battle.
KFC knew they had to engage Canadian QSR customers who may have been exposed to their rivals’ earned media that spills into Canada. Data showed that QSR customers are fickle and rotate between different brands, so KFC had to convince them to not only try their sandwic but to abandon the new imposter sandwich they had already heard about.
It came down to one key insight: to be the world’s best chicken sandwich, you can ONLY use the world’s best fried chicken. You need KFC’s Famous Fried Chicken to make it.
QSR notoriety and sales sometimes comes down to two brands slugging it out. Could Wavemaker help KFC deliver a knock-out blow to their nearest challenger? They identified two provocations to exploit: (1) The belief that the KFC sandwich is legitimately superior to their rival and (2) KFC is the only brand that has famous chicken (Kentucky Fried) in their sandwiches.
Because their rivals’ tone is confident and cocky in the chicken sandwich wars in the US, their earned media resonates with, and entertains, chicken sandwich fans. They decided that if they could keep the conversation focused on the superiority of their fried chicken sandwich, the earned media spotlight could deliver a “win” for KFC.
To cut through, KFC would outsmart the rival’s launch in any way that they could. This strategy would steal the spotlight and remind Canadian QSR fans who the real fried chicken G.O.A.T. is. By creating this buzz and offering consumers ways to interact and talk about their brand, they wanted to flip chicken fans from anticipating the rival sandwich, to demanding KFC’s.
KFC threw the first punch by placing a full-page ad in a national newspaper proclaiming their fame and alerting Canada that something big was coming from KFC - 2 weeks before their foe launched their sandwich.
KFC stayed in the spotlight by buying ads within televised NBA games that the competition sponsored to interrupt their messaging. They bought Out of Home billboards near their competitors' restaurant locations, calling out, “You can’t have a famous chicken sandwich without Famous Chicken.”
On social media, they identified lovers and haters of the other brand and sent contextually relevant messages to them. They sparked the conversation on Twitter with a #FCCS takeover on the day of release.
When people were hungry, they intercepted them. Firstly, when in-line for the other sandwich, they sent them an AirDrop coupon to get the KFC sandwich for just $2 – but only if they left the line-up immediately. They gave Canadians more reasons to try KFC’s new Famous Chicken Chicken Sandwich by offering introductory trial offers through their own channel platforms – in-restaurant, via CRM, and across digital assets.
The Famous Chicken Chicken Sandwich out-performed KFC’s expectations of sales by selling out two weeks earlier than expected. They doubled the number of all-important Adults 18-24 visiting the KFC website and purchase intent doubled amongst Canadians during the campaign.
They stole media headlines and earned cultural kudos for getting a jump-start, with earned media and the fame they created even got TV reporters live on air to say they preferred the KFC sandwich over the other sandwich.
With 29,503,040 Earned impressions, they delivered enough coverage for every single meat-eating Canadian to have seen KFC demonstrate that they are not just chicken. They are Famous Chicken.
KFC and their main fried-chicken rival are locked in a prolonged chicken sandwich battle in the US, consumers there have given their rival the title of the ‘famous chicken sandwich’.
The key competitor’s provocative work even generates earned media and excitement for them in Canada despite the sandwich being unavailable in Canada.
Until 2020 that is.
In February 2020, KFC’s key opposition announced their sandwich would launch in Canada the following September. Big mistake. KFC had 7 months to plan the release of their own sandwich first and throw the first punch in the inaugural Canadian chicken sandwich battle.
KFC knew they had to engage Canadian QSR customers who may have been exposed to their rivals’ earned media that spills into Canada. Data showed that QSR customers are fickle and rotate between different brands, so KFC had to convince them to not only try their sandwic but to abandon the new imposter sandwich they had already heard about.
It came down to one key insight: to be the world’s best chicken sandwich, you can ONLY use the world’s best fried chicken. You need KFC’s Famous Fried Chicken to make it.
QSR notoriety and sales sometimes comes down to two brands slugging it out. Could Wavemaker help KFC deliver a knock-out blow to their nearest challenger? They identified two provocations to exploit: (1) The belief that the KFC sandwich is legitimately superior to their rival and (2) KFC is the only brand that has famous chicken (Kentucky Fried) in their sandwiches.
Because their rivals’ tone is confident and cocky in the chicken sandwich wars in the US, their earned media resonates with, and entertains, chicken sandwich fans. They decided that if they could keep the conversation focused on the superiority of their fried chicken sandwich, the earned media spotlight could deliver a “win” for KFC.
To cut through, KFC would outsmart the rival’s launch in any way that they could. This strategy would steal the spotlight and remind Canadian QSR fans who the real fried chicken G.O.A.T. is. By creating this buzz and offering consumers ways to interact and talk about their brand, they wanted to flip chicken fans from anticipating the rival sandwich, to demanding KFC’s.
KFC threw the first punch by placing a full-page ad in a national newspaper proclaiming their fame and alerting Canada that something big was coming from KFC - 2 weeks before their foe launched their sandwich.
KFC stayed in the spotlight by buying ads within televised NBA games that the competition sponsored to interrupt their messaging. They bought Out of Home billboards near their competitors' restaurant locations, calling out, “You can’t have a famous chicken sandwich without Famous Chicken.”
On social media, they identified lovers and haters of the other brand and sent contextually relevant messages to them. They sparked the conversation on Twitter with a #FCCS takeover on the day of release.
When people were hungry, they intercepted them. Firstly, when in-line for the other sandwich, they sent them an AirDrop coupon to get the KFC sandwich for just $2 – but only if they left the line-up immediately. They gave Canadians more reasons to try KFC’s new Famous Chicken Chicken Sandwich by offering introductory trial offers through their own channel platforms – in-restaurant, via CRM, and across digital assets.
The Famous Chicken Chicken Sandwich out-performed KFC’s expectations of sales by selling out two weeks earlier than expected. They doubled the number of all-important Adults 18-24 visiting the KFC website and purchase intent doubled amongst Canadians during the campaign.
They stole media headlines and earned cultural kudos for getting a jump-start, with earned media and the fame they created even got TV reporters live on air to say they preferred the KFC sandwich over the other sandwich.
With 29,503,040 Earned impressions, they delivered enough coverage for every single meat-eating Canadian to have seen KFC demonstrate that they are not just chicken. They are Famous Chicken.