The Campaign

In the year of the World Cup, when the entire world was focused on soccer, basketball seemed to have disappeared. How could KFC 3on3 Basketball Game turn the situation, make the world look to basketball again, and raise KFC brand awareness?An old Chinese idiom says: you can’t catch a tiger cub without entering the tiger’s den. That is to say: no risk, no reward. So we came up this idea – Play basketball on a soccer field! We changed a soccer field into the biggest basketball court, played using soccer rules and regulations, and held a giant 11on11 basketball game. During the event, it attracted live coverage and reports from 31 media outlets, and reached over 253 million people. At the same time, it caused quite a stir in social media. The hashtag #Play basketball on a soccer field# was read by over 5 million people on Weibo, and resulted in 30,000 discussions. Of course, it also created more brand awareness and discussion about the KFC brand than had been seen in years. This is appropriate to PR because we’ve developed a creative idea and execution that are unprecedented - such brave thing has never been done by other competitors or marketers in China before, even something similar. The event created lots of online discussion, and caught the attention of very influential Chinese media.

The Brief

In the year of the World Cup, when the entire world was focused on soccer, basketball seemed to have disappeared. The objective was to make the KFC 3on3 Basketball Game turn the situation, make the world look to basketball again, and raise KFC brand awareness. The target audience, China’s young generation, have grown up in a social environment where information bursts rapidly and people are more open-minded. They have been accepting new things, ideas and attitudes via internet. As a result, China's young generation have formed independent thoughts and standpoints, and they are more willing to try new different things.

Results

On the event day (July 6th), around 2000 people came to the site to watch the 11on11 basketball game, which is more than double of the number expected (800 people). The event attracted live coverage and reports from 31 media outlets (including CCTV 5), and reached over 253 million people, earning an equivalent media value worth RMB 16.6 million. At the same time, it caused quite a stir in social media. The hashtag #Play basketball on a soccer field# was read by over 5 million people on Weibo, and resulted in 30,000 discussions – an amount that was more than six times achieved by hashtags released by a competing brand which was an official partner of the World Cup. In addition, this event created the record of “the biggest basketball court in China” awarded by China Records.

Execution

On June 19th, we launched the topic on Hupu forum, the most popular online sports forum with lots of soccer fans and basketball fans, and led the discussion of a 11on11 football game on a soccer field. We also created the hashtag #Play basketball on a soccer filed# on Sina weibo, and the influential CCTV sports show host Yu Jia also joined the discussion. Shortly after that, we triggered the second round discussion by reposting the discussion through KFC/KFC 3on3/Yum official Weibo accounts. On Jun. 21st, the official teaser video, “Basketball Counterattacks Soccer”, was released to announce the grand opening of 2014 KFC 3on3. On Jul. 6th, we turned the soccer field of Beijing Dongdan Stadium into the biggest basketball court in China. Basketball players from Beijing and Guangzhou were invited to play this 11 vs. 11 basketball game. Also, KFC 3on3 official website broadcasted the live game.

The Situation

On June 19th, the topic was launched on Hupu forum,leading the discussion of a 11on11 football game on a soccer field.We also created the hashtag#Play basketball on a soccer filed#on Sina weibo,and the influential CCTV sports show host Yu Jia also joined the discussion.Shortly after that, we triggered the second round discussion by reposting the discussion through KFC/KFC 3on3/Yum official Weibo accounts.On June 21, the official teaser video “Basketball Counterattacks Soccer” was released to announce the grand opening of 2014 KFC 3on3.On July 6, we turned the soccer field of Beijing Dongdan Stadium into the biggest basketball court in China.

The Strategy

Based on the insight that China’s young generation are no longer rule followers, and they are willing to create new rules and try different things, we came up this idea – Play basketball on a soccer field! We changed a soccer field into the biggest basketball court, played using soccer rules and regulations, and held a giant 11on11 basketball game.