KFC WEDDINGS

Bronze Spike

Case Film

Presentation Image

TitleKFC WEDDINGS
BrandKFC
Product / ServiceKENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN
CategoryA04. Travel, Leisure, Retail, Restaurants & Fast Food Chains
EntrantOGILVY AUSTRALIA Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Idea Creation OGILVY AUSTRALIA Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Idea Creation 2 OPR AGENCY Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Media Placement MEDIACOM Sydney, AUSTRALIA
PR OPR AGENCY Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Production GEOMETRY GLOBAL Sydney, AUSTRALIA

Credits

Name Company Position
Ben Smith Ogilvy Australia Creative Director
Luke Hawkins Ogilvy Australia Creative Director
Fred Corazza Ogilvy Australia Art Director
Sean Vrabel Ogilvy Australia Copywriter
Mat Baker Louis and Co Photographer
Paul Baron Ogilvy Australia Print Producer
Edward Oakden Ogilvy Australia Account Director
Kate Warren-Smith Geometry Australia General Manager
Corey Clarke Geometry Australia General Manager
Laura Heydon Geometry Australia General Manager
Ruth Taylor KFC Australia Marketing Manager
Leigh Bignell Ogilvy Australia Executive Business Director
Shaun Branagan Ogilvy Australia Group Creative Director
Ellen Corr Ogilvy Australia Senior Account Manager
James Curtis Ogilvy PR Senior Account Director
Sophie McIntosh Ogilvy PR Senior Account Manager
Gavin McLeod Ogilvy Australia Executive Creative Director
Ryan O'Connell Ogilvy Australia Head of Strategy
Cassie Poiner Ogilvy Australia Group Account Director
Newman Sorenson Ogilvy Australia Film & Content Producer
Sally Spriggs KFC Marketing Director
Kristi Woolrych KFC Chief Marketing Officer
Taylor York Ogilvy PR Senior Account Manager
Raphael Valenti Ogilvy Australia Copywriter

Why is this work relevant for PR?

‘KFC Weddings’ was designed to gain PR and earned media by tapping into Australian culture and an existing behaviour of newlywed KFC super fans while leveraging the biggest, most public day of their lives – their wedding day.

Background

KFC’s ambition is to be the ‘King of Treats’. Problem is, as much as people love our food, many remain embarrassed to be seen eating it in public, or carrying our branded bags around. It’s called ‘bag shame’. So, our brief was to help Australians overcome their perceptions of KFC being 'low quality food' that they were embarrassed to be seen with and normalise eating KFC. We needed to reach as many Australians as possible, and show them that KFC is quality food that you could be proud to be seen eating in public. We’d noticed a social behaviour in Australia of couples and bridal parties stopping off at KFC to eat between the wedding ceremony and reception, so we leveraged that to help us normalise eating KFC and overcome 'bag shame'.

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

We created ‘KFC Weddings’. A full-service wedding offering giving Aussies the chance to have the most public day of their lives themed and catered with KFC. A fried chicken lovers dream. And, a timely reminder that KFC is quality food that can be proudly served and eaten at the most public and important of occasions.

Describe the PR strategy (30% of vote)

Our strategy was to reach as many Australians as possible, but with a twist. We wanted people to discover the idea organically. This mass exposure would help create the belief that it was fine to be seen publicly devouring KFC - without fear of judgement. We needed to be seen as a natural part of Aussies' lives. And there is no more public day than peoples wedding day, so this is where the PR strategy focused. To tell a well-rounded story, we created the following: - 2 x print ads featuring KFC in a premium wedding shot. - Media release with all the information on what was going on and how people could get involved. - Fan sourced images from personally held KFC weddings and receptions. - Video assets and images from the first two official KFC Weddings.

Describe the PR execution (20% of vote)

We launched with two print ads in places no one would expect to see KFC, but somewhere brides and grooms wouldn’t miss - Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar Bridal Edition. The ad featured a bride tucking into a drumstick, with a URL as the call-to-action. Social media light up with excitement. Once the buzz lifted, we sold the story into consumer media. Our release had all the details on how couples could win, along with real images of Aussie fans who had tied the knot in their own KFC style wedding – providing authentic visuals for media to use. This drove people to a website where over 3,000 chicken loving lovers applied to have a KFC wedding experience. On 29th Feb, we held the world’s first official KFC Wedding in Queensland with Kate and Harry. Paul and Sam in Melbourne exchanged vows a week later, with more weddings rolling out.

List the results (30% of vote)

KFC Weddings was a PR juggernaut. Across the two major milestone moments, the announcement of the KFC Weddings service and the first KFC Wedding, the campaign resulted in an astounding 2,160 pieces of coverage stories landing both nationally and internationally across TV, radio, print, online and social media. In total we reached a whopping 1.2 billion people (not bad for a country of just 25 million) with our quality food message. KFC Weddings wasn’t just a PR campaign that successfully penetrated culture to remind Aussies that KFC is quality food, it also helped achieve a sales growth of 5.3% Now that’s something to celebrate!