Marketing that is finger-pointing bad

Kentucky Fried Chicken is adrift in the abyss of wayward marketing messages. They seem to believe that good marketing is marketing that makes up a story and doesn’t tell the story.

Last fall, KFC made up a story and marketed that a bucket of fried chicken is “health food” because it is low in carbs and high in protein. Before that, they “funkified” the iconic Colonel by turning him into an animated hip-hop buffoon in an attempt to make their comfort food offerings more appealing to a younger audience.

KFC’s next big idea is to offer the runner-up of The Apprentice a one week gig as their Chief Sales Officer to help launch “one of the biggest new product launches in the company's history -- KFC's Oven Roasted chicken product line.”

Huh? KFC is about to embark on one of their biggest new product launches in the company’s history and the only thing compelling about the new product is that either Bill Rancic or Kwame Jackson will hawk it via publicity stunts and a television commercial.

Obviously, there is nothing special or unique about KFC’s new Oven Roasted chicken. Why else would they resort to making up a story and not telling the story of why their new Oven Roasted chicken is the biggest product launch in the company’s history?

However, Gregg Dedrick, KFC’s President and Chief Concept Officer, seems downright giddy about this marketing stunt. He is quoted in the NY Post as saying, "We're thrilled about the prospect of teaming one of today's newest and most talented, young executives with a well-respected, American brand like KFC.”

I think Gregg Dedrick and Scott Bergren, KFC’s Executive Vice-President for Marketing and Food Innovation, need some schooling on when to use a “celebrity” spokesperson.

For that schooling, I suggest Gregg and Scott read Sergio Zyman’s The End of Advertising as We Know It. In the book, Sergio expertly articulates when a company/brand should use a celebrity endorser.

“If your brand doesn't already conjure up the images and associations you want consumers to get when they think of your brand, you’ll then need to borrow those qualities from someone or something that already has them.”

What attributes does Bill Rancic or Kwame Jackson have that KFC needs to borrow to successfully launch their Oven Roasted chicken product?

If the only thing special about KFC’s Oven Roasted chicken is a loose association with The Apprentice … then I argue that KFC shouldn’t launch such an unremarkable product.

Comments

[John Moore]

Oh dear, more marketing 1.0 from KFC.

But only typical of what most big brands get up to. Buying in superficial excitement from outside to try to create entirely fictional value in an otherwise not-very-interesting product.

This is adolescent level marketing; the confusion of fantasy with experience. The marketing guy you quote sounds like the typical teen schoolboy making up stories about his sex life to impress his mates.

[Paul from BrandAutopsy]

That schoolboy comment struck a little too close to home for me...

[Peter Caputa]

As a PR stunt, I think the KFC-apprentice tie-up is fairly clever. For 25k, they are getting people to talk about their product, something that we would normally never talk about. (When's the last time you talked about a new fast food product based on its merits?) As a marketing campaign, you are correct, it isn't very good. However, I wouldn't confuse this stunt with their campaign.

[John]

Peter makes a good point although once again I wonder what KFC is offering KFC is fun? KFC is hip? KFC has a damn good product, so good that we'll pick anyone that a reality TV show boils down to to sell it? Cant help thinking this is a cheap stunt, and cheapens the brand.

[hugh macleod]

all these fast food places have the same problem: too many franchises, not enough traffic. whatever marketing genius they use, the basic problem remains: trying to make money from a 50-year-old biz model.

[Chris Tassano]

I noticed that there is no recent comments on the Apprentice topic however, It may be a smart marketing ploy on behalf of KFC to get a new face that the youth of America can look up to. (Most kids don't even know what a Colonel is). This is important because fast food industry analysts predict that the "Baby Boomer Generation" getting older will result in a decline in total sales throughout the industry. Anyone not participating in catching the younger consumer will lose a significant portion of their market share in the future. McDonalds always associates itself with the youth of America because they know they will be the fast food consumers of tomorrow. Why is it that Tobacco companies, the richest most profitable companies in the world would hunt children? Because, they pay top dollar to market researchers to give them the best information on present and future consumers.

[apprentice]

Check out this site:

The Apprentice Rules

They talk about the show from a business perspective and have some great commentary.