Thoughts on Marketing

KFC was beat up over the last several months in their introduction of grilled chicken. Think about it - when you're known as "Kentucky Fried Chicken" (even though they try to be simply "KFC") how can you suddenly launch a huge campaign around grilled chicken? "Kentucky Grilled Chicken?" Not the same ring... There was also a huge debacle when they had a poorly executed giveaway touted on Oprah that created long lines in stores with not enough chicken and franchisees upset.

However, according to a new AdAge article, KFC's same store sales are up 3%, nearly 20% of the fast food market has tried the grilled chicken, and 85% of those who have tried it indicated an intent to repurchase. Not bad, KFC. Time will tell if this upward trend for KFC will stick, but early indicators look good.

Moral of the story? KFC recognized consumers' changing behaviors and a move to healthier options in fast food. They managed to garner a lot of publicity for themselves and maybe all publicity is good publicity these days (not that I'm endorsing that). Congrats to KFC for sticking it out and I hope the grilled chicken is a win for them. I certainly think it's a win for the consumer and a move to better health for this country.