We enhanced the food quality perceptions of KFC in Australia by building an unbelievable earned story.

One so unbelievable that food publications that would never usually mention fast food, actually DID cover this story.

IDEA

Kentucky Fried Chicken Degustation gave Australia’s most discerning, respected, and influential food critics a safe space to admit they like KFC, and say it’s good quality food.

We took KFC’s products, and with the help of a celebrity chef, created an 11-course degustation menu. Then we built and opened a fine dining restaurant from scratch that was open to public reservations.

20,000 reservations later we showed that the only difference in quality between Kentucky Fried Chicken and a fine-dining restaurant, is an over-the-top, theatrical, fancy and ultimately superfluous experience.

Oh, and matching wines.

RESULTS

1. REACH as many Australians as possible

2. With an INFLUENTIAL message

3. Helping change KFC’s food quality PERCEPTIONS

REACH:

KFC’s most successful food quality campaign - the award-winning Michelin Impossible - achieved 564 pieces of media coverage and 662 million impressions.

Degustation obliterated those results, achieving a mind-blowing 1,372 pieces of coverage and over 1.24 billion impressions.

When reservations went public, “KFC Degustation” was the 4^th trending search on Google. And 3^rd three weeks later, when our restaurant opened.

INFLUENCE:

To be influential on quality perceptions, reach had to come from food publications. And critics who NEVER usually mention KFC covered Degustation, and loved it.

127 ‘foodie’ publications raved about KFC’s high-quality food, with a stunning 99.2% of the coverage being positive.

PERCEPTIONS:

The reach and influence had the desired impact: post-campaign research revealed an incredible 41% of respondents said ‘KFC Degustation’ improved their perceptions of KFC’s food quality.

KFC - Degustation

CREDITS

Gold partners