Mediaboss Marketing

KFC India recently gave its popular offering Rice Bowl an upgrade to make a new launch KFC Biryani Bucket with a quirky TVC campaign featuring actor Piyush Mishra. Moksh Chopra, Chief Marketing Officer, KFC India, shares that while the Rice Bowl has been a much-loved offering for consumers, this new innovation has been done in line with changing consumer preferences and demands for KFC. Chopra further shares the insights behind the new launch, the conceptualization and execution of the TVC campaign, new innovations, marketing strategy, retail footprint expansion and more.

Edited Excerpts

How do you ensure regular product innovation in line with changing consumer preferences? What are some key product innovations you are focusing on?

Innovation, while being distinctive, is at the core of what we do. Keeping up with the latest trends and consumer preferences, we continue to deliver craving products that are clutter-breaking and distinctively KFC, like the Tandoori Zinger, Double Down or Chizza, and now our latest offering - the KFC Biryani Bucket. Our endeavour is to design products that deliver familiar flavours to our consumers, but with a KFC twist.

Please tell us the consumer insight and inspiration behind the launch of the new Biryani Bucket.

We launched the KFC Biryani Bucket on popular consumer demand. Its a well-known fact that Indians love biryani; weve had consumers often wonder, ask, and suggest a Biryani variation on our menu to allow them to have both their favourites in one delicious meal at KFC. So we explored various recipes of chicken biryani and arrived at one that pairs best with the signature KFC chicken. The KFC Biryani Bucket brings together two dynamic flavours that Indians absolutely love KFCs signature fried chicken and flavourful Biryani rice. Keeping our ears to the ground and being attentive to our consumers preferences, we continue to expand our menu through interesting formats and flavours.

Walk us through the conceptualization and the execution process of the TVC campaign. In terms of response, what are the metrics that you are expecting?

As the leader in the fried chicken category, clearly, our consumers had been wanting to see our take on Biryani and thats exactly the concept we decided to develop for the campaign film around the product. We decided to say it like it is, and hence in the film you see the Colonel being pursued with the question of Biryani kab banaoge?. This is as authentic a treatment of the actual thought behind the product, from the laughter club, elevator to the tailor, everyone wanting to know when will the Colonel make a KFC Biryani. Thats when the Colonel resolves to design the biryani of everyones dreams and proudly holds up the KFC Biryani Bucket because KFC fans wanted it, and he made it happen.

The film went live on TV and digital and has received great traction so far. Consumer comments and feedback on our social channels, clearly show how KFC fans are enjoying both the long-awaited Biryani, as well as the candid TVC campaign.

Actor Piyush Mishra is part of the new campaign, so what are the synergies here?

Given the quirky concept of the TVC with consumers chasing the Colonel around town, we were looking for someone to aptly personify our consumers excitement as they asked the Colonel for a biryani. While we werent actively seeking a celebrity or a popular face, Piyush Mishra became an obvious choice given the ability to deliver a performance marked by his typical straight-faced humour. Who else could put the Colonel in a spot while asking about the biryani in the midst of a fit of laughter at a club? It all came together very well, and the Colonels chemistry with the actor is very evident and enjoyable in the TVC.

What are the challenges when updating and removing items from the menu? Krushers is no longer part of the menu?

We are committed to bringing new and distinct offerings to our consumers at KFC, and that is why our menu is ever-evolving. A lot of these changes depend on changing tastes and preferences, consumer demand and our market research. Ultimately, the goal is to make KFC more enjoyable for our consumers in line with their food preferences and to give them more options to choose from. As part of our beverage offering, consumers can enjoy Krush Lime and Mojito.

What is the media mix and marketing strategy that you are adopting for promoting the new launch? How different is it going to be your overall media mix?

We have always taken an innovative and out-of-the-box approach to talk to our consumers with integrated campaigns with a fair mix allocated to traditional and digital media. Our media mix includes traditional mediums like TV, Outdoors and Print; along with Digital & Social which form a major part of our media strategy. We use digital and social in 3 different ways. Firstly, for reach amplification of product and campaign. Secondly, its unique capability to create two-way engagement is something we use through social media, influencer collaborations and content. Consumers are also increasingly preferring to order KFC digitally on the KFC App, which is a third primary pillar.

What per cent of your sales comes from digital channels vs offline retail? Any plans for expanding your retail footprint?

A large percentage of our sales continue to come from delivery, takeaway (including our newly launched channel, Express Pick-Up, and a large chunk of this is coming from digital channels including our website and app).

We currently have 600+ restaurants in India, including expanding our footprint into cities such as Malda, Muzaffarpur, Bellary and Bhagalpur. Going forward, the focus will be to push further growth in the Indian market and widen our reach by expanding across tier 2 and 3 cities. We will continue to have a play through a mix of both equity and franchise-owned restaurants and fuel our long-term plan of growth and expansion in the country.

In an earlier interaction, you had mentioned thatKFCis observing a steady growth rate. Are your offline retail numbers back to pre-covid levels?

Despite Covid making it tough for restaurants to function at pre-covid levels, weve seen robust growth last year. We were agile in adapting to covid restrictions and working around them. Different channels such as contactless service, KFC to your Car/Bike service and KFCs 7 minutes Express PickUp helped in extending access to our consumers through the pandemic. And now as normalcy resumes, we are witnessing an increase in footfalls at our restaurants as well.

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Innovation, while being distinctive, is at the core of what we do: Moksh Chopra, KFC - Exchange4Media