77. A gamble with the logo for crisis communication


This campaign was specifically designed for the crisis management of KFC. The brand is well known for its chicken worldwide. KFC chicken is its identity. In the UK KFC ran out of chicken and it turned into a huge crisis which blew out of proportion especially on social media. The brand had recently changed its delivery partner who tried to run the whole delivery operation through one channel. The strategy did not work and as a result, they were unable to deliver in all 900 KFC stores across the UK.


Because of the unavailability of chicken they had to shut 600 of their stores and the remaining took chicken out of their menu for the time being. Now, this may seem like a small issue but, with the reputation of the brand and chicken being the core of its identity, this led to a huge crisis which created a buzz on social media called ‘KFC Chicken Crisis’.

In this blog, we will explore how KFC handled the situation beautifully through their crisis communication and how they turned the crisis into an opportunity which earned them more love from the customers. The crisis campaign is a case study of effective crisis communication.

After the news went out about the unavailability of chicken in KFC, the brand immediately reacted by issuing an apology. They published full-page ads in newspapers which a KFC bucket which spelt the logo as ‘FCK’. The campaign was their ‘FCK’ apology campaign. The brand addressed the crisis in a very unique way by playing with the letters and apologising for disappointing their customers. Their apology with a unique element garnered high earned media and created a buzz on social media. The customers started appreciating the brand and the apology worked in their favour.

‘FCK’ apology campaign won KFC won a silver and three gold Lions at the Cannes festival 2018. It was amongst the most loved campaign of the year.

Reference:
From a chicken crisis to Cannes: Lessons from KFC's award-winning campaign- https://www.campaignlive.com/article/chicken-crisis-cannes-lessons-kfcs-award-winning-campaign/1486236
UK's top marketers name KFC 'FCK' as favourite campaign of 2018- https://www.campaignlive.com/article/uks-top-marketers-name-kfc-fck-favourite-campaign-2018/1591783

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