Picture this: the thrill of a massive sports fixture in the air, home team shirts peppering the streets, cheers echoing through stadiums. But the excitement is muted by the growl of a hungry home spectator’s stomach and slim chances of the chicken crossing the road in time for the big kick off. Cue KFC’s own new Delivery platform, which was hungry to score big in the world of food delivery.
The UK is home to the third biggest online food delivery market in the world and KFC Delivery was the newest kid on a field of high-performing players in market. Moreover, their single-brand proposition, meant they needed to drive more precise fandom than their multi-brand competitors.
Fresh from the victory of their Qatar FIFA World Cup ITV sponsorship, KFC Delivery and media agency Mindshare were looking for a long-term partner to keep their flame burning across a broader annual sports calendar. Their goal? To make KFC Delivery a household name during key sporting events by building brand fame, driving positive value perceptions and increasing brand loyalty.
They needed a multi-platform partnership with an always-on presence and contextual relevance, while measuring its effectiveness through brand evaluation and econometric methodology to drive app downloads and transactions.
Sky Sports, the undisputed home of sport, was a natural choice, but we needed to ensure the channel audience was aligned. We found that Sky Sports News’ viewers over indexed for weekly fast food delivery services and regularly eat takeaway chicken; plus 21% of Sky Sports News viewers already ordered KFC regularly. Now it was time to present them with KFC’s own delivery service.
In this dream team pairing, KFC became the Official Delivery Partner for Sky Sports, bringing chicken cravings home in the midst of adrenaline-pumping sporting moments.
With a broad and impressive calendar of sporting events, the year ahead was sizzling with potential. But the goal wasn’t just badging; we kicked it up a notch by making the partnership part of the viewing experience with creative consisting of contextually relevant talent and VO’s.
We took KFC’s World Cup sponsorship idents (developed by Mother London), gave them a new sporting makeover, and let them loose in the world of Sky Sports. Sky Sports talent, serving VO commentary contextual to each sport, lent their voices to 10” TVCs strategically aired during key dining moments plus pre-match, half-time and post-match periods.
13 February was the kick-off date for the campaign, which spanned 18 weeks, covering iconic events like the Premier League, English Football League One, Women’s Super League, Scottish Professional Football League, The Ashes and Formula 1. We wanted to show KFC Delivery as the perfect match for live sports fans, letting them savour their favourite fried chicken, whilst soaking in the thrill of their favourite sports.
TV commercials depicted fans in a race against time to get their KFC takeaway home before the starting whistle. Picture a cricket fan diving for a bucket catch, a football enthusiast sprinting past defenders with a bucket of fried chicken, or a Formula 1 fanatic maneuvering through the streets like a race car to beat the delivery clock. And who better to narrate these chicken-charged adventures than our A-team of Sky Sports commentators: Pien Meulensteen and Bill Leslie (Football), Ebony Rainford Brent (Cricket) and David Croft (Formula 1).
The campaign unfolded on Sky Sports’ wide range of platforms, dominating live contextual moments with linear placements, reaching on-the-move viewers with Sky Go, and taking over the home of sporting highlights and news with high-impact digital placements across Sky Sports’ website, App and YouTube channel. Sky Sports’ social media platforms, including Instagram and Facebook, were our playgrounds to serve up pre-roll ads at mealtimes that left fans drooling.
After positive brand measurement research results in season 1 (February-June), KFC Delivery renewed for season 2 (August-December), with KFC maximising on the growth of the new Premier League season; adding contextual Darts TVCs (voiced by Wayne Mardle); and a Data-sharing Agreement with Sky to allow for Web and App Attribution measurement.
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