KFC Reintroduces The Colonel -- Now, Bring Back His Recipes
KFC is fighting slumping sales -- down 7 percent in the most recent quarter -- with a new plan sure to please its franchise owners. The company is launching a new marketing campaign featuring fried-chicken recipe creator and company founder Harlan Sanders. Now all they have to do is bring back his recipes, and the chain could really stage a comeback.
The occasion is ostensibly to celebrate Sanders' 120th birthday. KFC says it's also in reaction to a recent study the company did, which revealed 60 percent of the young diners who make up KFC's core audience didn't know who The Colonel was, believing he was a made-up icon, not a real person.
But here's the real reason: The Colonel is synonymous with great fried chicken, and KFC needs to be associated with that again. Franchisees have sued KFC parent Yum! Brands (YUM) over the sales slump that's resulted from heavily marketing the company's healthier grilled chicken and soft-pedaling the core fried-chicken product.
This chain was built on great-tasting Southern fried chicken -- those old enough will remember the terrific aroma and taste of their birds circa the 1960s and '70s. But then the company turned its back on all that, removing "fried" and "chicken" from its name and slowly devolving to blander food. It's been downhill ever since.
Some pundits are saying it's too late to bring back the glory days. They're partly right -- simply using The Colonel as a marketing icon won't fix the fundamental problems KFC confronts. Rather than just recycling their founder's face, they should bring back what he created that made the chain one of the legendary American fast-food success stories: Great fried chicken.
KFC management should read the comments that accompanied a recent USA Today story about the new marketing campaign. To sum up more than 300 comments: Bring back the herbs and spices! "I like KFC," one poster cracked. "It tastes almost like chicken."
The Colonel's return is good news, in that it signals Yum! has heard franchise owners and will base the next marketing campaign around fried chicken. That should help mend fences with franchise owers, and may help sales as well.
It'd be even better news if The Colonel's reintroduction also triggered a return of the southern-fried goodness that made KFC's name (back when its name was Kentucky Fried Chicken). Domino's recently frankly admitted its pizza quality stunk, and changed its recipe. KFC would benefit from a similar move. Unlike Domino's, KFC has an Original Recipe just waiting to be rediscovered.
Photo via Flickr user Ben Sutherland
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