Never underestimate the power of Oprah...and Twitter.
KFC was able to live a marketer's dream by having Oprah Winfrey plug their new product: Kentucky Grilled Chicken. To commemorate the launch, KFC and Oprah offered a coupon on May 5 for the new Kentucky Grilled Chicken for anyone that went on Oprah.com. 
As you can imagine, people went nuts over these coupons and tweeted and posted this news all over the internet. Over 16 million were printed off the website alone and who knows how many were copied. Hey, we're in a recession! Can you blame them? 
The response was so overwhelming that many KFC's had to deny customers their chicken since they had run out. People became upset and demanded their chicken. Thankfully, KFC quickly replied with a "rain check" for all customers with coupons saying they could come back at another time for their Kentucky Grilled Chicken. In addition, the coupon would now include a drink apparently.
KFC's President Roger Eaton posted this video response to the issue. While he is definitely not from below the Mason-Dixon line, I believe he handled this situation well. Not only did he offer people the value of the coupon but he also is giving them more for their inconvenience.
From a media relations perspective, this video is leagues ahead of our friend from Domino's. Eaton looks at the camera, is relatively casual in his speech and appears sincere in his apology.
Is he a bit enthusiastic? Of course. Wouldn't you be if a new product launch promotion had worked TOO well? While they logistically did not prepare for the supply and demand parts of the promotion, they did reach over 16 million people who are now interested in their new product.
Cock-a-doodle-doo.
1 comments:
KGC is not being sold in Memphis area. What's up with that?
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