Brand Loyalty: Should KFC worry about Popeyes’ taking flight?

Image courtesy of KFC

Popeyes recently secured £50m to step up the rollout of the brand in the UK, will the cult US brand unseat KFC as the Chicken lord, and will marketing be the winning difference?

Popeyes, the New Orleans-founded fast-food chain first crossed the pond in 2021 and last month it announced a £50m investment in the UK – just to show it’s not clucking around. The brand is planning to open 31 restaurants before the year ends.

There’s been a flurry of marketing and PR activity from the cult brand from merchandise including Popeyes crocs to launching its ‘wings and rings’ wedding catering service for fans to enjoy Cajun seasoned chicken on their big day. This marketing activity has supported the brands hype and has driven significant demand in-store and online. The brand shows no sign of slowing down after experiencing exponential growth and has a pipeline of UK restaurants planned.

However, decades of brand loyalty, strong mental availability, and UK-wide distribution of over 1,000 UK restaurants, places KFC in a strong position in the UK. Since its high street inception in UK in 1965, KFC has had years to cement itself as the go-to fried chicken option for Brits.

Nevertheless, KFC is no stranger to a PR crisis, from the UK chicken shortages of 2018 to an unfortunate tagline during the pandemic the brand has proven to be agile and has thrived on reactive creative communications with the creative FCK statement garnering the attention and admiration of consumers and the marketing industry.

KFC in the last year has announced a host of branded partnerships, nearly enough to rival the Barbie PR team. From a limited edition Dead Man’s Finger rum, Proper Snacks popcorn, community kitchen campaign with FareShare and Big Zuu, and a fashion collection with Hype clothing.

But it wasn’t always this spicy for KFC in the UK, only a few years ago the brand was losing share to cheaper, independent competitors taking inspiration from the KFC name and tagline. KFC launched a film in which the Colonel drives through the UK’s chicken-shop-lined streets in a red vintage car to the backdrop of the “Godfather” theme. According to WARC the campaign increased KFC’s market share by 6.2% and won Gold in the 2021 APG Creative Strategy Awards. It won by respecting its rivals.

While Popeyes is hot with a cult following and booming growth, only time will tell what impact the Popeyes rollout will have on the chicken lord, will have to wait and see who bring the heat in the battle for the wingdom.

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