This summer, Kentucky Fried Chicken followed through with one of its boldest ideas to date: launching its new Zinger fried chicken sandwich into space. KFC looked to complement the stunt with a campaign that would generate awareness for the Zinger sandwiches, as well as drive visits to their restaurants among 18 to 34 year olds.
Case study summary
• Fast food chain ran social media stunt complemented by a snapchat campaign
• Used Snap Ads, custom chain filters and Audience Lens to drive footfall into stores
• Got a 18% lift in visitation and a cost per visit of $0.21
The challenge
KFC wanted to boost store visits from millennials and used a smart marketing stunt to gain awareness. But how could it complement launching a burger into space with a campaign that would generate drive visits to their restaurants among 18 to 34 year olds?
The solution
KFC used a mix of different Snap Ad creative formats, like cinemagraphs and short videos, to promote its campaign. By following creative best practices, KFC found that the Snap Ads which looked and felt like everyday Snaps drove longer average view durations.
By launching an Audience Lens, KFC drove efficiencies by taking advantage of Snapchat’s audience capabilities, which made sure its Lens reached its intended audience, Snapchatters 18 to 34. The Lens, which turned faces into a Zinger sandwich, proved to be a big hit with Snapchatters — generating 19 million views and 15 million plays. And for every Snapchatter who used the KFC Lens, 20 additional Snapchatters saw it, with celebrities like Kylie Jenner getting in on the action to help drive additional reach.
KFC also launched custom Chain Filters at its locations across the US. When visiting a participating location, Snapchatters could use a Filter that featured a Zinger launching into space or launching into their mouths. With 180 thousand uses, the Filter received 4.5M views, further driving awareness that the Zinger had made its arrival.
The results
By using multiple ad products at the same time, KFC saw significantly higher conversion rates than if they were to have only used one. KFC also took advantage of Snapchat’s campaign optimizations to reach its intended audience and test various creative formats, resulting in an 18% lift in visitation and a cost per visit of $0.21.
