Episode 117 - KFC Anything for the Taste Ad Reviewed by Wavemaker and De Beers Group
How far would you go for your favourite portion of KFC? The story in this week’s episode of Advertisers Watching Ads introduces us to a man who impersonates a KFC quality assurance inspector, all so he can eat as much chicken as possible throughout South Africa.
Our guests Elliot Parkus (Managing Partner at Wavemaker UK) and Beatrice Boue (Global Head of Media at De Beers Group) have their say on the Anything for the Taste ad created by Ogilvy and chosen for us by Contagious. What do you think about the cinematic clip and the key brand promise this takes us back to? And how far would you go for that KFC taste?
Watch the episode and let us know your views!
Episode 117 - KFC Anything for the Taste Ad Reviewed by Wavemaker and De Beers Group
Transcript - It’s not perfect, but you get the idea!
Robert Beckman 0:00
Hi, my name is Bertie, Head of Growth at Automated Creative, and welcome to this week's Advertisers Watching Ads. The weekly show where brands watch other brands' ads.
A big thanks to our partner, Contagious, for helping pick this week's ad. Please check them out after the show. And without further ado, it gives me great pleasure to introduce you to this week's guests.
Elliot Parkus 0:26
Hi, there! I'm Elliot Parkus. I'm Managing Partner at Wavemaker UK.
Beatrice Boue 0:30
Hi, I'm Beatrice Boue. I'm Head of Media at De Beers.
Robert Beckman 0:34
Welcome, guys! And what a fabulous
panel we've got this week. KFC introduced us to Mr. Molapo who impersonates a quality assurance inspector for KFC. And drives around South Africa eating KFCs for free because he will do ”Anything for the taste.” Here's the ad.
So guys, on the count of three, I'm going to ask you out of five, what you thought of that particular ad? One, two, three... Two fives and a four. Very, very, very strong performance.
Elliot Parkus 3:38
I think they've done a nice job. It's a, it's a really good ad. It's really nice ad. And I would say from firstly, kind of stylistically, it really fits into the "Catch Me If You Can" aesthetic of how the story rolls out as well. I think it's actually nicely paced through it as well. I noticed that kind of at the beginning it says, "Based on a true story." At the very end it says KFC disputes that any of this ever happened, but I'm not sure any of that really matters. It's a nice story. It's amusing. And it's well done, I think.
Beatrice Boue 4:08
I really liked it because it's very hard in marketing to convey taste, especially for a product they already know and to remind people how much you like it. And here, what they've managed to do is amazing storytelling with a brilliant pace. And they've managed to put every single product as well. It's really rare to find an advertising that is entertaining, that is cinematic, that is filmed like a film. It's very Tarantino-esque with my head of media cap. There is something I don't like at all, and I have to be very honest with that. That is not made for social. What can I do with that in media? How can I drive reach to the story? How can I make justice to such a great story that is over two minutes?
Elliot Parkus 4:51
It's a lot about what you do around the ad to make it feel bigger and to make it part of a bigger campaign. And they've also got a lot of other videos where you can follow this story from the point of view of a private investigator who is doing the whole thing with the, with the red string, who's looking into the case and following up where consumers can actually play their part in the, in the hunt for this, for this fake food inspector. So I think they have done some good work around how to make it more relevant to some of the major environments that they will be using it in. I would love to see how far they can push the "Anything for the Taste" line, because I think that is a really good idea. And that is something that you can work with both creatively and through media to really bring to life.
Robert Beckman 5:44
So Bea, would you have signed that campaign off? And if you would have done, why?
Beatrice Boue 5:49
Yes, I would. I would have because they're reminding the audience about the key brand promise which is taste. They're reminding the audience about all of the different product to fulfill that taste and to fulfill the desire for the product. So you've got brand equity building, brand desirability, taste KPIs. I'm sure on all these KPIs, the ad is performing extremely well. So if I analyze it like a marketer and not just with my heart, which I think is brilliant because I love the cinematic feel to it. I would say it's a very strong ad.
Robert Beckman 6:21
Elliot, do you think for all the positives that you've given us that maybe this was an exercise where the creative agency have kind of gone, "Let's make this about us rather than about the brand and what the brand wants and needs?"
Elliot Parkus 6:34
The truth is that yes, there are ideas which are sitting in creative agencies' drawers that they are looking for a client to make and it kind of doesn't matter what client has turned up but they get this idea. Genuinely, I don't think that's the case in this instance because it is a story that is based on a either true or an urban legend. So it's something that actually lives within KFC anyway. It is particular to the, to the category. It has good observations around kind of taste. Actually, without having seen the brief, I think this probably answers the brief.
Robert Beckman 7:14
Bea, what do you think from a marketing perspective we've learned from this?
Beatrice Boue 7:17
We've learned that with good storytelling, we can still deliver on the brand promise and that is something that is in the marketing and the advertising world keep telling and keep telling. It tells us that, yes, sometimes, okay, I'm the first one saying it has to be digital first. It needs to be social first, but a good story on two and a half minutes delivering on a brand promise that is really delivering as well on the brand equity, on the brand desirability, on the product is very rare to come. It's very hard to do with a very high quality. And when they come out so well, they are amazing. And for me this is one of this, this lesson here is that sometimes you need to look at the longer version and not try to be like me as a Head of Media going straight, "Can I have a six-second, please?" It's self-critique here. But yes, this is a lesson, like sometimes you really have to listen to these creatives telling you and delivering on the brand positioning, the brand promise.
Elliot Parkus 8:20
Great advertising has to be based in the product truth. And I think there is a product truth at the heart of this ad around taste and around the lengths people will go to for that taste. So I think that is really nice and really strong.
Robert Beckman 8:31
Beatrice, is there anything else you'd like to add in terms of KFC and Mr. Molapo?
Beatrice Boue 8:36
I really fancy one now.
Robert Beckman 8:41
Thank you so much for being fantastic guests. It's been a great show and many, many thanks
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