Brand Transformation.

Louisville-based KFC, a subsidiary of Yum Brands Inc., hopes grilled chicken will lure back health-conscious consumers who dropped fried chicken from their diets, or cut back on indulging. KFC announced last year that fried chicken at all its U.S. restaurants had zero grams of trans fat per serving after the chain switched cooking oils.

"If they can get people over the hump -- which is `Do I believe KFC can sell me a healthy alternative' -- they'll increase their (customer) frequency," Miller said. "I don't see too much risk in trying it."

In promoting the new grilled product, KFC plans to change "Kentucky Fried Chicken" storefront signs to add grilled to the name. Chicken buckets will still feature KFC founder Harland Sanders but will get a redesign to promote fried and grilled chicken.

"With Kentucky Fried Chicken being part of your name, trying to get people to understand that you have these non-fried options available now -- it's not an uphill battle but it's certainly something we have to work on and make sure we communicate well," he said.
[HP].

It seems strange that KFC would change their name to Kentucky GRILLED Chicken for the new product rollout. But KFC is finally jumping on the wagon to what seems like, hopefully, a successful "healthy option" campaign. I usually dont write about fast food chains, let alone "fast food", but the marketing ploy behind the campaign caught my attention. KFC took on DraftFCB to create the UNthink campaign. The purpose is to change the perception that consumers have of KFC as a fried chicken/fast food chain.

Taste the UNfried side of KFC - from the website,
http://www.unthinkfc.com/

From the DM:

“Our target audience for the campaign is medium and light users/acceptors who have been visiting KFC less because they're eating fried chicken less often or not at all,” explained Rick Maynard, a spokesperson for KFC. “The introduction of Kentucky Grilled Chicken now gives them a reason to come back to KFC and to visit more often.”

UNThink has its own microsite — www.unthinkkfc.com — where visitors will be able to launch TV spots and outtakes, learn more about celebrity chef endorsers like Sandra Lee, play games and create an iPhone application. Banner ads and ads on KFC.com will be used to drive consumers to the UNThink site.

As part of the UNThink promotional blitz, KFC is sponsoring a grilled chicken giveaway called “UNFry Day” on Monday, April 27, to encourage consumers to try the new grilled product. The goal, Maynard said, was to give away at least 5 million pieces of Kentucky Grilled Chicken that day.

Hopefully the campaign proves to be successful. Their second media/campaign launch included a coupon offered through Oprah. Come on now, if KFC doesnt get ANY benefit out of that, theres seriously something wrong.

KCRA: