KFC SG goes all out with bold 4X ad spend to conquer breakfast market

KFC Singapore has upped its advertising and promotion budget by four times, as it looks to conquer the breakfast market.

The brand has relaunched its signature Original Recipe breakfast menu with an “#UnboringMorning” campaign, and a troupe of jubilant dancers, clad in KFC’s signature striped uniform were hired to kick the campaign off. The dancers served a selection of signature Original Recipe breakfast dishes to an upbeat playlist curated on Spotify to dispel Monday morning blues. The list included songs such as Bad Habits, Ice Cream, 24K Magic, Savage Love and many others.

Check out the playlist here. 

According to KFC Singapore, the brand has enjoyed a steady business across this mealtime, and sees the growing potential of the morning dining segment in Singapore. As such, KFC Singapore is determined to “elevate breakfast into an exciting mealtime that Singaporeans look forward to”.

“The KFC Singapore breakfast items refresh, and marketing push, are strategic business decisions to drive increased revenue in the A.M. slot. We know that Singaporeans simply love our fresh chicken and Original Recipe flavour, and we encourage them to satisfy their cravings by experiencing #UnboringMornings with KFC Singapore,” said Lynette Lee, general manager of KFC Singapore.

Over the years, KFC has consistently challenged their R&D teams to innovate and improve the breakfast menu. Recent testing initiatives leveraging the Original Recipe Chicken (O.R. Chicken) as the signature flavour have reported overwhelmingly great feedback, and the brand has a laser focus on breakfast with a four times on ad spend expected to achieve a 40% increase in breakfast sales over the next three years. KFC is best known the world over for its secret Original Recipe of 11 herbs and spices which is synonymous with the brand. 

According to Lee, when asked who KFC's biggest competitors are in the market, the brand said "at present is our guests themselves". "A pattern of working from home has meant that many have become used to eating the same old breakfast, likely in front of their WFH deck, every day.  How to get them to change out of what they are used to eating is a challenge by itself and that’s why KFC Singapore wants to make their mornings unboring again,"

To break the consumers’ morning routine with KFC unboring breakfast and make KFC a Top of Mind Breakfast brand, KFC will be rolling out a three months long of aggressive promotions and advertising across TV, radio and digital.  "As we all know, Rome is not built overnight. Likewise, we will not be stopping at only three months, KFC’s commitment to drive an increase in our breakfast business will see us continuing our promotion and advertising efforts throughout the year, Lee added.  

In April 2021, KFC Singapore introduced freshly made waffles. A product closely benchmarked to brasserie standards, and drove a double digit increase in KFC breakfast sales.  In the second half of last year,  KFC Singapore upped its breakfast game by trialling a handful of on-the-go meals as Limited Time Offers to drive craveability. “With overwhelmingly positive feedback resulting in increasing sales and fans, both of these menus will now be made available daily starting 8 February 2022,” said the brand.

KFC Singapore has in recent years upped its marketing game having appointed GOODSTUPH Singapore as its social media agency. This follows a three-way pitch which was concluded in August. GOODSTUPH was then said to be providing strategic and creative counsel for the KFC brand with regard to social media marketing, working closely with its newly-appointed lead brand and creative agency, The Secret Little Agency (TSLA). Redhill is handling PR duties for the brand, while Havas Media will work on the media. 

The brand has also taken a fair bit of jabs at its competitors. In 2020, it launched a campaign titled “Everything’s Better with KFCHEESE”, which places focus on its signature cheese sauce. Done in collaboration with its newly-appointed creative agency The Secret Little Agency (TSLA), the campaign kickstarts a 40-second ad showing KFC’s cheese sauce being poured on everything. This ranges from KFC staples, such as the Zinger, to iconic local dishes. KFC has also cheekily included references to its competitors’ products in the ad, re-enforcing the message that KFC Signature Cheese Sauce is so good, it truly goes with everything.

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