KFC hijacks 9.9 shopping spree to celebrate Colonel Sanders' birthday

Kentucky Fried Chicken has hijacked the 9.9 celebrations to celebrate KFC founder Colonel Sanders' Birthday campaign in Thailand. 9.9 is a day when brands go hard with discounts with the hope to get their sales up.

Banking big on the phenomenon, Colonel Sanders' Birthday decided to launch a campaign called "Thanks for Discounts on the Colonels' Birthday."

The campaign built on the insight that Thais are used to seeing artists' Happy Birthday billboards on the streets. So for Colonel Sanders' Birthday, billboards were put up at BTS stations and Tuk Tuk wraps were undoubtedly put in place to spice up the campaign. The campaign was also aggressively advertised through online and offline media. KFC also utilised its own channels to extend reach. The concept of the campaign was to encourage all brands to go all-in on the 9.9 campaign while "thanking brands for celebrating the Colonel's Birthday", said KFC.

Moreover, Colonel Sanders was not just going to promote his mouth-watering fried chicken on the birthday. KFC was bringing their prominent figure out to the public to show the founder's gratitude by helping to promote other brands that offered discounts. According to the company, this is in line with its concept of bringing the community together.

The ad agency behind the campaign was CJ WORX, a digital agency known for its marketing trick of viral campaigns. CJ WORX said it wanted to create a win-win situation for all parties since KFC helped in promoting other brands' products while also celebrating the birthday.

Earlier this year, KFC Thailand also tapped on the feeling of exclusivity as an inspiration for its new campaign "Feel like a VIP" promoting its new Don Jai set. The 30-second ad video features a man, visiting KFC to order its Don Jai meal set. While the protagonist is clothed in simple and plain clothes, the other customers inside are dressed extravagantly, donning luxurious and elegant clothing as they feast on KFC's chicken. The campaign ran across TV, digital, social and in-store mediums. 

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