Marketing premium food

Can premium food marketers benefit from swimming against the healthy tide? KFC thinks so. The company says it’s “pleased” with the attention its new Double Down Sandwich—featuring fried chicken as “bread”—has been getting, citing unprecedented response with young males, the primary target audience.

Rick Maynard, KFC spokesman, cited word of mouth that built from the test market outward, resulting in increased media attention, and more importantly, a record number of social media reviews and YouTube videos posted.

However, overall consumer perception of KFC may be suffering, as noted in an article from Nation’s Restaurant News:

Data from New York-based BrandIndex, which compiles consumer perception scores relating to hundreds of brands across several industries in the United States, revealed KFC may be giving back some gains from the positive buzz associated with last year’s launch of Kentucky Grilled Chicken.

Despite increased awareness for the brand during the Double Down’s ad campaign, KFC’s “buzz score,” which BrandIndex compiles from 5,000 daily consumer surveys by subtracting negative feedback from positive feedback, has declined steadily in the lead-up to the product’s debut. Among consumers 18 to 49 years old, KFC’s buzz score fell from 21.1 in mid-March to 11.5 on April 16, just days after its introduction, BrandIndex said.

Ted Marzilli, senior vice president for BrandIndex, called KFC’s strategy “high risk, with potential for high reward.”  It all depends on whether the product is seen as a way to treat yourself for eating well most of the time, or as another example of why quick service restaurants should be off the menu if you want to be healthy.