The colonel’s man in SA keeps an eye on changing tastes

Two years ago, South Africa’s fast-food market was valued at about $2.7bn (R47bn at this week’s exchange rate) and is expected to reach $4.9bn by 2026, according to a study by Allied Market Research.

The cooked-chicken market dominates the sector and includes brands such as market leader KFC, Nando’s and Chicken Licken, with smaller brands periodically coming and going. And that highly competitive segment, along with a global trend towards healthier eating, should keep marketers awake at night thinking about new ways to sell drumsticks, thighs and wings.

For KFC in South Africa, part of the global Yum! Brands group that has 53,000 outlets in 155 countries, that job falls to new chief marketing officer Grant Macpherson, who moved from KFC Netherlands.

He tells the FM that the industry has returned to a healthy trading position since the pandemic. Constantly on his watch list, though, is checking how consumer consumption habits are changing.

“We know preferences and tastes change all the time. Something a bit spicier is very much on trend right now. We have also seen a big shift towards e-commerce click-and-collect delivery. That was purely driven by consumer needs at the time and it’s a trend that continues. From a marketing point of view, we must meet our consumers [and] do plenty of research to see where the opportunities lie.”

Best illustrating that, and as odd as it may sound, KFC has just launched “Kentucky Chow”, its version of  bunny chow. In this case it is a half-loaf of bread stuffed with spicy chicken and chips, and by all accounts is proving popular.

And while the Kentucky Chow pleases some palates, it seems to defy the global move to healthier eating options, a trend that Macpherson says the company is acutely aware of. “It is something we are continuing to investigate. For example, we have seen a growth in plant-based choice over the past couple of years and we are investigating to see what opportunities there are locally.”

KFC has been operating in South Africa for 51 years and Macpherson attributes its longevity to a good pricing model, a philosophy that customers must finish their meals feeling better than when they started, and a long-standing CSI initiative whereby  30-million meals are given to children in need every year.

Macpherson says one of his biggest tasks will be evolving the brand to cater to an increasingly young consumer base — South Africa’s median age is 27.6. That, he says, means marketing to consumers who engage with media in a different way and making sure the brand is relevant in the right spaces.

Part of that media mix will obviously be digital but traditional formats remain critical.

Says Macpherson: “TV is still the highest-reaching medium in South Africa and the wonderful thing about above-the-line advertising is you can tell relevant stories that capture people’s imaginations. So mediums like TV, YouTube, are still a particularly important place for us.”

Tone and nuance in storytelling is more important than ever. In November, KFC in Germany apologised for a push notification sent via its app, inviting customers to celebrate the anniversary of the Nazi Kristallnacht pogrom against Jews by ordering fried chicken and cheese. The 1938 event is seen as the beginning of the Holocaust.  The company blamed a bot for the “unacceptable” message.

While this marketing fail had nothing to do with the brand in South Africa, it does raise the issue of checking communication. Says Macpherson: “We show up in multiple places with multiple messages, whether that be through push notifications or something we put on TV advertising, and we do thorough checks with our consumers to ensure that nothing off-brand is placed in the South African community. You have got to be careful these days.”