Burger King faced challenges in the Korean chicken sandwich market, with only 5% of total sales coming from chicken sandwiches in 2022.

In response, BK launched its new flagship fried chicken sandwich, Chicken King.

However, in a saturated market with 600+ local QSR brands and global burger chains, breaking through with news about a new chicken sandwich is challenging.

We also encountered an underlying problem: Koreans only associate BK with the Whopper, not chicken sandwiches.

The challenge was not only in introducing Chicken King, but also in shifting Koreans' perception of BK as a destination for chicken sandwiches.

To launch Chicken King in Korea, Burger King's new fried chicken sandwich, we observed a trend from the world outside, looking beyond conventional approaches.

Since the 2020s, Koreans have embraced the trend of wearing fleece fashion. In January, when Chicken King launched, fleece fashion returned as usual.

Inspired by mainstream fashion, we noticed that the fabric of fleece remarkably resembles fried chicken, especially when it comes in brown or orange colors.

In the end, an idea surfaced: "What if Koreans' daily fleece fashion could be a trigger to think of Burger King & Chicken King?"

Our strategy was to establish a fresh and robust association for Chicken King by fueling buzz around the visual duality of fried chicken and fleece fashion, one of the most dominant winter fashion trends in Korea.

Then, why did Burger King opt for 'fashion' instead of food porn or typical ads?

BK entered the Korean chicken sandwich race relatively late, with rivals such as McDonald's, KFC, and local franchises already establishing their own signature menus in South Korea.

Considering a limited budget compared to its rivals, we acknowledged that it's nearly impossible to raise awareness in the same way other brands do.

Therefore, as a latecomer, BK had to provide Koreans with a strong trigger unique to Chicken King.

Born from fashion, our execution centered on owning fleece fashion as our touchpoints and talking points, and garnering attention from magazines and the internet.

In the same rationale, instead of a chicken sandwich commercial, we hosted a fashion competition 'CHICKEN KING FASHION WEEK', which offers a chance to get a free Chicken King to those who visited BK with fleece fashion.

CHICKEN KING FASHION WEEK was announced with digital film on social media. In the digital film, we demonstrated fleece fashion as "Fried Chicken Fashion" and announced "Chicken King Fashion Week".

The FASHION WEEK needs a runway stage. We also set up a photo wall in our restaurant and invited people and influencers. All prints and banners were also created like photographs of a fashion brand.

Embracing a fashion brand approach, BK fueled a buzz around the visual duality of both fleece fashion and Chicken King on the internet. Several fashion magazines like Esquire and Cosmopolitan also featured the campaign. The official announcement post of the campaign was also selected as today's topic on Korea's largest community web, 'DCinside,' which boasts 252 million monthly visitors. Most importantly, Chicken King not only thrived in the chicken sandwich market but also secured a permanent spot on BK's menu. The following results are key metrics of the campaign.

- 700K+ Chicken Kings sold in a month

- 150M+ KRW earned media

- 310M+ media impressions

- 20% sales lift vs. pre-launch