KFC was introducing the all new Smoky Grilled Wings in India. The challenge was to create a campaign that would resonate with the Indian audiences and to get KFC audiences excited about a product launch in a heavily cluttered market space.

The objectives were, thus, defined as:

Driving anticipation and awareness for KFC’s new Smoky Grilled Wings

Create in-store footfalls and consideration/intent to purchase for the new product.

The product was to be introduced around Makar Sankranti, India’s most widely celebrated harvest festival. One of the defining aspects of the festival is the way it is celebrated - by flying kites. Given the popularity of kite flying during the festival season, we used the launch of the product to give them something new to fly I.e. a drone!

We created limited edition packaging for the Smoky Grilled Wings by making a box that can be made into a DIY drone. These drones could be flown by apps downloadable for iOS and Android. The availability of these limited edition boxes was decided by the fans through a social media contest.

By creating a strong association between a kite flying festival and the product launch using DIY drones, we created conversations that translated into in-store footfalls and sales.

The audience for the campaign were youth between the age group of 18 to 24 years. Our Google Audience Study inferred that a majority of our loyalists were interested in technology and gaming - which helped direct the execution of the campaign.

We started off creating the product by conducting a careful study of existing drone prototypes. Since the idea involved the box transforming into the drone chassis, we used 3D printing supported by design and drafting softwares to develop the device. Multiple prototypes were created before finalizing on the product design and then integrated with an app that was supported on both iOS and Android.

The boxes were sent to tech publications to review. We also opened up a contest on social media where people could decide which select KFC stores in India would be giving out the boxes.

We started by promoting the contest on social media. We teased our audience with social content and invited KFC loyalists to select the 12 stores across India where the limited edition boxes could be availed. This set the ball rolling, creating conversations and driving buzz among audiences.

For the launch itself, we sent the box to tech and lifestyle publications to review. The innovativeness of the idea lent itself to native content, articles, blog posts, YouTube reviews and video content across the internet.

We then opened up a contest on social media where people could decide which select KFC stores in India would be giving out the boxes. It subsequently got covered on TV and Online platforms lending to 23.9 Billion impressions globally.