The goal for KFC was to create fame-driving work that showcased KFC quality and furthered love for their already infamous gravy. Gravy sets KFC apart from its high street competitors and in the cold month of January, it was the perfect time to drive sales of their gravy-related products. KFC had already had some success creating merchandise and product-centric innovations. Asking our fans to apply for a KFC Gravy Candle, we could put a tangible product with quality food attributes in the hands of our consumers. This idea could drive genuine fame around the brand and ultimately sales in-store; all on a relatively small social media budget.

There’s nothing more reassuring than the soulful smell of KFC gravy. That’s why this Blue Monday (21st January 2019), the most depressing day of the year, KFC wanted to give their gravy-loving fans the chance to fill their homes with the comforting aroma, courtesy of a KFC Gravy scented candle. Meticulously crafted by the Colonel’s trusted parfumier, the candle was scented to smell just like the real deal. With 200 candles up for grabs, fans were invited to sign-up to win one. For the lucky few that received them, it was a chance to light up the winter nights with the rich smell of KFC gravy. And for those that didn’t win, the real taste of gravy was served up in the form of the KFC Gravy Megabox, available nationwide.

To maximise the editorial pick up, we chose to share this campaign on the most depressing day of the year, Blue Monday (21st January in 2019). With nothing more reassuring than the soulful smell of KFC gravy, the campaign gives KFC’s gravy-loving fans the chance to fill their homes with the comforting aroma, courtesy of KFC Gravy scented candle. Meticulously crafted by the Colonel’s trusted parfumier, the candle was engineered to smell just like the real deal - designed to drive genuine fame around the brand; all on relatively small budget.

The campaign primarily targeted existing KFC fans and a younger millennial audience.

Social and editorial were a vital components, as the audience massively over indexes on younger cohorts. By generating notoriety on social we ensured a high talkability rate and news of this one of a kind candle spread across the globe thanks to our proactive media engagement programme.

The campaign launched in the UK and Ireland on 21st January 2019. We targeted KFC gravy fans on social via Facebook, Twitter and Instagram feed, with a short mock-lifestyle film, showcasing the candle in all its gravy glory. Fans could click straight from the ad and enter their details for the chance to win one of 200 limited edition candles. People went crazy for it. It was even featured on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. And with only 200 candles up for grabs, we had 505,241 applications to win one. This all played out in a two-week window. The campaign was aimed at the UK market but resulted in global reach.

People reacted to news of the gravy candle instantly with a huge spike of conversations on Twitter with over 1900 mentions, giving it over 10.4 million impressions. Social listening showed the positive response with over 45% of people asked saying it brought joy. People were clearly desperate to get their hands on a candle for themselves as over 500,000 people applied for one online (well above our estimate of 15-20,000 people).

Social listening showed that people found the campaign brought ‘joy’. As part of the Gravy Megabox campaign, the gravy candle contributed to a rise in YouGov scores across ad awareness, consideration and purchase intent scores versus pre campaign scores. With value perception scores doubling post campaign and penetration increasing from pre campaign levels. As a consequence of the campaign KFC have become synonymous with launching bold and exciting products.