So we introduced our first ever female Colonel: country music legend Reba McEntire. In addition to delivering against everything we were looking for, Reba also brought a sense of Southern credibility to the product.

She also added a musical element, allowing us to create spots that featured original songs sung by Reba and settings that played into the music theme, particularly in the launch spot that features a Honky Tonk bar—a type of dive bar known for country music and dancing.

While the official launch of the campaign on TV was during the GRAMMYs, we began to tease the reveal of Colonel Reba several nights before to maximize our coverage, given that the GRAMMYs was on a Sunday.

Three days before the GRAMMYs, on Thursday, we used KFC’s social channels to post teaser images that reignited the conversation around who the next celebrity Colonel might be. Meanwhile, we gave E! an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at Reba’s transformation into Colonel Reba.

The next morning, we fully launched the PR campaign, kicking off a firestorm of coverage. This would continue through the night of the GRAMMYs two days later, when the TV campaign launched.

This phased approach allowed us to slowly build up momentum for the Colonel Reba reveal, culminating in the big GRAMMYs moment.

The launch of Colonel Reba generated nearly 2B earned impressions—triple the amount of earned coverage when compared to any of our previous Colonels.

At launch, Colonel Reba was trending organically on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

Delivering on our broadly appealing goal, she appeared in a wide array of outlets online and on TV, including People, Food & Wine, Thrillist, Rolling Stone, Time, FOX & Friends, and Good Morning America.

Stephen Colbert mentioned Colonel Reba not only on both his personal and Late Night Twitter accounts, but also in his opening monologue.

Funny or Die, Broad City, and influential Instagrammer @officialseanpenn all organically talked about Colonel Reba.

In the months following the launch, brand consideration, recommendation, penetration, and KFC’s taste/food quality scores all reached the highest they’ve been in an over a year.

Best of all, Reba coincidentally won a GRAMMY the night of the launch, only adding fuel to the fire.