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Today’s highly competitive, number-crunching business landscape demands integrated communications using a mix of advertising and public relations to reach targeted audiences, so as to rise above the media clutter.

Take Malaysia’s multi-billion ringgit fast food industry. Customers have a whole mix of international brands to choose from for their snack or dining pleasure! From pizzas to burgers, from doughnuts to chicken, from designer coffee blends to Italian fare, all these bombard the consumer for his attention and consumption. How can such fast food companies communicate their unique selling propositions and attract customers, what more to retain them for regular purchase cycles?

“ Asia PR played a key role in mapping and executing the various communications game
plans for KFC over an 11-year engagement with the company ”

Three brands which rate highly amongst Malaysians - KFC, Pizza Hut and Shakey’s Pizza, - effectively ‘navigated’ their brand presence and strength to become leading brands through the effective use of Asia PR.

Asia PR played a key role in mapping and executing the various communications game plans for these consumer brands over an 11-year engagement with KFC, steering an integral communications programme to make the corporation, its people, products and services and their contribution to society, highly visible within the ‘public’s radar’. This was especially effective as more new players and brands, some direct but many indirect competitors, started to vie for the same customer base, adding to the communications clutter.

With a strong management team that trusted PR to manage and disseminate key messages via a sustained agenda, Asia PR worked closely with KFC to map out strategic projects to complement different brand campaigns. PR’s effectiveness was highly appreciated and visible for “kids marketing” and corporate social responsibility programmes.

To build strong affinity with a new generation of young customers, KFC rolled out various communications vehicles such as TV programmes, dedicated children’s activities and tie-ups with schools, kindergartens, and even the national zoo.

Big, huggable mascot ‘Super Chook’ (and later ‘Chicky’) even had its own theme song to build closer ties with KFC’s young customers. PR communicated various stories of all these activities besides compiling key messages that built the positive perception of KFC towards this young audience and their guardians.

Kids Marketing drove the introduction of new menu items via the ‘emotional connection’ between products and customers. And as kids meals grew in popularity, KFC turned to the ‘psychological appeal’ wherein customers also contributed to the various community services via their purchases. Widely adopted by renowned global brands, this unique marketing approach termed ‘cause-related’ involves donation of a certain percentage of the purchase price to a specific charity project.

This was how ‘KFC Care Fund’ was introduced, this being one of the most memorable corporate social responsibility projects initiated to help underprivileged children from 68 homes throughout Malaysia. PR effectively conveyed the ‘feel good’ factor to customers that a certain percentage of their KFC Kids Meal purchases were being pooled for these charitable causes. All the more giving they became in helping out a good cause.

Communications is all about telling the right messages frequently so that the key audiences appreciate, realise and form positive impressions about the company, brand and its services.

PR experts like Asia PR can attest to the success of so many clients and brands, via this formula.