'Colonel' returns in animated KEC spots

Nation's Restaurant News, Sept 21, 1998 by Gregg Cebryzinski

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- KFC leverages its brand heritage in new TV spots featuring Col. Harland Sanders as an animated character.

Sanders, the chain's founder, who died in 1980, is one of the most recognizable brand icons in the world. The ads, from Young & Rubicam of New York, signal KFC's desire to rely on its heritage as a way to differentiate itself from other restaurants in the chicken category and from other quickserve operators that have added chicken items to their menus.

The first TV spot broke Sept. 9, on what would have been Sanders' 108th birthday. The ad supports a promotion for Popcorn Chicken, a popular item that was last offered in 1993. The animated colonel, whose voice is supplied by actor Randy Quaid, appears in the familiar white suit, black-string tie and glasses, urging viewers to try the chunks of all-white breast meat.

"Hey, there," he says. "Now I got somethin' here that's downright fun."

The spot opens and closes with the familiar drawing of the real colonel that appears on KFC signage.

A radio spot also using Quaid's voice features the colonel at the concession stand of a movie theater selling popcorn chicken instead of popcorn. Quaid was chosen for Sanders' voice because he conveys the colonel's humor and charm, according to KFC.

As chains such as Subway and Burger King offer more chicken products, KFC hopes the new campaign will reinforce its image as a category leader.

"Everyone is known for something, and we're known for chicken," KFC spokesman Michael Tierney said, acknowledging that the market is more competitive today. "It's certainly a way to communicate our chicken expertise. We intend to stay with this [campaign] as far out as we can see."

Eleven TV spots are in production now, one for a holiday promotion and others to run in test markets, according to Chris Grabenstein, Young & Rubicam's group creative director.

"We puzzled over the way to bring [Sanders] back in a contemporary, 1990s fashion," he said. "We wanted to use the unique KFC equity. Nobody else has the colonel."

KFC once before tried to use the image of Sanders, in a 1990 campaign that featured a look-alike actor. The advertising failed because consumers didn't accept the faux Sanders.

Since then, however, such animated TV shows as "King of the Hill" and "The Simpsons" have become hits with viewers, leading the agency to use animation as a way to take a classic icon and give it a contemporary spin," Grabenstein said.

It also provides a unifying link to all of KFC's advertising, he said. "It's one voice. It ties all of our messages together," he said, noting that ads for customers-on-the-go are different from those targeting consumers looking for home-meal replacement.

Using Sanders as an animated character also reinforces a brand identity at a time when consumers have more variety in chicken products than they had in 1952, when KFC was founded.

"It's hard to differentiate a brand on recipe alone because of changing tastes," said Allan Adamson, managing director of Landor Associates, a global brand consultancy based in San Francisco.

KFC hired Landor about three years ago when the chain wanted to revitalize its brand. After Sanders' death, KFC moved away from his persona as its most visible brand element.

Although the market had changed dramatically since KFC's founding, "part of what made them different back then was the colonel's care and touch when preparing food," Adamson said. "That's still valid today. That's what differentiates them."

Richard Brandt, Landor's creative director, said Sanders as a brand icon is "as recognizable as Mickey Mouse," enjoying a 98-percent awareness level worldwide.

"The competition couldn't pay for that brand awareness," he said. "His personality is the embodiment of all the good things of KFC."

At Landor's urging, KFC restaged the colonel's likeness at the "point-of-touch," making his image more prominent on packaging and signage.

One of the goals of the new ad campaign is to "contemporize our brand image and provide a fresh way to communicate our relevance for today's consumers," KFC president Jeff Moody said in a statement.

With KFC's decision to reintroduce the colonel as spokesman, the campaign also is an opportunity to build brand awareness among young consumers, something it doesn't have now, according to Irma Zandl, president of The Zandl Group, New York.

"So much depends on how it's executed. It could be fabulous," said Zandl, whose company tracks marketing trends among consumers 8 to 24 years old.

Zandl regularly surveys 3,000 consumers in that age group about their favorite restaurants, and fewer than 1 percent mention KFC.

One TV spot that may appeal to younger consumers shows the colonel gyrating with his cane and saying, "Go colonel, go colonel, go colonel."

Although Sanders is "kind of fuzzy" as a spokesman, nowhere near the popularity of Ronald McDonald, an appealing character creates a long-lasting impression, Zandl said.

Eighteen- and 19-year-olds still consider Clara Peller's "Where's the beef' TV spots for Wendy's their favorite commercials, "and they were tiny, tiny tots at the time they ran," Zandl said.