KFC shuns 'fried' image with new name

Nation's Restaurant News, Feb 25, 1991 by Peter O. Keegan

KFC shuns `fried' image with new name

LAS VEGAS--Aiming to modernize its down-home image and broaden its appeal, Kentucky Fried Chicken has changed its name to KFC on all graphics, advertising and packaging materials.

The use of the initials KFC allows the company to remove the word "fried" from its moniker, a word synonymous with "unhealthy" and "high cholesterol" in the minds of many consumers.

"We are dramatically changing our menu, our restaurants and the way customers think of us," said KFC senior marketing vice president Bill McDonald in a prepared statement. "And we wanted our graphics to reflect the new KFC."

KFC USA President Kyle Craig announced the change during the company's annual franchisee convention here, which more than 2,000 KFC owners, operators and franchisees attended. The name change will be accompanied by a fresher, more up-to-date look for KFC, with the traditional Kentucky Fried Chicken logo still used on some packaging but not prominently displayed. The logo has been modernized by the addition of wider, sleek stripes, italicized KFC graphics, a more prominent Colonel Sanders logo and a bolder color scheme.

Since taking the helm of KFC USA one year ago, Craig has been trying to project KFC as a chain of the 1990s: balancing the equity of decades-old traditions with new products, spruced-up units, stricter operating standards -- and now the name and graphics change.

Craig has said in the past that the turnaround hinges on moving away from a dependency on fried chicken toward new, "better for you" products.

In addition to rolling skinless Lite 'n Crispy chicken recently, KFC is testing a honey-barbecue chicken wing in Kansas City, Mo., and Charlotte, N.C.; a new sandwich line -- which includes a grilled chicken breast and a chicken salad -- at a second unit in Chattanooga, Tenn.; and a roasted, bone-in product, called Monterey Broil Chicken, in Reno and Las Vegas.

KFC hopes the new products will help broaden the appeal of the chain and bring in new customers, as did the successful introduction of Hot Wings did last year. The company is also beginning to roll out home delivery.

So far, Craig's turnaround recipe seems to be working, with new products, improved operational procedures and increased labor productivity boosting sales volumes and margins.

Comparable-store sales for domestic company-operated KFC outlets rose 8 percent during the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31 and 5 percent for the year. KFC also reported a 22-percent improvement in profits, to $34.3 million, in the fourth quarter on a 14-percent rise in sales, to $478.5 million. For the year, KFC again posted a 22-percent profit increase, to $120.9 million, with sales up 15 percent, to $1.53 billion.

The new logo and graphics, in different combinations, will be implemented on advertising and packaging materials at all 5,000 domestic units by the beginning of summer. Spokesman Richard Detwiler said the graphic changes eventually would be added internationally, but that rollout would take longer than the domestic one.

"The Colonel's face is one of the most widely recognized around the world," said designer Alvin Schechter, president of The Schechter Group, the firm that designed the new logo and graphics as well as the new Lite 'n Crispy logo. Schechter said that franchisees were concerned that the Colonel's image would be dropped or altered but found that after testing, the Southern gentleman's face had a 100-percent recognition rate among consumers.

Indeed, shedding logos, signage and tag lines that have been around since the concept's inception could turn off some established customers.

"On the one hand, it's risky, but if there was ever a brand that had to change its name, it's Kentucky Fried Chicken," said Tim McCarthy, president of Contract Marketing, an image consulting group. "They had no choice; the name is counter to the current trend in fast food."

McCarthy added that KFC could end up straddling the fence, and he showed concern for the impersonal nature of the initials KFC. "I don't see why they didn't take a bolder step," he mused, "naming it Kentucky Chicken or something like that. Why not the obvious?" He also noted that KFC would probably let the name change evolve by itself -- without fanfare -- and that consumers will not really dwell on the change.

"The whole KFC system has been stodgy for years," said Robert Cummins, an analysts with Wertheim Schroder in N.Y. "Now they are waking up and getting in tune with the times." He opined that the transition would be a fairly smooth one and that customers would adjust quickly, pointing out that many already identify with the initials KFC, especially since the "Nobody's cookin' like today's KFC" tag line has been running on ads for months.

"The name of the game at Pepsico is getting more customers and increasing sales," Cummins explained. "However, it works to their advantage, whether it be by attracting younger people, increasing lunch business, appealing to health-conscious people or changing their image."