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Digital Marketing Strategy, PR and Messaging

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Got Messaging, KFC?

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from KFC.com Web site

A  fave ‘zine to get blog fodder is Advertising Age. The “Battered KFC Gives Itself Another Spin; Chain pushes ‘so good’ campaign, the fifth shift in ad direction in as many years” appears in May 24, 2010 issue.

While marketing and public relations blend nicely in the sandbox, public relations and advertising need to work a bit harder to effectuate sisterly love. Since KFC is obviously struggling and lamenting the success of rival Chick-fil-A (my all-time favorite chain along with Culvers), I wonder how the public relations team is reacting to these seismic internal shifts?

Got messaging, KFC?

Here are some of the negatively connoted words and my impressions from this article:

  • KFC has “been very impatient,” according to KFC executive VP-marketing and food innovation. (Hmm, I would NOT have developed such a soundbite for a spokesperson).
  • KFC is struggling at home, growing in Asia.
  • Waffling from fried to grilled and back has fostered confusion for KFC consumers.   
  • KFC same-store sales fell 4 percent in U.S. in 2009.
  • KFC new target audience is “socially connected people who are transgenerational.” (I’m glad the reporter, Emily Bryson York, helped define that as a teen on Facebook or her mother who reads blogs.)

On a toning scale of 1-5, I’d give this piece a one as lowest score. Too many negatives.

While public relations has an opportunity to help influence a buy decision, it cannot fix a story like this overnight. Hopefully, the public relations machine is reacting nimbly and pushing franchisee relations to help store owners grapple with a failing image among consumers locally.

Ever hit a mall where there’s a Chick-fil-A? The line is backed up 10 deep at lunchtime, except on Sundays when the other foodies have a chance to recoup lost revenue due to the ultra success of KFC’s rival.

Got Messaging?

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One of the widest differentials between marketing and public relations teams is messaging. Marketing launches campaigns with seriously involved step-by-step initiatives that involve a framework for branding, value proposition, and so much more. When complete, a company has a sense of its clothes, so to speak – what will we wear today to present ourselves in public? (Please weigh in marketers!)

In public relations, when launching a new relationship, service, product, or program strategy, we do messaging right up front as step one much like marketing. When conducting integrated marketing communications, the need for messaging by both marketing and public relations duels for attention. When public relations can’t get an opportunity to do its thing in re messaging, practitioners are left to dangle.

Messaging by PR is the voice of the company to its tiered audiences. Used to be message maps were created for media relations only. Now, I use a message map to help gather, hone and develop approved messages usually collected from the executive team in a facilitated meeting.

No one would believe executives answer questions about the company differently. One would think all company leaders are on the same page about the what, who, why, how much, and when. Not really. That’s the number-one reason messaging is important – disagreement among a company’s senior echelon and how to position external messaging.

Prior to launching program strategy, consider these suggestions to secure content for external messaging:

1. Get the senior team in a room and garner consensus about the 5 Ws + how.

2. Lacking the ability to corral the senior team, then the senior public relations team needs to draft suggested messages for delivering up the chain for approval. Sometimes seeing wording in print will get needed attention.

3. Tier two messages ought to complement a larger corporate message map – the approved song sheet for all spokespeople. When there’s a turn-key program being launched, ensure messaging is one of the foundational tactics executed.

4. Share the approved messaging with marketing teams; they will thank you as copywriters always need public relations driven content to tap.

5. Get in the habit early and often to ask “what shall we say, why does this matter, who are we speaking to, how much does it cost, when will it launch?”

No message is set in stone; adjust as you go, but never launch a program without some messaging guidelines to work with.