KFC—global strategies

Yum! Brands is the largest restaurant group in the world. Kentucky Fried Chicken, or KFC, is the dominant subsidiary of Yum! Brands and what KFC’s product focus in the fast food industry is fried chicken. KFC is very successful in the fast food industry internationally. According to KFC official website description, “There are more than 15,000 KFC outlets in 105 countries and territories around the world”. In 2011, KFC’s sale revenue is around 15 million (Yum! Brands Annual Report). In my personal opinion, the key to KFC’s global success is accredited towards their global strategies.

For KFC, brand is not only a name or symbol, but also a tool to create and spread customer value. KFC has top restaurant quality to improve its brand value, called CHAMPS. The word CHAMPS is the abbreviation of Cleanliness, Hospitality, Accuracy, Maintenance, Product Quality and Speed of Service. KFC insisted on promoting CHAMPS to its global market because KFC’s organizational goal is to satisfy all customer needs in the world. The CHAMPS strategy incorporates very strict guidelines that are mandatory for KFC restaurants to implement in their daily operations. The unified rule helps KFC easily manage and enter the global market.

KFC has another important strategy that has contributed to their global success called local cultural strategy. Local cultural strategy means KFC spend much of their time and resources on analyzing the local consumption eating habits. According to the eating habits, KFC will create and produce related cultural fast food. Customers will directly benefit from the perceived value derived from KFC’s menu. The local cultural strategy helps KFC to increase customer loyalty. The best example where the local cultural strategy was implemented is KFC restaurants in the China. There are more than 4,000 KFC outlets in 80 cities in China. In order to be successful, KFC incorporated more than 30 different menu items in order to complement the local cultural strategy. (These are some examples of the new menu items).

Comparing with McDonald, KFC has a larger market share and has become the largest fast food restaurant in China. It is without a doubt that KFC has achieved success from their local cultural strategy.

In closing, I want to tell you a secret—KFC already enter the animal market. Let see what happen in the animal world.