May 19th, 2009 What’s the most important aspect of any marketing campaign?

I’m not sure that there is a definitive answer to this question. People’s answers tend to be tilted a little bit based on their personal viewpoint. Some people feel that the product/service is the most important aspect because a good product will sell itself. Designers will often say that the design is key because it’s what gets people to look at the ad/product in the first place. Copywriters will say that it’s the copy because without clean copy, the message is lost no matter how slick the ad looks. It turns into a chicken-and-egg discussion, I think.

Personally, I think that at least as important as the copy and design is the execution of the campaign. Let’s take, for example, the recent KFC fiasco. For those unfamiliar with it, I’ll give you the Reader’s Digest version. Responding to people’s concerns for healthier eating habits, KFC introduced a new product line in their stores, Kentucky GRILLED chicken. As part of the product launch, they used one of the biggest marketing weapons in the world—Oprah Winfrey. On Oprah’s show they announced that anyone who downloaded a coupon from their site would be able to receive a free two-piece grilled chicken dinner, complete with sides and a biscuit. Great deal, right?

This is the point when the train jumped the track. Apparently, the chain was unprepared for the response they received. Some stores ran out of the product and were forced to turn customers away. Other stores simply did not participate in the promotion—it would seem to me that full participation would be crucial in any launch on Oprah, wouldn’t it? Ten million coupons were downloaded and KFC pulled the plug on the promotion before even half were redeemed. Instead, customers could present their original coupon to the store, fill out a form and wait for a replacement coupon. If you want a much better-written account of the story, check out AdAge’s article.

The result of all of this is that KFC has been buried in an avalanche of bad public relations. There were rumors bouncing around in the blogosphere about in-store riots and so forth. There is no credible news source citing rioting, but it’s beside the point. People think that’s what happened; it doesn’t even matter if it’s true or not anymore. The execution of this plan seems incredibly half-assed for a company the size of Yum! Brands, whose other brands include fast-food giants Taco Bell and Pizza Hut. 

What could have been done to avoid this marketing nightmare? It’s easy for me to Monday morning quarterback, but it seems like this should have been foreseen as a possible outcome beforehand. A smart marketing person looks at contingencies and plans for all likely outcomes because the last thing you want to do is be caught with your pants down like KFC was. 

This isn’t just a cautionary tale for corporate titans—there is a great lesson here for small businesses. Whether or not you are working with a marketing communications firm or handling all of your promotions yourself, take the time to think your plan through. Maybe that means being sure you have enough staff on a given day or enough a particular item in stock. If you plan ahead you can avoid easy pitfalls that create badwill among consumers. Word-of-mouth is important to every business, but holds significantly more importance with small business. KFC will survive this fiasco and this will be mostly forgetten (except by marketing teachers) in the next year or two. For a smaller business, though, bad word-of-mouth can mean the difference between staying open and having to close. 

It is as true with marketing communications as it is with any other aspect of your business, the 6P rule applies: Proper Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance.