Americana Kicks-off to the World with Cristiano Ronaldo

Arabian creativity goes global

Dubai, UAE, 2014:  The huge success of a regional campaign created by KFC MENA - part of the renowned food and beverage company Americana Group – featuring the world’s number one soccer layer Cristiano Ronaldo, has resulted in the campaign going global. The KFC MENA team at Americana Group is taking the initiative to KFC’s international markets, where local franchise holders will launch it in their respective countries.

“The KFC-Ronaldo campaign was the brainchild of the KFC Arabia regional marketing team at Americana Group, which has extensive experience in dealing with celebrities to produce mega advertising initiatives that appeal to the Arabian consumer,” said Borhan El Kilany, Executive Vice President Marketing & Business Development, Americana Group.

“This particular campaign featured the world’s best football player endorsing the KFC ‘so good taste’ in Arabic – a strategy that proved to be the perfect recipe for success, as it resulted in increase in sales for KFC across the region. The KFC Arabia marketing team at Americana Group has proved itself distinctive in the KFC global market and this has resulted in the campaign being expanded worldwide. The international initiative will see Cristiano Ronaldo becoming the ambassador for KFC for six weeks of this year’s FIFA World Cup, which takes place in Brazil during the summer,” he added.
KFC Arabia’s ‘Kickin’ it with Ronaldo’ Facebook application gave KFC fans the chance to have a photo with the soccer star, an initiative that triggered a high level of social media activity. Brand engagement   was recorded as increasing by 137 percent, while overall brand sentiment went up by 20 percent. Such was the impact of the online activation that KFC MENA and Americana Group scooped an Effie at the Effie Mena Awards 2013, the region’s premium marketing awards programme.

“The KFC-Ronaldo campaign developed by KFC MENA marketing team at Americana group proved so successful that it was presented at KFC’s most recent global marketing planning meeting in Texas, USA. The decision was then taken to extend the campaign’s impact to KFC’s global markets by exporting it from the Middle East to the world,” said Adel Mounib, Chief Marketing Officer, Restaurants Division, Americana Group.

“The initial KFC-Ronaldo campaign promoted KFC’s ‘so good taste’ in 74 cities across 12 markets in the Middle East region, which is home to over 600 stores,” stated Hesham Tahssin, Regional Marketing Director, KFC MENA, Americana Group. “The global initiative will involve 4,000 KFC restaurants worldwide, operating in 23 markets across three continents. We believe that more than one billion people will be reached through the campaign as it is expected to generate a great deal of excitement in KFC’s core market demographic of 18-34 year old football fans. What is particularly significant is that marketing campaigns such as this are usually implemented in the Middle East after their global success. This is the first time that creative Arab minds have resulted in a local initiative that is to be launched globally,” he added.
The recent achievement of Cristiano Ronaldo having scooped the prestigious Ballon d'Or in January this year is expected to contribute to the KFC-Ronaldo campaign’s success in the Middle East and  globally.