MANILA – Gone are the days when you hear the name Kenny Rogers Roasters and you think of your 90’s throwback experience with the roast chicken that captured your stomach more than 25 years ago. Today, the brand has evolved to capture a new market with innovative products and campaigns that are truly built for the digital age.
The brand has stopped using traditional media like TV and print for more than three years already and focused its efforts on channels that are more relevant like digital, OOH, in-store, radio, and PR. After having a brand re-launch more than a year ago with the campaign “Choose Awesome. Choose Kenny” and amplifying it with everybody’s favorite social media couple Nico and Solenn Bolzico, the brand just got crazier and crazier. Partnered with a young agency under the Dentsu Aegis Network called Dojo headed by Managing Director and ECD Joey Ong, Kenny Rogers has built a relationship with them that is nothing but “Awesome Together”. This partnership is built on mutual client-agency collaboration centered on trust and a unified vision for the brand.
“Let’s do something crazy!”
“Back then, when you have a crazy idea, you are afraid to pitch it to your clients because you are 100% sure they will not buy it. But things have changed. It’s probably because of social media and everyone’s exposure to creative stimulus online. Today, rather than shying away from crazy, we often ask ourselves… ‘Is this crazy enough?’” Joey Ong said.
Just one year after its launch with the Bolzicos and three campaigns later, not only did the brand change the market’s perception from old school and traditional to young, fresh, and crazy, but it also resulted in outstanding business results—700% sales growth for a product that already existed in their menu for years. It’s an awesome outcome for a brand that’s bold enough to embrace crazy when selling something that’s not even a flagship product.
The launch of Nico and Solenn last year with the Garlic Butter Roast catapulted the brand to instant social media stardom. This was followed by an introduction of an Epic Feast for Christmas which encourages people to come in the store as group and enjoy three kinds of chicken, from the Classic which everyone loves, to the Garlic Butter Roast, to the OMG Unfried Fried Chicken.
Early this year, the brand decided to do something hot and new with the launch of the Chipotle Fire Chicken and again, this campaign and product burned records online and in-store. There was even a secret sauce called “Effin’ Hot Gravy”, which actually came from the client. Effin’ awesome, right?
Carlos Vergara, Marketing Director for Kenny Rogers, challenged the agency and client team to outdo that last campaign with something worth talking about. The Greatest Grills #Grillsgonewild summer campaign definitely captured everyone’s attention and sold items in the menu that people do not usually order or don’t even know about—ribs, sausage, steak, burger steak, chicken fillet, and other items beyond the usual chicken. This campaign strengthened the entire business and pulled in new followers for the brand. So with all this momentum, what’s next for Kenny Rogers? What are these guys up to now?
This July, the team came up with something new and fresh yet again–a product so awesome it merited an awesome campaign to take it next-level. Imagine a Bacon Wrapped Chicken–this was seriously the inception of the brief. The Dojo team together with Kenny’s Marketing team had one crazy idea that was just as awesome as the product they are selling.
If you like that video, then you’re in for an influx of crazy content which Kenny’s has up its sleeve. The brand is just getting started—with a progressive client-agency partnership that harnesses joint creativity and passion the way that Kenny’s and Dojo do, you can expect more awesomeness in not just their product offerings, but also for your entertainment.
TEAM CREDITS:
Kenny Rogers Roasters
Frederick T. Siy
President
Carlos C. Vergara
Marketing Director
Mackis V. Tuazon
Marketing Manager
Romar Padua
Marketing Officer
Bea Saldua
Marketing Officer
Justin Quitevis
Graphic Designer
Dojo
Joey Ong
Managing Director/ ECD
Rissa De Guzman
GM/ Managing Partner
Yosh Kikkawa
Account Director
Kate Kohchet-chua
Account Manager
Merl Peroz
Copywriter
Keno Enriquez
Art Director
Lan Damaso
Art Director
Alyanna Arguelles
Art Director
Alec Elzingre
Account Manager
Production Team
Avid Liongoren
Director/ Producer
Hermie Cabrito
Producer
Mikko Quizon
Wakap Sound Studio
