KFC
Christmas is a time of winter warmers, open fires, and ugly jumpers… unless you’re living in Australia. With the December holiday falling over summer in the Southern Hemisphere, Aussies find themselves longing for the rituals that befall their Northern Hemisphere counterparts. Introducing Christmas in July – the perfect holiday to wrap up, watch Christmas movies, and indulge in a feast like the rest of the world.
Christmas in July does away with the stuffy traditions of a December Christmas. It’s a time to eat, drink and be merry with friends who you want to be around, not the family you’re forced to see. And as a fairly newfangled holiday all about free-spiritedness, KFC wanted to own the occasion.
In 2021, we launched a brand new product bundle, complete with brand and retail ads, redesigned buckets and released exclusive merch.
In 2022, we brought fur babies into the mix with limited edition pet jumpers.
In 2023, we launched daily deals for the '11 Days of Christmas (in July)'
And in 2024, we made headlines by setting up our own KFC-themed Christmas getaway: The Colonel's Lodge.
Role: Art Director / Illustrator / Designer
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Awarded “Finalist” in Seasonal Marketing
APAC Effie Awards 2022
Leveraging the Look on the Fried Side of Life platform established in 2020, we worked with photographer Craig Wall to create an aesthetic that felt right at home with the existing platform imagery.
For the Christmas in July campaign, we created custom packaging adorned with a bespoke ugly Christmas jumper pattern. This was rolled out nationwide to give our product bundle a truly festive feel.
Our brand-focused OOH was all about establishing that KFC was here for the holiday, and landing the ‘Look on the Fried Side of Life’ sentiment.
Meanwhile, our retail-focused OOH promoted the product bundle itself. The name of the bundle had the big job of directly landing the very specific occasion (i.e. Christmas in July, not Christmas), but also conveying the abundance of food that customers would be receiving. The bundle became the Christmas in July Feast.
Our social assets promoted the Christmas in July Feast, retaining KFC’s iconic look and feel whilst injecting a little holiday spirit.
This was all supported with a campaign launch TVC, featuring heaps of fried chicken, an awesome music track, and a weird reindeer. After all, with Christmas in July being a fairly contemporary holiday, Aussies everywhere were sure to be saying “WTF?”.
As heard in the TV ads, we worked with the Aussie band Dune Rats to record a cover of an iconic Christmas track in their signature style.
In their trademark larrikin tone, the Dune Rats made some fun Instagram content highlighting their role in the ad and promoting the campaign.
The Dunies even created a minute-long version of the track. We loved so much, we created a music video to go along with it.
The final video consisted of 444 frames, with every 1/6 of a second a completely different visual, incorporating a mix of Christmas iconography, KFC assets, and a whole lot of larrikin weirdness.
Our animated music video made headlines with the likes of The Music Network and Concrete Playground, but that wasn’t the only part of the campaign that earned PR…
We designed limited edition KFC Christmas in July Jumpers as the perfect attire in which to enjoy a Christmas in July Feast, adorned with drumsticks, buckets, distinctive brand iconography, and our hero campaign line.
A key visual was made for earned media coverage, inspired by classic awkward Christmas photos of the 80s. This took Australia by storm, with press coverage from Delicious, Taste, KIIS fm, Thrillist and more.
As the Jumpers were to be sold nationwide, we also developed retail-focused shots promoting our wonderful knitwear closer to the point of purchase.
The jumpers were sold via a Shopify site, carrying through bespoke copy and elements from the jumper design in order to create a festive feel through every aspect of the user journey. In the spirit of giving, all proceeds from sales went to KFC’s charity partners including The Black Dog Institute, ReachOut Australia and Whitelion.
Along with earned media, we worked with influencers to spread the word over TikTok, Facebook and Instagram, which led to Australians all over wanting to get in on the festive fun.
We even ran a promotion for KFC staff, encouraging them to decorate their stores for the holiday for a chance to win Christmas in July Jumpers.
The Jumpers were so popular, they sold out in less than 24 hours.
One year later, we decided to make some more, with a little twist…
In 2022, we created a limited run of KFC Pet Jumpers, to keep all Aussie fur babies looking fly for the holiday season.
And because we know just how much people love their animals, we promoted them with bespoke visuals, featuring people who look like their pets.
In 2022, our Pet and People Jumpers sold out in record time. with Aussies everywhere clamoured to get their hands on them.
In our latest iteration, we introduced the ultimate Christmas in July experience: The Colonel’s Lodge.
Knowing that for many Christmas in July is about getting away to the coldest parts of Australia, The Colonel’s Lodge was a remote KFC-themed cabin in the Blue Mountains.
The experience was fully catered, and decked out with all the bells and whistles. KFC App users entered into the competition to win a stay with every purchase of the Christmas in July Feast.
The campaign was an earned media success, capturing the attention of Aussie news outlets, including A Current Affair, and delivering our Christmas spirit to the masses.