A white-haired colonel from the American south officially replaced a white bird as the symbol of fast-food fried chicken in Moscow, as U.S. chain KFC announced that it is rebranding.
The event marks the third time the company has attempted to find its position on the Russian market, having seen different partnerships and challenges over the last 16 years.
The latest incarnation involved a five-year partnership with Rosinter, one of the country’s leading restaurant chains, which culminated in a friendly buyout that ends the Rostik’s fried chicken brand.
“We are positioning ourselves as a Western brand,” said Piotr Rozanski, marketing director for Yum!Brands, the company that owns KFC.
The chain will rebrand the 164 Rostik’s-KFC restaurants already operating in Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. The process should be complete at some point in mid-2012, by which time all the stores will carry the single KFC logo and decor. Some former Rostik’s hallmarks, like serving beer, will be continued.
The bulk of existing locations, or 153 stores, are in Russia, with 81 in Moscow and 72 in the regions. Fifty of the 164 restaurants are corporate, and the rest are franchises. The company plans to add 300 restaurants by 2015 in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States.
The typical KFC customer is aged 16 to 39, is not afraid to try new things and wants to see society progress while enjoying a Western dining experience, said Oleg Pisklov, general director of Yum!Brands in Russia. The company also owns Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, which has yet to make a landing in the former Soviet Union.
An extensive advertising campaign, called “So Good,” will accompany the rebranding and include a television commercial featuring attractive teenage girls feeding fried chicken to young men.
Yum! had a global retail turnover of $11 billion in 2010. The average check at local KFCs amounts to 200 rubles, Pisklov said, which is about the same as in the United States.
Read more: http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/kfc-swallows-rostiks-and-expands/443324.html#ixzz4xDQxkO7d
The Moscow Times
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