Each time I go back to China, there is a phenomenum that always catches my attention. In China, almost every KFC restaurant is fully occupied during peak hours. And it’s hard to believe that there is always a long lineup for ordering food. Coming back to here in North American, KFC is never up to the top since the giant competitor Macdonald’s is the mainstream choice. After doing some research, I found that there are more than 3700 KFC locations in over 700 cities in China and people are flocking to these locations. This once rather lack-luster American fast food brand, outperformed all competitors, to become the biggest restaurant chain in China.
What exactly has made KFC so successful in China that almost every Chinese is so familiar with this western brand? It always seemed so mysterious for me to understand it. Now after learning the brand-positioning and marketing strategy lesson from COMM101, I see this success is not a mystery, it is a result of smart business strategies.
The first factor underpinning KFC’s success is no doubt product localization. In China, KFC recruit a local senior management team to explore the Chinese culture and Chinese consumer preference. It focuses specially on catering to Chinese taste. The menu it has in China is much more diversified, which includes even traditionally Chinese congee (rice porridge) and youtiao (a kind of Chinese doughnut). Both are the quintessential Chinese breakfast. Besides, KFC in China frequently designs new menus that develop numerous more localized choices. In contrast, Macdonald’s does not realize how important it is to localize the products. It keeps its muffin and coffee breakfast menu that Chinese seldom choose for breakfast. This explains a lot why Macdonald’s is falling behind in Chinese market.
The second main reason is that KFC invests a lot in advertising and brand positioning in China. Its TV commercials play on Chinese TVs almost through out the year. Every new product is advertised through TV commercial and due to that fact that many Chinese watch TV, the marketing strategy is extremely successful. Although KFC is a fast food restaurant and its products are always considered as junk food, it tries to promote itself as a new fast food in China. It tries to convince Chinese that its products are nutrition-balanced and healthy. KFC regularly holds events such as basketball game for teenager to participate. This strategy makes consumers connect KFC with healthy life style.
No wonder that “in China, people have really caught on to KFC”. KFC has developed its products perfectly suitable for Chinese stomachs. Being the first western fast food company that entered China, it obviously has left an image of the leading brand in the minds of Chinese consumers.

Links for further reading:
http://www.echinacities.com/expat-corner/junk-food-in-china-why-so-popular.html
http://articles.businessinsider.com/2012-02-08/strategy/31036609_1_china-pizza-hut-development-team