Delivering an unforgettable night at KFC UK & Ireland’s pop-up pub The Colonel’s Arms

The same day England was to face USA in the 2022 FIFA World Cup, we prepared to open KFC’s first-ever pub, The Colonel’s Arms, with Jimmy Bullard as acting landlord. Social teasers, a pub tour, and a ticket giveaway had fans lining the street on Fulham Palace Road in Hammersmith, London for KFC table delivery and a night out like no other.

We aim to leverage earned reach wherever possible by always seeking to start a conversation or give people a reason to interact. The Colonel’s Arms was no different. 

But unique to this campaign was the need to get The Colonel’s Arms due attention at a time when KFC had multiple comms going live. On top of that, the pub's tight building schedule gave us only a few days to turn around our content and get it live whilst the pub remained open for business.

We recruited former England player and TV personality Jimmy Bullard to act as our pub landlord. A personality synonymous with KFC’s brand persona—the loveable rogue—his presence gave us the cut-through we needed during the overly saturated World Cup period to ensure our message was heard in time.

When it came to our content, we decided that to maximise attention, we’d put all key messaging in the first few seconds of video: that KFC had opened a pub, that there’d be free Original Recipe chicken delivered straight to table, and that Jimmy Bullard would be pulling your pints. To boost advocacy among our audience, we decided to give them ample opportunity to win tickets to this exclusive experience by first joining in on X and Instagram, where KFC’s community thrives.

The Colonel’s Arms was a treat for the eyeballs as well as the taste buds, and as such demanded an audiovisual medium to best promote its attributes. So for the next stage of the campaign, we prioritised Instagram and TikTok, knowing video content on these platforms would let us properly showcase the pub and let Jimmy’s personality shine. X was sidelined to avoid The Colonel’s Arms content getting lost among high output from the brand.