How a great culture led to creativity at KFC - Meghan Farren, KFC CMO
I speak with Meghan Farren from KFC, about some of the pivotal moments in the fast food giant's marketing history, including the infamous FCK campaign and how they addressed the pandemic.
Meghan Farren spent 10 years at KFC UK, spending the last 5 as CMO. What does it take to run a marketing department of one of the biggest consumer brands? What do you do when you run out of chicken as a fast food chicken joint? How do you change your strapline when it involves licking fingers during a global pandemic? And how a strong culture is pivotal for all this creativity to happen.
What we covered in this episode
What we covered in this episode
- Going back to KFC after a year - back to school vibe
- The realness of working in a KFC restaurant
- Research vs real world experience
- How Meg got into marketing in the first place
- From finance to marketing
- How to transition industry
- Experience vs action and impostor syndrome
- How to nail a new job
- Importance of culture
- Hiring the best talent
- Being close to the customer
- Marketing week brand of the year
- Power of consistency
- The FCK campaign
- How taking a big risk can pay off
- How humour in a crisis can help
- KFC’s many distinctive assets
- How to do brand innovation well
- Advice for aspiring CMOs
Creators and Guests
