Knowing Your Publics for Successful Brand Development

It is essential that businesses know who their publics are, and which ones are important—for both the sake of time and money.  A public is any person or group of people who will form an opinion about your business.  Some publics are more important than others, and thus deserve more of your attention.  This concept is essential to grasp when it comes to online public relations.

KFC & PETA: A Hate-Hate Relationship

Take KFC for example.  KFC’s publics are YUM stockholders, employees, customers, suppliers like Pilgrim’s Pride, and animal rights activist groups such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

In 2004, KFC found itself (yet again) caught between a rock and a hard place with PETA.  One of the Pilgrim’s Pride chicken farms had employees caught on tape abusing chickens by stepping on, kicking, and slamming chickens against the floors and walls.

PETA was behind the video, sending one of its members in undercover as an employee who taped the cruel activity.  PETA pointed the blame at KFC, not Pilgrim’s Pride, and the media jumped all over the story.  KFC soon found itself in a crisis situation.

KFC quickly put their PR strategies into place.  They conducted their own investigation of Pilgrim’s Pride and discovered that the incident was confined to that one location.  KFC halted their relationship with the facility and told Pilgrim’s Pride that their relationship with the location would resume once the situation was rectified.  When KFC did resume their relationship with the farm, it was on a probationary terms, hiring an animal welfare expert to monitor the farm.

KFC’s actions renewed its brand image in the eyes of its customers, employees, and stockholders, but PETA was still not happy.   They sent a letter to Pilgrim’s Pride, KFC, and the Associated Press with a list of demands.  They continued to voice their message through a series of publicity stunts—dedicating an entire website to the scandal and visiting Colonel Sanders’s gravesite, purchasing a nearby plot, and subliminally writing “KFC Tortures Birds” on the plot’s gravestone.

In the past, KFC has been criticized for trying too hard to please PETA.  In 2003, PETA sued KFC for “lying to the public about their animal welfare policies.”  The activists were upset that KFC’s website stated that “chickens raised for KFC suffered no pain or injuries” and that “humane treatment of the birds is ensured.”  KFC eventually caved in and agreed to stop making the claims, even giving PETA the power to approve what the company can say about the way chickens are treated.

Managing & Balancing Your Publics

This begs the question: Is PETA a public that KFC should pay attention to?

In my opinion, no—at least not as much as they have been in the past.

Let’s face it, PETA is never going to like what KFC does.  KFC is in the business of selling chicken for consumption, and PETA is against eating chicken. You’re not going to see a diehard PETA member order the extra crispy chicken strips anytime soon.  The two are like water and oil, and will never see eye to eye.

KFC does not profit from PETA in any way, in fact, it’s quite the opposite.  KFC needs to focus on keeping their omnivore customers happy by addressing questions about animal cruelty as they arise and putting preventative measures in place to ensure that chickens are being treated humanely.  No matter how KFC slaughters their chickens, PETA will see it as inhumane, and the sooner they realize that, the better.

I’m not saying that KFC should outright ignore PETA, because they are still one of their publics whether they like it or not.  Ignoring PETA could have even more disastrous results.  It’s about finding a balance between addressing the issues PETA brings up to keep your customers happy, but not letting PETA run the business entirely.

Knowing your publics is important for any brand development strategy.  The message you craft in your strategy will largely depend on the public you are targeting and the goals you want to accomplish.

For an example of brand development gone wrong, read this post concerning Netflix.

Tags: brand development, KFC, online PR, PETA, publics