Marketing Question

Read the article below and answer the questions that follow:

KFC is the worlds largest fast-food chicken chain, serving more than 12 million customers at more than 4,600 restaurants in the United States and more than 18,000 restaurants in 120 countries and territories around the world. The company is world famous for its Original Recipe fried chicken made with the same secret blend of 11 herbs and spices Colonel Harland Sanders perfected more than a half-century ago. In China, KFC is the largest, oldest, most popular, and fastest-growing quick-service restaurant chain, with more than 4,260 locations in 850 towns or cities, often enjoying healthy margins of 20 percent per store. The company has tailored its menu in China to local tastes with items such as the Dragon Twister, a wrap stuffed with chicken strips, Peking duck sauce, cucumbers, and scallions. KFC even has a Chinese mascota kid-friendly character named Chicky, which the company boasts has become the Ronald McDonald of China. Like any emerging market, China does pose challenges to KFC. Sales there took a stumble early in 2013 when state-owned Chinese media accused the company of using local suppliers that gave their chickens excessive antibiotics to stimulate faster growth. A social media firestorm followed, eventually causing KFC to apologize for not having tighter controls. Supply chain problems have posed a different challenge in Africa, KFCs next growth target. Without enough domestic supply of chickens, the company must import them, but that is illegal in Nigeria and Kenya. To overcome the supply problem in Nigeria, it added fish to the menu. By 2013, KFC had more than 1,000 restaurants in 17 countries in Africa. As it moved into more and more African markets, the company made sure to localize its menuselling Ugali, a type of porridge, in Kenya and jollof rice in Nigeriaand to showcase local culture on the walls and in the advertising. Adapted from: Kotler and Keller, (2015)

1.1 With the use of relevant research and in relation to the article examine the success of KFCs localization strategy.

Your answer must include the following points:

Localization

Appealing locally

Brand perception and local preferences