When KEF had its first attempt to enter Hong Kong in 1973 , the chairman of the company announced plans to open 50-60 shops in Hong Kong at a press conference. As at mid-1974, there were 11 outlet in Hong Kong. But it had many of the outlet closed by September 1974 and remaining only 4 outlets continued to trade until Feb. 1975. There are major reasons for this original failure of KEF. The first reason is the general economics environment of Hong Kong was bad caused by a financial crisis started at the end of 1974. It made most customer thought KEF was quite expensive.
The other reason is the KEF promotions concept of “finger licking good” was not acceptable . Re-launching In September 1985 , the first of the new generation of outlets opened in Hong Kong , that means KEF is making a come back. They have been made some principal changes for the successfully re-launching. Firstly, KEF positions itself as an up-scale, eat-in, quick service restaurant , unlike its predecessor. Secondly, KEF promotion concept changed , the slogan is now “We do chicken right ” and still appears on poster advertising in MET stations and in newspapers and magazines.
After that, a survey of respondents who have heard of KEF carried out that all respondents have heard of KEF and 66% of them have tried KEF. That means customers accepted it promotion concept and representation of the ” Chicken Expert ” Culture Shock on Food & Drink Before the introduction of KEF, Hong Kong people had no experience of American-style fast food like burgers, pizzas or fried chicken. KEF only offered take-away services and did not offer sit-down facilities. This unlike our conventional eat-in method.
The above major cultural influences were affecting he acceptance of KEF. However , Some changes have occurred in Hong Kong since KEF first set up in 1973. As mentioned before , Hong Kong people had no experience of American-style fast food before the introduction of KEF , but it just entered to Hong Kong followed another fast food restaurant representative McDonald to set up at Hong Kong in 1975 and the others such as Harder’ s . It made most of people willing to try the American-style fast food apart from the local food.
KEF really changed the Hong Kong conventional culture and habit of DOD and drink. Cuff’s current marketing strategy KEF position itself as an up-scale restaurant, so the pricing for the main item Chicken is based on premium pricing, but competitive pricing is used for other item as the outlets are located where there is a lot of competitor offering similar items. The menu is based entirely on chicken, offering pieces, chicken packs. The food is freshly cooked , if the fried chicken is not sold within 45 minutes. It will be withdrawn from sale. This ensure that all chicken sold is fresh.
It is to implement heir market position ” Chicken Expert ” and their slogan “We do chicken right”. Cuff’s target customers are 16-39 years old, with emphasis on young age groups including office workers and young executives. This is considered different from McDonald’s which aims at the family and children market. Conclusion Since KEF has entered , Hong Kong has been invaded by U. S. Fast food chains. Although McDonald has became a leader of U. S style fast food industry in Hong Kong nowadays , KEF really is a primogenitor of U. S style fast food in Hong Kong.
