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- Following the launch of its chicken sandwich, Popeyes daily traffic peaked on Aug. 23 at 218.2% higher than average daily traffic for July, according to a Placer.ai report that analyzed daily visits at KFC, Chick-fil-A, Popeyes and Zaxby's from July 1 to Aug. 31. After the sandwich sold out on Aug. 27, the last Friday and Saturday of the month saw Popeyes' traffic spike 96.7% and 72.1% higher than July’s average.
- KFC also reported a peak in traffic at the end of August, with the last Friday and Saturday of the month experiencing store visit bumps of 29.2% and 13.2% above the baseline during the two-month period, respectively. Chick-fil-A and Zaxby's also had traffic boosts at the end of the month.
- On Aug. 23 and Aug. 24, all four chains had a total of 10.1 million visitors compared to a typical summer weekend of 8.3 million visitors. During the weekend after Popeyes' sandwich sold out, these four restaurants had 9.8 million visitors.
Dive Insight:
The chicken craze that kicked off with Popeyes' launch of a chicken sandwich, which sold out in two weeks, revealed the power of a successful social media campaign as well as American consumer’s growing love for chicken. Sales of chicken products at QSR and fast casual restaurants have been on the rise, increasing 42.1% from 2011 to 2016.
While chicken is gaining ground, it was social media that really drove the success of Popeyes' chicken sandwich. It got into a Twitter war with Chick-fil-A that helped drive immense interest in the new product, not to mention a rise in social media followers. The sandwich also boasted rave reviews online that helped drive the craze. Popeyes is also hoping to continue its recent popularity with a bring-your-own-bun campaign to promote its chicken tenders.
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Wendy’s has also had much success with social media, especially when it comes to its spicy chicken nuggets that were brought back during the summer after challenging 2 million followers to like a tweet about returning the popular item to the menu. KFC also uses social platforms to drive much of its marketing, including a computer-generated influencer, an anime-style dating simulator and a racy video for Mother’s Day that featured “Chickendale” dancers.
Another factor that brought the chicken wars to a head was Chick-fil-A's cult-like popularity and surging sales, which has pushed rival chains — even those outside the chicken segment — to explore chicken sandwiches of their own. McDonald’s franchisees have been pressuring corporate to provide a chicken sandwich that can compete with Chick-fil-A’s sandwich, and the company plans to release a new spicy chicken sandwich this month. Chick-fil-A has been growing exponentially and reached the number three spot of top chains this year, according to Nation’s Restaurant News. For Popeyes to take on Chick-fil-A and be successful is a big deal, and could inspire other chains to challenge the brand as well.