SMC x Popeyes

Overview:

SMC worked with Popeyes on a project to produce a thorough competitive landscape analysis, develop a tailored social media strategy to attract younger consumers and drive trial, and provide recommendations on influencer strategies/partnerships and activation opportunities. This project was led by Senior Project Directors Ethan Carley and Jay Persaud; Project Directors Maya Harrison and Leila Tenekjian; and Consultants Liam Nathaniel, Kelly Cao, Bree Olijnyk, and Jamie Weinstein.

Problem:

Popeyes combats the perception of being a “more expensive” brand compared to competitors in the quick-service chicken category in Canada, despite offering fair prices and large portions. SMC was brought in to conduct a competitive review of the quick-service chicken category in Canada with attention to perception around value, portion size, and pricing fairness to influence social media strategies and influencer/partnership opportunities to drive trial and reduce the “over-priced” perception.

Solution:

SMC executed a multi-phase analysis, delivering a market and social media audit, a social strategy and content framework, and final recommendations for continued success. The first phase looked at Popeyes current social presence and its positioning against other direct and indirect competitors in the QSR market. The second phase looked to develop key messaging frameworks, social media strategies, visual and descriptive content frameworks, and influencer and activation opportunities to capture the target audience, following insights from phase 1. The final phase synthesized all the insights and recommendations to provide methods for Popeyes to measure trial-driving success, including traffic, social engagement, and influencer ROI, as well as overall KPI’s to track progress.

Impact:

This project equipped Popeyes with a deeper understanding of their value positioning within the QSR industry from a younger consumer perspective, enabling them to develop targeted marketing strategies to attract customers through the right price positioning and the right channels. We also provided them with specific partnership capabilities to leverage existing partnerships to drive in-store trial and expand reach.

Social Media Strategy