News
Church's Chicken launches Afro Samurai video game
January 25, 2009
ATLANTA — Church's Chicken has announced the brand's promotional partnership with Surge, a studio and publishing label created by Namco Bandai Games America Inc., to releaseAfro Samurai, an animated video game fusing hip-hop overtones with Japanese inspired themes.
Church's Chicken also is in collaboration with Coca-Cola on a promotion called Be Heard that uses mobile technology to engage and interact with a younger segment of the brand's target audience.
"The urban youth market is the second largest and fastest growing segment in the U.S. and an audience we see emerging as one of our core customers," Farnaz Wallace, Church's executive vice president and chief marketing officer, said. "It just makes sense to reach out to them in non-traditional media platforms where they socialize and play to supplement long-term brand building and recognition within this important group."
Afro Samurai, which is based on the acclaimed animated series, has a large cult following. The video game has already gone gold and will be officially released throughout North America on Jan. 27. The game has an ESRB rating of Mature.
Church's Chicken, as the exclusive partner for the quick-service restaurant category, will promote the game with the support of national TV and radio advertising on urban young adult channels and outlets in addition to in-store merchandising.
The brand will launch an Afro Samurai Enter-to-Win Sweepstakes Jan. 26 to capitalize on the heavy Namco advertising campaign breaking behind the video game launch in late January. For the promotion, Church's customers will have the chance to win the $7,500 grand prize as well as other prizes including a customized Afro Samurai iPod player, a copy of the game or gaming console.
Last year, Church's Chicken had a successful run with the release of Soulcalibur IV, yielding approximately 17,300 online sweepstakes entries where nearly 20 percent of those entries actively requested to receive coupons and promotional information from Church's. The Soulcalibur IV promotion also increased traffic to Church's official Web site by an average of 30 percent and supplemented an increase in the brand's value combo sales.
"Gamers are an emerging loyal fan base akin to those of traditional sports like football or basketball. According to the Entertainment Software Association, 65 percent of American households play computer or video games. We made a strategic decision to be more steadfast in spending time, research and money in targeting to this growing influential segment," Wallace said.
Text messaging campaign
Church's Chicken's text messaging Be Heard promotion, slated for implementation early this year, allows customers to text in a code after answering four simple questions, polling their recent Church's in-store visit. Once submitted, customers instantly receive a bounce-back coupon for various offers.
The promotion includes an opportunity to win $1,000 in cash, to be awarded on a weekly basis for the nine-week promotion, as well as a Be Heard poster featuring artwork by visionary Kadir Nelson and an inspirational poem by acclaimed R&B artist Musiq Soulchild.
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