What words come to mind when you think of KFC? “Fried chicken,” of course. “Double Down,” perhaps. What about “Social Media in Higher Education?”
KFC is offering a $20,000 college scholarship to a graduating high school senior who can produce the best tweet beginning with, “I should be a #KFCScholar because…” It’s a strategy that shows Col. Sanders’ commitment to education.
Each year, KFC gives away 75 student scholarships and this year, they are looking for the best tweet from a high school senior with a cumulative GPA of 2.75 (or higher). The best tweet will be selected based 40 percent on creativity, 30 percent on need and 30 percent drive.
We’re seeing about 100 tweets an hour with the hashtag #KFCScholar. For a ten-day contest, that equals to over 24,000 tweets. While I’m not a fan of the Double Down sandwhich (ick!), I’m thrilled with this brilliantly simple social media campaign. It engages the appropriate target audience, gives back to the community and promotes free marketing and advertising.
What more could a company ask for in terms of ROI… And what more could a high school senior ask for with an ROI of 140 characters for $20,000?
-Heather (@hmillar13)
29
Area Publication Coming To Town Near You
by FeedbackOne of the highlights of traveling to major cities is spotting that iconic green newspaper bin on a sidewalk. Inside (if you’re lucky to get there before they’re gone) is a printed copy of The Onion, the satirical newspaper that most of America reads online.
This is an interesting move in the world of digital and traditional news media. Here’s a publication that would never be as large as it is were it not for the Web, and it wants to expand its print properties. Meanwhile, real newspapers continue their steady declines in every facet of the business: circulation, staff, advertising, the number printed pages and even physical size. And most real newspapers still haven’t figured out how to use the Internet (well, at least). Onion Inc., meanwhile, has perfected its online and mobile experience.
Yet The Onion has a true chance at expanding its network into middle-market cities such as Richmond, Raleigh, Nashville and those of similar size. The audience is already in place, to the point that merely having The Onion available in a mid-size town will become news in and of itself (expect Twitpics of the green bins). The Onion could bring particular competition not only to traditional papers, but many of the throwaway advertorials that float around on the free magazine racks near the entrance of grocery stores. Hip, young organizations will no doubt want to advertise in a publication whose main demographic is ["the coveted"] age 18 to 35 group. Heck, it might even be an honor to get a cold call from an Onion ad rep.
Contentwise, The Onion has long been protective of keeping creation in a tight circle. Articles submitted by the general public are sent straight to the trash bin. They don’t accept resumes. For the most part, writing for The Onion is a matter of “If we want you, we’ll find you.” I could see The Onion‘s non-parody entertainment section, the A.V. Club, eventually being localized in cities where the franchising effort proves popular. This could be a matter of Onion Inc. hiring or purchasing a pre-established local entertainment site (in Richmond, our hometown, that could be a site like RVANews.com or Richmond.com).
It’ll be interesting to watch the potential spread of America’s Finest News Source. So far, the company’s only major gaffe has been its abysmal straight-to-video movie. But beyond that, this is a strong company with steady growth and a quality product that could become even bigger and better. And as someone who has studied comedy writing for years, I hope to see The Onion in Richmond very soon.
-Jeff (@jephkelley)