Rebel, you don’t need a KFC-sized budget to borrow what makes the KFC chicken wine campaign work. Lara Parry, AMS ambassador and self-appointed “Gossip Girl” of great campaigns, breaks down three activations worth studying – if you are looking for more campaign examples head here.
About Lara Parry
Lara Parry is a brand marketing and commercial strategist working with purpose-led and creative brands, auditing the whole business for revenue leaks and building out the brand ecosystem around them. She’s the founder of LIP Studio and The Creative Collective Brighton, a 1,000+ member community built in eight months through organic strategy.
- LinkedIn: Click here
“It needs to be values aligned to your brand first before you even think of doing that. Go back to your brand values, look at that, make sure it actually aligns with who you want to become and who you are as a brand.”
Lara Parry
Revive Nostalgia, But Only If It’s Actually Your Brand
SEEP, a B Corp cleaning brand, brought back the old “Overheard in Waitrose” format as a billboard campaign, tapping a genuine cultural moment in UK retail history rather than a generic throwback.
- Before reviving a nostalgic format or moment, check it against your actual brand values first, not just whether it feels fun
- Validate the idea with real data or a focus group of your most engaged customers before committing budget
- If a trend doesn’t align with who you actually are as a brand, skip it, it costs more in credibility than it gains in attention
Pair Unexpected Brands Around A Genuine Customer Behaviour
KFC and French wine brand La Vieille Ferme leaned into “chicken wine,” a pairing customers had already started calling out themselves on TikTok before the official collaboration existed. The KFC chicken wine campaign went instantly viral.
- Look for a pairing that’s already forming organically in how your customers talk about you, rather than inventing one from scratch
- Two brands that don’t obviously belong together can work if there’s real tension and a shared audience underneath it
- Start smaller if you’re not a global brand: a local yoga studio partnering with a nearby coffee shop for a joint morning event works on the exact same logic
Use A Strong Visual Hook And Real Storytelling
Huda Beauty’s TikTok mini-series stopped Lara mid-scroll purely on a visual hook, then held attention with genuine episodic storytelling, not just a trend format.
- You don’t need a big production budget to borrow this. Small, real customer stories told with a strong opening beat work the same way
- Interrogate your own content before posting: is this idea actually worth someone’s attention, or just filling a slot?
- Borrow format nostalgia too (a beloved old TV or sitcom style) if it’s genuinely relatable to your audience, not just recognisable
Big campaigns are inspiration, not the blueprint. Start with a values check, a real customer signal, and one strong hook, then build from there.
Catch Lara live at the Business of Marketing on 13 November.