The World Cup created a powerful opportunity for KFC LA&C markets to connect with consumers through one of the region’s biggest shared passions — soccer.
Across Latin America and the Caribbean, KFC markets found creative ways to enter the World Cup conversation, connect with local fans, and bring the excitement of the tournament into their restaurants and marketing campaigns.
The local activations demonstrated how markets can take a major global event and translate it into locally relevant consumer experiences. By combining the power of the KFC brand with the passion surrounding the World Cup, franchisees were able to create opportunities to drive traffic, engagement, and sales while strengthening KFC’s connection with soccer fans.
The World Cup activations also provided an opportunity for markets to learn from one another and share ideas that could be adapted across countries. Each market brought its own perspective, demonstrating that a regional strategy can be strengthened when local teams have the flexibility to create campaigns that resonate with their consumers.
The result was a strong regional presence in the World Cup conversation and another example of how KFC LA&C markets continue to find innovative ways to connect the brand with local culture, consumer passions, and important moments across the region.
Markets took two routes into the World Cup, and both were valid:
- Built their own local idea — a market-specific creative platform rooted in national football culture. Mexico (“Las Mejores Piernas están en KFC”), Ecuador (“Bañate de Fútbol”), Colombia (“Party y Compartý con Dairo Moreno”), Chile (“El Fútbol Va Con Pollo”), Argentina (“Reviví el Sabor de la Victoria”), Uruguay (“Se juega con el pie, se come con la mano”), Trinidad (“Get your hands in action”) and Brazil.
- Used the Regional campaign — the route for markets that didn’t develop something local, giving them a ready-made way to show up in the moment with speed and consistency.
A few did both well — taking the regional creative territory and landing it locally. Jamaica is the standout: it used the regional territory to carry a local activation fronted by Reggae Boyz captain Andre Blake, and Costa Rica localized it by adding collectible footballs.
Regional recap of activations
• Execution was full-funnel across the region: social-first content in nearly every market, plus OOH and media plans, store signage, launch events, local TV and radio spots, POP and PR.
• The regional platform gave lighter-resourced markets a fast, low-cost entry point; the locally-built campaigns carried the deepest cultural resonance.
Personalities strengthened the conversation
• Many markets fronted their activation with a football personality, which is what made the conversation feel native. Mexico anchored on a launch event with Roberto Carlos; Colombia built its whole platform around Dairo Moreno; Jamaica signed Andre Blake.
• Jamaica shows a best-case combination — regional creative territory plus a credible local face. Blake is one of Jamaica’s most popular athletes and a top MLS player, and the partnership also supported his youth-development foundation, generating broad press pickup and positive sentiment.
Special offers and unique collectibles drove results
• Ecuador’s Cromos Pacho — a collectible sticker mechanic — paired with a KFC App World Cup prediction pool unlocked by Delivery or KFC Express purchases, with escalating points by stage (5 in groups up to 100 for the final) competing for TV, PS5, phones and vouchers.
• Costa Rica’s collectible footballs, Mexico’s drumstick plush and Brazil’s Colonel-signed ball with every Box on June 18 used the same instinct — a unique, ownable item as the reason to buy now.
• Ecuador’s growth came from digital channels, mainly aggregators and pickup; Colombia’s from aggregators and buckets, with Boxes driving incrementality.
Key activation strategies
• Two valid entry routes — build local or take the regional campaign; the best work combined them.
• Personality partnerships to earn credibility and PR.
• Collectibles and limited-time offers for urgency and repeat visits.
• Owned-channel gamification to convert engagement into transactions.
• Sharing-occasion products — Boxes and Buckets matched to watch-party moments.
Sales momentum
Growth concentrated in digital channels — aggregators, pickup and delivery — with Boxes delivering incrementality and Jamaica chasing double-digit WPSA lift on its hero products.
Learnings and opportunities
• Keep the regional platform as the floor, not the ceiling — it ensures no market sits out, while local ideas remain the upside.
• Personalities and collectibles are the two repeatable levers — both should be pre-built into the regional toolkit so any market can plug in a local face or local collectible.
• Route every mechanic through an owned digital channel — that’s where the reported growth showed up.
• Standardize results reporting so regional comparison is possible; several markets have strong creative but no results view.
Key opportunities
• Access channels were the growth engine, but the offer wasn’t always built for them. App, delivery and aggregator mechanics carried most of the reported momentum, yet the offers running through them were largely the same ones used in-store.
• Biggest untapped opportunity: purpose-built delivery offers for “watching the game” moments. Match days create a predictable, high-intent occasion — group viewing at home, fixed kick-off times, shareable formats. Designing bundles specifically for that occasion (sized for the group, timed to the fixture calendar, priced for delivery) is where the next instance can unlock more.
• What this looks like in practice: occasion-led bundles rather than generic discounts, match-schedule-driven promotion timing, and delivery-exclusive mechanics that give people a reason to order through owned channels instead of walking in.
• Why it’s credible: the markets that gave people a specific, tangible reason to buy outperformed. The same logic applied to delivery offers is the natural next step.
Bottom line: the region showed up two ways — locally-built ideas and the regional campaign — and the strongest results came where a market added something tangible and locally owned.
