Client

KFC is one of New Zealand’s leading quick-service restaurant brands.

Problem

KFC’s sponsorship of the Super Rugby season created a major brand opportunity, but sponsorship presence alone would not guarantee participation. The challenge was to create a highly engaging campaign that could turn the energy of the competition into an experience fans would actively seek out, play and return to.

Strategic framing

Get KFC customers and Super Rugby fans who want to step into the action to feel the pressure of the posts for themselves, by turning a rugby kick into a fast, rewarding mobile play loop, so one attempt becomes another and sponsorship becomes participation.

Solution

We put the pressure of the posts into the palm of the fan’s hand through a highly crafted mobile app. Prototyping and user testing sharpened the fast play loop, while instant-win rewards, controlled SMS redemption and high-quality playback made every kick worth replaying and sharing.

APP LAUNCHED FEBRUARY 2023

Design System

The KFC Kicking Game used a deliberately tight visual system built around the KFC brand guidelines including KFC’s Red, black, white and Knockout typography.

A focused set of colour, type, button and interaction rules kept the game energetic and unmistakably KFC while making gameplay, reward feedback and repeated states consistent across mobile screens.

The system also gave design and development a shared reference for common controls and states, helping the experience move from prototype to launch without unnecessary visual variation.

UX & Game Design

The experience was designed around one simple idea. A player should be able to arrive, understand what to do and take a kick with almost no explanation.

The play loop, result feedback and instant-win journey were prototyped and refined together. Each decision needed to support fast mobile interaction while keeping score, reward and redemption states clear enough that players always knew what had happened and what to do next.

Testing feedback was used to tighten gameplay comprehension, reward clarity and flow, while the final playback experience was designed to preserve enough visual quality for sharing.

Build & Delivery

The game was built and launched as a mobile-first KFC app experience, taking the tested play loop through to production with instant-win mechanics, SMS prize redemption safeguards and high-quality kick playback for sharing.

Results

The game generated close to 1 Million kicks during the campaign and went on to win Gold for Best Use of Mobile at the IAB Awards 2024.