MAKE IT POP

Cooking Up a Chicken Storm

POPEYES

Launching an American fast-food brand in a crowded UK chicken shop market, already bursting with fierce brand loyalty is no mean feat. After the rampant success of the chicken wars in the US, Popeyes couldn’t be just another chicken shop when it launched in London. It had to be a cultural phenomenon, staking it’s claim in the wildly competitive UK fast food landscape, and doing so without traditional advertising methods. But, how?

We discovered that because of the global nature of social, there was already huge online love for the brand (with Brits having experienced Popeyes abroad, and particularly in the US). This coupled with the huge popularity of the chicken shop culture in the UK created a unique opportunity to own a space where food and culture collide.

We pitched a launch strategy designed to get the UK public as excited about the launch as we were. We knew the best way to create fame and desire for Popeyes was to propel it to the forefront of UK culture. With music at the heart of our strategy, we pitched an all encompassing social media frenzy of activity that culminated in a clash of music and chicken shop culture, bringing energy and hype to fairly traditional category. All centred around their iconic chicken sandwich.

We delivered insights and analysis to translate the US brand for a British audience, PR strategy for Popeyes UK’s launch at Westfield Stratford, and the UK amplification of Popeyes’ global partnership with Megan Thee Stallion.

This was a pitch win for the agency that turned into a live campaign. I left before I could work on this properly. Shame!

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Popeyes UK Launch
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“Popeyes UK’s launch was one of the most successful launches that the global brand has ever seen, and Manifest has been instrumental in ensuring that. The UK is a crucial market for Popeyes, and we knew we needed the right partner to help our winning international formula translate for a UK audience. The team’s knowledge of the cultural landscape and how to capture the imagination of consumers has been pivotal in helping our Stratford launch go stratospheric.” Vicky Barber, UK Marketing Director, Popeyes

Outcome

  • Popeyes UK launch was one of the most successful international launches ever

  • UK’s first store is a top-three global performer

Reaction

Popeyes opened in London for the first time and it looks like Coachella festival in there

popeyes opened in london let me get my purse

Waited over 2 hours in line to try out the new Popeyes that opened in Stratford today. Yknow what? Worth it

New Popeyes just opened up in London. And I just waited 3 hours for it...

Coverage

Studio: Manifest / Creative Direction: Chomoi Picho-Owiny

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Testimonials

Dream to work with

There is only one word for Chomoi. PHENOMENAL. I LOVED working with this man. He’s creative gold. Absolutely brilliant and a dream to work with. He’s just great.

Lucy Witts

Senior Producer, Venture Video

A great inspiration

I had the pleasure of working with Chomoi and and it was great to see such a passionate and articulate creative director in action. He was a great inspiration to the team, a true professional.

Mandy Chan

Senior Interaction Designer, Google

A valuable mentor for me

Chomoi is a highly skilled and passionate creative director. I thoroughly enjoyed and learnt a great deal during our time working together... He is a person who champions creative thinking, has excellent presentation skills that are effective when communicating with clients and the wider team. Chomoi was also a valuable mentor for me, sharing his knowledge in the interests of seeing me succeed.

Fernando Lobina

Senior Designer, AKQA

A true inspiration

Chomoi is a true inspiration. His ideation is innovative. His mentoring is invaluable. I will take so much away from working alongside someone with such an abundance of experience.

Amber Howe

Design Lead, IBM Expert Labs

I’d jump at the chance to work with him again

Chomoi was always driven towards creating the best possible work we could. He's an inspiring mentor, and I'd jump at the chance to work with him again.

Eleanor Nugent

Creative Director, Warner Bros.

Genuine creative talent

Chomoi is insightful, passionate and a genuine creative talent. He is an absolute pleasure to work with and you can always rely on Chomoi to come up with strong creative work to be proud of at every meeting. I miss working with him and recommend him extremely highly!

Maggie Lonergan

CEO, Publicis Emil

A rare breed

Chomoi was an inspiration. He created solutions that clients loved, users understood, all the while focusing on the bottom line of the business. His innovative style always pushed projects further than the brief. A rare breed of Creative Director.

Hitesh Supeda

Senior Experience Designer, Habitat

An inspiring professional

He's simply an inspiring professional and a great leader. He always strives to reach creativity excellence with a smile on.

Sara Simoncini

Art Director, Sapient

Visionary and out of the box

His presentation style is extremely consultative and collaborative. He always had the end user in the centre and spun ideas that were visionary and out of the box.

Pawan Udernani

Senior Director, Publicis Sapient

His greatest forte is to contantly question key fundamentals of what’s being delivered

Highly conceptual and always hands on, Chomoi has been a storm of inspiration in every project I've worked with him. He is also quite a connoisseur of fine dining and boutique hotels.

Daisoo Lee

Creative Director, Sky

Innovative ideas

Chomoi has the ability to grasp the business need of the client, understand what the brand stands for and come up with original innovative ideas to solve the clients business problems - quicker than any other creative director I have worked with.

Shailesh Sreedharan

Senior Manager, Publicis Sapient

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