Yum China's CEO Believes in Power of Observation

At work, Joey Wat is known as the Chief Executive Officer of Yum China. At home, she's known as the "chicken killer" by her son. 

 

In reality, it's a monicker that has to do with the success of KFC China – one of the company’s many fast food brands including Taco Bell and Pizza Hut. Speaking at the 2024 Fortune Global Forum, Wat said KFC China kills "1 billion chickens per year". 

 

To put that figure into context, the country is home to 1.4 billion people, and according to Wat, they eat 8 billion chickens per year – meaning KFC China accounts for a substantial part of the lean protein consumed. The secret behind its popularity isn’t just a slick marketing team or even AI. 

 

Instead, Wat (right) revealed that she personally sits in KFC restaurants for “two, three hours” watching customers eat – and it’s inspired some of the company’s biggest hits. 

 

“So apparently, when kids eat the fried chicken, they eat it with the mashed potato”, she said, adding that Gen Zers were literally dipping their drumsticks into the side dish and then again into the gravy pot.

 

“What we can do with that insight is get rid of the bone”, she added, and they went on to launch a boneless “mash potato burger”. 

 

“Oh my God, it was selling so well because this is (the) kids way”. 

 

It’s not the first time watching customers eating habits turned out to be fruitful: “The best-selling pizza for Pizza Hut in China right now is not Supreme (loaded with pepperoni, pork, beef, mushrooms, peppers and onions). It's durian pizza with cheese”. 

 

The Southeast Asian fruit is so pungent that it’s banned in many areas on public transportation, hotels and airports. In fact, when Pizza Hut Hong Kong introduced the durian cheese pizza in 2020 as a limited-time promotion, they decided not to serve it in restaurants but only making it available through delivery and takeout. You can draw your own conclusions about why. 

 

As Wat said: “It has such [a] strong smell, [if] you come to the store [and] you don't like the durian pizza, our solution is, please go out”. 

 

And she remarked: “Thank God we did not need approval from Yum! the brand owner”. 

 

Becoming an independent company in 2016, meant that Wat’s team didn’t need to convince “people in New York or Texas or Kentucky” that the grassroots idea would take off. 

 

“You can imagine it [would] be absolutely impossible”. 

 

The real-time insight again, proved to be valuable. One in every four pizzas sold at Pizza Hut right now is the durian-kind. Last year alone, it sold 30 million pies. 

 

 

“Just watch with heart”, Wat concluded. “Some things you can observe directly from the customer and sometimes talking to the store manager helps”. 

 

This is the power of observation in marketing. It is the astute ability to directly observe how consumers interact with products and services to gain insights about their behavior and preferences. 

 

This method can help businesses understand market dynamics, uncover trends, and make strategic decisions.