The advertising industry has always been generous about letting its best people leave for the client side, even if it means watching them cross the street to join the very accounts they once serviced.
Leo Sloley, who is now the strategy and innovation director for KFC UK & Ireland, spent five years at the London agency BBH, where he worked on — as it happens — the KFC account. He has now been with the chicken chain for six years, which means he has been thinking about the brand for more than a decade, first from the outside and now from within.
In a recent interview with The Drum, Mr. Sloley reflected on the trajectory that took him from DLKW, where he started in account management, through BBH during what he called "a purple patch," and eventually to the brand side. Along the way, he also helped run his family's restaurant business, Tombo, an experience he credits with teaching him things that advertising agencies do not typically cover in orientation, like payroll.
"Successful campaigns are 80 percent idea and 80 percent execution," Mr. Sloley said, recalling a BBH mantra. He acknowledged that the math does not work, which is the point.
At KFC, Mr. Sloley oversees insights, menu innovation and new concepts — a portfolio that currently includes something called Kwench, a line of handcrafted drinks featuring boba and iced coffee, aimed at younger customers who apparently choose restaurants based on beverage options. (The brand is also promoting a Hot Honey Drip Burger, for those keeping track of the flavor-led thinking.)
The marketing operation, he noted, is led by Monica Silic as chief marketing officer and supported by Mother and Mindshare.
"If you don't stand out, you get ignored," Mr. Sloley said, articulating a principle that has governed Madison Avenue since roughly the invention of Madison Avenue.
Original story published in The Drum: "KFC strategist Leo Sloley: ‘If you don’t stand out, you get ignored’ | The Drum"