Church’s Get Spicy: Where Culture Meets Conversion
Freestyle rappers, a block party, and honest reactions. Church’s fans showed up, and so did the numbers.
-
7.3%
comp increase in sales
-
201
IPSOS creative effect score vs. an upper range of 130
-
1.25M
organic social impressions
At a Glance
- Client
- Church’s Texas Chicken
- Campaign
- “Get Spicy”
- Languages
- English & Spanish
- Channels
- TV, Radio, Video, OOH, Social, Email
Overview
They feel unseen and only want to engage with those that understand their world.
Church’s Texas Chicken had a bold new menu and a clear goal: reach diverse communities authentically. Not performatively.
So we went to where the culture lives. We recruited freestyle rappers straight from Church’s communities. We threw a block party in an Atlanta parking lot. Then we captured exactly what happened.
No scripts. No staged reactions. Just honest moments from real communities that reflect who Church’s customers actually are.
That honesty traveled. Across TV, streaming radio, digital video, OOH, and paid social in English and Spanish. And the communities it was built for responded.
Recognition
Atlanta Ad Club American Advertising Awards
Gold Addy
PRSA Pittsburgh Renaissance Awards
Best in Show Winner (Campaign, New Products & Services Communications)
PRSA Pittsburgh Renaissance Awards
Best in Show Winner (Tactics, Multimedia Content / Social Videos)
PRSA Pittsburgh Renaissance Awards
Renaissance Award Winner (Campaign, Social Media)
PRSA Pittsburgh Renaissance Awards
Renaissance Award Winner (Campaign, New Products & Services Communications)
PRSA Pittsburgh Renaissance Awards
Renaissance Award Winner (Multimedia Content/Social Videos)
The Goal
Church’s Texas Chicken had rolled out exciting new brand positioning. As a fast follow, the brand was ready to launch a new line of spicy menu items, emphasizing unique flavor and exceptional value. The goal was twofold:
-
5%+
target comp sales lift
-
Ethnically Relevant
for White, Black, & Latino families
The Challenge
The campaign needed to show Church's rich diversity in a highly authentic way and help the brand deepen its connection to the communities it serves.
The Solution
The “Get Spicy” campaign targeted individuals aged 25–54, equally split among White, Black, and Latino families, with an average household income under $40,000 annually, living within 15 minutes of a Church’s restaurant. Research showed that summer provided opportunities for social gatherings in low-income neighborhoods, where our audience sought affordable food options.
-
25 – 54
age range
-
1/3 · 1/3 · 1/3
Equally split among White, Black, and Latino families
-
<$40K
average household income, annually
-
Within 15 mins
of a Church's restaurant
We leveraged these insights by recruiting well-known freestyle rappers from Church’s communities to create authentic, relatable content. Filming in an Austin parking lot, we captured the essence of long summer days and vibrant social occasions, reflecting the multicultural nature of our audience.
-
150+
people sampled Church's new spicy menu items from the food truck — their authentic reactions were captured onsite.
The party had a DJ, music, games, prizes, and a food truck serving samples of Church’s new spicy menu items to 150+ people. We were onsite to capture their authentic reactions to the food, and that honesty helped establish third-party credibility as the menu items became available in restaurants nationwide.
- 1.25M
- organic social impressions
- 27k+
- organic social enagements
- 2.2%
- organic social engagement rate
The Proof
-
7.3%
comp increase in sales
-
7.3%
comp increase in traffic
The communities Church’s serves showed up. Sales climbed well past the original goal and IPSOS testing confirmed the creative ranked in the top 10% of all work they’ve ever tested.
-
Brand Attention Score
132
(vs. upper category range of 115)
-
Behavioral Change Score
152
(vs. upper category range of 130)
-
Creative Effective Score
201
(vs. upper category range of 130)
-
Equity Effect Score
171
(vs. upper category range of 130)
We asked for authenticity. What we got was a campaign that our customers saw themselves in — and sales numbers that backed it up.
Church’s Texas Chicken
CMO
