Fast-food chain KFC currently declared it is utilizing blockchain for digital advertising and media buying in the Middle East. Colonel Sanders intends to improve advertising data transparency and decrease the risk of fraud and will be operating with Omnicom marketing agency Hearts & Science MENA to roll out the solution.

U.S.-based KFC, a unit of Yum! Brands are famous for their fried chicken and have about 24,000 restaurants globally. BIA Advisory Services estimates that quick-service restaurants will spend $4.5 billion on local advertising in 2020. Meantime, Statista forecasts that global digital advertising spend will hit $465 billion by 2024. 

A common difficulty is the low conversion rate. However, an important issue is that only a tiny percent (52%) of advertising clicks can be confirmed. That’s partly because there are so many mediators between the advertiser and the publisher—this lack of clarity about whether an appropriate campaign is working results in a waste of money. Meanwhile, the difficulties of tracking advertisements enhance the prospect of fraud. 

Leveraging blockchain, KFC intends to obtain real-time data from its ad campaigns. This enhanced transparency would allow the firm to enhance brand visibility and monitor ad distribution. On the other hand, a shared database of advertising placement and delivery would decrease the risk of fraud in the digital ad supply chain.

“Historically, marketers have collected data from various different sources and run a campaign pegged on these mismatched insights. Today, marketers must get to the original source of the data: the consumer,” stated Ozge Zoralioglu, Chief Marketing Officer, KFC, Yum! Brands in a statement. 

“By innovating a sophisticated blockchain solution, KFC can now benefit from enhanced visibility of real-time data and the most updated insights — all with full confidence that information is authenticated, tamper-proof, and hence credible.”

“With greater access to log-level data, we will be able to make faster changes to fuel data-driven business performance and gain more access into the region’s media supply chain,” added Fadi Maktabi, Managing Director, Hearts & Science MENA in a statement.

Earlier, KFC Canada had launched the Bitcoin Bucket, which could only be purchased by paying in Bitcoin. 

Last year, McDonald’s, along with Nestle and Virgin Media, joined a blockchain pilot for digital advertising administered by the UK’s JICWEBS.