在工作中,屈翠容(Joey Wat)以百胜中国(Yum China)首席执行官的身份闻名。而在家中,她被儿子称为“鸡肉杀手”。
实际上,这一绰号与肯德基中国的成功密切相关。肯德基是该公司旗下众多快餐品牌之一,包括塔可钟和必胜客。屈翠容在2024年《财富》全球论坛上表示,肯德基中国“每年杀死10亿只鸡”。
将这一数字放在具体的情境中来看,根据屈翠容的数据,中国有14亿人口,每年要吃掉80亿只鸡,这意味着肯德基中国在人们食用的瘦蛋白中占据了相当大的比重。
肯德基之所以广受欢迎,并非仅仅因为其花言巧语的营销团队或人工智能的运用。
相反,屈翠容透露她会亲自在肯德基餐厅里“待上两三个小时”观察顾客用餐——这是该公司一些畅销产品的灵感来源。
“因此,显而易见的是,当孩子们吃炸鸡时,会搭配土豆泥一起食用,”她说,并补充道,Z世代会直接把鸡腿浸在配菜里,然后再蘸上肉汁享用。
“凭借这一洞察,我们能做的就是去掉骨头。”她说,并补充道,随后他们推出了一款无骨“土豆泥汉堡”。
“哦,天哪,这款产品销量惊人,因为它正符合孩子们的喜好。”
把难闻的水果放在披萨里
这已经不是第一次发现,观察顾客的饮食习惯会带来显著收益:“目前必胜客在中国最畅销的披萨并不是‘至尊披萨’(里面有意式香肠、猪肉、牛肉、蘑菇、辣椒和洋葱),而是芝士榴莲披萨。”
这一东南亚水果的味道太刺鼻了,以至于许多地区的公共交通、酒店和机场都禁止食用。
屈翠容说:“它的味道很浓烈。如果你来店里就餐却不喜欢榴莲披萨,我们的解决办法是,请你离开。”
她补充道:“谢天谢地,我们无需品牌所有者百胜集团(Yum!)的批准。”百胜中国在2016年成为一家独立公司,这意味着屈翠容的团队无需说服那些来自“纽约、得克萨斯或肯塔基州的人”,让他们相信这个源自基层的创意会取得成功。“你可以想象,那将是绝对不可能实现的。”
实时洞察再次证明了其价值。目前,必胜客每售出四份披萨中就有一份是榴莲口味的。仅去年一年,榴莲口味的披萨就售出了3000万份。
屈翠容总结道:“只要用心观察,你就能直接从顾客的行为中洞察到一些细节,有时与店长交谈也会有所帮助。”
本次讨论由Insigniam主办。讨论领袖包括:
•帕特里克·杰拉蒂(Patrick Geraghty),GuideWell总裁兼首席执行官
•哈维尔·罗德里格斯(Javier Rodriguez),达维塔公司(DaVita)首席执行官
•内森·罗森伯格(Nathan Rosenberg),Insigniam创始人;Elixrr合伙人
•屈翠容(Joey Wat),百胜中国(Yum China)首席执行官
•主持人 马特·海默(Matt Heimer),《财富》杂志专题执行编辑,《财富》全球论坛联合主席(财富中文网)
译者:中慧言-王芳
在工作中,屈翠容(Joey Wat)以百胜中国(Yum China)首席执行官的身份闻名。而在家中,她被儿子称为“鸡肉杀手”。
实际上,这一绰号与肯德基中国的成功密切相关。肯德基是该公司旗下众多快餐品牌之一,包括塔可钟和必胜客。屈翠容在2024年《财富》全球论坛上表示,肯德基中国“每年杀死10亿只鸡”。
将这一数字放在具体的情境中来看,根据屈翠容的数据,中国有14亿人口,每年要吃掉80亿只鸡,这意味着肯德基中国在人们食用的瘦蛋白中占据了相当大的比重。
肯德基之所以广受欢迎,并非仅仅因为其花言巧语的营销团队或人工智能的运用。
相反,屈翠容透露她会亲自在肯德基餐厅里“待上两三个小时”观察顾客用餐——这是该公司一些畅销产品的灵感来源。
“因此,显而易见的是,当孩子们吃炸鸡时,会搭配土豆泥一起食用,”她说,并补充道,Z世代会直接把鸡腿浸在配菜里,然后再蘸上肉汁享用。
“凭借这一洞察,我们能做的就是去掉骨头。”她说,并补充道,随后他们推出了一款无骨“土豆泥汉堡”。
“哦,天哪,这款产品销量惊人,因为它正符合孩子们的喜好。”
把难闻的水果放在披萨里
这已经不是第一次发现,观察顾客的饮食习惯会带来显著收益:“目前必胜客在中国最畅销的披萨并不是‘至尊披萨’(里面有意式香肠、猪肉、牛肉、蘑菇、辣椒和洋葱),而是芝士榴莲披萨。”
这一东南亚水果的味道太刺鼻了,以至于许多地区的公共交通、酒店和机场都禁止食用。
屈翠容说:“它的味道很浓烈。如果你来店里就餐却不喜欢榴莲披萨,我们的解决办法是,请你离开。”
她补充道:“谢天谢地,我们无需品牌所有者百胜集团(Yum!)的批准。”百胜中国在2016年成为一家独立公司,这意味着屈翠容的团队无需说服那些来自“纽约、得克萨斯或肯塔基州的人”,让他们相信这个源自基层的创意会取得成功。“你可以想象,那将是绝对不可能实现的。”
实时洞察再次证明了其价值。目前,必胜客每售出四份披萨中就有一份是榴莲口味的。仅去年一年,榴莲口味的披萨就售出了3000万份。
屈翠容总结道:“只要用心观察,你就能直接从顾客的行为中洞察到一些细节,有时与店长交谈也会有所帮助。”
本次讨论由Insigniam主办。讨论领袖包括:
•帕特里克·杰拉蒂(Patrick Geraghty),GuideWell总裁兼首席执行官
•哈维尔·罗德里格斯(Javier Rodriguez),达维塔公司(DaVita)首席执行官
•内森·罗森伯格(Nathan Rosenberg),Insigniam创始人;Elixrr合伙人
•屈翠容(Joey Wat),百胜中国(Yum China)首席执行官
•主持人 马特·海默(Matt Heimer),《财富》杂志专题执行编辑,《财富》全球论坛联合主席(财富中文网)
译者:中慧言-王芳
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 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 said, adding that they went on to launch a boneless “mash potato burger”.
“Oh my God, it was selling so well because this is (the) kids way.”
Putting smelly fruit on pizza
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.
“It has such [a] strong smell,” Wat said. “[If] you come to the store [and] you don’t like the durian pizza, our solution is, please go out.”
“Thank God we did not need approval from Yum! the brand owner,” she added. 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 discussion was presented by Insigniam. Discussion leaders included:
• Patrick Geraghty, President and CEO, GuideWell
• Javier Rodriguez, Chief Executive Officer, DaVita
• Nathan Rosenberg, Founder, Insigniam; Partner, Elixrr
• Joey Wat, Chief Executive Officer, Yum China
• Moderator: Matt Heimer, Executive Editor, Features, Fortune and Co-Chair, Fortune Global Forum