CHURCH'S CHICKEN / WundermanThompson - Sonic Rebrand
How did Church’s Chicken go bigger, bolder and inject Texas swagger back into the DNA of the brand?
Case Study
Church's "Vignette" spots
Church's "Remix" spots
Church's hero music is used in all TV and radio ads.
What makes this sonic branding so strategic as that the music is structured around the narrative structure of Church's consistent storytelling structure across spots, dividing the story into chapters via song sections that time perfectly to VO. Each section has a purpose... setting up the scene, food shots, deals and specials, punchline. Bookended by mnemonics.
by Taylor Christmas - Wunderman Thompson
Creating the Sound of Church's
We came to Sonic Lens with a unique challenge – elevating something we already loved.
The Church’s Chicken brand had just come off one of its most successful year in decades – with our advertising featuring a confident, understated bluesy score to punctuate our “down home mentality” and cinematic food porn.
For the 2020 campaign, our north star was to go bigger, bolder and inject an undeniable Texas swagger back into the DNA of the brand – all while not forgetting where we came from. In short, the question we posed to the team at Sonic Lens: How do we move from bold, southern and bluesy into bold, epic and impactful?
While the results speak for themselves, I would like to speak to them in detail...
Converting sonic landscapes to data
From the beginning, Sonic Lens differentiated themselves by understanding immediately what we were going for. Other companies would have simply said “Oh, just like Old Town Road, right?” but they understood from the jump the subtle but significant differences we needed to stand out in a crowded field of QSR brands.
Their proprietary process called “Music Intelligence” enabled us to craft a smarter, more holistic music strategy. They took an analytic approach by converting “sonic landscapes” to data, which enabled a more strategic approach to sonic branding.
Creative precision is more than nice to have
While we had initially sold the client on a fairly well-thought out direction for the project, it was essentially operating as an educated guess. Sonic Lens took that hunch and tested it like a hypothesis, which thankfully, their data supported. Creative precision is more than a nice to have. Having it at the heart of their process really set them apart as well as the resulting work that came out of it.
Their thoroughness is also a plus. In a short time frame, they turned around demos and mnemonics ranging from options A-M, all of which were supported by data and could have been viable options.
I highly recommend working with Sonic Lens!
When it came to selling the track to our clients, a process that is subjective by nature, they gave us all the tools to have a productive conversation. They took the feedback well, and continued to tweak and elevate until we heard “sold.”
If you’re passionate about music and audio, I highly recommend working with Sonic Lens! If you can hardly keep the beat to “We Will Rock You” and have no idea about music, I highly recommend working with Sonic Lens. Either way, you’ll be in great hands.
Client
Church's Chicken
Creative Director
Taylor Christmas / Wunderman Thompson
Sector
QSR
Awards
Transform 2022 "Best Audio Branding"
Composers
Glen Cavanaugh
Creative Director
Marco Vitali / Sonic Lens
Executive Music Producer
Marco Vitali / Sonic Lens
Paul Greco / Wunderman Thompson