5 marketing and PR campaigns that wowed us in 2019

From Popeyes’ triumph in the Chicken Sandwich Wars to Airbnb’s dreamhouse getaway, creative agility carried the day. Takeaways from these and other efforts abound.

Ragan Insider Premium Content
Ragan Insider Content

PR pros can glean ideas for improving their own campaigns by examining other brands’ successful promotions.

With that in mind, here are five superb PR campaigns of 2019. Most included a large dose of social media.

Popeyes’ Chicken Sandwich

Popeyes social media promotion for its chicken sandwich cooked up an earned media feast. After Popeyes introduced its chicken sandwich, some customers on Twitter compared it to Chick-fil-A, well-known for chicken meals. Chick-fil-A tweeted:

Bun + Chicken + Pickles = all the for the original.

In response, Popeyes quoted the tweet and shared it, adding, “y’all good?”

That response prompted what’s now called the Chicken Sandwich Wars. Popeyes and other fast-food restaurants, including Wendy’s, Church’s Chicken and Shake Shack, disputed who makes the tastiest sandwich. Customers took sides, and media outlets covered the fast-food food fight, with some reviewing the new Popeyes sandwich.

Basking in media attention, Popeyes doubled store traffic and went through its three-month supply within two weeks. It restocked the sandwich in November, again to frenzied demand.

To read the full story, log in.
Become a Ragan Insider member to read this article and all other archived content.
Sign up today

Already a member? Log in here.
Learn more about Ragan Insider.