KFC's Colonel is getting a glow-up

The Colonel is staying put. Almost everything else at KFC is changing.

The 74-year-old fried chicken chain is rolling out one of the biggest global brand overhauls in its history, betting that new sauces, specialty beverages, redesigned restaurants, and a refreshed logo and packaging can help it define what executives call the "next chapter of chicken."

The challenge is modernizing one of the world's most recognizable restaurant brands without losing the nostalgia and familiarity that made it iconic in the first place — and avoiding a rebranding catastrophe like Cracker Barrel experienced last year.

"We have a history of keeping pace with the consumer, and now everything we're doing is in service of making sure we're setting the standard for the modern chicken quick service restaurant," KFC Global CEO Scott Mezvinsky told Business Insider.

The effort comes as chicken has become one of the hottest segments in fast food. Raising Cane's, Dave's Hot Chicken, Chick-fil-A, and Popeyes have intensified competition, particularly in the US, where KFC is trying to regain momentum.

"KFC has become a global brand with an American problem, rather than an American brand with global ambitions," said Usha Haley, the Barton distinguished chair of international business at Wichita State University.

As of its latest earnings report, the chain continues to expand aggressively, with more than 34,000 restaurants across 151 countries, and it has posted sales growth almost everywhere over the last three quarters — except the US.

Though KFC has narrowed its customer-satisfaction gap with rivals over the past year, recent scores show the brand still faces pressure from newer chicken chains that have captured younger consumers' attention. The brand also remains behind Chick-fil-A, Popeyes, Raising Cane's, and Wingstop in US consumer spending, according to InMarket.

KFC's response to the competition has included revitalization efforts, such as the self-aware "Kentucky Fried Comeback" campaign, launched last year to reverse still-slumping sales in the US. Its new global strategy is built around menu upgrades, digital engagement, and what executives describe as a more immersive restaurant experience.

"The worst thing we can do is stand still — but the other thing that we can't do is just completely change who we are," Val Koropeckyj, KFC's global chief marketing officer said, adding that updating the strategy for a legacy brand with as much scale as KFC has is like maneuvering a cruise ship: "You can absolutely change course, but it takes intention and distance."

A cornerstone of that intention is a menu overhaul. KFC this year launched a new global beverage platform, called Kwench, and is pushing deeper into boneless chicken products with regional sauces like Chimichurri Ranch and Hot Honey Habanero, which executives say better align with what consumers crave.

"Our brand was built around buckets of chicken," Koropeckyj said. "That's not how people eat today."

Instead, she pointed to trends like snacking, grazing, flavor exploration, and beverages as growth opportunities.

KFC's beverage push in particular puts it squarely in the middle of a growing battle for younger consumers. Across the restaurant industry, chains from Starbucks to McDonald's have invested heavily in customizable, visually striking drinks as Gen Z and younger millennials increasingly treat beverages as affordable indulgences and social-media-friendly experiences.

The chicken chain's new global beverage platform includes boba refreshers, sparkling lemonades, iced coffees, and shakes designed to give customers new ways to treat themselves beyond mealtimes.

"People drink more and more often than they eat," Christophe Poirier, KFC's global chief concept officer, told Business Insider, adding that KFC executives see beverages as a way to attract younger consumers and create reasons to visit the brand beyond a traditional chicken meal. "We need to be in constant evolution to be forever young," Poirier said.

That evolution extends beyond the menu.

Poirier is leading a redesign effort intended to transform KFC from a traditional quick-service restaurant into what he calls a "QXR" — a quality experience restaurant.

He cited Las Vegas' Sphere as an example of the kind of immersive environment consumers increasingly expect, and pointed to Apple Stores as inspiration for reducing friction between customers and employees.

His thinking is rooted in the belief that restaurants no longer compete only with other restaurants.

"The enemy in any place is what I'm calling the feed," Poirier said, referring to social media. "The new generation, they have no patience for boredom."

Future KFC locations will feature more dynamic digital elements, flexible spaces, and redesigned service areas intended to feel less transactional and more experiential — think immersive screens, layouts that shift with different dayparts, and hospitality-focused service areas that blur the line between employee and customer.

The goal, Poirier said, is to create restaurants that can "beat the feed."

Whether customers view the changes as innovation or catch-up remains an open question. Haley, the international business professor at Wichita State University, described the strategy as "optimization" rather than true reinvention.

"Nearly every element of KFC's strategy follows a path a faster rival already went down," Haley said. "Everything here makes KFC a better-running version of what it already is."

Michael Della Penna, chief strategy officer at InMarket, pointed to KFC's recent sales gains and growing digital engagement as signs that the chain's efforts are beginning to resonate, though there's still a long road ahead.

Still, Haley argues that KFC's greatest advantage isn't its sauces, beverages, or loyalty program, which will also be getting a facelift.

"KFC's heritage is a moat that rivals are spending fortunes to manufacture," she said. "The solution lies in modernizing the system, and sanctifying the icons."

That may be why, amid all the boba-inspired drinks, new sauces, and immersive restaurants, KFC isn't messing with the one asset its competitors can't copy: the older man in a white suit who has been the figurehead behind the brand's chicken for nearly three-quarters of a century.

As competitors continue to crowd into the chicken market, Mezvinsky is betting that KFC's history remains one of its biggest advantages.

"We know that chicken is the category growing the fastest," he said. "And we also know that we're the chicken kings."