Nando’s and Fishermen create buzz online over leaked email

Nando’s Malaysia together with their digital agency Fishermen Integrated cleverly responds to consumers’ demand for chicken thighs by releasing seemingly confidential information for their upcoming launch of the all new PERi-PERi Chicken Chop, featuring the juicy chicken thigh.

The publicity stunt, which saw the PERi-PERi experts “accidentally” leaking an email thread on Friday, quickly caught the attention of netizens who received the email and took to social media.

The email thread, which consisted of conversations between the Nando’s team, addressed the customers’ love for chicken thighs and how they plan to meet the constant requests by the Nando’s regulars.

While Nando’s did not initially address the email, they posted a screenshot of a customer’s complaint about not receiving all thighs for his full platter order despite putting in a request. Shortly after, it revealed that the customer complaints were merely made up and that there will be a new menu launched today.

“Guess the juicy news has spilt – hope everyone enjoyed a bit of detective work with our cheeky (made-up) customer complaints,” the brand tweeted along with an image that read: “To the thigh lovers we’ve let down before, you know how we really sayang you right?”

In one of the email responses, a Nando’s team member stated that a new solution was required to meet the high demands of chicken thighs as they receive their chicken supplies in the form of whole chickens.  

Speaking about the campaign, Chong Wei Ling, Head of the Social Media team at Fishermen Integrated said “With Nando’s very campaign packs with it a unique sense of humour. Therefore it is essential to always push the boundaries with our ideas and to be unconventional and witty. That’s why with this idea, we decided to take the unusual path with an eDM to tickle the inquisitiveness of netizens.” 

“This idea also went to show that creating a buzz online isn’t just restricted to creating social postings, but unconventional methods like an eDM can also garner similar interest when done right”, she added.

“This campaign was 100% inspired by customers’ insights. The idea to “leak” made-up internal email and customers’ complaints also shows the brand’s personality”, said Elaine Chiew, Senior Marketing Manager of Nando’s Malaysia.

“We believe that all Nando’s communications should be fiery and fun yet caring as well. The leaked email that we sent out was crafted to entertain our customers whilst telling them that we always do our best to listen to them and this time round, it’s by saying that we will provide an additional option for chicken thigh lovers,” added Elaine.

The all new PERi-PERi Chicken Chop is now available at all Nando’s outlets nationwide and is a great alternative PERi-PERi meal for fans to enjoy juicy chicken thighs without the hassle of a bone. So keep your eyes on the juicy thighs with Nando’s!

You can catch up on the tweets here.

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