Communicating across borders doesn’t get much tougher than what Kim Morgan does every day for the world’s most popular chicken restaurant brand, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC).
As Director of Global Communications and Public Affairs at KFC, Kim ensures the nearly 80-year-old brand remains relevant, distinctive and easy to do business within the more than 135 countries where it operates. But it must also respect local customs and cultures while staying relevant to customers young and old.
KFC must coordinate closely with and simultaneously avoid impacting its sister brands, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, as well as its parent company, Yum! Brands. And if all that isn’t enough, Kim must drive communications strategies that fuel KFC’s goal of franchising 99 percent of its restaurants – which now number more than 22,000.
What You’ll Learn:
- Challenges and opportunities of communicating across cultures and continents.
- What’s worked well for KFC in a multicultural, decentralized and matrixed environment
- Where KFC has made some missteps along the way and what the brand has learned through the process.
About Kim Morgan
Kim joined KFC in 2017 and is responsible for developing and implementing strategic communications and stakeholder engagement strategies that advance KFC as one of the world’s most loved and trusted restaurant brands in more than 135 countries around the world. Her responsibilities include issues and crisis mitigation and management, employee engagement, citizenship and sustainability communications, brand reputation and protection, brand storytelling and CEO and executive communications.
Prior to KFC, Kim was the director of corporate communications at Texas Instruments (TI), a Fortune 200 global semiconductor and technology company, where she oversaw internal and external communications, including CEO communications, HR communications, manufacturing communications, and issues and crisis management.
Kim also spent six years at Texas energy giant, TXU, where she supported communications for legislative and regulatory affairs, environmental impact and legal affairs. Kim started her communications career at a local, Texas-based PR agency, Read Poland.
Kim is a proud Aggie, and outside of work, enjoys spending time with her husband Brad, and her three very active children. Kim is also an avid fan of theater arts, so you can usually find her in the audience of plays and musicals.