Artefact 24 · Step 6 / 7 · Open The Hood

Formulation · Positioning · Visual

Three plays, one positioning system, five visual dimensions. Adapts the deep-spec format to a hospitality brand (KyoChon is a restaurant chain, not a CPG/DTC supplement) — "formulation" becomes menu architecture; "positioning" becomes the brand's claimed wedge; "visual" becomes the 5-dimension brand-design system the campaign needs.

Plays: 3 (A defensive · B daypart · C value-ladder) Positioning sets: 6 (per play × 2 sub-modes) Visual references: 30+ across 5 dimensions Built: 2026-05-27

24.1 Three Strategic Plays

From the competitor-landscape doc + the 8-template spine. Each play = a coherent campaign architecture, not just a creative angle. Each can be run alone or stacked.

Play A · Heritage Lock-In Low Risk

"1991. The Original."

Double down on OG-authentic. Named chef, founder-story video, "fry theatre" in Pavilion flagship, 6-month aged soy storytelling. Price holds premium. Campaign: Since 1991, before K-wave was a word.

Why it worksOnly KyoChon can legitimately claim this — unassailable moat. Locks the premium-authentic quadrant against 4Fingers permanently.

RiskSlow. Doesn't pull new customers — only deepens loyalty of existing premium fans. Stalls growth against 4Fingers' youth momentum.

Templates activeT1 (Fried-to-Order) · T2 fallback V04 (Heritage) · T4 (Per-Piece Math) · T8 (Reunion Math)

Primary personaLapsed-premium-CMY · Halal Family Provider · chinese-older

Play B · Daypart Pioneer (Flagship) PIVOT REQUIRED — see ops blocker below

"Seoul Chimaek Hour"

Own the Korean late-night ritual. Dedicated chimaek menu (chicken + cold-brew barley tea + K-snacks), K-drama screenings, TikTok challenges. Partner with one Korean music/film IP launch per quarter.

Why it worksOpens a daypart no MY fried-chicken brand owns. Catches K-wave tailwind. 4Fingers can't easily copy because they're mall-hours.

RiskAlcohol-free chimaek is a new consumer habit to build. Needs ops shift. First-mover risk.

Templates activeT3 (Chimaek Daypart 🏆) · T6 (Spice-Ladder) · T7 (Live Event) · T2 (Ambassador)

Primary personaK-Drama Aficionado · Social Gatherer · genZ-tiktok

⚠ Operational blocker (added 2026-05-28): All KyoChon outlets currently close at 10:00 PM daily (kyochon.com.my/locations/). The original "9pm-2am" framing is not deployable as a dine-in flagship. Three pivots — pick one before launch:

B(a) Delivery-Only Chimaek — GrabFood / foodpanda after 9pm. Keeps daypart claim. Zero outlet change. Loses in-store ritual. Recommended for speed-to-market.
B(b) Mall-Negotiated Flagships — Extended hours at Pavilion KL + Sunway Pyramid only. Preserves the ritual. Depends on mall operator approval (2-6 weeks).
B(c) "After-Mall Chimaek" — Re-time to 7pm-10pm. Works at every outlet today. Loses the "no MY brand owns 9pm-2am" whitespace claim.

Play C · Value-Ladder Mass High Risk

"Crispy Kingdom"

Add an RM19.99 entry combo to compete with Texas Monday, while keeping the premium flagship. Segment the menu: Everyday (RM15-22), Signature (RM35-55), Chimaek (RM70+ shareable).

Why it worksUnlocks volume. Pulls KFC/Texas switchers curious about Korean.

RiskHigh — brand-dilution. Premium cachet is the moat. Going cheap invites the "generic Korean" perception. Once lost, can't be rebuilt.

Templates activeT4 (Per-Piece Math) only — keep the value lane narrow

Primary personaHalal Family Provider (kids-tier only) — explicit guard against bleed into premium personas

24.2 Recommended Stack — B + A (defensive + offensive)

Run Play B as the offensive flagship + Play A as the defensive moat. Avoid Play C unless first 6 months of B + A fail to grow GMV — value-ladder mass is irreversible.

Month	Template	Play	Persona Focus	Offer
May 2026	T1 Fried-to-Order	A	K-Drama · Office	Pre-order Chimaek Set via WhatsApp
Jun 2026	T2 Ambassador (fallback V04 if no clearance)	B	K-Drama · Social	Woo-Seok Pick Set RM69.90 (or Heritage Tasting Flight RM39.90)
Jul 2026	T3 Chimaek 🏆	B	K-Drama · Social	Chimaek Wings + Barley Tea for two RM49 after 9pm
Aug 2026	T4 Per-Piece Math (Merdeka)	A	Halal Family · Office	Merdeka Bucket 31pc RM99
Sep 2026	T5 XHS Bridge	B	K-Drama · Office (CN-MY)	First 1000 XHS followers: free Honey wings code XHS1991
Oct 2026	T6 Spice-Ladder Dare	B	Social · K-Drama	#KyochonSpiceFlex TikTok challenge RM500 credit
Nov 2026	T7 Live Event (fallback V22 if no fan-meet)	B	Social · K-Drama	Woo-Seok Pick Set + fan-meet draw
Dec 2026	T8 Reunion Math (CNY)	A	Halal Family · chinese-older	Reunion Bucket RM199 pre-sell

24.3 Menu Architecture (Formulation Equivalent)

Hospitality "formulation" = menu architecture. The 70+ SKU current menu is too wide; customers can't choose without help. Three hero tiers, clear price ladders, explicit "if you only try one" guidance.

Tier	Price band (RM)	Hero SKUs	Use case	Margin proxy
Everyday Solo	15-22	Honey Wings 3pc + rice + soup · Dosirak single-serve	Office lunch · solo dinner · entry-trial	Lower (mass driver)
Signature	35-55	Red Pepper Level 3 wings · Yangnyeom drumsticks · Sauce Sampler combo	Couple / fan / experiential meal	Mid-High (current price band)
Chimaek	70-110	Chimaek Wings Trio + Barley Tea Set (after 9pm) · Spice-Ladder Trio	Late-night ritual · group sharing · concert-tie	Highest (whitespace + experience)
Family / Reunion	99-299	Merdeka Bucket · CNY Reunion Bucket · Catering Tray	Group / family / B2B corporate	Highest contribution-margin (B2B 18-22% better)

24.4 Positioning Sets (6)

Three plays × two sub-modes each. Each positioning set = category-defying line + hero tagline + brand voice + ICP narrative + exclusion list. Paste-ready for the creative-director.

Set	Play	Category-defying line	Hero tagline	3 brand-voice adjectives
A1 Heritage Premium	A	"The Original. Since 1991. Finally speaks up."	"Before K-wave was a word, there was KyoChon."	Authoritative · understated · proud-without-shouting
A2 Heritage Family	A	"Same flag since '57. Same crunch since '91."	"31 pieces for 31 August. Halal since '91."	Warm · welcoming · matter-of-fact
B1 Chimaek Daypart	B	"Seoul Chimaek Hour. 9pm till 2am. Halal."	"After 9, it's chimaek o'clock."	Cinematic · ritualistic · K-drama-adjacent
B2 K-Wave Pop	B	"Byeon Woo-Seok picked KyoChon. You will too."	"What Byeon Woo-Seok orders when he's home."	Idol-adjacent · bold · pop-glossy
B3 Spice-Flex	B	"Can you handle Red Pepper Level 3?"	"Level 1 is for tourists. Which level are you?"	Daring · participatory · TikTok-native
C1 Value Family (guard-railed)	C	"Korean for the whole family. Without the premium tax."	"RM3.19 per piece. Do the math."	Honest · math-anchored · family-focused

24.5 ICP Narrative — Verbatim "She Said"

For creative-director: drop these directly into ad-brief target-audience field. Verbatim, persona-tagged, no paraphrasing.

Persona	Verbatim "she said"
K-Drama Aficionado	"Need something halal for K-drama night, no spam pls — looking for that authentic taste, not influencer-bait."
Urban Office Worker	"Office lunch options got boring sia. Need to send something for Mom but don't want generic. KyoChon dosirak is actually super proper la."
Halal Family Provider	"Sah halal tak ni? Pernah dengar isu kat MyTown — anak suka soy garlic, tak terlalu pedas. Set keluarga 5 orang ada tak?"
Social Gatherer	"Where to eat after the concert when everything closed. The plating must be IG-worthy ok — per pax budget RM30 settle."

24.6 "What We Won't Say" Exclusion List

Phrases that have appeared in past KyoChon creative but score poorly across the variant set. Bench them.

❌ "Three Promises — finest ingredients, healthy lifestyle, perfection." (corporate / abstract, no CT signal)
❌ "Premium Korean fried chicken." (already understood from positioning, redundant)
❌ "Family time." (too generic — KFC owns this in MY)
❌ "Authentic Korean cuisine." (claim, not proof — replace with "Since 1991, Gumi" specificity)
❌ "15-minute wait." (the wait IS longer; reframe as "fried-to-order, never under a heat lamp")
❌ Generic "love" / "delicious" copy — let VOC verbatim do this work ("the bombs", "crispy outside, juicy inside")
❌ Soy Garlic in acquisition creative (de-emphasize; "bland" appears 4× in VOC)
❌ "Order online" CTA copy — the page is broken (Problem #2 in dossier); fix the page before promoting the CTA

24.7 Visual References — 5 Dimensions × 6 Refs

Brand-design dimensions adapted for hospitality. Each reference is sourced from publicly available campaigns / IG accounts / brand design boards. Download/screenshot per dimension into images/refs/ when authoring creative.

D1 · Packaging (delivery + dine-in)

Bonchon black-paper bucket + branded sticker pack — heritage-premium
4Fingers kraft-board boxes — youth-mall trendy
Tim Hortons MY delivery box — heat-retention engineering
Texas Chicken corrugated platter — family-share aesthetic
K-pop concert merch cups — IG-shareable form factors
Pinterest "korean street food packaging" board (saved by Tricia)

D2 · Logo / Wordmark

Current KyoChon "Since 1991" wordmark — keep as primary
Add Hangul-stack secondary mark (교촌) — for XHS / CN-MY contexts
K-drama poster wordmark style (Lovely Runner, Squid Game S2) — for cultural co-sign creative
Behance "Korean wordmark + English" search — for harmony patterns
Pinterest "60s Korean restaurant signage" — for fry-theatre + flagship signage
NeNe Chicken logo (avoidance reference — what NOT to look like)

D3 · Color Palette (5-tone)

KyoChon red (current primary) — keep as accent, not background
Cold-brew barley tea amber (#B07238) — for chimaek hero shots
Late-night neon pink (#FF3D8B) — for chimaek + concert tie-ins
Aged-soy walnut brown (#3E2A20) — for heritage + founder content
Yangnyeom red-orange (#D9492C) — for sauce hero shots
Reference: Korean street-food at night (Pinterest), Squid Game color grading

D4 · Photography (3 lanes)

Lane 1 (Heritage): warm tungsten, cast-iron wok, hands-kneading, brick-wall — references: Korean-grandmother kitchen essays, BFM Goh-style anchor framing
Lane 2 (Chimaek): neon + condensation, cold-brew cups, multiple hands reaching in — references: K-drama bar scenes, TikTok mukbang
Lane 3 (K-Wave Pop): studio-lit hero subject, idol-print poster vibes, bold typo — references: K-pop concept-photo books, XHS food-influencer flat-lays
Anti-reference: all current KyoChon family-stock photography — too generic, no signature

D5 · Typography

Display: Pretendard or SUIT (Korean-origin sans for Hangul-English harmony)
Editorial: Fraunces or Source Serif (for heritage / founder-story long-form)
Body: Geist or system-ui (clean, neutral)
Accent / mono: JetBrains Mono (for ad_id codes, pricing math, hashtags)
BM/Jawi: Almarai or NotoNaskh Arabic for Jawi sub-headlines on Merdeka creative
Reference: Korean editorial design (NEEDS magazine, AROUND magazine)

D6 · Motion (TikTok / Reels)

Slow-mo oil splash on chicken pull-apart (≥240fps) — for fried-to-order hero
Sauce-pour close-up with audio peaks — for sauce-by-sauce campaign
Vertical 9:16 split-screen comparison ("level 1 vs level 3") — for spice ladder
Single-hold flat-lay reveal with kanji-Hangul typo overlay — for XHS / IG
Concert-crowd-cutaway → chicken-bite intercut — for live-event creative
Reference: 4Fingers Kimchick Szn TikTok drops, KFC MY 30-31 Mar GrabFood reels

24.8 Source Ledger

Three plays: verbatim from ~/zennith-skills/intel/kyochon-malaysia/competitors/kyochon-competitor-landscape.md §6 (Three Positioning Plays).

Menu architecture: derived from KYOCHON-MY-MASTER-DOSSIER.md Problem #9 (menu too wide, hero SKUs unclear) + current price-band scrape from scrape/kyochon-web-dossier.md + competitor pricing matrix in 01-market-map.html.

Positioning sets: 6 sets compiled from the autoresearch top-8 variants + brand-voice direction in MASTER-DOSSIER §3 (advantages — heritage + crispy + halal).

ICP narrative quotes: verbatim concatenations from VOC quotes in artefact 03 (ICP Catalog).

Exclusion list: compiled from KYOCHON-BRANDBOOK-EXTRACTION.md + current kyochon.com.my live audit (May 2026).

Visual references: dimension list adapted from market-survey-deep-research PROCESS.md §6 (visual mining); brand-specific reference inputs from brands/kyochon/research/pinterest_triciafoong_kyochon/ and direct IG @4fingersmy, @kfcmalaysia, @nenechicken_my browse (May 2026).