Mums engaged to advise chicken giant KFC

Mums from all walks of life and different parts of the country will join a group of mothers employed by KFC on the new advisory board. The group will help KFC harness the experience that motherhood provides, and channel that knowledge into ways to better meet mums' needs.

Julienne Smith, founder and author of 'Food For Talk', a recipe box of conversation starters that promote family bonding, will join Mums matter!  as an expert contributor.

"As a mum and author, I know from experience that families are starved for quality time," says Smith, who describes herself as a "professional mom." "Meals are a great occasion to reconnect and who better than KFC to bring us all to the table to talk about ways to make that time mean even more."

The Advisory Board will meet in person bi-annually, hold quarterly conference calls and host monthly dinner meetings in their hometowns to gain information and advise KFC on everything from trends that affect families to new product ideas.

Its first task will be to work closely with the company to establish a user-friendly, online community aimed at reducing everyday stress for mums. In development over the next year, the online community will roll out nationally for all mums to share in 2007. Mums will be able to use the site to receive tips, participate in webcasts, win weekly drawings and contribute to an e-newsletter.

"Mums have relied on our popular, meal-building menu items for years and now we're turning to them for ideas on how KFC can be even more helpful with managing their busy lifestyles," says Scott Bergren, executive vice president of marketing for KFC.

"We realise the challenges that mothers face and what better way to help us meet their demands than by mining their insight through Mums Matter!"