How KitKat became Number 1

KitKat is one of the best-selling candy bars in America.

Says Wikipedia:

In recent years, Kit Kats have also become very popular in Japan, a phenomenon attributed to the coincidental similarity between the bar's name and the Japanese phrase kitto katsu, roughly translating as "I hope you succeed!" This has reportedly led to parents and children buying them for school examination days as a sort of good luck charm.

True enough. But it didn't happen by coincidence. It happened by a brilliant, subtle, incredibly patient advertising and public relations campaign.

Year 1: Hotels in Tokyo began giving complementary KitKat bars to students who came to the city by the thousands to take the fiercely competitive university entrance exams. The KitKat was presented as a little "lucky charm". Students were surprised and touched. They didn't know the candy giveaway was sponsored by the manufacturer.

Year 2: The advertising agency behind this stealth campaign wangled some news stories (not ads) about the hotels' candy giveaway. The reason for the stealth: Japanese young people are suspicious and scornful of advertising.

Year 3: Some ads began to appear. They didn't look like ads. They were cute little stories about teachers, mothers, students and the lucky charm. The ads were fiction, but real Japanese moms began packing KitKats for their kids when they left home to take the exams.

Year 4: Real people began to appear in the ads that didn't look like ads. No product was ever shown. Just a subtle little KitKat logo.

And KitKat -- a candy that's been around for 70 years, that was considered just a few years ago an old-fashioned candy in Japan, the opposite of trendy or cool -- became Japan's top seller.

Besides sales, here's how the success of KitKat's Japanese advertising campaign is tracked: Number of mentions in the press and in personal blogs, which are booming in Japan. The blogs are often emotional and touching. Japanese moms post loving and fearful notes about sending their kids off to the examinations, making sure they have their lucky KitKats.

 

 

Comments

[Ken Molay]

Ugh. This is an example of everything that is wrong with the infotainment industry today. News is manufactured and sponsored by corporations hoping to influence personal gains. Unless it is manufactured and sponsored by governments hoping to influence popular opinion (see embedded pro-US news stories in Iraq).

Gee, Japanese youth are suspicious and scornful of advertising? Then let's corrupt news stories, hotel experiences, and family traditions. Now they won't be able to believe in ANYTHING. An entire generation taught to be cynical, mistrustful, and disbelieving of any and all public information. How are we supposed to educate these youths? They have no reason to believe the educational system isn't feeding them the same set of lies and manufactured information.

The brouhaha over Oprah's book club fiasco with "A Million Little Pieces?" More of the same. Don't believe uplifting or inspirational content, as it is manufactured stories built to achieve the author's personal gain.

I believe there is a place for advertising, for marketing, and for fiction. Unfortunately it has escaped its rightful confines and now spreads like a destructive cancer through all facets of society. The next generation will be detached, angry, and incredibly ignorant of any objective truth or fact-based knowledge. We as marketers have done this. We have to stop.

[Steve Holden]

What do you mean "the next generation"? Kids are being killed in America for their training shoes! Don't you think the corporate world that manufactures training shoes for $3.75, sells them for $120 and spends half the profit on marketing to make them desirable isn't responsible for the deaths we have seen? Surely this indicates a malaise already here, albeit slightly different from the one you envisage. Lies are always lies, and they rarely have long-term societal benefits.

[Sanjay Dattatri]

I agree whole-heartedly with you, Ken. Not only are they obfuscating the distinction between fact and fiction, they are encouraging superstition to boot. As though there isn't enough crap going around already.
Maybe we should all stop buying KitKats.

[andrew]

disgusting. boycott kitkat!

[michelle Grimord]

Oh, why be so scornful--I think it's brilliant.

Regular advertising and marketing is increasingly more effective. Marketers HAVE to come up with guerilla marketing like this to be heard among the clutter. I say, congratulations to a successful campaign.

[Juan Del Pueblo]

Chill out folks. Punish the company for great marketing? They did get it and the people they were selling to. They understood and respected the buyers' culture. They targeted a niche group, laid out a simple and consistent message. The articles were stories. That they were "wangled", I can't say much about that, that's the version of the author of this blog. I don't see why the sellers would wangle about something that actually happened (candy giveaway). The other ads, presented as stories. Effective marketing.

[Tom]

I agree with Ken and Steve. Do these people like KitKat's because they taste good (isn't that what a candy bar is supposed to be all about?) or because the company has deceived them into thinking it is 'lucky'. Just sounds like old marketing in a new wrapper. The whole thing started with deception, 'The KitKat was presented as a little "lucky charm".' Does the KitKat company expect anyone to believe that they themselves believe having/eating a KitKat will make a student perform better on an exam?
Juan, they didn't respect the culture, they exploited it.

[Juan Del Pueblo]

Needs v Desires. I would say we (and many others) don't need a large percentage of the stuff we desire (and end up purchasing). Tom, you still don't get it. You think the buyers in this story "had to buy" kit kats because they taste good. That's the problem with some marketers today. If there is no "need" to purchase an item, than they state what they think the buyer wants from that product, not what the buyer desires.

I'm from Puerto Rico. I'm much more apt to purchase from someone who markets with an understanding of my culture. Need a good example, take a look at today's front cover of the Wall Street Journal for an article on selling cleaning items to women in Italy.

[DUST!N]

I'm going to boycott my mom.

She used to tell me this story when I was a kid. When I fell down and scraped my knee or bumped an elbow, she would kiss it and said that would make it better.

What a liar.

That's what's wrong with mom's today. They think kids want to feel better when what they really need is medication.

----------

Not to be so sarcastic, but I really want to drive home a point here.
You say Kit Kat was manipulative.
I say they were intentional.

And my guess is that the moms were happy to have an inexpensive token to embody their well-wishes.

[Hard Gay]

The sky is falling!! Come on, people. Some of you are the sadest bunch. You think that people wholeheartedly because that a candybar makes you perform better? What kind of condescending prick are you. It's a nice token to give someone a little gift to wish them luck on the exams. The key here is not what is given, a kit kat, but rather he gesture. I'm certain the kitkat will be replaced with something else soon enough. While I agree advertisers sometimes go overboard, this is certainly not a case of that. Funny how some of you that complain about cynisism are the ones most cynical. Go climb into a cave and keep away from society! Or you just might get brainwashed. The ideological crap spewed by some academics has a far worse impact than some stupid product. If someone actually because they the actual kit kat is giving them magical powers to ace the exams, that means they've already had some preexisting superstitiousness. You arrogant bastards.

[Dan Tudor]

The first few comments posted surprise me.

So KitKat became part of a little ritual of wishing someone good luck on an important exam...and the bad part of that is???

Chocolate egg manufacturers are raking it in during Easter. Companies that make bows and wrapping paper make a killing at Christmas time. Rose growers count the days until Valentines Day. And you're getting upset at KitKat for strategically marketing their product so that it brings some joy and comfort to a kid about to take the biggest test of their life?

Good for KitKat for creating a great story, selling it, and finding a way to make itself a part of a very rigid social culture. Instead of harping on their intentions, lets give them some kudos (applause, not the rival candy bar) on a marketing job well done.

[Christopher Carfi]

Ken, Sanjay, Andrew...I agree with you wholeheartedly. More thoughts here:

http://www.socialcustomer.com/2006/04/it_also_means_s.html

[Eggy]

Juan couldn't have put it better. I read the WSJ article too. Read it and learn how to not only market, but develop the product to your customers' "needs" or desires (as Juan puts it). Interesting to read about Italians and how they clean their houses (the even iron all their clothes, underwear, towels, etc.). Imagine how you can develop and then market your products based on this knowledge. The article discusses how some of the cleaning products that work in the US (such as the Swifter) flop in Italy.

I also agree with Dan on his comments concerning gifts. It's like Hallmark when they started selling their Holiday Ornaments. Some ornament collectors look forward to Christmas in July.

[Dan Jackson]

Does this remind anyone of what the Bush has done over the past 5 years.

Year 1. Plant in the minds of Americans that Afghanistan is full of terrorists.

Year 2. Attack for Afghanistan harboring terrorists.

Year 3. Plant in the minds of Americans that Iraq has helped with 911, and has WMD.

Year 4. Attack Iraq.

Year 5. Plant in the minds of Americans that Iran is going to be a nuclear threat.

Year 6. Attack Iran ?

[Chris C]

Personally, the advertisng I like is the truthful kind. Like Ritter Sport chocolate in Germany, which has the slogan "Quadratisch. Practisch. Gut." -- "Square. Practical. Good." But would any advertiser take a risk on that in the UK or US?

Advertising by misdirection, lies and superstition isn't anything new. Heineken "Refreshes the parts other beers cannot reach", perfumes which (if you believe the ads) send any man wild with desire (they acctually make me feel ill). And the harmful ones promising weight loss and delivering loss of wellbeing. Soft drinks promising popularity and delivering tooth problems, dehydration and obesity. In the ranks of advertising getting students to eat a KitKat bar as a treat is minor...

[andrew queisser]

In Japan they think Green Tea is the coolest thing so of course they have Green Tea KitKat. Looks really weird, pale green, kind of yucky. I brought it home for my kids and they loved it.

[Joe Greenlight]

Who are we to force our Western-style cynicism down Japanese throats? The implication that the Japanese are somehow being exploited is an insult. Luck and superstition are part of many Asian cultures, and to dismiss that as something to be manipulated, or somehow unsophisticated or primitive is typical of Western elitism. What if a Japanese-owned candy company did the same promotion? Would you not consider it exploitation?

[Glenn Mercer]

By the way, it might have been kind of hard for Kit Kat to resist pitching to the exam-takers... kitto katto in Japanese means "surely succeed!" or "you'll make it!," more or less, so it was a real natural as a good luck charm for the exams...

[Mongo Nikol]

"Boycott Kit Kat"?

Are you kidding?

Have you had one of these little slices of shingular heaven?

And now they come in white chocolate! Yumm.

I sure am hungry for a Kit Kat. I think I'll go buy one of each flavor right now! Thank you!

[Arata Mitsumatsu]

Interesting. In the old days in Japan it used to be Steak and Cutlettes.

Steak and cutlettes abbreviation is "teki"&"katsu"
teki=enemy
katsu=win (as same as kat in kit kat)

Advertising rarely flies alone. There is always some sort of underlying external factor to make things work. The kids parents generation grew in the steak cutlettes culture. In this case

[Nolan Eakins]

KitKats are good. Plain and simple. I even have rememberance of the taste of one in my mouth right now. They're that good!

[Simon]

I don't know why we have to call that viral marketing. It's a textbook example of PR at work!

[frosty]

Great story. It leaves me curious about three things:

1) The Year 4 summary (ads that don't look like ads) could be subtle/viral (like monk-e-mail), or it could be very underhanded (pretending the ads are news stories, for example). Care to elaborate?

2) I'd love to know whether it was planned as a multi-year strategy, or just developed that way.

3) KitKat has been on a roll in Central Europe lately too. Any story behind that?

[Brodie]

You don't seem to give any references or mention how you came about this information. How is it that you know?

Regards,
B

[Reynold]

I think this story is remarkable for two reasons:
1. The unique, locally relevant approach used to win consumers hearts.
2. The patient, 4-year campaign.

In this era of "global brands" and "quarterly results", one must applaud Nestle for this.

I personally think their CEO - Peter Brabeck-Letmathe has more than a little bit to do with this. He famously said that there is no such thing as a global consumer and therefore, a global brand.

Reynold