Kit Kat promotion was a triumph of publicity

I read David’s Benady’s assertion that “sales promotions can be risky” (‘Tied up in knots’, MW June 22) with interest, expecting a review of all the campaigns that have failed over the years. But the only real example cited (other than the ubiquitous Hoover and shaky example of the Connexions Card) was Kit Kat, which amazed me.

For a campaign that achieved so much publicity – it appeared every day for two weeks in The Sun – and supposedly drove massive sales volumes (some fans claim to have purchased up to &£4,000 worth of chocolate), not to mention the free (and ongoing) television advertising on Channel 4, I think it was an inspired association for the “mundane chocolate brand.”

Mr Benady attributed the consequence of promotions that backfire to the &£6bn fall in sales promotion’s share of marketing spend, but anyone involved in the industry knows it is not a one-legged stool any more but rather often at the heart of a wider integrated or holistic approach.

Andrew Roberts

Chemistry Communications Group

London SW6