KitKat embarks on biggest packaging redesign to let consumers ‘YouTube their break’

KitKat is undertaking its biggest wrapper redesign since the brand came to market almost 80 years ago, changing the logo on more than 100 million packets to reflect the different ways consumers spend their breaks – including one with “YouTube my break” branding.

Some 600,000 YouTube break KitKats will go on sale with the aim of “helping people make the most of their down time”, according to Nestle’s marketing director for confectionary in the UK and Ireland, Lisa May.

On top of the packaging changes, Nestle is making use of Google’s voice search technology. Anyone who searches for “KitKat YouTube my break” on their phone will be shown a KitKat-branded video followed by a playlist of the latest top four trending videos on YouTube.

The partnership with Google follows a previous deal between the two firms to work together to promote version 4.4 of Google’s Android operating system, which was named KitKat.

May said it also came about due to customer research which showed that lots of people spent their breaks on Google and YouTube.

“This is a perfect partnership to champion breaks,” she told Marketing Week.

“It is all about championing breaks and putting a smile on people’s faces. The partnership allows with five simple words for people to bring up content and extend the entertainment in their break. Each day the results will be different so people can do this on a regular basis.”

A further 71 “breaks” will also be promoted on KitKat packaging across its 2-bar, 4-bar and Chunky ranges aimed at representing different types of people. These include “chatty break”, “cheeky break ” and “reading break”.

The aim, said May, is for consumers to be able to find the “break that represents them as a customer”.

She described the decision to remove the KitKat logo from its packaging as “brave”, saying few brands would be able to pull it off. However she claimed KitKat has “such strong brand recognition” with or without the logo.

“Only this type of brand can be as brave as we’ve been to replace our logo itself. We are putting our money where our mouth is to champion different breaks,” she said.

The activity forms part of KitKat’s “Celebrate the breakers’ break” campaign which launched in February. May said campaign has already seen “strong engagement”, driven by the move to emboss the campaign hashtag #mybreak on packaging.

It has also helped boost sales of the brand, she claimed. She said year-to-date results are “very strong” with KitKat seeing market share gains versus competitors.

Sales of single KitKats have seen a 20% market share gain she claimed.

Recommended