Title | KIT KAT MAIL 2009 |
Brand | NESTLÉ CONFECTIONERY |
Product / Service | KIT KAT |
Category | A05. Alternative Media |
Entrant | JWT JAPAN Tokyo, JAPAN |
Entrant Company: | JWT JAPAN Tokyo, JAPAN |
DM/Advertising Agency: | JWT JAPAN Tokyo, JAPAN |
Credits |
Name | Company | Position |
---|---|---|
Eisaku Sekihashi | Jwt Japan | Senior Creative Director |
Kiyoshi Usami | Jwt Japan | Senior Account Planning Director |
Shizu Yamada | Jwt Japan | Art Director |
Midori Usui | Jwt Japan | Copywriter |
Yasuhiko Yuasa | Jwt Japan | Account Director |
Daisuke Tsutsui | Jwt Japan | Account Supervisor |
Yuki Nakamura | Jwt Japan | Account Executive |
Naoya Takahashi | Jwt Japan | Chief Producer |
Maemi Kobayashi | Jwt Japan | Producer |
In the aggressive retail market of Japan, KIT KAT had a practical challenge: how to maintain shelf space while facing a continuous onslaught of new confectionary products? The solution: create a new level of meaning, and a revolutionary new way to experience the brand. In Japanese, KIT KAT sounds like ‘kitto katsu’ or “surely win”. And from this happy coincidence, an idea was born to evolve KIT KAT from a humble candy bar, to a symbol of good luck and encouragement for students across Japan – to give them a break from the stress of university entrance “exam hell”.
Rather than fighting it out at shelf, KIT KAT forged new territory in the previously brand-free space of Japan Post, and is now a permanent product in Japan Post outlets alongside the stamps and postcards. And even though exam season has passed, people are still sending KIT KAT Mail for luck and encouragement on other occasions. This simple idea has elevated KIT KAT beyond a simple candy bar, establishing the brand as a good luck charm for any occasion, and taking it to new heights in Japan.
Form a unique partnership with Japan Post and create a special KIT KAT package – with room for a personal message and a stamp right on the box – which can be purchased at the post office and mailed to an exam-taker. The partnership between KIT KAT and Japan Post, leveraging Japan Post’s status as a national institution – and its implicit endorsement of the KIT KAT brand as the first ever to be allowed into the previously brand-free territory of Japan Post’s postal outlets – further solidified KIT KAT as a symbol of luck and encouragement for exam-taking students.
With this idea, KIT KAT became available in over 22,000 competition-free post offices, in every corner of Japan, overnight. In an entirely new way to experience the brand, over 260,000 KIT KAT Mail packages were sent, and the campaign received PR coverage totaling more than US$11 million in free media.