Why is this work relevant for PR?

Rather than a brand trying to force a debate or squeeze a brand message into a media channel, this campaign was about tapping into an existing conversation in order to own it and create as much organic conversation as possible. It used social channels (TikTok and Twitter) in the most organic and genuine way possible, partnering with creators to create native content and fuel a debate in their own unique ways, rather than running existing 'ads' or official brand messaging. Once we'd stoked the controversy, we then amplified the debate through our owned channels, paid social and media.

Background

‘Have a break, Have a KitKat’ has been an iconic brand idea for 65 years. But to young people, iconic means old. So we needed to make an ‘old’ campaign excite a new generation and make the brand relevant to a younger audience that didn't necessarily have as strong a connection to the brand as previous generations did.

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

Rather than trying to persuade a new generation to adopt ‘Have a break’, we invited them to reject it instead, by dismissing one of the world's most famous product rituals. We observed an online social behaviour: a long-running debate about the 'right way' to eat a KitKat. We leveraged this existing conversation to create our campaign by unofficially giving our audience license to 'Have a bite' by ignoring the age old product ritual and taking one giant bite out of the iconic bar. We knew the resulting posts would be triggering, and generate some passionate discussion, hopefully making this new generation actually start to defend the true, classic way to 'Have a break'.

Describe the PR strategy (30% of vote)

Our sceptical Gen-Z audience doesn't want to be told what to do by brands. So instead of over-investing in paid media, our strategy was to seed a conversation through social, to create a cultural moment they would want to be part of. We identified that how people ate KitKats had proved controversial in the past, so decided to reignite this existing online debate. To ensure it triggered a response, we made it feel organic and not manufactured by the brand. We carefully selected Tiktok creators based on their active audiences and style, giving them flexibility to create content based on our brief, in a way that they knew would resonate with their followers. The triggering nature of the issue meant that there’d be some controversy – controversy we could amplify to maximise our earned media. We then stoked that with bespoke packaging sent to influencers and publications.

Describe the PR execution (20% of vote)

We began by partnering with TikTok creators to seriously trigger their followers by taking one big bite from their KitKat instead of 'breaking' a finger the official way. The internet reacted in a big way and debate raged, creating a huge amount of conversation in the first 48 hours. When the controversy was at its peak, KitKat took the opportunity to break their silence. A special cut of the recent brand TVC starring Aussie screen legend Michael Caton officially acknowledged the issue and asked 'Is this wrong?', before a packaging re-design, series of social polls, and live social interactions with other brands and Aussie celebs, threw more fire onto the debate. The issue was so polarising that it was covered in a 2 minute segment on national news.

List the results (30% of vote)

56.3M in PR reach The issue was so polarising that it was covered in a 2 minute segment on national news. 27M social impressions (50% over KPI) 4.3 million views in 48 hours 11.16% engagement on Tiktok (4X the market benchmark)

Please tell us about the social behaviour that inspired the work

A simple Google search on 'How to eat a KitKat' will reveal endless results about unconventional (and controversial) ways to eat a KitKat. Heated debates have been going on for years, with people posting their own pictures and videos of them taking a giant bite from KitKat bars even to get a reaction. Entire Reddit threads, Facebook Groups and Twitter accounts are dedicated to it, as well as Buzzfeed and Vice articles and endless memes about it. Even Kourtney Kardashian has posted her own personal ritual in a YouTube video. Those posts are often pretty triggering, creating lots of outraged, shocked and horrified reactions with people calling each other 'monster' or saying the behaviour is 'barbaric'. Some even believe it's 'illegal'. KitKat had never officially entered into the debate. With the rising popularity of TikTok, we saw this as the perfect opportunity to respond.