Kit Kat gives consumers a break

Part of Nestle's Kit Kat campaign in Hong Kong consisted of the

specially-constructed branded benches within bus shelters.

The Kit Kat benches revolved around the long-running theme of "Have a

Break. Have a Kit Kat".

While waiting for a bus, therefore, people could sit on the benches for

a relaxing break.

The bus shelter campaign was supported by a network-wide four-sheet

poster campaign in order to increase audience involvement and make the

outdoor advertising more interactive and interesting.

The campaign, by J. Walter Thompson and its media arm MindShare, came at

a time when prospects in the chocolate market was declining.

At the same time, competition was intensifying.

The key objective in the communication strategy, therefore, was to build

a stronger relevance and saliency to its "Have a Break. Have a Kit Kat"

platform.

Hence the creation of branded bus shelter benches.

As this had never been done before, it was unexpected and out of

ordinary and immediately made an impact.

The aim behind the campaign was to enable Kit Kat to stand out in an

otherwise cluttered market and simultaneously convey the notion that the

chocolate stood for fun and excitement.

The campaign was used as a creative support to the heavy print schedule,

which consisted of the Chinese-language newspapers The Sun, Apple Daily,

Recruit, and Job Seeker.

As such, the benches gave the media strategy a much-needed lift.

The creative strategy was kept simple and eye-catching in order to grab

people's attention.

The benches and the print ads together helped to create both interest

and desire and give Kit Kat sales a boost.

* This ongoing National Geographic Showcase series features selected

material from winners and other entries in the Best Use of Media

category in MEDIA's Agency of the Year Awards 1999.