Nestlé launches new campaign for Kit Kat; uses animation for the first time in India

The campaign serves to take the brand's 'Have a break, have a Kit Kat' philosophy to the next level; it urges busy youngsters to take a breather and notice the fun events in their surroundings

Furthering its brand philosophy of taking a break from daily chores by consuming the product, Nestlé's Kit Kat has launched a new ad campaign to extend the brand thought. The new campaign for the brand urges youngsters to celebrate the present and notice the fun events in their surroundings.

Nestlé Kit Kat was launched in India in 1995 and was well received by consumers owing to both the 'finger format' of the chocolate as well as the way its advertising celebrated the 'consumption ritual'. "Through different creative renditions, the brand has always propagated the 'break in routine' communication," says B Kannan, general manager, chocolates and confectionery, Nestlé India.

The 'Have a break, have a Kit Kat' tagline got a 'desi' twist a few years ago, when the brand rolled out its 'Kit Kat break toh banta hai' communication. At the time, the campaign marked the return to its 'take a break' ideation, after the brand had given it a rest for a while.

The first TVC of the present campaign begins with a visual of two young men sitting in a park. One of them is involved in his work, completely engrossed in his laptop and headphones, whereas the other pops opens a Kit Kat. No sooner does he eat the chocolate than a couple of animated squirrels appear in front of him. He is shocked to see how the male squirrel is wooing the female by singing Bollywood songs and performing some pretty raunchy dance moves.

However, when he tries to show his friend the scene, the friend is unable to see what he sees. The friend is clearly not interested in what the first youngster is trying to show him and even expresses a hint of annoyance. The film ends with a VO that states 'Mana ki life bahut busy hai, Par kabhi kahi break lo, Kit Kat khao, Zindagi aapko shayad kuch haseen dikhade'.

The creative duties for the brand are with JWT, Delhi. The copywriter of the TVC is Anuja Chauhan, executive creative director and vice-president, JWT Delhi. The film is directed by Shyam Madiraju; the production house is Gobsmack Films and the post-production house is Radium, LA.

The brand has always targeted the youth and the present campaign is particularly targeted at youngsters constantly swamped with technology, gadgets and busy schedules. "The effort is to position the products as something that can be consumed to take a break from work as one may miss out on fun and cool things that are happening around one. It is all about celebrating the present," explains Chauhan.

One can't help but notice the similarity between the recently aired Cadbury 5 Star advertisement and the current one for Kit Kat. The former shows people getting lost in a fantasy world after consuming the product and in the current Kit Kat TVC, too, we see the boy in the TVC going into a world where he alone is privy to certain interesting scenes.

Bring this to Chauhan's notice and she counters, "The 5 Star ad was about getting out of the real world and going into a fantasy world; the Kit Kat ad tells you to get out of your busy, gadget-laden world and get into the real world for a change!"

While it has used computer graphics in the past, this is the first time that Kit Kat has used animated characters that are central to the storyline in an Indian advertisement. Animation has been seen in some former international ads for the brand; coincidentally, animals such as pandas were seen in those.

The campaign is initially scheduled for the next couple of months and will then be reviewed for optimal connect with consumers. TV will be the lead medium, with high frequency intensive bursts on a mix of mass and regional channels. Over the next few months, the campaign will also be rolled out on numerous other touch points in a virtual 360 degree connect with consumers on digital media.

Does the animation work?

Ashish Khazanchi, national creative director, Publicis Ambience is of the opinion that the animation used in the TVC is fabulous and that the overall piece is great as well. "This campaign serves to up the benchmark for Kit Kat," he quips. Addressing the extent to which the campaign serves to propagate the brand's philosophy of taking a break, he goes on, "Talking from a purely impressionistic point of view, I'm left with the feeling that a break can give me a fresh and renewed perspective, that little breaks can make one's routine bearable, inject freshness into a life that's wrapped in gadgets and is full of chores."

He adds that this Kit Kat campaign and the Cadbury Shubh Aarambh campaign are two parallel contemporary communications that effectively stir the desired TG (target group), namely, the young adolescents.

Pushpendra Misra, ad film maker, Flying Saucer Films, says that the animation, craft and film making are 'pretty cool'. "Animation is just a tool; it's the story that is outlandish and singing squirrels is a good 'first time ever' for any brand. It makes the brand youthful and impulsive," he laughs.

"A worldwide diesel campaign says- 'be stupid'. Youngsters dig 'uncool-cool' today, so I guess being mindless about stories is a good thing. The big ideas are the ones that are trivial and small," continues Misra.

He concludes that on a creativity scale, however, he would give the TVC a 7/10 as he didn't like the performance of the protagonist.