Friday, December 4, 2009

Kit kat --- Marketing and promotion
After launching in the 1930s, Rowntree's Chocolate Crisp was originally advertised as "the biggest little meal" and "the best companion to a cup of tea". During the Second World War, Kit Kat was depicted as a valuable wartime foodstuff, with the slogan "what active people need". 'Kitty the Kat' arrived in the late 1940s to emphasize the "rich full cream milk" qualities of the bar and, thanks to contemporary improvements in production methods, also highlighted the new and improved 'snap' by responding to a biscuit being broken off screen. The first Kit Kat poster appeared in 1951, and the first colour TV advert appeared in 1969.
Since 1957, the slogan for the Kit Kat in the UK and elsewhere has been "Have a break... have a Kit Kat". However, in 1995, Nestlé sought to trademark the "Have a break" portion. After a ten year legal battle which was contested by rival Mars, the European Court of Justice ruled on July 7, 2005 to send the case back to the British Courts.
In the meantime, Nestlé UK changed the slogan in 2004 to "Make the most of your break".The new slogan was not embraced outside of the UK and recently Nestlé Rowntree has returned to using the original slogan.
The "classic" American version of the "Gimme a Break" Kit Kat jingle (in use in the US since 1986) was written by Ken Shuldman (lyrics) and Micheal A. Level (music) for the DDB Advertising Agency. Versions of the original have been covered by Carrie Underwood, Shawn Colvin, and many studio singers as well as people who have appeared on-camera in the commercials. The jingle was cited in a study by University of Cincinnati researcher James A. Kellaris as one of the top ten "earworms" - bits of melody that become stuck in your head. Another version of the advertising jingle 'Gimme a break' created for Kit Kat "Factory" commercial in the USA was an original recording by Andrew W.K. W.K. was hired to write a new musical version for their "Gimme a break" slogan. Variations on the Andrew W.K. advertisement included executive dance routines in corporate offices, and a network news room. However, the "classic" song has also been used again since the newer version first aired in 2004.
A 1989 advertisement for Kit Kat, in which a giant panda in a zoo "takes a break" came 30th in channel 4s "100 Greatest Adverts" poll in 2000. Another memorable 1980s UK TV advert for Kit Kat featured a music mogul auditioning a new band, ending with the line "You can't sing, you can't play, you look awful" (Pause) "You'll go a long way."
KitKash is one of the most recent Kit Kat promotions by Nestlé. Premiering in Australia and New Zealand in 2004, each Kit Kat wrapper contained a unique code inside. A winning code was potentially worth $20, $50, $100 or even $10,000. In 2005 the UK's KitKash involved registering an account on the KitKash website and accumulating the codes which each had a point value in order to buy, bid or win products on the site. In 2006 KitKash has been expanded in the UK to include KitKash points in many of Nestlé's other confections as well as spread to Germany (ChocoCash) and France (Kit Kat Kode). USA Kit Kats are also part of the action thanks to Hershey (WrapperCash).
In late 2004, through to the end of 2006, Nestlé Rowntree sponsored New York F.C. As a result the club's home-ground, Bootham Crescent, was renamed to KitKat Crescent.
posted by Abd ur Rehman

2 comments:

abdul... said...

hello BUSN 280 fellows..
This article is really informative,please read and comment on it.

thank you.

M. Umer Toor said...

The red color is used specifically so as to arouse, if that's a proper word, hunger in a consumer. What superficial about these tricks of slogans, from a sociological point of view which reject value-free thinking, is how customers get away with these enchantments of t.v. commercials and advertisement. This is causing a cultural shift, marketers are so fond of discussing it, in our society, hence there's a rise not a revival though of superficiality and enslavement to showy and colourful distractions. Excuse me for this somewhat irrelevant talk, I just wish to show that it's all about singing our own poems, entrepreneurs enjoy this attitude, tedious routine stricken employees may not be.