2024 Winner

CASE SUMMARY

KitKat, one of the top-selling chocolates worldwide, faced the challenge of staying relevant with younger audiences who engage more with online platforms than with traditional media.

The objective was to reignite KitKat’s iconic "Have a Break" tagline with a new, modern take on breaks that would resonate with the target audience.

A recent Google DeepMind study on large language model-based AIs detailed how prompting “take a breather” before any request improves the accuracy of the response. The study found that using human-style encouragement dramatically improved math skills, from 34% to 80%. Researchers believe this works because AI language models like ChatGP interpret commonly found human sayings, such as “take a breather,” as conveying the importance of carefully reasoning through the problem.

This works because such phrases, commonly found in human communication, help the AI to access and utilize its training data more effectively, simulating a more human-like reasoning process. This led the agency to the insight that humans aren’t the only ones that perform better after a Break.

The similarities between Google DeepMind prompts and KitKat’s tagline, “Have A Break” became the catalyst of the idea. The brand wanted to see if prefacing AI prompts with "Have A Break, and then..." would lead to better, more accurate responses when compared to the same question without the additional instruction. And if the results did prove to be more accurate after having a break, they would share their findings
with the world.

Today, AI is tasked with doing just about everything, from generating heartfelt letters to returning thoroughly detailed research results. And, as it turns out those results could be enhanced with the right prompting.

The “Have AI break” campaign took shape as an online video living on KitKat Canada and eventually KitKat global channels, designed to show that even AI benefits from having a break. The video starts by taking the viewer through the groundbreaking study from top AI researcher Google Deepmind, which shows that asking AI to “take a breather” before answering a question triggers AI to answer more accurately.

Then the video transitions to show how using KitKat's tagline achieves similar results, with side-by-side comparisons revealing the improved AI responses. Throughout the video, there are multiple AI searches that are noticeably optimized after the "Have a break, and then..." prompt.

From a branding perspective, the video leaned heavily into the unmistakable KitKat brand icons. The famous KitKat red became the backdrop for KitKat-styled typography and the KitKat chocolate bar made
appearances throughout.

The outcome was astounding with over 3.5+ Billion organic impressions from the first week. The conversation-starting video increased KitKat's social engagement by an 18-fold lift, propelled KitKat's already substantial brand love by an additional 850% in positive brand sentiment, and drove a 14% lift in
purchase intent.

Soon enough, the brand’s discovery had everyone, from some of the most influential voices in the tech and AI community, like Allie K. Miller, to university professors and Google employees typing KitKat’s famous tagline over and over again.

With the “Have AI Break” campaign KitKat successfully reinvigorated its iconic tagline by integrating it with the latest in AI technology, reigniting the brand’s relevance with a new, modern take on breaks.

Credits

Agency: Courage
Founder, CCO: Dhaval Bhatt
Founder, CCO: Joel Holtby
Partner, CSO: Tom Kenny
Partner, President: Niki Sahni
Associate Creative Director: Tommy Yong
Associate Creative Director: Matt Miller
Writer: Emma Lorenzi
Group Account Director: Alex Karayannides
Account Director: Sacha Alleyne
Account Supervisor: Niharika Chadha
Account Executive: Jordan McConnell
Senior Strategist: Lyndsey Westfall
Executive Producer: Clair Galea
Producer: Katie Fowler
Post Production Coordinator: Sunaina Arora
Editor: Marcus Barrie

Client: KitKat
Senior Marketing Manager: Aseem Gulati
Assistant Marketing Manager: Jenny Chu
Marketing Leader, Everyday Confectionery: Riona Coller
Senior Vice President, CMO: Tracey Cooke
Corporate Affairs: Brittany Blow

Animation: Alter Ego
Graphic Designer: Edward Deng
Hilda Pereira: VFX Executive Producer
Bobbi Dedman: VFX Producer

Audio: Eggplant
Executive Producer: Nicola Treadgold
Audio Director: Jamie Pennock
Composer: Peter Pacey
Sound Design and Mix: Peter Pacey

Media Partner: THRIVE