With the start of the 2020 Spring Split KitKat, became the official partner for the League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC) and featured in the tournament broadcast.
With focus on storytelling, corresponding to the KitKat DNA as well as the humorous, empathetic and unpretentious communication style of gamers, KitKat created a digital campaign very well suited for the LEC and its viewers.
In this Success Story:
Challenge
As a non-endemic brand, with no tradition in Esports or Gaming, KitKat wanted to make a market entry aligned with its brand heritage and be embraced by the community.
For activations, KitKat wanted to imbue the brand with positive associations via its native integration as a sponsor of one of the most successful esports tournaments.
The intention was to use refined brand images to embed Nestlé’s iconic chocolate bar in the relevant set of gamers – and to make it their first choice when buying chocolate.
The gaming community is generally open to advertising in an esports context and is even accepting of in-game ads. However, this advertising must slot harmoniously and natively into the game – and it’s mandatory that the brand speaks the community’s language. Otherwise, there’s a substantial risk that the target group won’t look on the brand and its product favourably, and will instead either ignore them or reject them.
Solution
Give Esports a BREAK – a multi-media campaign, leveraged on the communication heritage of KitKat, aimed to make the most of the least interesting moments of Esports - the breaks.
This was then used to activate a series of smaller multi-media campaigns like Every Champion Needs a Break, Mission Control & One Break Away.
The campaign grew outside the esports world with a TV commercial, where blockbuster game heroes from Ratchet & Clank, Astrobot & Uncharted took a break for KitKat. To kick off the partnership in March 2020, KitKat started with placements in the breaks of the LEC broadcast on YouTube and Twitch during the Spring Split. Now, KitKat is the main partner of the LEC Final, enthusing the gaming community with digital activations, in-game ads, and commercials. Its KitKat Gaming account on Twitter is currently backed by over 80,000 followers.
As a result of the fantastic work, KitKat was nominated for Esports Commercial Partner of the Year at the 2022 Esports Award.
Give Esports a Break
A multi-media campaign, leveraged on the communication heritage of KitKat, aimed to make the most of the least interesting moments of Esports - the breaks.
Additional multi-media campaigns
Off the "break" concept KitKat executed campaigns such as 'Every Champions Needs a Break', 'Mission Control' and 'One Break Away'.
Hitting new audiences
Given the recognition KitKat was getting in the esports world, it facilitated a move into the wider gaming space.
A TV commercial with blockbuster game heroes such as Ratchet & Clank, Astrobot & Uncharted took a break for KitKat.
Growth
In March 2020, KitKat started with placements in the breaks of the LEC broadcast on YouTube and Twitch during the Spring Split.
Now, KitKat is the main partner of the LEC Finals, enthusing the gaming community with digital activations, in-game ads and commercials.
The KitKat Gaming account on Twitter now has over 80,000 followers.
Recognition
As a result of the work Nestle, SPORTFIVE and Build a Rocket have put in on this partnership, KitKat was nominated for Esports Commercial Partner of the Year at the 2022 Esports Awards.
Results
75 %
increase in KitKat likability
+ 11 m
organic impressions
776 hrs
exposure time during LEC Spring 2021
"We were able to achieve something special with KitKat and the LEC partnership. Breaks are something negative for fans because the action is interrupted. With KitKat we managed to turn this into something positive and create value for the fans."
Luka Ziegler, Creative Director at build a rocket
