Grand LIA
Non-Traditional
| Entrant: | VML UK, London |
| Brand: | KitKat |
| Title: | "The KitKat Heist" |
| Region or Country Where Released: | Global |
| Corporate Name of Client: | Nestlé |
| Client Company: | Nestlé, Vevey |
| Client Company Nestlé Europe CMO: | Mélanie Brinbaum |
| Client Company Global KitKat Lead: | Rouven Lochmüller |
| Client Company Global Head of Marketing and Communications, KitKat: | Wael Jabi |
| Client Company Head of Marketing Confectionery Europe: | Oliver Gentsch |
| Client Company Global Head of Digital and Partnerships - KitKat and Confectionery: | Vincent Vuadens |
| Client Company Global Social Media Manager: | Amy Anscomb |
| Client Company Social Media Team Lead: | Lucy Thomas |
| Client Companies Product Functional Owners: | Antonio Mellad/San Gabino |
| Client Company Corporate Spokesperson: | Chiara Valsangiacomo |
| Media Company: | WPP Media, London |
| PR Company: | Burson, London |
| PR Company Global Chief Creative Director: | Taj Reid |
| PR Company Creative Director Earned Strategy and Execution: | Greg Double |
| PR Company Director Media Relations: | Gabi Hunt |
| PR Company Associate Director Media Relations: | Fiona Baird |
| PR Company Global Executive Strategy Director: | Laura Kim |
| PR Company Global Director Creative Excellence: | Sarah Brandon |
| PR Company Senior Vice President Data and Intelligence: | Nick Boles |
| PR Company Data and Intelligence Manager: | John Hoh |
| PR Company Managing Director Data and Intelligence: | Fred Macleod |
| Agency: | VML UK, London |
| Agency Chief Creative Officer: | Ryan McManus |
| Agency Executive Creative Director: | Sanjiv Mistry |
| Agency Creative Directors: | Christopher Joyce/Ant Eaglr |
| Agency Creatives: | Hanri Le Roux/Nathan Burley/Isabel Evans/Amanda Chen |
| Agency Head of Art: | Jacqui Stetcher |
| Agency Editors: | Melanie Valera/Alberto Falcone |
| Agency Senior Creative Technologist: | Jonothan Hunt |
| Agency Chief Social Officer, EMEA: | Christina Miller |
| Agency Senior Social Director: | Andrew Swain |
| Agency Project Manager: | Victoria Thorniley |
| Agency Global Chief Strategy Officer: | Neil Dawson |
| Agency Chief Strategy Officer: | Ben Worden |
| Agency Strategy Director: | João Caputi |
| Agency Business Director: | Vicky Marlow |
| Agency Global Account Lead: | Loren Hargreaves |
| Agency Researchers: | Sally Fiddes/Sarah Brighton |
Objective of Work (not a Synopsis):
Disastrous. Peak inventory for KitKat’s biggest sales season was suddenly gone.
We faced a critical crossroads. Do we bury the story through conventional crisis management? Or was there room for something more ambitious? Could we transform our Easter loss into significant commercial and reputational gains?
2.2+ million Stolen KitKat Tracker engagements.
3 KitKat batch codes flagged as suspicious.
1 confirmed lead - under police investigation.
808.4 million in total earned reach from 6522 articles.
$224 million earned media value ($0 spent).
70.5+ billion social impressions globally.
Daily views grew from "1 million to 29 million, 4x higher than any competitor at peak.
115+ brands worldwide created free KitKat advertising.
KitKat captured 44% of all views on Meta platforms, nearly 3x its next competitor, owning the conversation over Easter.
Global conversation surged +508% with engagements jumping to 10.6M – equivalent to over 6 months' worth of conversation in a single activation.
Search interest exploded over 600% week-on-week, with brand demand surging over 7x overnight.
Trending topic across multiple social platforms for multiple days in a row.