How do you make people fall in love again with an iconic chocolate that hasn’t changed for over 55 years?
We decided to launch Kit Kat’s first pop-up store. People had the chance to create the perfect break. They could select the chocolate, pick the ingredients, design the packaging and give their Kit Kat creation a name. All made onsite at our 4 week activation in Westfield Sydney.
The demand was crazy. We sold over 700 Kit Kats every hour and Westifield asked us to extend our stay.
But that wasn’t where it stopped. We went on to build a 3 month pop-up store in Melbourne, and 2 years later launched the very first permanent store.
Soon after, another store popped up in central London. And another in Malaysia, and later in Brazil... with even more to come.
Awarded Festival of Media Gold 2016 - Best Experiental Event and Best Campaign for Commerce
Mumbrella Awards 2016 - User Experience
Spikes Asia 2016 - Promotion and Activations
THE STORES
Kit Kat Studio started as a 4 week pop-up store but has now become a permanent part of Melbourne’s retail scene. We had the rare opportunity to build a store from the ground up. A lot of careful consideration went into the customer experience and their journey as soon as they walked through the door. We had to co-ordinate the logistics of how staff and chocolatiers utilise the space, the details of the store fitout, the palette of materials and finishes and most importantly, how to hero the consumer-created Kit Kats and packaging alongside the vast range of pre-made goodies. We collaborated with a very talented interior designer and specialist retail-builders to create a store that’s been celebrated by Nestlé globally as a new way for people to connect with the Kit Kat brand.
Buoyed by the success of the Melbourne store, a Sydney boutique was later launched in a prime CBD location within the Mid City Centre. The store design evolved based on key learnings as well as being a completely different site with an expanded offering. With the Sydney boutique, the Kit Kat products were much the same but with the key additions of a Pick 'n Mix bar, a sushi-train featuring handmade Kit Kat Creations, alongside a made-to-order menu of magical chocolate desserts with coffee and beverages as well. All made in-house in the chocolatier's kitchen.
I was asked again by Nestlé to create and execute the store identity which again rolled out to all the product packaging and collateral. Unfortunately, there was no real paid media behind the store launch, and the timing coincided with the onset of COVID. But the wide range of work created help to tie the whole Chocolatory experience together at every touch point.
