(now CEO) Kōzō Takaoka, who was in charge of marketing for Kit Kat, saw an opportunity here, but reasoned that just straight-out telling people that Kit Kats were good luck for exams would be brushed off as a mere advertising ploy. It would also cost a lot of money 3/— The Hopeful Monster (@SublightMonster) June 26, 2019
Takaoka has said elsewhere that he favors word-of-mouth advertising over any other any other format, and gears his sales and marketing campaigns to maximize that.— The Hopeful Monster (@SublightMonster) June 26, 2019
For Kit Kat, he came up with a plan to spark WOM without a single ad. 4/
His plan was to go to a number of colleges and high schools around Tokyo while their entrance exams were in progress, and dump empty Kit Kat boxes and wrappers at all the trash bins around the test area. 5/— The Hopeful Monster (@SublightMonster) June 26, 2019
When the kids left the exams, they and their parents would notice all the conspicuously-placed wrappers in and around all the bins. Many of them would mention it on social media, where they were then likely to stumble upon the existing Kyushu trend. 6/— The Hopeful Monster (@SublightMonster) June 26, 2019