Brand Positioning
“Broad in appeal, young in feel, big in stature.” This quote encompasses the brand positioning of Kit Kat.
Target Market
Kit Kat’s target market is men and women of all ages. The brand is youthful in nature, and focuses on the consumer segment who love chocolate, and are willing to indulge themselves with chocolaty snacks. What draws consumers to this brand is its association with “breaks” due to its tag line “Have a Break, Have a Kit Kat”. It’s low prices, constant over the past 100 years, allows it to target the mass consumer market, as opposed to other high-end chocolate brands such as Godiva.
Competitor Analysis:
Kit Kat is owned by Nestlé SA which also owns a range of other product brands, e.g. baby food, bottled water, cereals, coffee, etc. In 2012, Nestlé’s company share in Singapore’s confectionary market was 9.4%. This has remained fairly constant since 2009, following a drop from 10.1% in 2007 to 9.6% in 2008. This shows us that introduction of competitor brands, as well as increased in market share in existing competitor brands such as Ferrero Group since 2009 has led to a drop in brand share for Nestlé.
This is depicted by the bar chart showing company shares by global brand owner. As can be seen, overall since 2007, Ferrero Group and Mars Inc.’s brand shares have increased whereas Nestlé SA’s brand shares have reduced.
Brand Analysis
As can be seen via the brand shares table below, despite the decrease in Nestlé’s company shares in Singapore’s confectionary market since 2007, the brand share of Kit Kat has increased from 2007, from 3.2% to 3.7%. However, it still lags behind competitors such as Ferrero Rocher, Ricola, Fisherman’s Friend and Mentos in the confectionary market. However, through filtering out of products such as Ricola, Fisherman’s Friend and Mentos, which are not chocolate brands, it can be seen that Kit Kat is second behind Ferrero Rocher.
The comparison of change in brand shares between Ferrero Rocher and Kit Kat can further be seen in the chart below. Our team chose M&Ms as the second brand competitor as Cadbury had insufficient data based on the brand shares table. Furthermore, in the Company Shares by Global Brand Owner table, it can be seen that Mars Inc. is Nestlé’s second competitor. Applying this to the brand shares table, we chose to compare Kit Kat to M&M’s, which is owned by Mars Inc.
Kit Kat vs. Ferrero Rocher vs. M&M’s:
How Kit Kat Differentiates Itself?
Points of Parity (POP):
1. Wafer: Kit Kat’s use of wafer is a POP as though it may not be unique to the brand as M&M’s also has a version which uses wafers, it is one of the key features which is associated with Kit Kat. On the other hand, M&M’s key feature is its small, round and colorful look, and Ferrero Rocher is known for its spherical
2. Milk / Dark / White Chocolate: Kit Kat’s use of milk, dark and white chocolate variances in its products is a POP for the brand as it is one of the features which helps Kit Kat target a range of different consumers. This feature is also seen in Ferrero Rocher, which provides milk and dark chocolate variations. On the other hand, M&Ms provides a range of flavors through its difference in fillings: plain chocolate, peanut, and wafer.
3. Packaging size varies: Kit Kat’s two-stick and four-stick versions come in varying package sizes and types. Boxes of twelve and twenty-four are common for both the two-stick and four-stick versions, as are long packets containing six to nine of the two-stick version of Kit Kat.
We feel that this is something which differentiates Kit Kat as the normal size M&M’s come in three packet sizes, one newly released box format and the mini sized M&M’s come in a single column. On the other hand, Ferrero Rocher comes in either large boxes, or its newly released three-in-a-box size.
Points of Difference (POD):
1. Wafer stick: our team feels that the fact that Kit Kat is essentially a wafer stick is one of they key PODs for the brand. Though M&M’s has a version that incorporates wafer, we feel that being a chocolate wafer stick is a unique attribute for Kit Kat. On the other hand, Ferrero Rocher is primarily recognized for incorporating Almonds into the centre of the chocolate. The newly released Ferrero Rocher dark chocolate version has a chocolaty centre.
2. Associated with snacks: Kit Kat is often associated with the word “snack”, as opposed to Ferrero Rocher and M&M’s which are primarily associated with being chocolates, a sweet. Kit Kat was able to achieve the “snack” status as a result of its highly recognized tagline “Have a Break, Have a Kit Kat”. Furthermore, Kit Kat is considered more affordable in comparison to Ferrero Rocher which is considered one of the higher-end chocolates.
3. The chocolate comes in various sizes: we feel that this is another key POD for Kit Kat compared to Ferrero Rocher and M&M’s. Kit Kat has many versions: the single stick version, two-stick, four-stick, and chunky – which is a larger version of single stick. On the other hand, M&M’s only come in normal and mini size and Ferrero Rocher have a fixed size for each chocolate.
1. Wafer: Kit Kat’s use of wafer is a POP as though it may not be unique to the brand as M&M’s also has a version which uses wafers, it is one of the key features which is associated with Kit Kat. On the other hand, M&M’s key feature is its small, round and colorful look, and Ferrero Rocher is known for its spherical
2. Milk / Dark / White Chocolate: Kit Kat’s use of milk, dark and white chocolate variances in its products is a POP for the brand as it is one of the features which helps Kit Kat target a range of different consumers. This feature is also seen in Ferrero Rocher, which provides milk and dark chocolate variations. On the other hand, M&Ms provides a range of flavors through its difference in fillings: plain chocolate, peanut, and wafer.
3. Packaging size varies: Kit Kat’s two-stick and four-stick versions come in varying package sizes and types. Boxes of twelve and twenty-four are common for both the two-stick and four-stick versions, as are long packets containing six to nine of the two-stick version of Kit Kat.
We feel that this is something which differentiates Kit Kat as the normal size M&M’s come in three packet sizes, one newly released box format and the mini sized M&M’s come in a single column. On the other hand, Ferrero Rocher comes in either large boxes, or its newly released three-in-a-box size.
Points of Difference (POD):
1. Wafer stick: our team feels that the fact that Kit Kat is essentially a wafer stick is one of they key PODs for the brand. Though M&M’s has a version that incorporates wafer, we feel that being a chocolate wafer stick is a unique attribute for Kit Kat. On the other hand, Ferrero Rocher is primarily recognized for incorporating Almonds into the centre of the chocolate. The newly released Ferrero Rocher dark chocolate version has a chocolaty centre.
2. Associated with snacks: Kit Kat is often associated with the word “snack”, as opposed to Ferrero Rocher and M&M’s which are primarily associated with being chocolates, a sweet. Kit Kat was able to achieve the “snack” status as a result of its highly recognized tagline “Have a Break, Have a Kit Kat”. Furthermore, Kit Kat is considered more affordable in comparison to Ferrero Rocher which is considered one of the higher-end chocolates.
3. The chocolate comes in various sizes: we feel that this is another key POD for Kit Kat compared to Ferrero Rocher and M&M’s. Kit Kat has many versions: the single stick version, two-stick, four-stick, and chunky – which is a larger version of single stick. On the other hand, M&M’s only come in normal and mini size and Ferrero Rocher have a fixed size for each chocolate.