Little Moments, Lots of Effectiveness for Kinder

The story in Kinder’s latest ad follows a familiar path. A young girl enjoys the Ferrero-owned treat with her dad; it remains a bond between them as she gets older; and when she has kids of her own the tradition continues. This “watch a kid grow up” trope is a common one in modern advertising and it’s easy to see why. It offers a ready-made narrative, it creates a lot of human ‘between-ness’, and it’s wonderfully sentimental and heart-warming.

For a brand like Kinder, which launched in the UK almost 50 years ago, it’s a story which emphasises the heritage of a brand and how it’s been part of families’ lives for decades. It’s no wonder brands turn to the idea – and no wonder audiences respond so well. Kinder’s take on the concept, made with agency Havas, gets an exceptional 5.4-Stars. That puts it among the Top 20 of all confectionery ads – the hardest-fought category on Test Your Ad. It’s also the first time Kinder have hit the 5-Star mark.

But Star Rating isn’t the only game in town, and using a common advertising storyline can be a risk – you might find that your ad lacks distinctiveness and isn’t easily tied back to your brand. Do Kinder fall into this trap?

The answer is a loud “No!”. Kinder’s ad manages the rare feat of landing Exceptional scores on all three of our main measures – long-term Star Rating, short-term Spike Rating, and Brand Fluency, where a massive 99% of people know the brand within the first few seconds. Particularly in the confectionery category this triple whammy marks the ad out as especially effective – able to leverage short-term response into long-term brand growth.

One reason Kinder does so well is that the story of the ad ties well into the wider brand idea – “A Little, A Lot”. The ad ends with “What Matters When You’re Little, Matters Forever” – a call back to the Kinder masterbrand slogan, “A Little, A Lot”. Kinder’s brand identity at the moment is all about small but meaningful treats and moments which can be shared across generations. That’s why the brand can make a standard ad storyline so meaningfully its own.