This was an idea for how two of the most unlikely bedfellows together created one of the most impactful and successful ideas of 2013. A brand of chocolate met a brand of technology; Nestlé met Google; KITKAT met Android.

In 2013, Google were releasing a new version of the Android platform. Tech media and fans were expecting it to be called Key Lime Pie. So the idea was to surprise and delight consumers by creating ‘KITKAT Android’.

The name was just the beginning of how both brands could exploit the partnership to mutual benefit and actively engage consumers.

Visual iconography was at the heart of the idea and social media provided the cultural fuel for it. En route, it created communication opportunities that would have been previously unimaginable for both KITKAT and Android.

The idea created a credible online presence for KITKAT, increasing saliency and loyalty across social platforms and began the most anticipated version launch for Google.

The expected name for the new Android OS had been Key Lime Pie, so news of a KITKAT Android partnership hugely impactful.

The name and accompanying icon were launched with just one single Tweet, and one Re-Tweet. Social media did the rest. Within an hour, it became an organically trending topic.

Consumers joined extensive online conversation to discover the new Android’s features, whilst ‘edible media’ was used to intrigue tech commentators.

Android iconography appeared on KITKAT packaging and KITKAT iconography appeared on the Android operating system, stimulating additional conversation and creating enriched relationships with consumers across social platforms.

For Android this idea created the single most talked about version launch of all time, generating 10 times more traffic to Android.com.

For KITKAT it cemented its place as a bone fide brand on the Internet. To date, the campaign has had 3.18m Youtube views; over 1,935m online mentions and a staggering 4.96bn twitter impressions. All this resulted in millions of organic visitors to the KITKAT website, a G+ fan base increase to 1.5m, a 1150% increased Youtube following and a 301% increased Twitter following.

And all this without Google or Nestlé paying each other a single cent.