So we went to mixi, Japan’s largest social network site, with over 20 million members. There, we staged Japan’s first virtual press conference to announce the renewal of the product. A few days before the conference we leaked the news that we will be giving away free virtual sampling coupons to first 10,000 people and that this coupon multiplies to give to two friends by writing about the new Kit Kat on the mixi pages.

The news about the virtual press conference and the free sampling coupons instantly sparked off immense interest on-line with over 870,000 people eventually swamping to the site. As promised, 10,000 people were presented with coupons which meant that 30,000 people ended up trying the new Kit Kat and writing about it on their mixi pages. The frenzy on-line poured into the off-line world - doubling the sales in just three weeks.