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Case study

How KitKat brought "Have a Break" into Candy Crush Saga

August 18, 2026
KitKat and Candy Crush Saga team up on screen and beyond to bring break time to players worldwide.

500M+

Impressions

6.9M+

Clicks

496M+

Rewards delivered

KitKat® partnered with XBOX Media Solutions to bring its iconic “Have a Break” platform into Candy Crush Saga across 40 markets. Through immersive gaming experiences, rewarded engagement, and a global activation strategy, the campaign reached hundreds of millions of players while driving measurable lifts in ad recall, awareness, consideration, and purchase intent.

Download the Story

Mobile screenshots of the KitKat interactive matching-game Playable ad, showing the instruction screen and live gameplay where users match KitKat flavor cards to reveal sharing bar varieties.

KitKat® has long been associated with giving people permission to pause. With Candy Crush Saga, Nestlé saw an opportunity to bring that brand idea into a natural setting for short, everyday breaks: mobile gameplay.

The goal was to make KitKat feel like part of the play experience, not a message placed around it. By partnering with Microsoft and XBOX Media Solutions, KitKat could connect with players across highly attentive gameplay moments, using formats designed for active engagement rather than passive exposure.

Spanning 40 markets, the partnership brought together KitKat’s iconic “Have a Break” platform and the Candy Crush franchise to create branded experiences inside, outside, and around the game.

KitKat’s Candy Crush Saga campaign achieved a 97% completion rate.

 

KitKat® activated across Candy Crush Saga through a mix of Rewarded Video, interactive Playables, and co-branded creative. Each format was designed to reach players during moments of active participation, helping build awareness, strengthen consideration, and influence purchase intent.

Rewarded Video gave players a clear value exchange, inviting them to engage with KitKat in return for in-game rewards. Interactive Playables brought the brand into a hands-on experience, allowing players to participate with KitKat creative rather than simply view it. Co-branded assets helped connect the campaign back to both KitKat and Candy Crush, making the partnership feel native to the game environment.

The media activity was also part of a broader global activation that extended beyond the screen. Consumers experienced the partnership through a Candy Crush-inspired KitKat bar, Candy Crush-themed ice cream, retail promotions, and in-store activations, creating connected touchpoints wherever audiences played, shopped, and took a break.

 

Four of the key performance metrics of the KitKat and Candy Crush Saga campaign include more than 29 percent point increase in advertising recall; more than 7 percent point increase in Top-of-Mind Awareness; more than 7 percent point lift in Consideration; and more than 5 percent point increase in Purchase Intent.

 

While the partnership spanned 40 markets globally, five key markets, the UK, France, Germany, India, and Australia, served as the primary markets for measuring brand impact. Across those markets, the KitKat and Candy Crush activation delivered strong full-funnel performance, driving average lifts across recall, awareness, consideration, and intent.

Brand lift results included:

  • +29 percentage-point lift in Ad Recall
  • +7 percentage-point lift in Top-of-Mind Awareness
  • +7 percentage-point lift in Consideration
  • +5 percentage-point lift in Purchase Intent

The campaign also showed the scale and quality of player engagement. Through their Candy Crush activation, KitKat reached consumers when they were actively immersed in gameplay and most receptive to brand messaging. Players did not just see the campaign, they actively chose to engage with it.

Engagement results included:

  • 500M+ impressions
  • 6.9M+ clicks
  • 496M+ rewards delivered
  • 97%+ completion rate

Together, the results show how immersive gaming environments can turn attention into action. By becoming part of gameplay rather than interrupting it, KitKat transformed a familiar brand platform into a participatory experience and delivered measurable impact across the funnel.

 

"The partnership was built on a simple insight: both KitKat and Candy Crush are synonymous with breaks. Bringing these two iconic brands together allowed us to create a consumer experience that felt authentic, relevant and naturally embedded in people’s daily routines.”

— Vince Vuadens, Global Digital & Partnerships Lead of KitKat®, Nestlé

 

Want to reach millions of players when they’re paying attention and ready to engage? Connect with XBOX Media Solutions to get your brand in the game.

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