Nestlé’s Antonia Farquhar on why KitKat and F1 joined forces

On the latest episode of The Big Impression, Nestlé’s Antonia Farquhar talks about striking unexpected partnerships, like KitKat with Formula One, to keep the 90-year-old chocolate brand fresh. It’s part of a larger strategy to connect with new audiences through live cultural moments. 

 

Episode Transcript

Please note, this transcript  may contain minor inconsistencies compared to the episode audio.

Damian Fowler (00:00):

I'm Damian Fowler.

Ilyse Liffreing (00:01):

And I'm Ilyse Liffreing.

Damian Fowler (00:02):

And welcome to this edition of The Big Impression.

Ilyse Liffreing (00:09):

Today we're spotlighting one of the most ambitious shifts happening in brand marketing, Nestle's global push to redefine performance in a world where reach, relevance and streaming. Now go hand in hand.

Damian Fowler (00:21):

Our guest is Antonia Farquhar, global head of Media and partnerships at Nestle. Antonia has been at the forefront of Nestle's pivot towards connected TV and long-term brand building across categories, continents, and campaigns.

Ilyse Liffreing (00:35):

From Formula One to Gen Z coffee drinkers, she's helping Nestle rethink what media performance really means in a CTV first world and how brands can use new tools and data to close the loop between awareness and action.

Damian Fowler (00:50):

Let's get into it.

Ilyse Liffreing (00:52):

Antonia. So I understand that you guys are sponsoring Kit Kat's Formula One. I'm very curious to learn more about that.

Antonia Farquhar (01:03):

Yeah, one of the reasons that the Kit Kat team put that sponsorship together was to really, they've got an existing brand strategy, have a break, have a Kit Kat, right?

Damian Fowler (01:14):

Everybody loves that.

Antonia Farquhar (01:14):

Which is decades and decades old. I think it's way over 75 years old, that consistency of brand message is there and it's really part of the foundations of that brand. But the break is more important than ever in a busy world that we all live in today. And so it was really putting the brand at the heart of also everybody needs a break. How can we capitalize on that? And F1 has gone from being very much, I think known as a petrol head sports, to really bringing in different audiences, so younger, more diverse across the genders and it's global and Kit Kat is a major global brand of ours. So it was an excellent opportunity to really bring together the brand and I guess wouldn't have been an expected place. And then to capitalize on that, on giving people a better break as well.

Ilyse Liffreing (02:08):

Can you give me a little bit of background about why sports and why Formula One?

Antonia Farquhar (02:15):

I think for me, sports is one of the last truly appointment of view. Live viewing. You do not want to miss the race. You do not want to miss the final, you do not. There's so many of those moments now where it is also, people are talking about it, who won, how's the lineup, where is it? Et cetera. So it's part of cultural conversations and really the opportunity for our brands is to connect into what's happening, making sure we are injecting our brands with freshness and bringing in that new con