Kit Kats Global Head of Marketing Shares what it really takes to build and protect an iconic global brand?
In this season opener for Season 5 of That’s What I Call Marketing, Conor Byrne is joined by Wael Jabi, KitKats Global Head of Marketing at Nestlé, for a deep conversation about brand judgement, consistency, partnerships, and the decisions that quietly shape long-term growth.
Wael’s career spans Leo Burnett, Procter & Gamble, and Nestlé, and the discussion moves well beyond surface-level case studies. Together, they explore what KitKat teaches us about resisting reinvention, diagnosing the right marketing problems under pressure, and how major cultural platforms like Formula 1 can be used to express brand meaning rather than dilute it.
This is a practical, reflective conversation for CMOs, brand leaders, and senior marketers who care about building brands that last not just chasing short-term performance.
Topics covered include:
01:55 – Wael’s career path: agency to P&G
05:50 – Why advertising isn’t the most important thing
09:40 – A pricing decision that went wrong
14:20 – Diagnosing the wrong marketing problem
18:40 – KitKat and brand consistency
23:15 – “Breaks are broken” insight
26:50 – Making iconic work at global scale
30:20 – Formula 1 and partnerships
34:50 – Showing up in your world vs theirs
38:20 – Judgement under pressure
41:00 – What’s next for KitKat
Thanks to Tracksuit for their partnership with this episode, check out https://www.gotracksuit.com to find out more about the always on brand tracking platform
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