Though “Every Kiss Begins with Kay” is one of the most recognizable taglines in advertising history, Kay has been seizing opportunities to reposition itself by evolving their iconic tagline to stand for every kind of love: when Kay says “every kiss,” they mean, every, single, kiss.

After launching #EveryKiss for Pride 2020, Kay wanted to find another high impact, culturally significant moment in 2021 that could expand the campaign. With the help of TikTok and The Elements, Kay aimed to amplify organic and paid visibility, brand awareness and engagement by inviting audiences to co-create one-of-a-kind content.

The New Year’s Eve Times Square Ball Drop and the tradition of sharing a midnight kiss provided the perfect opportunity to expand #EveryKiss. Just before the clock struck 12, Jonathan Bennett (official host of the Times Square NYE Ball Drop) and his husband Jaymes Vaughan invited the millions watching the event to join the #EveryKiss challenge by creating a TikTok video of every kiss that brought them to this moment, New Year’s Eve 2022.

The strategy was a phased approach, leveraging a live-broadcast event and digital activations:

·        Partnered with Time Square Alliance as the Official Sponsor of the New Year’s Kiss and collaborating with TikTok to launch a Hashtag Challenge inviting creators to post “#EveryKiss."

·        Tapped into an iconic cultural moment, translating the excitement and energy of New Year’s Eve into a movement on TikTok that maximized cultural relevance for the brand. 

·        Worked closely with key creators (i.e., Jonathan Bennett & Jaymes Vaughan) to lead the call-to-action and drive awareness of the #challenge.

·        Collaborated with TikTok Music Services and The Elements, who created a custom song which contemporized the Kay jingle.

​By far, the #EveryKiss challenge has set a new precedent for being the top performer in the Retail Jewelry category in the US and also one of the strongest performers ever in the overall Retail category, according to internal data. Specifically, the campaign gained 3.3 billion views in 3 days and currently over 13 billion views and counting. Over 83.1 million unique users were reached as 1.2 million creators participated in the challenge with over 2.3 million videos created. Additionally, the campaign's song reached #11 on TikTok’s Viral Sound Chart.