Table of Contents
What you will find in this Case Study?
- About the Hershey Company
- Evolution of Hershey Company
- Marketing Strategy
- Micro-Marketing
- Holiday marketing
- Hershey’s Ad Campaigns
- Social Media Marketing
- Information Sharing Strategy
- Conclusion
About The Hershey Company
The Hershey Company, known commonly as Hershey’s, is one of the largest chocolate-producing companies today. It is a global leader in chocolate, operating under 80 brands in 70 countries worldwide. This multi-billion dollar company is one of the oldest chocolate companies in The United States and its chocolate bars have become iconic for Americans.
Founded in 1894 in rural Pennsylvania by Milton Hershey, the Hershey Company’s popularity has only grown over the course of the last century. And during that time frame, the Hershey Company’s brand has evolved, their marketing features have changed, and they have shaped and have been shaped by their customers.
The Company was making over one hundred different chocolate products: They came in fantastic shapes like cigars and wafers and were wrapped in colorful packing.
They own many famous brands, including but not limited to, Reese’s, Kit Kat, Hershey’s Kisses, and York Peppermint patties.
Evolution of Hershey Company
The video above delivers a very brief overview of Hershey’s evolution as a company. It highlights some of the changes in their marketing implements: how Hershey started mass-producing milk chocolate, how the company promoted their chocolates as “affordable luxury,” how they created their signature brands, and how in the 1960s, they began to create media campaigns, employing a variety of different tactics to target different audiences.
Hershey’s early chocolate products were very different from the Hershey’s we know today. One of the most important features that led to Hershey’s success was his candidness to change and nerve to make bold turns in the course of his business.
Marketing Strategy
The Hershey Company is a spearhead in the US confectionery market with a marketing approach dedicated to strong brand equity, product originality, and constantly superior product quality.
Hershey has been increasing its advertising budget to make its product innovations public. In 2016, Hershey invested 20% of its total media on digital media – 3 times more than the previous year.
Hershey’s main strengths in marketing are brand awareness and brand reliability. Its core brands -Kisses, Twizzlers, Reese’s, Kit-Kat, and the Hershey Bar.
Micro-Marketing
Hershey applies a micro-marketing concept to its businesses, which means that it markets precise products to small target audiences, modifying its products to meet these audiences’ specific demands. Hershey aims to give its customers a larger range option by branding their products at higher prices. The Company also has pre-designed provisions for weddings, baby shower, birthdays, and holidays.
Holiday Marketing
Hershey counts on a range of advertising practices during the holiday season. Every holiday, it designs a special theme for chocolates and candies. It also makes sure that Hershey products everywhere are presented with the apt holiday theme.
Hershey’s Ad Campaigns
Hershey’s started advertisement from the 1930s that shows Hershey’s chocolate syrup as a “stepping stone to health.”
The Company did very little advertising in its first few decades.
In 1960, they began to launch national ad campaigns. Following their previous descriptions of Hershey’s chocolate as beneficial for your health, they launched a TV commercial that showed Hershey’s instant powder as a way of getting kids to drink their milk.
The Hershey Company involved many different audiences with their ad campaigns: children, dancers, and even immigrants. One commercial that they created even showed people of various societies enjoying a Hershey’s, the “great American chocolate bar.”
Hershey’s new campaign that features the emotional story of a young girl named Scarlett who is on a mission to reconnect with her hard-working father through their love of Hershey’s S’mores and Syrup.
Hershey’s advertising strategy is focused on the emotional connection consumers have with the Hershey’s brand as a whole. The company new campaign is “Hello Happy. Hello Hershey’s”.
Social Media Marketing
Hershey took the extra effort of advertising on its multiple social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for each brand. Hershey uses each social media platform to reach out and stay connected with their dedicated fans and followers.
A current picture of Hershey Company over various social media platforms:
- 8,840,417 Facebook fan following
- 37.8 K followers over Instagram
- 38.5K followers over Pinterest
- 5,906 followers over Twitter
- 10,287 Subscribers over YouTube and 36,749,632 views
In terms of posts, Hershey’s is definitely the most talkative candy on Facebook, posting almost twice as frequently as the next closest brand.
Once fans log onto the Hershey’s Facebook page, they can scroll down and find “more fun on Facebook” through links to Facebook pages for Hershey’s Bliss, Hershey’s Syrup, Hershey’s Kiss and Hershey’s Kitchens.
Hershey’s social media plan is intended to capture a more diverse target market. They want to make every family member a Hershey’s lover.
Social media will be utilized for posting fun ideas that can be done with Hershey products. It will allow the consumers to ask any questions that they have. The social platforms will show pictures of new and current products. Hershey can also use social media to engage their customers, in any event, going on in different communities.
Information Sharing Strategy
For the information sharing strategy, Hershey’s will be utilized is its website. In the website you will be able to find more about their products, history, recipes, videos, and much more.
From this platform you will be able to post on other platforms like Facebook and Twitter. In Hershey’s website you will also be able to links that takes you to websites like hersheystory.org, hersheypark.com, and hersheytheatre.com.
Conclusion
The company is heading in the right directions in some aspects such as their increasing in marketing as a result of a new marketing campaign they initiated a couple of years ago.
owever since they have dedicated so much on establishment their core brands such as Kisses, Twizzlers, and Reeses they have stopped coming out with new chocolate or candy bars. This will affect them in the long run as competitors such as Nestle and Mars are constantly feeding its consumers new products.
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