Hershey's Marketing Blog Post

 Brechin Carroll  

 Robert Priewe 

 Marketing BA223

11 October 2024

With Halloween on the rise I thought it would be interesting to see how different candy companies get an edge over their competitors. Hersheys is taking a different approach this Halloween by using AI (artificial intelligence) to find underserved consumers in markets that other big brands missed.

          The AI that Hershey is using, known as Chalice, helps engage the "movable middle" of shoppers by pushing them towards buying their candy using key social media platforms. The AI's tools rely on a lot of different algorithms that work together to monitor the availability of the product, the impression pricing, and the campaign pricing. Hershey actually tested Chalice last Halloween with a single retailer and found the process inefficient because Hershey had to manually share ZIP code data with Chalice to see which stores we're under preforming compared to the national average. Despite the hiccups the results seemed promising. Hershey's next important step is looking to apply these tactics and technologies year round not just in the make or break parts of the year.

Hershey is creating new ways to increase their sales by targeting specific markets using digital media assistance. Based on the results of Hershey using this strategy last Halloween, they figured out that for every dollar they spend on advertising, it earns four times that return on investment. Hershey continues to find new innovative ways to be good partners to retailers. 

Hershey's is trying to overcome a couple different problems, one of them being creating waste, no one likes to be wasteful. They also have a problem if they don't reach a certain threshold of sales, the retailers buy less next year. They are overcoming this problem by advertising more to underserved markets and less to oversaturated markets. 

What makes this strategy unique is the use of artificial intelligence, and to my knowledge it seems no other big candy brands are utilizing AI the way Hershey is. They also reached new buyers in places such as Topeka, Kansas. 

Overall this marketing strategy worked well for Hershey, but it's risky relying on AI in it's early development. The other critique I have is, it's not the safest thing to shift focus in unproven markets during unstable economic times. 

If I was in Hershey's shoes, I would've spent a little more time on developing their AI, making sure they  ironed out all the kinks so there would be no backfire when put to use. Something I learned from this article is how much waste theses big candy companies can have if they don't meet their goals. 

https://www.marketingdive.com/news/hershey-halloween-ai-in-marketing-advertising-week-new-york/729425/

https://www.thehersheycompany.com/