The Hershey Company: Marketing
Cheryl Hankins
CM105-16 – College Composition I
Instructor Honea
March 11, 2009
The Hershey Company: Marketing
The Hershey Company, founded by Milton S. Hershey (1857-1945), was built in Derry Church, Pennsylvania, in 1903 (The Hershey Company Web Site, n.d.). The community, made famous by The Hershey Company, was later renamed as Hershey, Pennsylvania. The company has become the largest North American manufacturer of quality chocolate products, which include a variety of candy bars, drink mixes, and baking ingredients and today is the leading North American manufacturer of chocolate and non-chocolate confectionery and grocery ...view middle of the document...
Hershey began airing a television commercial that marks the beginning of its "Pure Hershey's" campaign (Beirne, 2008). This campaign is associating the candy maker's chocolate with feelings of happiness, innocence and simplicity, and will serve as an umbrella campaign for the company's other top brands (Beirne, 2008).. Although the main target will be the 18 to 34 year-old group, these commercials will reach out to the young, teens, and seniors using the same methods (Beirne, 2008). The advertising firm, Arnold NYC, Chief Creative Officer, John Staffen, says “The campaign tries to play up to the emotional ingredients that go into a Hershey bar. Their focus, will rely on core brands in this venture” (Beirne, 2008).” Yet another commercial, targeting the older chocolate lovers, portrays Bar None. This campaign focuses on the ingredients of what Bar None has and what others in this category do not have, and also includes an ad for the Cookies n’ Mint bar, which features guitar-playing senior citizens (Warner, 1993).
David West, Hershey CEO, said a decline in the sale of Kisses would not be acceptable and the core brand most likely to be used for “Project Runway” will be Hershey’s Kisses(Goetzl, 2009). The life story of the Hershey’s Kisses began in 1907. The “plume” that extends from the wrapper was trademarked in 1924. Between the years 1942 and 1949 no Kisses were produced because of foil rationing during and after World War II. To honor Valentine’s Day, red and silver foil was introduced in 1986. In 1990, the company introduced a new twist to Kisses: a Kiss with almonds. The Kisses tried out “healthy” dark chocolate in 2003. The year 2007 brought forth the century mark for Hershey’s Kisses (Doup, 2007). Although the magazine promotion ads will focus on teens, young adults and seniors, the Hershey Company has laid out detailed guidelines for the places, it will not advertise in their "Project Runway" integration. Included are shows and publications that offer "graphic and unnecessary violence" and "sensationalism involving delicate and controversial social subjects" (Goetzl, 2009).
In sponsorship advertising, The Hershey Company is using various celebrities to promote some of its products. One such celebrity is Tony Hawk, skateboarder, who will participate in television commercials. These celebrity commercials will help promote the Hershey’s Milk and Milkshakes to children and youth (Thompson, 2003). The idea is, when children and youth see Tony drinking a Hershey Milkshake, they will be influenced into trying the product themselves.. Another celebrity working with Hershey’s on the new campaign is country music artist, Brad Paisley. This partnership will also help Paisley, who has appeared on core brand wrappers in the past,promote his new album, “5th Gear.” The theme for the “S’mores” advertisement campaign is summertime and campfires, which will promote family fun for all age groups, and will star the Hershey’s chocolate bar...