Hershey’s boosts marketing spend with digital-first strategy

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Table of Contents

 Overview: Hershey’s Marketing Reset

  • Hershey’s is undergoing its biggest brand refresh in nearly a decade
  • Marketing budget for its flagship brand increased by ~20% (Marketing Dive)
  • Part of a broader shift toward:
    • Digital-first storytelling
    • Always-on cultural relevance
    • Integrated media ecosystems

The goal: reignite growth for its core chocolate brand while competing in a fast-evolving digital landscape.

 Investment Strategy: Bigger, Smarter Spend

Increased Budget Allocation

  • Hershey spent about $600M on advertising (2024 baseline) (Wall Street Journal)
  • Now increasing spend specifically for the Hershey’s brand by 20% in 2026 (Marketing Dive)

This signals a shift from maintenance marketing → aggressive brand building.

Shift in Spend Mix

Instead of relying heavily on traditional seasonal ads (e.g., holidays), Hershey is reallocating toward:

  • Digital & social platforms
  • Influencer marketing
  • Streaming TV & connected TV
  • Experiential and live events

The strategy prioritizes where attention is moving—online and mobile-first environments.

 Digital-First Execution Model

1. Social & Creator-Led Marketing

  • Heavy use of platforms like:
    • TikTok (Branded Effects, influencer campaigns)
    • Snapchat (AR lenses) (Marketing Dive)

Focus: Reach Gen Z and younger Millennials where they spend time.

2. Video-First Storytelling

  • Campaigns built around:
    • Short-form video
    • Athlete-driven storytelling (Olympics tie-ins)
  • Distributed across:
    • Social platforms
    • Streaming environments

Video becomes the primary storytelling format, not just TV ads.

3. Immersive & Interactive Experiences

  • AR activations
  • Real-time content drops
  • TikTok Shop integrations

Moves Hershey from passive ads → interactive engagement ecosystems.

4. Always-On Cultural Marketing

Hershey is aligning campaigns with major cultural moments:

  • Winter Olympics (2026)
  • World Cup
  • America250 celebrations (Marketing Brew)

Strategy: Stay continuously relevant, not just seasonal.

 Flagship Campaign: “It’s Your Happy Place”

Campaign Highlights

  • First major campaign in 8 years (Marketing Dive)
  • Emotional positioning around:
    • Happiness
    • Shared moments
  • Features Olympic athletes and personal stories

Multi-Channel Rollout

  • Digital-first activation
  • Social storytelling
  • Influencer and athlete content
  • Physical activations (e.g., chocolate medals)

Designed as a platform, not a one-off campaign.

 Media Strategy Shift: Converged Ecosystem

Paid + Owned + Earned Integration

Hershey is restructuring how media works together:

  • Paid media → ads & sponsorships
  • Owned media → brand channels, retail stores
  • Earned media → PR, cultural buzz

The company is building a connected media system, not siloed campaigns. (AdExchanger)

Content Expansion Beyond Ads

  • Launching a feature film about Hershey’s founder
  • Creating retail and experiential touchpoints
  • Using branded content as entertainment

This turns marketing into content ecosystems, not just ads.

 Strategic Objectives

1. Reignite Core Brand Growth

  • Hershey’s chocolate lagging behind faster-growing brands like Reese’s
  • Aim: Make the flagship brand culturally relevant again

2. Reach New Audiences

  • Expand beyond:
    • Families
    • Holiday buyers
  • Target:

3. Build Year-Round Engagement

  • Move away from:
    • Seasonal spikes (Halloween, Christmas)
  • Toward:
    • Continuous engagement across the year

4. Compete in a Digital-First Ad Landscape

  • Competing with brands that dominate:
    • Social media
    • Influencer culture
    • Short-form video

Hershey is repositioning itself as a modern, always-on brand.

 Early Strategic Signals

  • Stronger presence across social and cultural moments
  • Increased experimentation with new media formats
  • Broader campaign ecosystem (events + digital + retail)

Indicates a shift from traditional FMCG marketing → platform-driven marketing.

 Challenges & Risks

Rising Costs

  • Cocoa prices up significantly
  • Increased marketing spend adds pressure on margins (Inc.com)

Execution Complexity

  • Managing:
    • Influencers
    • Platforms
    • Real-time content

Requires strong data, coordination, and agility.

Brand Balance

  • Risk of:
    • Losing nostalgic identity
    • Over-modernizing

Must balance heritage + innovation carefully.

 Key Takeaway

Hershey’s digital-first push represents a major evolution:

From seasonal, TV-heavy marketing → to always-on, digital-first brand ecosystems

It combines:

  • Increased spend (+20%)
  • Social + creator-led content
  • Cultural moment marketing
  • Integrated media strategy

The result is a transformation from a legacy chocolate brand into a modern, digitally native storyteller.

Here are detailed case studies and expert commentary on how The Hershey Company is boosting marketing spend through a digital-first strategy:

 Case Studies: Hershey’s Digital-First Strategy in Action

1. “It’s Your Happy Place” – Multi-Platform Digital Storytelling

What Hershey did:

  • Launched its first major brand campaign in 8 years
  • Increased marketing budget by ~20% to support it (MediaPost)
  • Built the campaign around:
    • Olympic athletes
    • Emotional storytelling
  • Distributed content across:
    • Social media (short-form clips)
    • Streaming platforms
    • Athlete-owned channels

Real-world execution:

  • A long-form hero video was broken into multiple digital formats
  • Athletes shared content on their own social accounts

Why it works:

  • One core idea → scaled across platforms
  • Blends brand storytelling + creator distribution

Case insight: Modern campaigns are not ads—they are content ecosystems designed for fragmentation.

2. Paid + Owned + Earned Media Convergence

What Hershey did:

  • Shifted from traditional paid-heavy media to a connected ecosystem
  • Integrated:
    • Paid ads (TV, digital, streaming)
    • Owned channels (web, retail stores, theme parks)
    • Earned media (PR, cultural buzz)
  • Even created entertainment content, including a feature film about its founder (AdExchanger)

Real-world impact:

  • Stronger brand visibility across touchpoints
  • Marketing extends beyond ads into experiences and storytelling

Why it works:

  • Consumers don’t experience brands in silos anymore

Case insight: The future of marketing is media convergence, not channel optimization.

3. Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) Digital Commerce Expansion

What Hershey did:

  • Built a direct-to-consumer platform (Shop.Hersheys.com)
  • Focused on:
    • First-party data collection
    • Personalized shopping journeys

Results:

  • +98% increase in orders
  • +105% increase in sales (merkle.com)

Why it works:

  • Moves Hershey closer to the customer
  • Reduces reliance on retail intermediaries

Case insight: Digital-first marketing is strongest when tied directly to commerce and data ownership.

4. First-Party Data & Personalization Engine

What Hershey did:

  • Built a large data ecosystem through:
    • Loyalty programs (12M+ users)
    • Digital engagement platforms
  • Used data for:
    • Personalized email campaigns
    • Targeted social ads
    • Campaign optimization

Real-world impact:

Why it works:

  • Personalization increases relevance and conversion

Case insight: First-party data is the core fuel of digital-first marketing.

5. Cultural Moment Marketing (Always-On Strategy)

What Hershey did:

  • Built campaigns around major global events:
    • Winter Olympics
    • World Cup
    • America250 celebrations
  • Activated across:
    • Social media
    • Retail
    • Experiential events

Real-world impact:

  • Transition from seasonal spikes → year-round engagement
  • Broader audience reach (including non-traditional buyers) (Wall Street Journal)

Why it works:

  • Keeps the brand continuously relevant in culture

Case insight: Digital-first brands win by being always present, not occasionally visible.

 Expert Commentary & Industry Reactions

 A Shift from “Seasonal Brand” to “Always-On Brand”

Experts note Hershey is moving away from:

  • Holiday-heavy campaigns (Halloween, Christmas)

Toward:

Comment: This aligns with how consumers now interact—daily, not seasonally.

 Content Is Replacing Traditional Advertising

Industry leaders highlight Hershey’s move toward:

  • Films
  • Social storytelling
  • Influencer-driven content

Comment:
Marketing is evolving from ads → entertainment ecosystems.

 Data + Creativity = Competitive Advantage

Hershey combines:

  • First-party data
  • AI-driven insights
  • Creative storytelling

Comment:
This hybrid approach allows both:

  • Precision targeting
  • Emotional storytelling

 Rising Costs & ROI Pressure

Experts warn:

Comment: Digital-first strategies require:

  • Strong measurement models
  • Continuous optimization

 Competing with Digitally Native Brands

Hershey is responding to competition from:

  • Social-first snack brands
  • Influencer-driven product launches

Comment:
Legacy brands must modernize media strategy to stay relevant.

 Strategic Lessons for Marketers

1. Build Campaigns as Content Systems

One idea → many formats → multiple platforms

2. Own Your Data

First-party data enables personalization and ROI

3. Integrate Media Channels

Paid, owned, and earned must work together

4. Tie Marketing to Commerce

DTC platforms turn engagement into revenue

5. Be Always-On, Not Seasonal

Relevance now requires continuous presence

 Final Takeaway

The Hershey Company is transforming from a traditional FMCG advertiser into a digital-first, content-driven brand:

From seasonal TV campaigns → to always-on, data-driven, multi-platform ecosystems

By combining:

  • Increased marketing spend (+20%)
  • Creator-led digital content
  • First-party data
  • Cultural moment marketing

Hershey is building a model designed for the attention economy, where relevance is continuous and engagement is interactive.

 

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