The Chocoholics Agency

Abigail Nejako, Ervin Suarez, Ian Dworak, James Ehrmann, Joey Clark, and Niclas Mohr

Integrated Marketing Communications

Professor Catherine Hessick

April 18, 2019

 Table of Contents

Executive Summary………………………………………………………………………….. Pg. 3

PART ONE: Review of the Marketing Plan & Analysis of Promotional Program Situation

Industry Background ………………………………………………………………………….Pg.4

Organization ………………………………………………………………………………….Pg. 5

External Review: Competitive Position …………………………………………………...….Pg. 8

SWOT Analysis. ………………………………………………………………………….....Pg. 12

Marketing Strategy/Goals…………………………………………………………………....Pg. 16

PART TWO: Integrated Marketing Communications Program

Set Communication Objectives …………………………………………………………......Pg. 17

Develop Creative Message/Strategy ……………………………………………………..….Pg. 19

Creative Recommendations ……………………………………………………………...….Pg. 21

Media Recommendations .…………………………………………………………………..Pg. 25

Monitor, Evaluate, and Control……………………………………………………………...Pg. 29

Budget Summary …………………………………………………………………………....Pg. 30

References ………………………………………………………………………………...…Pg. 31

Appendix……………………………………………………………...……………………...Pg. 37
 Executive Summary

Our integrated marketing communications plan is to create the Hershey Gold Rush

contest. This contest will be an addition to the usual Hershey’s Easter holiday campaign. Our

target audience will be challenged to find as many Golden Kisses as they can over the course of

the campaign. At the end of the contest, the top three participating households will receive an all-

expense-paid trip for four to our wonderful Hershey Park.

 The main campaign objectives for our promotion are to take over the majority of the

market share for the Easter season, increase trial purchases among consumers, and

increase the frequency at which a consumer in our target market purchases our product.

 The primary target audience of our campaign is consumers between the ages of 35 to 49

in the North East region of the United States. Our secondary target market is consumers

between the ages of five and seventeen, ideally the children of our primary target market.

 Our campaign theme consists of the creation of an Easter Gold Rush contest with an all-

expense-paid trip as grand prize to generate current and future repeat purchases. With

this, our original slogan for the upcoming Easter holiday will be “Strike Gold this

Easter.”

 Our media plan consists of a television commercial and numerous social media posts in

order to extend our reach and promote our contest. Each media piece will emphasize the

Easter Gold Rush contest in order to get more people buying Hershey’s and collecting

wrappers.

 To evaluate the effectiveness of our plan, we will track the number of Golden Kisses

redeemed on our website so that we can estimate the number of bags purchased
 specifically from our contest compared to previous Hershey Kiss sales during the Easter

season.

The objective of this campaign is to increase Hershey’s total market share of the Easter

candy market, to increase the number of regular buyers of Hershey’s Kisses, and to increase their

frequency of purchases.

PART ONE: Review of the Marketing Plan & Analysis of Promotional Program Situation

Industry Background

The Chocolate Production Industry in the United States is an established segment in

which our client, The Hershey Company, participates. The NAICS code for this industry is

31135, which includes chocolate and chocolate-based production of products ranging from

chocolate bars to boxed chocolate and chocolate covered nuts (Amir, A, 2019). This is a large

and mature industry generated $17.1 billion in revenue last year, with $1.3 billion being profits.

It generates $1.7 billion in exports and has approximately 3308 participating businesses

worldwide (Amir, D, 2019). Among these numerous businesses, The Hershey Company has been

able to maintain a market share of 14.5% (Amir, D, 2019). In the last five years, the industry

revenue has grown at an annualized rate of 0.8% and is expected to increase for years to come

(Amir, C, 2019).

The Chocolate Production Industry strongly reflects trends in consumer behavior and the

demand of chocolate products. A trend that has the potential to increase demand for chocolate

would be the rising disposable income of our consumers (Amir, E, 2019). Consumers will

indulge on a product regardless of their income level, but having a larger income would increase

the likelihood of more frequent purchases. A major trend the Chocolate Production Industry
should consider is the societal shift of consumers to become more health conscious. With people

focusing on making healthier choices, the demand for sweets such as chocolate, has decreased.

More specifically, poor consumption habits have been linked to health problems such as diabetes

which has further veered consumers away from confectionary purchases (Amir, E, 2019).

Organization

Internal Review

The Hershey Company was founded in 1894 and is now the largest chocolate

manufacturer in North America. Headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania, the company follows

a principle that to do well is to do good. Their foundation was built on the deep connection

people have with their company, their brand, and their enduring purpose to help children

succeed. As the largest chocolate manufacturer in the U.S., the company has two business units,

producing all of its chocolate products in one and all of its sweets and refreshments in another.

With a market share of 14.5%, Hershey’s falls just short of Mars Inc. (27.5%), making them the

second largest market share holder in the industry (Amir, G, 2019).

The Hershey Company produces over 100 different varieties of products from several

different recognizable brands. Hershey owns a variety of brands including Cadbury, Reese’s,

Jolly Rancher, Kit Kat, Milk Duds, York Peppermint Patty, Mr. Goodbar, Almond Joy,

Twizzlers, Take5 and more, with a variation of products ranging from Hershey’s bars, Reese’s

cups, eggs, brownie mixes and even syrups (Hershey’s, B, 2018).

Hershey’s mission statement is “continuing Milton Hershey’s legacy of commitment to

consumers, community and children [by] providing] high-quality HERSHEY’S products while

conducting our business in a socially responsible and environmentally sustainable manner”

(Comparably, 2019). Based on this statement, Hershey has differentiated itself in its market
through shared futures, business, our planet, and communities. Hershey has created and provided

vitamin-fortified snacks to 50,000 schoolchildren in Ghana so that they have the necessary fuel

to make the most of their education. They have also supported 54,000 farmers through their

Learn-to-Grow programs and have reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 2.7 percent.

Furthermore, they minimized packaging waste by 18.5 million pounds and have raised $550,000

through their employee-led Children’s Miracle Network team as well as donating $1.8 million to

charity with their employee Season of Giving Campaign. Hershey has stated their goal is to be

socially responsible and environmentally sustainable and they really mean it.

Hershey’s most notable products are the classic chocolate bar and the Hershey Kiss.

Although Hershey has many different brands and products, their well-known higher quality is

consistent throughout. No matter if you are looking for sweet or savory, Hershey has a product

that will fit your needs.

Description of product/brand

Our campaign will focus on increasing the market share of Hershey within the Easter

holiday time frame. Our promotion of the “Golden Hershey Kiss” will run from after Valentine’s

Day through the Easter holiday. It is intended to appeal to families desiring to build memories

though the opportunity of winning an all-expense-paid trip to Hershey Park. This campaign will

also strive to capitalize on the already increased demand for this particular time period by

creating an urge for them to continue to purchase multiple specially designed bags of Hershey’s

Kisses.

Overall, the company has seen a 5-year trend of constant positive revenue. In 2014-2018,

Hershey posted a profit of $7.24B, $7.39B, $7.44B, $7.52B, and $7.79B, respectively. In terms

of Easter related success within the past year, second quarter profits have soared an additional
40%, opening up a window to capitalize upon this years’ particular campaign. Given this

increase in seasonal demand, Hershey is provided with the edge it needs to increase its market

share.

We feel that, for the purpose of this campaign, an 11 oz bag prized at $3.59 should fulfill

our current goal of producing repeat purchasing consumers. We have chosen to sell our specialty

Easter themed Gold Rush bags in this smaller weight to maximize the frequency of repeat

purchases throughout the campaign.

The Hershey Kiss has always held extensive coverage in the retail environment of this

market. Our product is present in big-box retail and convenience chains such as Walgreens,

CVS, and Walmart. Over the past two years, our Amazon presence has increased by 35%. This

boom originates from the fact that Amazon currently accounts for 40% of overall online candy

sales (Mintel, 2019).

The Hershey Company is within the mature stage of its life cycle. Sales have been

increasing at a slower rate in recent years, however it remains a dominant force in its market. For

example, the iconic Hershey Kiss wrapper dates back to the product inception in the early

1900’s. Regardless of promotion, this treat maintains a constant place in the hearts of its

consumers. Our goal of this campaign is to maintain or further grow Hershey’s market share.

The Hershey Company has continued to be a global confectionery leader, known for

spreading goodness and happiness through its chocolates, sweets, mints and their various other

products. Hershey has secured a yearly average revenue of $7.4 billion (MarketWatch, 2019).

Although they have changed their styles and logos, the Hershey brand image has remained

unchanged. They have delivered the same taste and unmatched culture for over 120 years.,

forever recognized and forever loved.

 Hershey’s current market position in the chocolate production market is a quality and rich

chocolate at a competitive price. This has granted Hershey consistent brand loyalty. Hershey’s

advertisements depict heartwarming scenes of families laughing and enjoying the time they

spend together. By doing this, they have created a “family oriented” brand that has been enjoyed

in the past and for generations to come.

External Review

The competitive landscape of the chocolate confectionery market is one that is well

established and moderately concentrated. The top four players account for 60.6% of all industry

revenue in the United States in 2019. Major companies in the industry engage heavily in

acquisition activity, concentrating market share even further (Amir, D, 2019). Existing brand

preferences of consumers make it difficult for new entrants to gain substantial amounts of market

share. However, as large chocolate producers acquire smaller companies to increase their market

share, small operators who have entered the market offering niche products have been successful

in establishing a brand and product following. Of the four major players in the industry of

chocolate production, Mars Incorporated and Chocoladefabriken - Lindt & Sprungli are

Hershey’s biggest domestic competitors in regard to market share (Amir, G, 2019). The key

target market for Mars Inc. are women between the ages of 25 and 49. Mars currently controls

27.5% of the market share of the US chocolate production, outpacing The Hershey Company

(14.5%) by 13 % (Amir, G, 2019). Consumer perception of the different Mars chocolate candies

fall into the premium product positioning. This mainly has arisen from their large product line of

premium flavors and upscale in their Dove and M&M collections.

Mars’ marketing strategy is to target women who like to entertain. They have the

competitive advantage of first mover status with their pioneering of a new distribution channel.
At the time of its induction, there was no other direct-selling company to conduct chocolate

tasting parties (Gallagher, 2008). This transition was facilitated by their strong brand strength

and assortment of premium products, with Dove Chocolate being the top-selling premium brand

(Gallagher, 2008).

Mars has adopted several promotional strategies in recent years for the successful

marketing of its products. They have been using electronic media since its onset by launching

witty and informative ad campaigns on television. Recently, the company has started advertising

via social media platforms, including Facebook and YouTube. Its popular taglines include “A

Mars a day helps you work, rest and play” and “Mars gives you Energy.” Mars has also roped in

a long list of famous personalities to act in its ads and increase its brand awareness over its long

history (Bhasin, B, 2018). They have focused their communication messages to speak on their

efforts of environmental sustainability. Through a program called ‘Cocoa for Generations’, Mars

places the interests of smallholder farmers at its center, helping to safeguard children and forests.

For nearly 40 years Mars has been working tirelessly to create sustainable cocoa production,

establishing nearly 180,000 farmers with the sustainability certification (Jackson, 2018).

Mars’ biggest advantage over its competitors is their long history, being a household

name for generations, and their extreme breadth of marketplaces all over the world. Mars

operates manufacturing and research and development facilities in more than 80 countries

worldwide. The company sells its chocolate products under 29 different blockbuster brand

names; including M&M, Snickers, Dove, Milky Way and Twix. In 2016, Snickers, Milky Way

and M&M’s were ranked first, fifth, and eight respectively in the top 10 best-selling chocolate

bars (MarketLine, 2018). While the chocolate powerhouse has many strong brands that hold it

afloat, they face the weaknesses of product recalls that greatly hinder those brand images. In
January 2018, Mars Ireland recalled a batch of Galaxy Milk Bars and Maltesers Fun Size Bags

due to the possible presence of salmonella (MarketLine, 2018). Product recalls, besides resulting

in large financial expenses, affect consumer confidence in the products and inherently negatively

impact its brand image.

The other of Hershey’s domestic competitor is the Switzerland based chocolate company,

Chocoladefabriken - Lindt & Sprungli. The primarily target market of Lindt and Sprungli is adult

consumers aged 35-55 (WARC, 2016). Their market share is smaller than both industry leaders,

Mars and Hershey. Lindt retains 8.6% of the chocolate confectionery market (Amir, D, 2019).

Lindt positions themselves within the confectionery market as providing several affordable

upscale chocolate brands. Their marketing strategy involves their multiple brands being viewed

by consumers as the perfect gift for their significant others, friends, and relatives. Part of this

strategy involves the use of appealing packaging that further enforces the conception that their

chocolate brands are higher end. (WARC, 2016). Lindt’s communication strategy is focused on

the message that the chocolates are high quality, premium chocolates. They frequently use TV as

the communication channel and broadcast a commercial campaign they call TVC (Sweet Fix,

2013). This channel is particularly effective in increasing demand during the holiday season.

Lindt & Sprungli AG produces a wide range of quality chocolate products including

Lindor, Excellence Chocolate, dessert baking chocolate, hot chocolate, pralines, and creation

blocks (Bhasin, A, 2018). Globally, they run over four hundred chocolate shops and beyond

these shops their products can be found in luxury stores, shopping malls, and airports (Bhasin, A,

2018). Their products follow a premium pricing strategy to reflect the quality of their products in

relevance to their competitors. In terms of promotion, they are active on a variety of social media

outlets including their website, Facebook page, Instagram, and Twitter. Lindt also hosts events to
promote their products (Bhasin, A, 2018). In April 2007, Lindt hosted an event called the Gold

Bunny Hunt for the Easter holiday where they promoted their chocolate bunnies wrapped in gold

foil by providing free samples (Odell, 2007). The Lindt gold foiled bunnies have since been

featured in an annual Easter event in Los Angeles, hosted by chocolate loving celebrity, Kristen

Belle (Lindtusa). This event has been successful in promoting their Easter chocolates and attracts

famous attendees such as Kristen Belle’s co-stars from The Good Place.

Lindt and Sprungli is headquartered in Switzerland, which has a reputation of producing

some of the finest chocolate in the world and this association helps to set them apart in a positive

way in the minds of consumers. Their strengths lie in their expansive brand portfolio, their global

operations, and their liquidity position (Chocoladefabriken, 2018). They have various brands

such as Lindt, Ghirardelli, and Russell Stover that make up their brand portfolio. The strength of

these brands helps to maintain a strong market position and enhances their market share

(Chocoladefabriken, 2018). The company is in more than 120 countries across the globe, with 12

manufacturing facilities throughout the United States and Europe. This geographical spread of

production plants helps to reduce the risk of large-scale recalls of their products

(Chocoladefabriken, 2018). On the other hand, the weaknesses of Lindt and Sprungli are their

debt and the decline in revenue from the NAFTA segment. Their long-term debt continues to

increase, causing growth in their interest expenses. This reduction in NAFTA revenue could

affect the amount of money they receive from investors, as it lowers confidence in their return on

investment (Chocoladefabriken, 2018). Despite their weaknesses, Lindt and Sprungli is a

successful company in the global chocolate market making them a fierce competitor to The

Hershey Company.
 SWOT Analysis

Strengths

As Hershey continues to grow and expand in its market, they have become increasingly

dependent on their wide distribution as one of their top strengths. The Hershey Company has

distribution plants in over 10 different countries, including the United States, Brazil, Mexico, and

China (Hershey Company, C, 2018) and distributes to more than 60 different countries (Smith,

2015). Hershey also takes pride in their substantial breadth of product portfolio, containing over

100 different products ranging from their iconic Hershey’s Bars, to their Hershey’s Kisses and

even to their brownie mixes (Hershey, B, 2018). With this extensive amount of product variance

and various themed packaging, Hershey differentiates itself as one of the most innovative

chocolate brands. From chocolate bars, to mixed snacks, baking goods and even syrups, The

Hershey Company constantly thrives on new and improved products to grasp new customers and

keep old ones coming back. Hershey also differentiates itself with its own chocolate themed

amusement park, Hershey Park. Chocolate lovers can go and taste all of Hershey’s products

while experiencing the thrill of roller coasters and water rides. Guests can see first-hand the

dedication Hershey puts into their brand while they experience top tier dining, entertainment and

lodging at this amazing place. Lastly, Hershey “has more than 80 brands around the world that

drive over $7.4 billion in annual revenues” (Renaud, 2015). They work constantly to make a

positive impact on society, both ethically and sustainably. Focusing on creating a better life for

their employees and children in need (Renaud, 2015). Overall, Hershey aims to create a positive

impact not only for their customers and employees, but for chocolate lovers at every corner of

the globe.

Weaknesses
 Hershey has several areas where it can improve upon. A successful strategy enables us to

spot these weaknesses and to then transform these weak links into competitive advantage. The

Hershey company has seen threats presented by new entrants in the industry, further breaking

down the current market share and causing many small losses. This creates niche categories that

Hershey struggles to adapt to. In the past, Hershey has taken initiative in acquiring some of these

small players to decrease the split of the market share. However, these diverse brands have

struggled to grow into a cohesive image behind the Hershey culture and brand. Additionally,

Hershey has yet to achieve a fully sustainable supply of cocoa. The Hershey Co. is in the process

of making $500 million investment with the hopes of attaining 100% sustainable cocoa by the

year 2020. The use of lower percentage cocoa derived from plants in the sun is less than shade-

grown cocoa which can be productive for more than 15 years (LA Times, 2018). This creates an

immense criticism towards Hershey due to its size and brand image. A higher percentage cocoa

allows for better and more profitable chocolate. Competitors such as Mars are not behind in

enforcing this same change within their company. Hershey additionally sees issues with a lack of

innovative campaigns in comparison with the competition. This topic strongly relates to our IMC

goals and can be seen as an opportunity to create a competitive advantage. There are various

marketing gaps among the products sold by the company. Strong focus is placed on certain

products, leaving others to fall short in promotion and sales. Even though sales continue to be

positive, the fact that many other less popular Hershey products don’t have their own positioning

can welcome threat from competitors chasing the same ambitions.

Opportunity

Currently, Hershey only predominantly operates in 60 countries, this is not enough for a

brand of this magnitude. Therefore, there is a great opportunity for expansion, along with the
incorporation of creating new distribution networks. In terms of population per mile, India

density show a clear priority for expansion for Hershey and could lead to a major return on

investment. Ultimately, population creates the biggest scope for expansion (Hershey Company,

2017). This will enable the Hershey to establish new channels of distribution, specifically in

Ghana and Ivory Coast. With the growing emphasis of e-commerce in today’s marketplace,

creating impulse buying in this sector, similar to at a grocery or convenience store, is a great

opportunity for Hershey (Nieburg, 2015).

Threats

High competition within the chocolate market is an ongoing threat for

Hershey. Decreasing margins can bring a substantial threat to the Hershey because it relates to

raw material issues, such as the cocoa consumption threat. In regards to margins, products, labor,

fuel, and distribution costs continue to rise for other companies as well. This results in a huge

decrease in margins throughout the whole industry and causes imitation, counterfeit, a low

quality products to rise. In low income markets, getting cheap products out quicker is a priority

while production for the bigger companies is slowing down. With that being said, some

competitors sometimes end up paying higher margins to the local distributors which companies

such as Hershey can’t compete. On a further note, with higher costs and higher consumption of

cocoa, the entire process of obtaining the raw materials at profitable rates becomes a lingering

bottleneck in regards to production for Hershey.

Analysis of company/market and consumer needs

The most pressing need in the chocolate market place is facilitating impulse purchases

within the e-commerce sector. Impulse purchases are the main source of chocolate sales in

grocery and convenience stores. The transition into an e-commerce marketplace has diminished
both the quantity of impulse purchases and the quantity of sales as a whole. Getting consumers to

purchase chocolates in addition to their groceries when shopping online is a major need within

this market space.

Marketing Strategy and Goals

Marketing Goals

We are implementing a micro-marketing strategy where our main focus lays on smaller

target markets. This enables us to adjust our promotions to our target market’s specific demands.

To communicate with such target markets, we will be initiating two main marketing goals;

increasing sales volume and increasing sales revenue. Our newly developed and specified

campaign will help us reach those goals. Enticing buyers to seek out golden wrappers within

Hershey Gold Rush contest, we will be able to increase the number of consumers buying our

product on the one hand and rise the frequency of purchases from these buyers on the other. With

the Easter season approaching soon, we have focused our efforts on obtaining an even greater

amplification of sales revenue than years past. We will achieve this through the installment of

our promotional plan and its stimulation of demand.

Target Markets

To determine our segmentation, we accessed the National Retail Federation’s data on

Easter consumer spending by demographics and geography. With this data in mind, we selected

consumers ages 35-49, in the Northeast region of the US, as our primary target market. Roughly

90% of consumers in the northeast who are planning on celebrating Easter this year are also

planning on purchasing candy as part of their observance of the holiday (NRF, 2019). This is the

highest purchasing intent of candy across all age demographics and all regions of the country.
We also chose this as our primary target because consumers of this age group are more likely to

have younger children. This geographic location is also in relatively proximity to the park, so

consumers in this area are already familiar with the park and are more likely to participate in the

Gold Rush Contest. This demographic would find the most appeal of our promotion given the

nature of the contest and the opportunity to build long-lasting family memories on a free

vacation.

Our secondary target market is children between the ages of five and seventeen, idealling

the offspring of our primary target market because they have the power to influence their parents

to buy decision. This younger market will also be strongly motivated to participate in the contest

by way of our social media posts and online points system.

PART TWO: Integrated Marketing Communications Program

Set Communication Objectives

Communication Expectations

In order to achieve our marketing goals, to increase in sales revenue and sales volume, it

is important to focus on setting communication objects. We expect to build preference inside the

minds of consumers that the Hershey Brand and the Hershey Gold Rush is THE Easter brand and

that it embodies the joy of the Easter season. We also want to drive our audience to action; to go

out and purchase Hershey’s Kisses, to participate in the contest, and not only aim to become

winners of the grand prize, but to bond through the experience of the overall joy Hershey offers

during the Easter season.

The Gold Rush Contest will be the main tool in helping us reach this goal. The contest

will inherently focus our customers to take action and purchase Hershey Kisses, first through

trial and then with greater frequency, because they want to have the family experience of the all-
expense-paid trip to Hershey Park. Additionally, our television and social media advertisements

will help to promote more consumers to participate in the contest and guide preference of our

customers to associate us more closely with the joy of Easter.

Campaign Objectives

Preference of Easter Holiday Market

Through variation of the heavily popular Hershey’s Easter themed candy, the company

has been able to dominate a large portion of this holiday’s sales. Hershey’s top two Easter brands

(Reese’s and Cadbury) within the chocolate market allows them to gain leverage in manipulating

which products are emphasized for the coming season. For this particular IMC campaign, we

would concentrate focus on the Hershey Gold Rush campaign of the Hershey’s Kiss. This leads

into our first campaign objective; creating said preference over competitors within this holiday.

Creating a campaign focused on consumer engagement and repeat purchase to acquire the

presented prize, will ultimately lead to the preference of Hershey over competitors in the Easter

chocolate market.

Increase trial purchases

With every new bag of candy introduced, brand loyalty is a large contributing factor for

choice and preference. Our new buyers will be current and future Hershey lovers now

experimenting with the new promotional product. Also including customers who are motivated

to win the grand prize. We will downsize the portion of each package to an 11 oz candy bag to

facilitate this transition to our new product. It is a cheaper alternative and a more easily

consumable amount of Hershey’s Kisses. This size is perfect for trial purchases if new buyer

may not be fond of the candy and feel they may be wasting money on their purchase. This

smaller size will also help instigate greater frequency of purchases, our third campaign objective.
According to “U.S news.com” (2017 survey), the several different sizes and counts of Kisses

discouraged new buyers in past due too irregular or very similar counts of chocolate pieces in

supposedly different sized bags. Keeping it to a below average amount while still adding the

challenge of one mere golden wrapper keeps the new consumers active and intrigued.

Increase frequency of purchases

To fulfill the goal of increased purchase frequency, a custom smaller size of the Hershey

Kiss package will be used during this promotion so the kisses will be consumed with a greater

pace than with the original 22 0z bag. We want our consumers to more frequently consume and

return to the store in search for their next golden wrapper. Decrease bag in half= increase

frequency to 2

Campaign Strategies

To facilitate our campaign objectives our agency will be utilizing the Hershey’s Gold

Rush sales promotion alongside a television advertisement and a social media calendar. To

participate in the Hershey’s Gold Rush sales promotion, families are encouraged to buy bags of

Hershey’s Easter Kisses to compete with friends and bond in hopes of winning the grand prize at

the end of the contest.

Our social media campaign will consist of a month of posts on Hershey’s Facebook,

Instagram, and Twitter pages to connect with our audience in addition to social media

advertisements shown to our target audience who are not currently following these accounts. The

month long calendar will highlight the ongoing contest as a reminder to active participants and

customers who have not yet joined.

 The television advertisement will primarily raise awareness of the campaign and increase

trial purchases. We decided to incorporate the TV advertisement to reach a large portion of our

target market on the ABC network.

Message Strategy

Positioning & Campaign Theme

Hershey product have habitually been the purchasing trend for consumers during the

Easter season. Our top five most popular Easter items strive to fit our customer's ideal image of

the holiday. This is amplified by our complete coverage of Easter images on our products and

intense Easter themed advertisements. Relative to our competition, we concentrate on being

innovative and express this through our innovative NOT INNOVATIONpackaging that initiates

the excitement of the season. You can’t celebrate Easter without eggs or chocolate. You

especially can’t celebrate without an Easter Egg Hunt! We want to encourage customers to bring

out their inner child and to search for the special prize within Hershey’s Gold Rush this holiday

season. We want consumers searching for the gold!

Currently, the Hershey Company owns the top five most popular Easter items within its

top two brands, Reese’s and Cadbury (National Retail Federation, 2019). In addition to the

Easter themed products under these brand names, Hershey markets include Kiss carrot candy

cakes, milk chocolate covered marshmallow-egg, and multiple Hershey Kiss deluxe themed

boxes and packaging variation. This wide variety simply outweighs any Easter initiatives of

prime competitors. Specifically, Mars Chocolate produces and runs emphasis on two measly

products for the Easter season. The key to success in this season is “Variation”. Who wants to

get the same Easter candy year after year? Every consumer enjoys to be presented with multiple

variations so that they may choose the product best that suits them. By adding our Golden Rush
Kisses, we add yet another uniquely themed candy spin-off, this time; with a huge pay out that

no other competitor is currently willing to offer their consumers in this specific market.

Being able to claim this lead in variation allows Hershey to also position uniquely as a

company. This position of variability allows our target consumers to have extensive options in

themed products during this season and effectively differentiates Hershey from their competition.

The campaign theme, as mentioned before, is the idea of searching again and again for

the golden wrapped Kisses. We are creating a “gold rush” for the consumer to instigate

frequency of purchase of the product in hopes of accumulating enough points to earn the all-

expenses-paid trip to the exciting Hershey Park. Our original slogan for the holiday will be to

“Strike Gold this Easter”. In both senses, the customer will be striking gold every time they

discover a golden Hershey Kiss, and will have struck gold when winning this golden experience.

Creative Recommendations

Sales Promotion

The sales contest will be primarily for our chosen primary target market because they are

the ones who will most likely be purchasing the bags of chocolate and entering the points online.

The promotion will also be used to motivate the secondary market of their children because of the

prizes that the contest offers them. The main goal is to motivate our entire target audience to

purchase the product.

The advertising objective for this sales promotion is to persuade the target audience to buy

Hershey’s chocolate during the Easter season. The goal is to facilitate brand preference toward

Hershey during the Easter holiday and encourage consumers to repeatedly buy our product

throughout this season. The strategy that we chose will promote our contest and show consumers

the benefit that buying Hershey’s chocolate could offer them.

 The promotion will appeal to the consumers’ emotional side because of the opportunity of

building lifelong family memories at Hershey Park. The satisfaction of winning the contest will

also attract consumers because it will appeal to their personal sense of achievement and

accomplishment. The winners of the contest will never forget the experience they had while

searching through bags of Kisses, exploring through the park, and enjoy all that world of Hershey

has to offer. A consumer in this position will certainly develop brand loyalty toward Hershey for

life.

This contest will appear as a fun competition that embodies the spirit of the classic Easter

egg hunt. It will be promoted across all of Hershey’s social media accounts and also during the

television advertisements. Hershey’s sales promotion will be a competition where consumers can

collect golden wrappers, with the top three competitors winning the grand prize of a 4-day and 3-

night all-expense-paid-trip for four to HersheyPark in Hershey, PA. Consumers will buy bags of

Kisses, where they have the chance to find a “golden wrapper” with a code inside to redeem each

wrapper on our website. You can sign into the website with your email or with your Facebook

account. If you sign in with your Facebook account, you will be able to see your friends’ progress

within the contest. One out of every two bags will contain a golden wrapped Kiss and each golden

wrapper is worth one point. At the end of the contest, the persons with the most amount of

redeemed points will win the trip. This promotional strategy will go along with our normal Easter

promotional activities. We will have pictures of the Golden Kiss posted all over our social media

and our television commercial will feature the new golden wrapper.

Television Ad

Our goal is to reach our primary target market of parents ages 35-49. To accomplish this

goal, we will air the ad during “The Bachelor” finale on March 11 in a specified local
th
advertising slot. We chose this program because it will give us an expansive reach while staying

within our budget and reaching a large portion of consumers within our target market age

bracket. We will also air the commercial during “America’s Funniest Home Videos” because of

its time slot and the nature of the show, this can help us reach some of our secondary target

market in addition to the primary target market.

This ad should increase awareness of the promotion across a big portion of our target

market. The commercial will persuade the target audience to get engaged with the online points

tracking system as well by showing the URL to the sign-up page. The advertising strategy that

we are using is meant to make the consumer associate the Hershey Kiss with Easter and the great

times that their family could have at Hershey Park. This ad will elicit an emotional response

from the consumer and will simulate their social-based feeling for recognition since we want our

consumer to identify with the characters in the commercial. We will also try and create a happy

and joyful feeling in the consumer by showing the enjoyment the actors get by opening the bag

of Kisses and how happy they are when they win and are walking into the park.

This television commercial will use the dramatization execution style by using the

Hershey Kiss as the center of the commercial. The commercial will open with a mom shopping

at the grocery store and when she gets to the last item of her shopping list she sees “Hershey’s

Kisses” written on the bottom is her kids handwriting. She contemplates buying the Kisses for

them for a second and then chooses to buy a bag of the new Gold Rush Edition Hershey Kisses

and it will be shown on camera here. This will represent the exposition of the advertisement and

when the mom gets home the kids will run out to her car to see if she purchased the Hershey

Kisses they wanted. This will increase the suspense within the ad before the mom finally reveals

to her children that she bought the Gold Rush Kisses. When they get inside the house, the mom
sets the groceries down and the children search for the special bag (the bag will be shown here as

well). Once found, the children then dig through the bag of Kisses and pull out a golden wrapped

Hershey Kiss to add it to a collection in their room. This advertisement emphasizes the goal of

collecting as many gold wrappers as possible to win the Gold Rush Contest.

Social Media Calendar

Since we will be showing these ads on three different social media platforms, each

platform will be directed at different target markets. Facebook will target our primary target

market and Instagram and Twitter will target our secondary target market. This is because the

demographics for Facebook are mostly 25 to 44 year-old’s (Statista, A, 2019), which is more

inclusive to our primary target market, while Instagram and Twitter mainly attract younger

crowds (Statista, B, 2019).

This chain of social media posts will increase awareness to consumers who have not seen

the TV ad broadcasted on ABC since we will only be broadcasting it once. Each individual ad

included in the calendar (Figure 1) will appear on each of our social media platforms (Instagram,

Facebook and Twitter) as an image (see examples under calendar), with a caption relating to

what is in the image. Our first post (see Ex. 1) will be an introductory post, asking consumers if

they are ready to start the contest and begun collecting golden wrappers. It emphasizes the one

Golden Hershey Kiss in the package as an indication of how the project will work. The caption

will tell the consumer to go to our website and sign up to start collecting. Our second media post

(Ex. 2) is a pun on how we have the Golden Kisses but also refers to “gold” as the trip you could

win if you collect enough wrappers. It is mainly used as a reminder of the contest so that

consumers who don’t know about it will then sign up and consumers who have already been
playing, keep collecting. The third post (Ex. 3) plays on the consumer’s psychological

competitive aspect, driving them to want to collect more so they can win the grand prize.

Overall, the social media calendar will elicit an emotional response from consumers as

they will feel like they are a part of something bigger. Since humans are social beings and want

to be included with others, consumers will have a social desire to sign up and start collecting and

competing against their friends and peers. The calendar will also influence consumers by getting

them into the Easter holiday spirit through the use of pastel colors normally associated with the

holiday as well as themed hashtags. Eventually, consumers will start to relate our contest with

the Easter holiday and it will become a commonality for themselves and their family to

participate in for the holidays to come.

Our social media ads will be posted on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter in order to gain

the most amount of reach as possible. We will mostly post on one of the platforms at a time, but

occasionally post on all three simultaneously when it is an important announcement. As you can

see from the example social media posts (Ex. 1, 2, and 3), we will be emphasizing the Gold

Hershey’s Kisses in order to influence our consumers to participate in our contest. The message

in each post is simple, yet effective and will emphasize what is shown in the image. The theme

of each post will stay the same throughout the contest, including a solid Easter color background,

an image relating to the contest, a simple phrase, and a caption with the same hashtags to tie it all

together (#HersheyGoldRush, #EasterSZN, and #FindYourJoy).

Media Recommendations

Objectives

Our media objective is to reach 80% of our primary target market with a frequency level

of two. We believe that the television programs we have selected to show our advertisement
during will be able to reach the largest percentage of our primary target market. The

advertisement will also be prominently represented on Hershey’s social media sites where it will

reach even more interested consumers. Ultimately, our goal is to create initial awareness of this

incredible trip as the grand prize of the Hershey Gold Rush Contest. After the premiere of our

initial advertisement, word of mouth will continue to increase our reach and frequency of

viewing, persuading viewers to participate in the contest for a chance of being awarded this prize

and purchasing enough bags to reach the supreme milestone.

Creating a solid relation between The Hershey Company and the Easter holiday will be

the next object. As mentioned, we are seeking to increase the preference of Easter chocolate

towards the Hershey during the Easter holiday. With first-mover status in regard to a promotion

of this kind and a grand prize of this magnitude, our objective of creating this relation is very

promising due to the emotions we elicit with this strategy and hope to continue with in years to

come.

Strategy

Our media strategy will be building on our predetermined social media schedule, which is

coming with our sales promotion. The social media schedule will be reaching both our primary

and secondary markets whereas the informative, reminding messages will be released through

Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Another main media strategy will be broadcasting our product

and contest, to the Northeast region, on TV advertisements to be able to make consumers aware

of our campaign. Transferring our TV advertisements on social media platforms will also enable

us to increase our reach of view to potential buyers. Some buyers might not watch the TV ads

during the scheduled time of broadcasting, so applying the advertisements to more platforms will

increase the chance of our campaign getting viewed by potential customers. Considering the
buyers who did see the advertisement during its original broadcast, duplicating it to more

platforms will reinforce the message since our campaign due to the frequency of views.

Media Plan

Our media mix will consist of two television ads and a social media campaign on

Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter that will span through the majority of the promotion. We

chose these mediums because they fit best to reach our primary and secondary target market.

68% of adults use Facebook regularly, which is the highest of any of the social media platforms,

so we will use this platform to reach as many people in our primary target market as possible

(Smith, 2018). Instagram and Twitter will be used to obtain part of our primary target market,

but will be used mostly to target our secondary target market.

The geographic scope of our marketing mix is the Northeastern United States region,

including NJ, NY, CT, MD, DE and VA. Our ads will be broadcasted in this region only. The

promotion will be scheduled to pulse throughout our campaign from after Valentine’s Day to

Easter with Hershey’s social media accounts posting daily and our ads only airing once. The goal

of our T.V. ad is to reach 15% of our total target market, which is approximately 1,472,235

people. As mentioned before, since we will run the ad twice, it will have a frequency of two and

it will be shown during “The Bachelor” finale and “America’s Funniest Home Videos”. The cost

per ad is $139,797 and $56,270, respectively. The cost per thousand will be about $95.

We predict our social media calendar, which includes Facebook, Instagram and Twitter,

will reach 25% of our total target market, totaling approximately 2,453,725 people. Our posts

will follow the social media calendar and we will post at each platform’s peak engagement

hours. For Twitter and Facebook, the highest engagement of the day is around 9 am and

Instagram’s peak is around 5 pm (Kolowich, 2019). The cost per click (CPC) on Facebook and
Instagram is $0.70 and $0.56 on Twitter for promoted advertisements (Nanja, 2017). We set a

budget of $250,000 to allocate towards CPC and promoting on media feeds. We will cease

promoting our ad on our social media sites when we reach our $250,000 limit. The cost per

thousand for our social media plan is $102.

Cost of Advertisements

The first cost in our budget is the cost of sending three families to Hershey Park,

including hotel fees, admission to the park, meals, and airfare. As stated in the budget, this cost

consists of $2,393.00 for the price of an all-expense paid vacation: 4 days in the park 3 nights in

deluxe accommodations, delicious meals, and Hershey Park tickets for the whole family

(Hershey Park, 2019). This also includes the cost of round-trip flights: 4 round-trip adult tickets

flying out of the furthest point in our geographic region (Roanoke, VA) to Harrisburg, PA and

back at $305.00 each (Google Flights, 2019) All of these costs are multiplied by three to factor in

each of the three families.

Our next costs include the production of the TV commercial and the cost of running the

ad on ABC network. Since Hershey already currently staffs a production team, we can create a

30 second advertisements without factoring in additional costs (GlassDoor, 2019). The cost to

broadcast our advertisement during The Bachelor (8-10 pm on Mondays) on ABC network is

$139,797 and the cost to broadcast during America’s Funniest Home Videos (7 pm on Sundays)

on ABC network is $56,270 (Poggi, 2018).

Lastly, we have budgeted $250,000 towards our social media budget. We will be

allocating this money towards promoting our ads on potential consumers’ social media feeds and

towards cost per click (CPC) fee. CPC on Facebook and Instagram is $0.70 and $0.56 on Twitter

for promoted advertisements, with 3.56% conversion rate for promotional advertisements in this
market segment (Nanja, 2017). We will cease promoting our ad on our social media sites when

we reach our $250,000 limit.

Monitor, Evaluate, & Control

We will be conducting extensive research on how consumers will react to the video

advertisement, the contest and if they will participate or not. Pretesting reduces the financial risk

of the high cost associated with premiering a poor advertisement on primetime television. To

treat our promotion as a big reveal, we will be conducting our evaluation through the use of a

focus group in order to quantify our data. In the focus group, we will present our finished

commercial portraying the golden wrappers in the bags and a visual representation of the winners

entering the park. Initial reactions of our finished product will provide measurable data in

regards to acceptance or excitement over this campaign from the focus group.

For our television advertisement, rating analysis is the best way of determining how

many people actually had their TVs turned to the right channel when our ad was playing.

Numerous national, as well as regional advertising tracking firms, will provide breakdowns of

what age groups and socioeconomic segments of the population have viewed our ads, what

percentage of these viewers saw it one or multiple times, and what our average cost for

viewership was (Ozyasar, 2017).

For our social media schedule, we will track our hashtag #HersheyGoldRush to see where

it is circulated in real time. The “RiteTag” firm includes a hashtag search feature and organizes

results so you can see at a glance which related hashtags will help our post’s visibility now or

over time. The results also indicate which related hashtags are less popular. This plan ranges

from $7.50 to $15 per month (Bartels, 2019).

 To evaluate the success of our Gold Rush Contest, we will track the number of

participants who sign up with their email, physical addresses and the number of Golden Kisses

they find during the entirety of the promotion. This data will inform us about their geographic

location, approximately how many bags of Gold Rush Kisses they purchased and how often they

purchased them. We will also have the ability to send them updates on their current ranking,

encouraging them to purchase more bags and rank up on the Golden Wrapper leaderboards.

Budget Summary
Summary of Campaign Cost
Aspect of Campaign Cost (in USD) Description of Cost
Grand Prize $2393 + (4 This cost consists of $2,393.00 for the price of an all-expense paid
x $305) x 3 vacation: 4 days in the park 3 nights in deluxe accommodations,
delicious meals, and Hershey Park tickets for the whole family
= $10,839 (Hershey Park, 2019). This also includes the cost of round trip
flights: 4 round-trip adult tickets flying out of the furthest point in
our geographic region (Roanoke, VA) to Harrisburg, PA and back
at $305.00 (Google Flights, 2019). We will have 3 grand prize
winners.

TV Ad $0 Hershey currently staffs a production personnel and owns the

Production necessary equipment, allowing us to create a 30 second
advertisements without factoring in additional costs (GlassDoor,
2019)

TV Ad $139,797 + The cost to broadcast our ad during The Bachelor (8-10 pm on

Running $56,270 Mondays) on ABC network is $139,797 and the cost to broadcast
during America’s Funniest Home Videos (7 pm on Sundays) on
= $196,067 ABC network is $56,270 (Poggi, 2018).

Social $250,000 CPC on Facebook and Instagram are $.70 and $.56 on Twitter for
Media Ads promoted advertisements, with a 3.56% conversion rate for
promotional advertisements in this market segment (Nanja, 2017).
We will cease promoting on our social media sites when we reach
our $250,000 limit.

PR Costs $10,000 We have allocated $10,000 to cover the cost of dealing with
potential bad publicity that will arise during the course of our
marketing program.
Tracking $15 x 2.5 The “RiteTag” firm includes a hashtag search and tracking feature,
Hashtag months then organizes results so you can see at a glance which related
hashtags will help our post’s visibility at a certain point in time or
= $38 over a time period. This plan ranges from $7.50 to $15 per month.

Focus $6,000 The cost of a standard, eight-person, 90-minute focus group

Group (including the moderator) is approximately $6,000 (CSR, 2019).

Total $472,944
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March 2, 2019, from https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/HSY/hershey/revenue
 Appendix

Social Media Calendar (Figure 1)

MARCH AND APRIL 2019

Sun M Tu W Th F Sat
24 25 26 27 28 29 30
Instagram Post Post on Facebook, Instagram Instagram Instagram Post on Facebook
Instagram and Post - Post Post Facebook, Post
Twitter. “Are you Follow us Instagram,
in?” Ad (Ex. 1) on all social and Twitter.
media to get Easter
a FREE themed
CODE happy Friday
post!

31 APRIL 1 2 3 4 5 6
Instagram Post First day of April Instagram Show our Twitter Post on all Instagram
post on all media - Post TV ad on Poll - Ask media - Post
“Strike gold this all social how many video of
Easter” Ad (Ex. 2) medias to points Hershey Park
get more followers
reach have

7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Twitter Post - Instagram Post Instagram Instagram Show our Post on Instagram
Gif of Post Post TV ad on Facebook, Post
magnifying all social Instagram,
glass looking media and Twitter.
for a golden Easter
kiss themed
happy Friday
post!
 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Post on all Post on all social Show our Instagram Instagram Post on all Post on all
media - one medias - show TV ad on all Post Post media - only media - a
week until the incremental prizes social media two days left reminder
contest end - (see creative in the that contest
“Where do recommendations, pt. contest! ends
you stand?” 2) tomorrow
Ad (Ex. 3)

21 22
Post on all End Easter social
media. Contest media promotion.
ends today.
Winner
announced
within the
week.

Social Media Examples

Ex. 1 → Caption: Followers - Have you signed up yet? How many golden wrappers have you

found? #HersheyGoldRush #EasterSZN #FindYourJoy

Ex. 2 → Happy first day of April! Strike gold this Easter by redeeming your points on

Hershey.com/goldrush! Link in bio. #HersheyGoldRush #EasterSZN #FindYourJoy

Ex. 3 → Where do you stand? Only one week left in the contest! Make sure to redeem your

points before time runs out! Link in bio #HersheyGoldRush #EasterSZN #FindYourJoy

Television Commercial Storyboard

Scene 1: A mother shops in the grocery store, picking up a bag of Hershey’s Easter Kisses for

her children.

Scene 2: The mother arrives home to find her children running outside to help her with the

groceries, as they are excited to try and find a Golden Kiss in the Hershey’s Easter chocolate

bag.
Scene 3: The kids dig into the grocery bags and find the bags of Hershey’s Kisses. They open

the bags and find a Golden Kiss!

Scene 4: The kids run upstairs to their room and add the Golden wrapper to their collection.

Scene 5: The family has won the trip to Hershey Park! They are about to enter for the first time

for a weekend filled with thrills.

Population Data (Figure 3)

(Persons) 35-49 (Homes) 5-17 (Homes) (Homes)

State Total Population Primary Market Secondary Market Households

w/ children

New York 19,378,102 3,993,600 3,149,100 2,299,951

New Jersey 8,791,894 1,913,900 1,520,600 2,226,606

Maryland 5,773,552 1,239,400 1,045,200 1,447,002

Virginia 8,001,024 1,696,900 1,339,300 2,047,188

Connecticut 3,574,097 762,200 612,500 908,661

Delaware 897,934 208,900 149,400 230,731

TOTAL 46,416,603 9,814,900 7,816,100 9,160,139

(SuburbanStats, 2018)