Chapter 8- Business Marketing

Hershey's is a leader in chocolate industry therefor naturally they would sell to other businesses. In order to facilitate this they have a variety of websites targeting different types of businesses. There are three different websites , ORDERS.MYHERSHEYS.COM which is to order online and is market as a 24/7 real time environment in which businesses can place and track orders. They are offered a catalog from where they can view all the products available and any additional information they may need. The second website is http://www.hersheys.com/cstore/?HG_ID=HCST001 this is for convince stores who wish to carry Hershey's candy products, which the majority of the do. It is a place where they are given helpful tips and tools in order to boost sales and how to market and display candy. The third is for something that is sometimes overlooked but a big part of Hershey's sales, vending machines. http://www.hersheys.com/vending// offers all the product line available for sale through this method. They even have advertisements for those in the vending machine business as seen below.

By selling to other businesses and taking part in business to business online exchange they are able to maximize their profits by including these potential customers.

Chapter 8 : Segmenting and Target Markets

In order to sell their products successfully they have to identify their target markets. Although Hershey's products are widely available and enjoyed by many if we take a closer look we see that they have a few segments and one of the most important onces is the segmentation of the family life cycle. Through research they have found out that mothers play a large role in the decisions in the house and introducing brand loyalty. Being aware of this is why they have a variety of commercials of mothers or families bonding over a Hershey product.

Children are of course the targets for the chocolate products but if we pay attention we see that many adults have a sweet tooth as well. This was proven by some research that adults consume over 55% of all the candy sold. Therefore by demographics they market the bite size chocolates to adults. They started out with the Hershey Kisses that is now loved by all. Recently by adding more bite size chocolates they appeal to those who are trying to be health conscious and feel that a regular chocolate bar is too much. By having bite size versions they feel as if they aren't over indulging and are also viewed more portable alternative. The adult target market is very profitable and where most of their business comes from. This is how they have managed to stay ahead of the competition.  

chapter 11- Developing and Managing Products

New Products are important to sustain growth , increase revenues and profit, and replace obsolete items. A product can be new several ways either to the world, to the market, to the producer or seller, or some combination of these. Hershey usually takes part it extending their existing product lines such as with their newest product Hershey's Air Delight bar which is based off the classic chocolate bar.

In the early to mid 2000's Hershey consistently debuted 200 new products every year according to consumer product tracker Mintel. In 2008 only 146 were debuted and the numbers dropped to 40 in 2009. Then they began to implement a tool on their website in which they ask their customers what their ideas are for new product are. This has helped them develop new products that such as Bliss and their pieces line.

Unlike their competitors such as Mars and Nestle, Hershey has fallen behind in the development of new products lines instead just like their new marketing strategies that focuses on their core brands any new products are going to be additions to top existing brands with in the company this is the strategy that has helped the company survive through out the recession. A larger part of their band history is to be innovative and its time that Hershey has a break through moment with a new innovate product. As they have done in the past with Kisses.  

Chapter 16: Integrated Marketing Communications

AIDS concept is a model that outline the process for achieving promotional goals in terms of stages of consumer involvement with the message: th acronym stands for attentions, interest, desire, and action. Hershey just like any other company puts the AIDS concept into action to promote its products such as Kisses. In their commercial for kisses they grab your attention while your waiting for your TV program to resume or a video on you tube to start.

 In commercial just like the one above, are very animated in order to keep your attention since the Hershey as a brand is already established as well as the Kisses product. It creates interest by showing a check list that one of the kisses is holding while another Hershey kisses is being produced that says delicious and it is checked off. Then they produce desire by zooming in on the one of kind checked off. Then it is deposited with a happy mom and daughter sharing some Hershey's Kisses. This is the action part in that these people have bought it and so should you which is reinforced with their slogan at the end “ Delightfully Delicious One-of -Kind Kisses”

This commercial does a good job of getting the viewers attention and creating the desire for a chocolate.  

Chapter 10- Product Concepts

Hershey's has been around since the 1900's and is now one of the  most recognized chocolate companies in the and as well as a leader here in the United States. Since its beginnings its product mix has grown significantly since they have branched out into other categories besides chocolate such as gum, mints and snacks. 


Their products can be categorized as convenience products because they are relatively inexpensive and are widely available in a variety of stores across the nation. They manufacturing company strongly believes in its branding and this has been the secret to their success in the recent years. As I have stated before their new aggressive marketing plan has been based on reintroducing its iconic brands such as Hershey's Kisses, Hershey's Bliss and Resses through new commercials and magazine ads.They use a combination of both family branding and individual branding which is important when they have so many products under one company.  This over the years has created brand loyalty which Hershey's heavily realizes on. Also they have trademarked their products such as Kisses and with such popular products they have used product line extension. This can again be seen in Kisses as there are a large variety of them available all year round such as special dark, caramel. Or sometimes for they holidays they have exclusive flavors such as this year where they include Kisses dark chocolates filled with mint truffle, Chocolates filled with Cherry Cordial Crème, and candy cane flavored Kisses. Products such as those have Hershey's stay on top.  

Chapter 18: Sales Promotion and Personal Selling

Companies can use sales promotions to attract new customers and help keep ones. Hershey’s realizes on sales promotions especially during holidays in which a lot of candy and chocolate is expected to be sold such as Halloween, Valentines Day and Easter to be the preferred choice over competitors such as Mars and Nestle. These deals are usually buy any two bags for $5 as shown in the picture below or 4 for $7.

They also take part in point of purchase display promotion to encourage the impulse buyer. Also they sometimes take part in sweepstakes such as the current S’mores fall tailgating contest, in which the ultimate prize is a new Chevy SUV. On their website they even have tab named promotions. With the aide of these promotions they hope that customers will choose them time and time again if they ever decide to purchase chocolate.

Due to the fact that there only a handful of stores named Hershey’s they don’t focus so much on personal selling as they do on promotions since most of their sales comes from connivance stores and pharmacy’s. However in the few stores that they do have such as the one in Times Square they are usually giving out samples of either brand new products or a customer favorite such as Kisses. By doing so they are interacting with the customer and drawing them into the store. They are a few sales associates who will gladly help you find that  special souvenir although most are not very aggressive due to the fact that most of the items will sell themselves. They are however knowledgeable in the different types of chocolate they carry.

Chapter 17- Advertising and Public Relations

Hershey's has been one of the top companies in the chocolate business having a diverse profile extending from Kits Kat's to Hershey's Kisses. Its current advertisement consist of a S'mores commercial using Hershey's Chocolate Bar, a pure Hershey's commercial with a mother and daughter and two commercial for their latest drop collection that promotes the Hershey's Bar now coming in bite size chocolate pieces.

Before 2008 the company was highly criticized for not investing enough on marketing causing its sales to decline behinds its main competition Mars who own Snickers and M&Ms therefore they began to implement a new strategy investing in its core brands such as Hershey's, Kiss and Resses. As a result they have seen a significant increase in their sales in those products. Since this was such a success they later expanded their campaign to include Kit Kat and Twizzlers spending over $426.4 million last year in adverting.

As a result the net income has increased by 11% overall. In 2010 they debuted the Pay Day and Hershey;'s Syrup ad's which have not had advertisements since 2001. For the current season they have focused their attention the S'mores with there slogan “ Making every occasion a S'more occasion.” This goes together with the tailgating theme due to football season. To engage the customers they are having a promotion in which they are giving away an SUV. Their other concentration is the newest line drops which has been a success mainly due to creative advertisement.