Chapter 5- Developing a Global Vision

With exports to over 90 countries Hershey’s has taken advantage of the global markets. Hershey’s chocolate and grocery products worldwide are exported worldwide and they have licensing agreement with partners in nations such as South Korea, Japan, the Philippines and Taiwan. The following international markets also have Hershey websites Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Japan, China and Korea.

Over the past five years their international business has grown at an annual rate of about 20%. At the moment they are concentrating on strengthening their markets in India, Brazil and China.  Harris International brand equity study researched over 1,000 brands across 42 categories in 2010.  Hershey’s Kisses was named the highest rated brand that year with Hershey’s Milk Chocolate scoring number 3 and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups number 6.

One of the reasons as to why Hershey’s Kisses are so popular around the world is because Hershey’s has tweaked and  perfected the product to serve each markets needs and seize the opportunities. One of the adjustments they have made in eh Chinese market is wrapping the Hershey Kiss in gold colored foil in order to make the product look more appealing to the consumer. Today Hershey’s is investing in its global infrastructure, and brands in order for their other products to reach such high popularity.

Chapter 4- The Marketing Environment

Hershey’s target market is not easily identified since chocolate appeals to a wide variety of people of all ages and backgrounds since chocolate products can be used as gifts and be given away for special occasions such as birthdays. Valentines day and Christmas. Also chocolate can be used for people who need quick energy.  With that being said there main targets are children and students. They purchase the Hershey’s chocolate bar as a snack. They choose the snack because it is quick easily accessible and relatively priced. Unless it is a special occasion or a part of their daily diet this is a purchase that is done impulsively. Therefore they appeal to their target market through brand recognition and quality which is reinforced in their commercials. 

Chapter 3- Ethics and Social Responsibility

Hershey’s believes on building Milton Hershey’s legacy on commitments to customers, community and children because “we provide high-quality Hershey products while conducting our business in a socially responsible and environmentally sustainable manner.”

They have Corporate Social Responsibility priorities and for goal for improvement concentrated around the following four areas:

Marketplace – engage in fair and ethical business dealings through responsible sourcing, through alignment with our customers and through our promise to our consumers.

Environment – practice environmental stewardship throughout our value chain, including product design, sourcing and efficient operations.

Workplace – foster a desirable place to work to engage employees, who contribute to our continued success.

Community – work to positively impact society and our local communities.

According to their scorecard they have improved the market place through integrity of supply by revising suppler code of conduct which can be found at http://www.thehersheycompany.com/hersheys-partners.aspx

For the environment they have many programs to conserve energy and become greener. One of these ways is in January of this year their Reese’s plant in Hershey, PA became a zero-waste- to landfill operation.

They are promoting employee health welfare in the workplace through investment in wellness programs such as Hershey’s Lifestyle Returns program. Finally for their community, in 2009 they pledged to give $1 million dollars to the Penn State Hershey’s Children’s Hospital over the course of the following 5 years. For more examples for how Hershey’s is acting responsibly visit their scorecard for Corporate Social Responsibility : http://www.thehersheycompany.com/assets/pdfs/hersheycompany/scorecard2010.pdf

Although Hershey’s claims to be socially and ethically responsible according to laborrights.org most of their cocoa is sourced West Africa, a region plagued by forced labor, human trafficking and abusive child labor. While this occurs the corporation fails to act responsibly because they lack a system in which they ensure its cocoa purchases from this region are not tainted by labor rights abuses. To make matters worse they have not been transparent with the suppliers of the cocoa in order to prove that the chocolates we all enjoy were not made under conditions involving child labor. They have fallen behind the completion not being involved with the Fair Trade Certified cocoa as only one line in 2006 included this cocoa. Meanwhile its competitors have all taken part of this including many small local companies have been offering 100% Fair trade for years now.  As a result they have launched in March 2011 CocoaLink, a mobile technology program to bring our farmer education program to cocoa farmers in Africa. Even so I believe they should do more than that such implementing on of their top sellers with Fair Trade Certified cocoa. 

Chapter 2 - Strategic Planning for Competitive Advantage

As the competition in the marketplace has increased Hershey is now required to “increase expenditures for promotions and advertising and continue to introduce and establish new products.”  As leading manufacturer of chocolate as well as its related products it sets its self apart by offering “quality” chocolate at an affordable price. In the recent years they have leveraged their classic products such as Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and Hershey’s Kisses in order to meet their goal.

They have done so by offering a new variety such as White Reese’s Cups, Reese’s Bites and Reese’s Pieces. They have also created options for their foreign markets, for example filing them with hazel nut or marshmallows for their East and Western European customers. 

Another example is making the Hershey’s Kisses the candy choice of everyday versus being only a choice for the holiday. In order to achieve this goal they have begun to offer dark chocolate, mint flavored and even caramel filled kisses.  Their advertising campaign ties directly with their mission statement showing real people enjoying chocolate as a part of the experiences usually tying in with the current season.

By doing so they have managed to stay up front of their competitors and acquiring the fancy-front displays used to lure shoppers upon entering the store. They have also been strategically placed over the conveyer belts taking the place of the National Enquirer. This ensures they have a wide audience waiting to enjoy a little happiness. 

Hershey's Mission Statement

Today the mission statement of Hershey Food Corporation is: “Bringing sweet moments of Hershey happiness to the world every day.”

They say it summarizes their company, their people, their past and their future. Their history of producing the world’s best treats goes back more than 100 years. They take great pride in their brands and in the fun and enjoyment of their products added to the lives of their consumers.

Hershey's Brief History

The Hershey Company is the leading North American manufacturer of chocolate and non chocolate confectionaries as well as chocolate related products. They produce many well known brands such as Almond Joy, Kit Kat, Twizzlers, and of course the iconic Hershey’s Chocolate.

It all started with a man names Milton Hershey.He owned the Lancaster Caramel Company which in 1894 decided to produce chocolate as a coating to the caramels. They named the business Hershey Chocolate Company. By 1900 they had begun to produce their chocolates in many forms such as bars and in wafers. Due to mass production revolution they were able to take an item that was once considered a luxury reserved only for the wealthy affordable to all.

This was huge success causing them to quickly expand therefore creating new products such as Mr. Goodbar. Hershey’s Kiss were the first addition to the milk chocolate confection in 1907 and began to be wrapped in the silver foil in 1921. Later on in 1968 after acquiring other related companies and even expanding into other food products the company was renamed Hershey Food Corporation.  Today it is known around the world exporting to over 90 countries with net sales of 5 billion dollars according to the company. Even after all this they still remain committed to values and vision of the man who started it all.

Chapter 4- The Marketing Environment

Bobbie Brown Cosmetics is about each woman finding her individual beauty. Her cosmetics are for the fashion-conscious customer who wants professional grade makeup. Their customers range from the experienced teen to the mature woman. The companies primary target is the career oriented woman which would range from her 20's to her late 40's, who want makeup to emphasize their natural beauty. The makeup line attracts its customers with ads that have models wearing a minimal amount of makeup not the harsh, flashy looks. Their makeup is appealing to its main target market by offering products that are multi-funcional such as the Pot Rouge which serves as both a lip and check stain. Also it new shadow pallet. Shadow Options, can be used for either day or night looks or to transition form one to another by combining the neutral daytime shades with the sparkling metallic night shades. The colors for this pallet tie into the falls Moroccan inspired boho-chic look appealing to their fashion forward customer. They target their younger audience with most teen girls makeup staple, lip gloss. Their product High shimmer lip gloss offers a lot of shine with trendy colors such as the Electric violet. The makeup line tries to convey self -confidence and that "flaw" can be beautiful through their ads and overall appearance. To further educate their customers they offer makeup classes for all their different target markets. Bobbie Brown Cosmetics represents real beauty extenuates through high quality, easy to use products.

Chapter 3- Ethics and Social Responsiblity

Bobbie Brown Cosmetics is socially responsible by taking part in the organization Dress for Success.  This is an organization to help people who have had a difficult time in finding jobs and provide them with professional work clothes and help them be better prepared for the market. Here Bobbie volunteers once a month, giving makeovers to those women who are applying for jobs as well as those who have recently been hired. In 2009 the company donated 20,000 cosmetic kits to this organization world-wide. Besides volunteering her time she also makes a monetary donation of $25,000 with her QVC appearances. 

     

  The parent company Estee Lauder is also a believer in philanthropy. Their main one is the Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign which raises awareness in many ways such as distributing the pink ribbons along with informational brochures on breast health. During the month of October their companies including Bobbie Brown sell unique pink ribbon products.

Although I could not find controversies or information on lack of ethical or social responsibility on Bobbie Brown Cosmetics I did find one on another makeup line which is owned by the same parent company. MAC Cosmetics was involved in a distasteful name for their nail polishes of their September 2010 collection. The collection was in collaboration with the Rodarte fashion house and was inspired to colors and culture of Mexico. The name that caused all the controversy was Juarez, a frosty nail polish. For those of you that don’t know Juarez is a factory town in Mexico which is notorious for the raping and murdering of many of its female residents. Amelia Parry, the editor-in-chief of TheFrisky.com (a fashion blog) called it “tasteless.” She also said “Naming a secondary nail polish shade "Factory" further indicates the brand's cluelessness, as most of the women and girls who have been murdered in Juarez disappeared on their way to or from work at the town's factories."

Following this incident MAC has extended its apologies “We understand that product names in the MAC Rodarte collection have offended some of our consumers and fans. This was never our intent and we are very sorry,” In order to win back their offended customers MAC stated that they would give a portion of the proceeds to aid those women in need in Juarez and they are investigating the best way to do this. They stated they would offer more information later on.

This caused a positive response from Parry who stated there was no longer the need to boycott the brand.I believe this was a smart move on MACs part after creating such an uproar over a sensitive issue.