Observed Signal · Jan 21, 2026 · Campaign Launch · Source: AdExchanger · Impact: 3/5 · Sentiment: Positive
Hershey Revamps Marketing Strategy with Bold New Campaign
AdExchanger reports Hershey is updating its brand marketing approach with a shift toward an integrated earned, owned, and paid media model. The initiative includes Hershey’s first major brand marketing campaign since 2018, accompanied by a 2026 budget increase of 20%. The company spent $600 million on marketing in 2024 (including brands like Reese’s, Twizzlers, and Kit Kat). Hershey is a 2026 US Olympic team sponsor and also sponsors NCAA’s March Madness. Additionally, Hershey plans a co-produced film titled 'Hershey' to be released later in 2026, with concept by Hershey brand marketers and directed by Mark Water, signaling a strong focus on content-driven marketing and retail engagement.
Significant shift in Hershey's brand strategy with an integrated media approach and high-profile sponsorships; major budget increase and planned film production indicate industry-wide implications for advertising spend and content strategy.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- Hershey will launch its first major brand marketing campaign since 2018 in 2026.
- Hershey's brand budget will grow by 20% in 2026.
- Hershey spent $600 million on marketing in 2024, including brands like Reese’s, Twizzlers and Kit Kat.
- Hershey is a 2026 US Olympic team sponsor and also sponsors NCAA’s March Madness.
- Hershey plans a co-produced film 'Hershey' to be released later in 2026, concept conceived by Hershey brand marketers and directed by Mark Water.
Connected Companies & Entities
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Recent verified developments and strategic activity across this market segment.
Hershey Says It Should Own AI Agents and Modernize MMM
Hershey’s VP of media and marketing technology, Vinny Rinaldi, describes how the company built a system of AI agents to accelerate media mix modeling (MMM) and speed measurement from months to weeks. Hershey has worked with vendors including Mutinex, Tracer.tech and Chalice, and has integrated those capabilities into its bidding ecosystem across The Trade Desk, YouTube and Meta. The approach prioritizes “relevance over reach,” influenced Hershey to increase investment in Reddit for Reese’s, and will inform the company’s TV upfront strategy. Rinaldi says Hershey should own agentic planning assets because they are fueled by the brand’s sales and first‑party data, and he emphasizes the importance of building a solid infrastructure foundation and keeping human critical thinking in the loop.
Hershey Runs Roku-to-Instacart CTV Proof‑of‑Concept
Hershey publicly documented a closed-loop CTV-to-commerce proof of concept that tied a Reese’s interactive Roku ad to Instacart as the purchase endpoint. The Roku campaign delivered a verified 4x return on ad spend and 84% of users who showed purchase consideration were new-to-brand buyers. Hershey also rebuilt its marketing-mix-modeling infrastructure with Mutinex and Tracer to run monthly (upgrading from quarterly reads), allowing $2 billion of media and trade spend to be re-evaluated twelve times per year. VP of Consumer Connections Vinny Rinaldi framed the effort as an architecture play: brands should own clean data, auditable identity, and measurement before handing control to agentic AI layers. The case study signals a CPG example of streaming moving from awareness to verifiable commerce outcomes and highlights the operational value of owning the full activation, measurement, and budget-reallocation stack.
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