Observed Signal · Apr 27, 2026 · Partnership · Source: Adweek · Impact: 3/5 · Sentiment: Positive
Hershey Uses AI Agents to Modernize MMM
Hershey is partnering with analytics firms Mutinex and Tracer to automate and accelerate marketing mix modeling (MMM) using agentic AI. Mutinex’s multi-agent system, underpinned by Claude and Google’s Gemini models, combined with Tracer’s data-cleaning infrastructure, lets Hershey run MMM in as little as three weeks and move from quarterly/triannual analyses to monthly measurement across its brand portfolio. Hershey expects the shift to increase media-attributable revenue by about 4–5% and to enable faster, investment-style decisions across roughly $2+ billion of combined media and trade spend. Company leaders cite data readiness as a key constraint and position agentic AI as a way to compress timelines and improve model reliability.
A major consumer brand (Hershey) adopting agentic AI to make MMM near real-time signals a broader industry shift toward AI-driven measurement and faster media-allocation cycles, which could influence measurement cadence and tool adoption across advertisers.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- Hershey is working with Mutinex and Tracer to automate marketing mix modeling (MMM) using agentic AI.
- Mutinex’s system is underpinned by the Claude and Google Gemini AI models and is described as a multi-agent system.
- Tracer cleans and standardizes Hershey’s fragmented marketing and retail data to enable faster MMM runs.
- Hershey can run MMM in as little as three weeks and is moving toward monthly measurement across its brand portfolio.
- Hershey expects a 4%–5% increase in revenue attributable to media from the new MMM setup.
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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 Uses AI to Optimize S'mores Season Sales
The Hershey Company has begun using proprietary in-house AI tools — including computer vision and augmented reality — to identify optimal in-store placements for s'mores displays and measure performance. Hershey also deployed a real-time AI-driven marketing-mix model that standardizes social, search and streaming data to speed decisions about advertising spend. The AR/computer-vision platform has been used in several thousand stores and helped the company share merchandising performance with retailers; Hershey reported double-digit year-over-year growth in s'mores-related chocolate sales and estimates the s'mores occasion generates $200M–$250M during peak season. Hershey also reported about a 20% year-over-year increase in retail media return on ad spend using the AI model.
Agentic AI Discussed as Marketing Tool at ADWEEK Panel
At an ADWEEK House Possible group chat co-hosted with Mutinex on May 5, 2026, adtech and brand leaders discussed how agentic AI is being applied across marketing funnels. Panelists — including representatives from PubMatic, The Hershey Company, Breeze Airways and Mutinex — emphasized that a strong data foundation is required before applying AI, that AI can free teams from routine work to focus on strategy, and that human judgment (taste, creativity, oversight) must remain central. Hershey described speeding media-mix-model data preparation from six months to 24 hours after working with Mutinex. The session highlighted practical uses (measurement, workflow speed, creative production) and cautioned against over-automation.
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