How Hershey is using AI to boost Halloween sales

AI-driven marketing revolutionizes Halloween candy sales: Hershey, the renowned confectionery giant, is harnessing artificial intelligence to refine its media strategy for the crucial Halloween season, focusing on underserved markets and optimizing its digital advertising efforts.

• Hershey has partnered with Chalice Custom Algorithms, an AI services provider, to manage programmatic advertising across various digital platforms.
• The company’s AI-powered approach aims to navigate the challenging advertising landscape, particularly in light of increased political advertising preceding the November elections.
• Halloween represents a critical period for candy sales, with unsold inventory potentially impacting future retailer orders and overall business performance.

Advanced AI tools enhance campaign precision: Chalice’s sophisticated algorithms are employed to monitor and optimize various aspects of Hershey’s digital marketing campaigns.

• The AI tools track inventory levels, pricing dynamics, and campaign pacing across major platforms such as Meta, YouTube, and The Trade Desk.
• This data-driven approach allows for more targeted and effective advertising, ensuring that marketing efforts are directed where they are most needed.

Promising results from initial tests: A trial run of the AI-powered marketing strategy during the previous Halloween season yielded encouraging outcomes for Hershey.

• In collaboration with a single retailer, Hershey manually shared weekly ZIP code data on underperforming stores.
• The company tracked daily media impressions in these specific markets to gauge the impact of their targeted advertising efforts.
• As a result, this retailer was the only one to surpass sell-through targets, with a 1.5% growth in sell-through directly attributed to the AI-driven media efforts.

Centralized operations and cross-platform flexibility: The implementation of AI technology has brought about significant improvements in Hershey’s marketing operations.

• The AI-powered system enables more centralized work processes, streamlining campaign management across different platforms.
• This centralization allows for greater “fluidity” in campaigns, facilitating quick adjustments and optimizations across various digital advertising channels.

Expansion beyond seasonal campaigns: Encouraged by the success of its AI-driven approach during Halloween, Hershey is looking to broaden the application of these tactics.

• The company plans to integrate AI-powered marketing strategies into its year-round advertising efforts, not just for seasonal campaigns.
• This expansion signifies Hershey’s commitment to leveraging advanced technology to enhance its overall marketing effectiveness and maintain a competitive edge in the confectionery market.

Implications for the confectionery industry: Hershey’s adoption of AI-driven marketing strategies could set a new standard for the candy industry, especially during high-stakes seasonal periods.

• Other confectionery companies may feel pressure to adopt similar AI-powered approaches to remain competitive, particularly during crucial sales periods like Halloween.
• This shift towards more data-driven, AI-enhanced marketing could lead to more efficient advertising spending and better-targeted campaigns across the industry.