How Hershey masters recency in a sea of data

Geoffrey Precourt

The Hershey Co, the candy manufacturer, is building a data strategy that solves the specific problems facing its brands and categories.

“We’re the posterchild for recency theory,” says Charles Chappell, the Hershey Co.’s head of global media and agency excellence.

“Our product is available everywhere.”

Indeed, he told an audience at the Association of National Advertisers’ (ANA) 2018 Media Conference, “The household penetration of confectionery is 1% higher than toilet paper.”

“Recency” is advertising less – at a lower weight – more often. And recency theory is grounded in the need for a message to reach consumers immediately before a purchase; as such, the influence of the ad diminishes over time.

Over the course of its 125-year history, Hershey Co. had...

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