A kiss for Radio

From a recent email:

Hershey's Gives Radio a Shout Out for Boosting Sales

It's not often a big, national advertiser -- especially a packaged goods company -- specifically credits Radio for selling more of its products. But that's what Hershey's president David West did when he recently detailed his company's earnings to investors.

"We've been tactical with some advertising, much more Radio than TV, with Kit Kat and with Twizzlers and we've been feeling pretty good about the brand responses there." The candy giant says Kit Kat sales jumped 7% in the third quarter, while sales of Twizzlers were up 9%.

This summer Hershey's conducted a "Cash 4 Gas" promotion at convenience stores, giving away gas and PayDay candy bars. As well as airing traditional spots, it worked with Radio stations in 36 major markets on the promotion and contests.

Hershey's spent $103 million on advertising and promotions last year, according to TNS Media, but it's funneling more cash to marketing.

West says, "For the year we expect advertising to be up about 25%." He plans to grow the marketing budget another 20% next year, telling a Deutsche Bank analyst nervous about all that spending, "Once we get to the latter part of 2009 we'll take a look at how the brands are responding."

(Source: Inside Radio, 11/25/08)

Sphere: Related Content