Dive Brief:
- Hershey Co. is bringing on board three new marketing agencies, Anomaly, New York; Barkley, Kansas City; and Argonaut, San Francisco, in addition to keeping its current two agencies, Arnold Worldwide and Havas Worldwide.
- The agency additions came after a creative review the company started in January.
- As the company continues to grow its list of brands, Hershey spokeswoman Anna Lingeris says the new agencies will "provide a diverse set of ideas," reported Ad Age.
Dive Insight:
In its Q1 earnings last week, Hershey fell short of analysts' predictions for earnings per share and revenue for the quarter and also reduced its net sales outlook for the year. In a report this week, Sanford C. Bernstein of asset management company AllianceBernstein Holding proposed "whether Hershey's chocolate could see a new era of somewhat slower growth based on health and wellness concerns among consumers and the premiumization of the chocolate category in the U.S.," according to Ad Age.
Bernstein's statement comes amid the company's announcements over the past few months about using 100% certified sustainable cocoa within the next few years, using natural, simpler ingredients, and possibly removing high fructose corn syrup from some products. It seems what Bernstein is saying is that Hershey may not be doing enough just yet to turn health-concerned consumers. The question is then, will Hershey continue to make more health-related changes in the near future to account for this potentially slower growth?