• by Sarah Mahoney , 7 hours ago

Hershey’s is launching its first Hershey’s brand campaign since 2018, increasing the division’s marketing budget by 20% to support “Hershey’s. It’s Your Happy Place.” The work breaks ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics and Paralympics and signals a broader shift in how the company builds brand storytelling in paid, earned, shared and owned channels.

Created by the Martin Agency, the opening chapter — “Happiness Is the Real Gold” — introduces five U.S. Olympians and Paralympians alongside their families. While the athletes are chasing medals in Milano Cortina, parents remind them that happiness matters beyond the podium. Limited-edition chocolate medals reinforce the theme, stamped with: “Happiness deserves a medal, too.”

“This year gives us a massive moment in the Olympics, a massive moment in the World Cup, and it’s our 250th birthday,” says Vinny Rinaldi, vice president of media and marketing technology. “We asked ourselves, ‘How do we make this the year of Hershey’s, and how do we show what brings people together?’”

The campaign starts with a 2:30 film capturing athlete and family perspectives. Hershey has sliced that material into multiple formats, plus athlete-driven content on their own social channels. And the company will close out the year with a biopic of its founder.

“Modernizing for us means scaling the same emotional idea in every touchpoint,” Rinaldi says. “We’re building new muscle to bring paid, earned and owned together,” he tells Marketing Daily.

Previously, the company focused heavily on paid media. “It’s worked incredibly well and helped us build iconic brands across an entire candy, mint and gum category, and now into our salty portfolio. But the world has changed.”

Consumers are also changing. Hershey’s sales have been strong, and it spends about $600 million in advertising a year. But other companies have seen volume declines as cash-concerned shoppers rethink their grocery spending. And with so many health advocates declaring war on sugar and ultra-processed foods, and as the federal government steps up ingredient scrutiny, many are looking to cut back on sweets and snacks.

Featured athletes in the ads include speed skaters Erin Jackson and Jordan Stolz, ice hockey’s Hilary Knight, para snowboarder Brenna Huckaby and figure skater Jason Brown. Rinaldi expects high engagement heading into Milano Cortina, pointing to last year’s Four Nations hockey tournament, which drew 20 million U.S. and Canadian households. He predicts that kind of epic fandom to emerge in the coming games: “People are yearning to be brought together.”