Hershey partners with NBC Rockefeller Center for the holiday tree lighting event with an interactive LED mat showcasing the Hershey Kisses Bell song (Photo by: Noam Galai/NBC)
Noam Galai/NBC
Hershey’s Kisses has transformed a 35-year-old television commercial into a multi-platform digital experience spanning TikTok, Snapchat, Candy Crush, and an LED musical mat at Rockefeller Center during the NBC Rockefeller Tree Lighting event. “We figured, let’s partner with another holiday icon. NBC’s Christmas special at Rockefeller Center is so iconic. Both the Kisses ad and the NBC special signify the beginning of the holiday season for so many families,” explained Stacy Taffet, chief growth officer at The Hershey Company, when describing the inspiration behind the collaboration with the NBC Rockefeller Tree Lighting event.
Hershey LED Musical Mat With Kisses Holiday Bells
As part of the event, Hershey premiered an LED musical mat at Rockefeller Center that allowed consumers to play the famous Kisses Bells song interactively. The iconic Kisses holiday bells commercial, which is celebrating its 35-year anniversary, demonstrates that legacy brands can successfully bridge nostalgia and innovation through strategic partnerships and consumer-driven product development.
NBC’s Justin Sylvester helps celebrate the Hershey and NBC Rockefeller Tree Lighting event.
Courtesy of The Hershey Company
“The Holiday Bells ad serves as a launchpad for experiential retail rather than mere nostalgia,” said Taffet in an exclusive interview about Hershey’s innovative growth strategy. “Brands are timeless truths that remain constant for a long time, but you have to tell their stories in a timely way,” says Taffet.
The Hershey Company has been around for 131 years, but continues to reimagine holiday traditions for modern consumers. “Everyone you talk to in the country has a Hershey story, and that is so powerful to tap into,” explains Taffet. The strategy reflects a broader transformation at Hershey, which has delivered five of the top ten innovations in the candy-mint-gum (CMG) category this year.
Hershey Brands Build Community Connections
“That feeling that Hershey’s is about happiness and connections with families and friends, but bringing that to life in ways that are really relevant for new generations is the quest that we’re on,” said Taffet. The company’s approach of mining social media for product ideas and building community engagement with the brand has paid off in 2025. Hershey has the top two holiday brands in Hershey’s Kisses and Reese’s. “Kisses continues to be the number one brand in the holidays, and we’re gaining market share,” said Taffet. Hershey’s chocolate retail sales grew 4% in the third quarter.
Hershey maintains relevance by telling timeless brand stories in contemporary ways, introducing new flavors like snickerdoodle cookie Kisses while preserving the emotional connections families have built over generations.
Courtesy of The Hershey Company
The company actively monitors social media for product ideas, leading to successful launches like the highly anticipated Reese’s Oreo collaboration, which consumers had been requesting for years and launched in September. These consumer-driven innovations are at the forefront of the company’s growth strategy. The partnership between Mondelez and Hershey to develop the Reese’s OREO Cup resulted in an immediate fan-favorite, driving $25 million in sales in the first five weeks of the product launch and becoming the primary driver of growth in the CMG Chocolate category.
Hershey’s Financial Win
The Hershey Company posted nearly flat sales year-over-year in 2024 compared to 2023. However, the gross margin was up 6.1% and profits grew 13.2%. The Hershey Company’s third-quarter earnings call featured The Hershey Company’s new CEO, Kirk Tanner, who joined in August of this year. The company delivered strong top-line performance with 6.5% net sales growth, driven by successful innovation launches and strategic pricing initiatives. “SkinnyPop ready-to-eat popcorn and Dot’s pretzels are two of the five fastest-growing brands among the top twenty Salty brands, with retail sales growth of 7% and 13% versus the prior year, respectively,” stated Tanner. “Reese’s Oreo was the top new item in the category in the third quarter, and retail sales trends are exceeding our internal targets.” The company projected that cocoa prices will remain up over 70% compared to 2023. Despite facing significant headwinds from elevated cocoa costs and tariff expenses, Hershey raised its full-year guidance and expressed confidence in returning to normalized growth in 2026.
Hershey Innovative Transformation
Hershey’s transformation from a traditional confectionery company to a consumer-responsive innovator proves that authentic consumer engagement can drive both cultural relevance and financial performance. As the company prepares to navigate continued cocoa volatility and potential tariff challenges in 2026, Hershey’s success in balancing timeless truths with timely storytelling positions the company not as a nostalgic relic but rather as a case study in how established brands can leverage their emotional equity to win in an attention economy increasingly dominated by digital natives.