Slam Dunk Strategy: How Reese’s Nailed Its NCAA Omnichannel Campaign

The CPG brand used Augmented Reality to help sales reps show retail partners what in-store activations could look like…

Reese’s brought its physical marketing precision to new heights for its Reese’s Carmel Big Cup activation. The company developed advanced technology in-house that visually places digital mock-ups of displays in stores. Powered by augmented reality and image recognition, the technology empowers sales reps to work alongside store managers and show how in-store activations and displays will look in real time, making in-store marketing planning and execution easier and more profitable.
“My team was able to explain and showcase how we would bring this NCAA event to life in-store and create an experience that benefits consumers and helps retailers deliver more units and a highly engaging activation for our consumers,” Berman explained. “Our team can quickly show the optimal location for the display, gain alignment from store management, take photos to confirm the agreement and then execute the plan.
Digitizing this design and approval process allowed all parties to align on a central marketing mission and vision. The process was iterative, with reps showing retail partners visual mock-ups in real time so they had more creative power over the campaign execution. “It was all about co-creation and partnership to land on the best solution,” Berman said. Not only did this evolved approach create a more collaborative spirit among all parties, but it also helped bring activations to market faster.

Additionally, this evolved process also improved visibility within the Hershey organization, allowing the broader team to know not only where they were activating NCAA displays, but “even work cross-functionally to tap into some of our capabilities with human insights and with media,” Berman added. “That visibility — being able to see what’s happening in real-time — allowed us to deliver a better ROI across the organization.”

Reese’s plans to scale this technology based largely on the nearly 80% lift it saw in stores where it was used, according to Berman. “We were able to plan further ahead and get those displays on the floor faster; that was the big unlock we gleaned. We’re continuing to improve the technology and will leverage it for more big activations this year.”