Hershey to adopt Blockchain technology in its advertising campaigns

Hershey has reportedly joined Blockchain-based consortium AdLedger, a nonprofit consortium that develops shared database technologies for the digital advertising market.

As well as advertising, Hershey’s move into blockchain technology could be expanded to its cocoa supply chain allowing for more traceability and transparency in its chocolate bars. Digital marketeer Tom Daly told ConfectioneryNews last month​ that “brands using cocoa as an ingredient are going to be more subservient to the consumer​,” meaning they are going to start demanding where and how their chocolate originates from and how it is manufactured.

AdLedger was founded by IBM, Tegna and blockchain company MadHive in 2018. French media group Publicis Media and The Global Audience Based Buying Conference & Consultancy (GABBCON), has also reportedly joined the consortium, Cointelegraph​ reported.

In the advertising world, Cointelegraph said at the moment advertising lacks the transparency of data and process. ‘Blockchain can purportedly address these issues, making sufficient information available to everyone within the ecosystem on how publishers verify their traffic, and the processes that ad agencies and other intermediaries follow to ensure that they work with publishers with verified traffic​.’

Vinny Rinaldi, head of addressable media and technology for The Hershey Company said: “This would be a fundamentally massive shift in the way that we think​."

Earlier this month, Doug Straton Hershey’s, chief digital commerce officer told the NCA State of the Industry Conference in Florida​ “confectionery has been behind the curve in digital transformation and companies must grapple with the technology, to improve efficiency in logistics and how it engages with consumers​”.