Hershey: DAGOBA Values Drive Success for 'Empowering Women' Sweepstakes

(Originally published on TheHersheyCompany.com)

There are plenty of ways to find inspiration in The Hershey Company’s (a Fair360, formerly DiversityInc Noteworthy Company) DAGOBAOrganic Chocolate. Every bite is made with certified organic and Non-GMO Project Verified ingredients and infused with unique flavors that combine to create a truly sensory experience. This experience begins with cacao beans sourced from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms in Peru, Ecuador, Dominican Republic and Tanzania.

We take the little green frog that represents the Rainforest Alliance’s seal of approval very seriously. Just as every varietal of cacao brings unique flavor notes to our chocolate, every Rainforest Alliance community has its own unique composition of people working diligently to create a sustainable living for their families. In these communities, the women play an integral role, yet they are also the community members most at risk of being undervalued and underrepresented in the cocoa value chain.

In 2017, we established theOne for All Cacao Project, a non-profit fund that works to strengthen cacao communities by advancing the role of women in cocoa production and entrepreneurial initiatives while shining a light on the unique challenges and opportunities they face.

Achieving this objective means spending time in Rainforest Alliance communities. In 2016 and 2017, we invested in the community of San Juan de Cheni, Peru and spent time on the ground getting to know their cacao association and community better. At every turn of the journey, we encountered women who inspired us with their tenacity, strength and desire to build better lives for their families.

Success with Sincerity

In late 2017, as we recounted the many stories of these incredible women on social media, we realized there were many women in our own lives who inspired us to work harder and strive for better results both professionally and personally. So, we turned to a different audience DAGOBAOrganic Chocolate’s dedicated brand fans and askedthemto sharetheirown stories of “Empowering Women.” Our ask was simple: share a story about a time you felt empowered by another woman and post it online through November 2017. We held a modest sweepstakes, offering simple, chocolaty prizes of two Assorted Gem Packs (12 ct) to entrants picked randomly at the end of every week, and awarded a Grand Prize of two $500 Target gift cards to the entrant chosen at the end of the sweepstakes (along with a couple more chocolate rewards to ‘sweeten’ the pot!).

The results were inspiring in their sincerity and courage. The campaign generated engagement, and continues to generate interest inDAGOBAOrganic Chocolate almost two months after its close. Together with our public relations partner agencyPriceWeber, who executed this project, and in collaboration with powerful female influencers, includingRachel Mansfield,Apt. 2B BakingandWhat the Fork Food Blog, (just to name a few), we:

• Amplified our cause to hundreds of thousands of people in just one month;
• Saw our combined social reach increase by 140 percent; and
• Witnessed our social engagement increase by 243 percent from the previous month.

These efforts drove significant month-over-month and year-over-year sales increases, particularly at Target, where we saw a lift of 53 percentthe week following the close of the campaign. More importantly, we read story after story of women empowering other women when they needed to hear stories of strength and courage the most.

Closing the Year Strong