Hershey has named DonerColle Partners creative agency of record for its salty snacks portfolio following a competitive review, with the Stagwell shop responsible for brands including SkinnyPop Popcorn, Pirate’s Booty, Dot’s Homestyle Pretzels and the organic brand LesserEvil. Hershey had previously relied on in-house and project-based agency work for the business unit, said Vinny Rinaldi, the company’s VP of consumer connections.


The move comes as Hershey pushes to climb from No. 4 to No. 2 in the overall salty snacks category, with Dot’s pretzels and SkinnyPop already holding strong positions in their respective categories. DonerColle will aim to give each brand a distinct point of view and identity, with the focus initially on fast-growing Dot’s.

“The goal of this entire portfolio is that they completely compound one another, not cannibalize one another,” Rinaldi added.

DonerColle Partners will work to show up across physical and digital shelves along with social and traditional media, in a bid to cut through the competitiveness of the snack category. “What you can expect to see from us is an idea that transcends any one channel,” said Jessica Henrichs, CEO of the agency, which is a partnership between Doner and Colle McVoy.

The DonerColle appointment is part of a broader agency realignment at Hershey. Publicis Groupe’s Saatchi & Saatchi works on Reese’s, Omnicom’s Martin handles the flagship Hershey brand and Publicis manages U.S. media. Rinaldi said the company had moved away from a broader AOR model on the creative side and is now “course correcting.” He acknowledged more changes are possible but said, “We’re taking one thing at a time.”