House Party, a leading word-of-mouth marketing company, conducted more than 10,000 in-home parties across the country to help The Hershey Company launch Hershey’s Bliss™ chocolate, a new rich, creamy and bite-size chocolate indulgence. House Party, which engages a select group of consumer advocates to host house party events and provides an exclusive hands-on experience with a brand, reports that more than 129,000 people attended the parties, making the event the largest in House Party history.
Conducted in homes across America over the weekend of April 25, the bliss-themed launch parties introduced guests to Hershey’s Bliss chocolate – available in three unique expressions, Milk Chocolate, Dark Chocolate and Milk Chocolate Meltaway – while transporting their senses into a state of bliss with the world’s most indulgent chocolate. Targeting female chocolate lovers, the parties celebrated everyday bliss by gathering with friends and family to share personal stories of bliss while sampling Hershey's newest indulgence. Stories, photos and videos were shared at www.houseparty.com/hersheysbliss before and after the parties, as House Party’s word-of-mouth marketing tactics are designed to help continue buzz about the product.
More than 22,000 digital photos were uploaded by hosts, and more than 15,000 blogs were posted about the various parties. Party hosts are asked to recount their party through photo and video downloads on the House Party website as well as by posting detailed blog entries. For example, many of the blog posts from the Hershey’s Bliss hosts stated that party guests loved the chocolate and enjoyed the parties. An example follows:
My friends were split between the meltaways and the dark chocolates. They had a great time though and loved all the goodies to take home. I had a spa theme and we did our own manicures and pedicures while we snacked on all the Bliss flavors. It was great!
Hershey and House Party provided party ideas for the hosts. Hosts were encouraged to have “A Taste of Bliss” tasting party creating an area where each of the three Hershey’s Bliss flavors could be experienced. Another suggestion was a scrapbook party or “Blissful Memories” party where guests were invited to bring their favorite photos and memorabilia to create their own Blissful Memories Scrapbook. House Party provided downloads of scrapbooking supplies for the hosts and guests were also invited to bring their own. “Bliss and That” Trivia Game was another party theme that Hershey and House Party developed. Hosts were invited to find blissful facts on Houseparty.com/hersheysbliss in the weeks before their party and create a bliss-quiz for their guests.
In addition to party theme ideas, Hershey and House Party provided party packages to the hosts, which included:
- The three flavors of Hershey’s Bliss chocolate: Milk Chocolate, Dark Chocolate and Milk Chocolate Meltaway
- One personal photo album especially for the host – a special thanks for the time and effort they put into hosting
- 15 Cocktail napkins to serve Hershey’s Bliss chocolates
- Great gift giveaways for the guests, including grocery list pads, pens, and fridge magnets (15 of each)
- 15 White party gift bags for guests’ take-home gifts.
(3 bags of each flavor – plenty for the party and for guests to take home)
Hosts could download graphics from House Party’s website to create blissful stickers to decorate the bags
How does this entry accomplish business or non-profit goals?
This entry accomplished business goals as Hershey’s wanted to introduce its new Bliss™ chocolate brand and the different varieties to women who lead full lives ages 25-49. They wanted to support the brand positioning efforts as a blissful, everyday indulgence while building brand loyalty.
The promotion succeeded in engaging females in the target market to host parties for girlfriends and introduce them to the varieties of Hershey’s Bliss chocolate. The party packs were enthusiastically received, achieving the goal of building brand loyalty. Overall, more than seven million people were reached as a direct result of the Hershey’s Bliss Chocolate House Party.
