Running head: INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL MARKETING VARIABLES 1
Internal and External Marketing Variables
Denyse Miskin
Liberty University
BUSI 520 Strategic Marketing Management
Dr. Keith Bowery
January 26, 2020
INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL MARKETING VARIABLES 2
Internal and External Marketing Variables
Hershey, Pennsylvania also known as the “sweetest place on earth,” is a small town in
Central Pennsylvania. The town of Hershey was originally started by Milton S. Hershey around
1903 because he was looking to “create a town where everyone would work making chocolate”
(Newquist, 2017, p. 56). In the town of Hershey, is the chocolate factory that has become one of
the world’s leading chocolate manufacturers and became the home to what today is called The
Hershey Company (Hershey). ‘Hershey Company also known as Hershey Chocolate Company
from 1894 to 1927, Hershey Chocolate Corporation from 1968 to 2005, and Hershey Foods
Corporation from 1968 to 2005, is an American manufacture of foods, chiefly chocolate and
sugar-based confections. Hershey’s Milk Chocolate, in its brown-and-silver wrapper is perhaps
the best-known American candy bar of the 20th century’ (Lewis, 2020).
‘In 1907, the Hershey Company introduced little foil-wrapped pieces of chocolate that it
called Kisses. The candy was created by a machine that dropped “tears” of chocolate into a flat
mold. The sound the machine made each time it formed a chocolate resembled a loud kiss, so
Hershey decided to use that name’ (Newquist, 2017, p. 58). ‘Each teardrop-shaped chocolate
was foil wrapped by hand. Its milk chocolate richness and one-bite size made it an immediate
favorite across America’(Newquist, 2017, p. 58).
Hershey Company’s Mission
‘A company exists to accomplish something’(Kotler & Keller, 2016, p. 38). A mission
for a company is one of the most important and difficult tasks. ‘To define its mission a company
should address Peter Drucker’s classic questions: What is our business? Who is the customer?
What is of value to the customer? What will our business be? What should our business be?’
Simply put, the mission of the Hershey Company is to create the world’s best chocolate candy.
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Additionally, Hershey’s mission statement is strong and reflects a vision. “At the Hershey
Company their mission statement is: At the Hershey Company, we make chocolate brands that
people love. Hershey’s mission statement, bringing sweet moments of Hershey happiness to the
world every day, summarizes our company, our people, our past and future. Our history of
producing the world’s best treats goes back more than 100 years. We take great pride in our
brands and in the fun and enjoyment our products add to the lives of our customers.” (Kizil,
Eddy, Clary, & Crowell, 2013).
SWOT Analysis
“The overall evaluation of a company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats
is called SWOT analysis. It’s a way of monitoring the external and internal marketing
environment.” (Kotler & Keller, 2016, p. 48) “SWOT analysis, a commonly used tool for
strategic planning, is traditionally a form of brainstorming.” (Phadermrod, Crowder, & Willis,
2019)
Strengths
For an established company like Hershey’s a huge strength is that they are known
worldwide and sell in many countries. “Although Hershey’s does not sell in every country, the
brand Hershey’s is still known through reputation.” (Kizil et al., 2013). Additionally, Hershey
has a “strong human capital with capable managers and a high number of employees.” (Kizil et
al., 2013) ‘The Hershey Kisses have an eye catching and recognizable wrapper and the taste of
the Kisses helps them stand out from other chocolate. Hershey has a large factory, their
production capability is high, strong distribution system and modern labor management. They
are recognized as a low cost, high volume producer and their Research and Development
department attracts attention.’(Kizil et al., 2013)
INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL MARKETING VARIABLES 4
Weaknesses
‘One of the biggest weaknesses is the overall health trends which are lowering Hershey’s
and the entire candy and chocolate industry as a whole. Price inflation is also a weakness for
Hershey’s products as well as introducing additional products with new names. Hershey is very
active in entering new markets worldwide. Research shows that entering these new markets
generally possesses some difficulty for the company. Entering some of these international
markets with no brand name value is a disadvantage for Hershey. Hershey also could have
transportation and storage cost issues for overseas distribution’. (Kizil et al., 2013)
Opportunities
The opportunities for Hershey’s are vast. ‘Hershey’s has a sourcing and manufacturing
global presence for them to sell globally. Hershey can expand into other countries which can
satisfy the emerging demands and tastes of consumers by introducing new products. Hershey’s
products are lower in price compared to other healthy foods. Additionally, the spending capacity
of the new younger generation of today is growing and higher than all previous generations.’
(Kizil et al., 2013)
Threats
‘Competition is one of the biggest threats to Hershey’s. The competition worldwide is
heavy in the chocolate and food industry. Health concern is another large threat for the company
as it is for any company as well as dealing with the rules and regulations surrounding food
distribution. The high quality of the products Hershey’s uses to make their products can
increase the price of their Hershey Kisses which is another huge threat. In addition, wholesale
prices are climbing, and the cost of manufacturing is rising. Finally, increased labor wages are a
INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL MARKETING VARIABLES 5
threat for Hershey’s because the increased labor wage could directly increase the product cost to
the consumer.’ (Kizil et al., 2013)
Demographic and Economic Trends
Demographics are specific statistical data relating to the population and particular groups
within it (Kotler & Keller, 2016). Demographics help researchers segment the entire market into
smaller groups of the market based on various criteria such as age, sex and location, among
many others. This segmentation allows marketers to identify the specific target market for that
product or service. Economic trends are the overall direction in which a nations economy is
moving.
“It’s hard to find someone who doesn’t enjoy the occasional chocolate treat. Sweet and
full of flavor, chocolate is the largest segment of the confectionery category and is in high
demand for every type of consumer.” (Downs, 2019, p. 48). Hershey’s chocolate Kiss is
loved by all generations, regardless of age, sex and where the individual is located. Additionally,
Hershey’s chocolate Kiss is a product known around the world. The target market for Hershey’s
kiss is large.
“With $21 billion in annual sales, chocolate is a segment worth sinking your teeth into.”
(Downs, 2019, p. 48). The chocolate industry is in for exciting changes and is unparalleled in its
ability to adapt to consumers demands. Hershey’s chocolate is a huge part of the chocolate
industry and has a huge market presence around the world.
Technology has played a large role in Hershey’s growth over the past century. For most
of Hershey chocolate candy’s early history, the chocolate was wrapped by hand in foil. In the
1950s, machines were invented that automated this process. (Newquist, 2017). Additionally, the
INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL MARKETING VARIABLES 6
modernization of storing and transporting the chocolate has improved. There are modern
refrigerated trucks which keep the candy from melting.
Marketing Research Process
“Marketing research is the function that links the consumer, customer, and public to the
marketer though information – information used to identify and define marketing opportunities
and problems: generate, refine, and evaluate marketing actions; monitor marketing performance;
and improve understanding of marketing as a process.”(Kotler & Keller, 2016, p. 99). The
marketing research process is comprised of six individual steps. (1) Define the problem and
research objectives, (2) Develop the research plan, (3) Collect the information, (4) Analyze the
information, (5) Present the findings, and (6) Make the decision. (Kotler & Keller, 2016).
For Hershey chocolate to develop a marketing research process they would initially have
to define the problem and research their objectives. The second step in the marketing research
process is to develop the research plan. Hershey would ‘design a research plan, to make
decisions about the data sources, research approaches, research instruments, sampling plan and
contact methods. ‘To begin the process of data gathering, Hershey would use primary, secondary
data or both. Primary data are data that is gathered specifically for this process or project.
Secondary data are data that already existed and possibly used for another purpose.’ (Kotler &
Keller, 2016). The third step in the marketing research process is to collect relevant
information. “The data collection phase of marketing research is generally the most expensive
and error-prone. Some respondents will be away from home, offline, or otherwise in accessible;
they must e contacted again or replaced. Others will refuse to cooperate or will give biased or
dishonest answers.”(Kotler & Keller, 2016, p. 113). Next step in the process is to present the
findings of the research. “Researchers are increasingly asked to play a proactive, consulting role
INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL MARKETING VARIABLES 7
in translating data and information into insights and recommendations for management.” (Kotler
& Keller, 2016, p. 113). The last and final step in the process is to make the decision. ‘Some
organizations use marketing decision support systems to help make better decisions. A marketing
decision support system (MDSS) is a coordinated collection of data, systems, tools, and
techniques, with supporting software and hardware. The company gathers and interprets the
information this aids in their decision-making process.’ (Kotler & Keller, 2016).
The best forms of marketing research that would be best for Hershey to use when
gathering consumer information relating to their chocolate products would be to use online
research and personal test groups. The online research is typically less expensive than the
personal test groups.
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References
Downs, J. (2019, August). A chocolate explosion. Drug Store News, 41(8), 48.
Kizil, C., Eddy, V., Clary, L., & Crowell, K. (2013). Hershey's entry to the australian market with
a new brand: An accounting and marketing perspective. Emerging Markets Journal, 3(2).
http://dx.doi.org/10.5195/emaj.2013.43
Kotler, P., & Keller, K. L. (2016). Marketing management (15th ed.). Upple Sadle River, NJ:
Pearson.
Lewis, R. (2020). Hershey Company. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hershey-
Chocolate-Corporation
Newquist, H. (2017). Book of chocolate: The amazing story of the world's favorite candy (First
American ed.). New York, NY: Viking .
Phadermrod, B., Crowder, R. M., & Willis, G. B. (2019). Importance-performance analysis based
SWOT analysis. International Journal of Information Management, 44, 194-203.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2016.03.009
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