Hershey built its image on chocolate, so now the brand is building a 3-D printer that puts any image on chocolate. The printer is called the CocoJet and it lets customers customize chocolate with any personal image. The company plans to exhibit this printer at its Chocolate World attraction in May. Hershey hopes that the 3-D printer gives people a new view of chocolate and lets them experience the Hershey brand in exciting new ways. The brand is certainly right on-trend with the rise in 3-D food printing, so AdAge.com offered a taste of what Hershey is planning to share.
Making Chocolate More Appealing
To create the chocolate printer, Hershey partnered with 3D Systems, one of the oldest and largest in the field. They’ve spent months tweaking the system and their latest iteration is a 2′ x 2′ cube-shaped machine. After fine-tuning the features, the process can take from a few minutes to just under hour, all depending on the complexity. And consumers can be assured that the chocolate it produces has the Hershey taste they love.
The purpose of the printer is to increase consumer discovery and help people engage with chocolate in ways they never imagined. It’s also a marketing tool for Hershey since it will bring in curious customers and gain attention from the media.
Taking a Bite of a Recent Trend
In recent years, 3-D printing has made its mark throughout the food industry. It’s used by brides to personalize wedding treats and brands to customize edible gifts, and now NASA is trying to figure out how to use it to feed its astronauts. It lets some be creative and helps others solve big problems. And its future is unlimited as people discover new uses.
Hershey recognized its potential, so they’re using this 3-D technology to boost their business and brand awareness.
“This technology will be fundamental to the way people interact with food in the future,” said Jeff Mundt, senior marketing manager of technology at Hershey’s innovation center. “If we don’t get on the edge and lead the way to edible food printing, somebody else will do it for us.”
Get a taste of the latest in marketing. Contact MDG Advertising.
MDG Advertising is a full-service advertising agency and one of Florida’s top branding firms. With offices in Boca Raton and New York City, MDG’s core capabilities include branding, logo design, print advertising, printing, digital marketing, mobile advertising, email marketing, media planning and buying, TV and radio, outdoor advertising, newspaper, video marketing, website design and development, content marketing, social media marketing, and SEO. To discover the latest trends in advertising and branding, contact MDG Advertising.
Written by Michael Del Gigante
- Social Media is Good Medicine for Healthcare Marketing
- Google Outlines Three Online Advertising Trends
- Print Advertising is Dead? Not So Fast.
- 5 Messaging Strategies of Successful Branding Firms
- Study Shows Organic SEO Significantly Undervalued by Marketers
- In-Store Sales Begin Online
- Dos Equis Gives New Meaning to Mobile Marketing
- Search Marketing Spend Rises Attribution Mobile Analytics Remain Big Concerns
- Facebook Displays New Tools for Developing Audience Network Native Ads
- Old Spice Gives Its Ad Campaign A Fresh Spin
- Surprise! Online Ads Work Like Magazine Ads – Online Advertising
- Twitter Starting to Share New Promoted Video Feature with Brands
- Fifty Shades of Grey Marketing Strategy Positions Novel as Fiction Phenomenon
- Listerine Making News with Refreshing Social Media Strategy for World Cup Sponsorship
- Online Reputation Management 101: What Businesses Need to Know [Infographic]
- Local Search Evolved [Infographic]
- Vacationing the Social Media Way [Infographic]
- The ROI of Social Media [Infographic]
- How Social Media Changed The Ad Game [Infographic]
- Should You Build a Mobile App or Mobile Website? [Infographic]
- It’s All About the Images [Infographic]