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The CPG Guys

12 Sep 2026 · 41m · 12 chapters

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Hershey's Jessica DuQuesne & Flywheel's Allyson Gill - Building a Winning Global Omnichannel "Scream for Reese's" Campaign

In short

Hershey’s “Scream for Reese’s” international omnichannel Halloween campaign, built to grow Halloween season outside the U.S. by pairing Reese’s with the horror franchise Scream ahead of Scream 7’s Feb 2026 release. It included UK/Germany/Austria/Mexico/Puerto Rico activations: ghostfied OXXO flagship in Mexico, university/mall takeovers, private screenings, and in-store sampling across nearly 100 retail locations.

Guests

Jessica DuQuesne, Hershey brand manager for international commercial growth; previously customer/omni-channel/shopper marketing supporting Walmart, Sam’s Club, BJ’s, Costco. Allyson (Allie) Gill, Flywheel business leadership/omnichannel retail marketing; has worked with Hershey ~15 years on omni-channel and partnership activations.

Key claims

start from business challenge and shopper behavior, entertainment is an accelerator, one global strategy localized per market, and sweepstakes/PR/social drive awareness and engagement.

Notable examples

UK private “private screaming” ticket sweepstakes; Reese’s “don’t answer the phone” and “don’t leave your Reese’s behind” cheeky Ghostface creative (avoiding gore).

Written by AI. May contain mistakes.

Chapters

1:27

Setting the Stage for Scream for Reese's

Discussion on the Scream for Reese's campaign's significance and objectives.

“I am your enigmatic co-host, PVSB, who also moonlights as head of industry and client engagement at Flywheel, the commerce acceleration division of Omnicom.”
3:20

Campaign Strategy and Insights

Exploration of how Reese's connected with Halloween in international markets.

“Halloween used to be a distinctly American obsession.”
5:10

Understanding Local Markets

Discussion on how to localize Halloween marketing strategies in different countries.

“Very exciting to talk about our campaign, Scream for Resets.”
7:30

Consumer Psychology: Halloween vs. Easter

Comparative analysis of consumer behavior during Halloween and Easter campaigns.

“There are links to both Jessica and Allie's LinkedIn profiles and their company website.”
14:00

Strategic Campaign Insights

Learn about the strategic considerations in delivering effective marketing campaigns.

“We talk a lot, especially at Flywheel, as we think about the strategy behind these programs and delivering in commerce.”
16:00

Challenges in Brand Partnerships

Explore the complexities of successful brand partnerships and campaigns.

“In your role at Flywheel, you obviously sit across the table from many CPG clients.”
19:20

Influencing Retail Placement

Understand how to influence product placement in various markets.

“How do you actually influence product placement in international markets where your retail relations are not quite as established as they are in the U.S.?”
23:20

Total Commerce Strategy

Discover the approach to achieving a seamless brand presence across channels.

“But the seasonal confectionary category is one of the most contested shelf sections in retailer.”
28:01

Building Cultural Connections with Scream

Learn how the Reese's and Scream partnership targets various fan demographics.

“It was one of the components of the program that we allowed to be flexible.”
31:36

Strategic Partnerships in CPG

Explore the balance of brand partnerships for long-term equity versus short-term gains.

“Well, let me go to Allison first on this.”
Show all 12 chapters
34:22

Navigating AI in Shopping

Understand how AI tools impact shopper decisions and brand content visibility.

“So once we knew that behavior, Scream became an incredible, powerful way to accelerate that journey.”
37:37

Future Planning for the Halloween Campaign

Discover how the team plans to build on the success of the Scream campaign for future seasons.

“How do you build upon the cultural connection that you've already established as you start thinking about taking this into the next big summer wean Halloween season?”
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Transcript

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0:00Brand marketing has one plan. Key account managers have another. The field team is doing something else entirely. Sound familiar? Our sponsor, Salesforce, can help. You can't win at the shelf if your internal systems are fighting each other. With Consumer Goods Cloud, you finally connect trade promotions, retail execution, marketing, and service. Everyone, including your AI agents, is working off the exact same data. And the best part? No massive IT headache. Keep your ERP. Keep your data where it is. Keep working in Teams, Claude, or Salesforce. Drive growth from warehouse to checkout with Salesforce at salesforce.com slash consumer goods.

0:50That's salesforce.com slash consumer goods. Hi, everyone. I am Jessica Duquesne with the Hershey Company. Hi, I'm Allie Gill from Flywheel, and you're watching the CPG Guys podcast. Hello and welcome to the CPG Guys podcast, set at the intersection of commerce and tech. Your hosts, Peter V.S. Bond and Sri Rajagopalan, explore how brands and retailers engage consumers in an increasingly digitally driven world. And now, here are the CPG Guys. Hello and welcome to the CPG Guys podcast. I am your enigmatic co-host, PVSB, who also moonlights as head of industry and client engagement at Flywheel, the commerce acceleration division of Omnicom.

1:39my co-host. He is the co-founder of Think Blue Consulting, the father of global pop stars Ria Raj and Cat Size Lara Raj. Their fans, of course, call him Papa Raj. But to me, he's my BFF Sri. Sri is on vacation at an undisclosed location with his family and can't join us for today's conversation. We hope he's enjoying some quiet time, but I know that family very well. I doubt that there's anything quiet going on. It started with one of them losing their luggage on the way. So hopefully it's a little better than that, but I know they're enjoying themselves. Sri, you're greatly missed today. To our audience, if you're getting value from these conversations we have a couple of times a week, we have three quick asks.

2:19First, subscribe to the CPG Guys on whatever platform you're listening on right now, whether that's Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, or anywhere else you get your podcasts. Hit that subscribe or follow button so you never miss an episode. Second, leave us a rating. It only takes a couple of seconds and it makes an enormous difference in helping other CPG and retail professionals find us. We've built this community one listener at a time and a five star rating is the single best way you can help us to keep growing it. And third, follow us on LinkedIn. Between episodes, we publish thought leadership, industry analysis and content you will not find anywhere else.

2:59All built for the CPG and retail community you're already a part of. Search CPGGuys on LinkedIn or click the link in the digital show notes of this episode. And then when you get there, click the follow button. Subscribe, rate, follow. These simple actions help us bring you more of the conversations that matter. Now on to our episode today. Halloween used to be a distinctly American obsession. That's changing very fast and no candy brand is riding that wave harder than Reese's. Today, we're digging into Scream for Reese's, Hershey's first ever international Halloween marketing push, which paired the world's number one peanut butter cup with one of horror's most iconic franchises to build buzz ahead of Scream 7's February 2026 theatrical release.

3:50This wasn't a one market test. We're talking activations across numerous countries, the UK, Germany, Austria, Mexico, Puerto Rico, everything from a fully ghost facified OXXO flagship store in Mexico to university and mall takeovers, private screamings of the film. I love that. And in-source sampling across nearly 100 retail locations. It is a excellent masterclass in taking a U.S.-rooted cultural moment and giving it global retail muscle. And we have fortunately got two of the people who actually built it in the virtual room with us today. First, Jessica DuCain, brand manager of international commercial growth at the Hershey Company, the strategic mind behind bringing Reese's Halloween equity to markets where the holiday is still finding its footing.

4:43And joining her, my colleague Allison Gill from Flywheel, the retail marketing agency that turned that strategy into real world, on the ground execution across five very different retail landscapes. Together, they're going to walk us through how this campaign came together, the strategic thinking, the in-market execution challenges, what worked, what surprised them, and what it means for how global CPT brands think about seasonal moments going forward. Jessica, Ali, welcome to the show. How are you doing? Doing great. Thank you so much for inviting us. Very exciting to talk about our campaign, Scream for Resets.

5:19We're very proud of it. Yes, thanks so much for having us. Looking forward to talking through it. I am looking forward to it. Before we get to that, let's start with Jessica. Why don't you just briefly describe what it is you do at Hershey? Well, I've been at Hershey around eight years and I started on the sales support side like customer marketing, shopper marketing, omni-channel marketing, supporting our largest customers, Walmart, Sam's Club, BJ's and Costco. And then I moved into the brand marketing side of the international place where I'm now, right? International marketing, which is supporting all markets So it's almost like the center.

5:55And I work with a very close team that to support regional activations, as well as looking at something programming that can be executed across all regions. Right. So I specifically focus on partnerships as well as the Hershey brand and its growth. So I am, you know, it's a very exciting time because we are growing international. Our brands are growing and bringing all the regions together and thinking strategically about how they show up in different markets is very exciting. So that's a little bit about me. Thank you, Jessica. Allie, over to you. Thank you. Yeah, so I work with Flywheel in the capacity of business leadership and I work with our clients.

6:38Specifically, I work with Hershey. I've been working with Hershey for a long time, over about 15 years now, and work with their omni-channel teams as well as their national teams to develop national brand promotions, including partnership strategy and activation. And so I've worked with Jessica in a few capacities. We work with the customer and omni-channel teams at Hershey to develop omni-channel programming. We also work with Jessica in her role in her, obviously in her brand marketing role in international to help her with partnership activation. So it's been a really great partnership over the course of time.

7:13Jessica's been at Hershey. Thank you, Ali. That's great. Well, I can't think of two better people to have with me today to walk us through the Stream for Reese's campaign and everything that comprised it. It's going to be a good conversation to our audience in the digital line of this episode. As you know, we always have links. There are links to both Jessica and Allie's LinkedIn profiles and their company website. So you can multitask, learn a little bit more about them as you listen to our conversation go on. So let's get down on. I'm going to open up. I'm going to talk. This one's for Jessica.

7:45The Scream for Reese's campaign was described as Hershey's first partnership of this kind. What was the internal case that you had to make to greenlight something so really unprecedented, pairing a candy brand with an R-rated horror franchise? And how did you overcome the skeptics that I'm sure started to emerge when this idea surfaced? So we didn't start with Scream. We started with the business challenge. So we knew recess already had a strong association with Halloween in the U.S., but that internationally the behavior did not exist yet. So the question became, how do we make races feel naturally connected to Halloween outside the U.S.?

8:24And how do we grow the Halloween season outside the U.S.? How do we grow together? So once we defined that behavior that we wanted to create, we knew that entertainment could be a powerful accelerator. So we brought Flywheel early on to work with us to define how that would come to life. And so as part of the evaluation, we looked at our shopper. So our consumer, our shopper, actually internationally had something in common. They all like, it's very different in the U.S. In the U.S. it's trick-or-treating, family, Halloween, you know how it is. Over there in other parts of the world, it's about horror, horror fest, scary movies, parties, costumes.

9:06So it had a different, and that was synonymous of like that in every country that we looked outside the U.S. And so once we had that insight, plus we knew that entertainment was also a piece in, Scream kept coming up to the top as one of the few entertainment franchises that is immediately associated with Halloween across multiple markets. So that made it culturally relevant and also globally relevant. It allowed markets to execute locally. And I think that because we had that insight, that helped us break through any skeptics or anybody that would push back that would think that, you know, like maybe horror was not a right fit, but it was because of our consumer.

9:49And really, that's how it resonated. What a fascinating observation that as someone who grew up in Canada and the United States, it's always been to me a youth oriented holiday. But to recognize that outside of this country where it hadn't not been part of the cultural zeitgeist for years, that it developed more as an adult kind of an event and the thrill and the theme of it being more adult and that allowed you to pivot towards a complementary brand equity that more fit that adult audience. That's fascinating. You know, the explicit goal was to establish, as I understand, Reese's as the quintessential Halloween treat in these important international markets where the U.S.

10:32approach to Halloween, that culture is still kind of emerging. How do you localize a Halloween campaign for markets where the holiday doesn't have the same roots? And what does success look like from country to country when you're not playing the same playbook that you would play in the United States? Yeah, I love this question because it really is different from market to market, right? We learned so much from this whole process. I mean, we knew the consumer insights. We understood that in every market, Halloween was an evolving season. We also understood that in every country, this season is very connected to an American season.

11:13So we knew there was a desire to grow, learn, to participate. And with every country we saw, for example, with the UK, we saw that the experiential PR events were the ones that attracted the most engagement with consumers and retailers had the most passion for. In Mexico, we saw that bringing Scream to the store and to consumers in the store was the most exciting part for consumers. like in Australia, social platforms were giving us the most with Scream and everybody was localizing it depending on how their consumers behave in each country and what actually brings the most success and engagement.

11:54So it was definitely something that what we liked is we had one strategy, one consumer behavior that then it could be localized based on every market. And we saw success as they were activating. It was a big partnership with every regional market to understand this.

12:11Ali, I'm going to bring you into this next question as well. And I understand it's appropriate given the fact that you both worked on on this other campaign, the Effie winning Be So Extra Easter campaign at Walmart was all converting shoppers. See, I do my research. I do my research, right? It was it was all about converting shopper interest into action. So I guess my question is, I'll start with Ali and Jessica, you can add some commentary. How does the consumer psychology of Halloween differ from Easter when you're building a commerce strategy? And did those Easter learnings inform you on how to approach scream activation at retail?

12:50What can you lean on? What can't you lean on? What Jessica has been talking about is really understanding the shopper and that behavior in the first place really is where we start, regardless of what we're trying to activate. Right. And that, you know, we love that. Be so extra campaign. We worked on that together, which is what we talked about a little bit before. And when we developed that work, where we start is we understand the shopper and what's relevant to her and what matters to her in that season. And when we did that Easter campaign, it really was about, so funny, I mean, Be So Extra was, you know, the idea of cultural relevance was a really central underpinning of that campaign.

13:31The idea of extra at the time was definitely something that was in the cultural zeitgeist, as Jessica has been talking about. The importance of that shopper mom at Walmart in particular and what matters to her in making these occasions really special for her family during that time. And the ways that Hershey in particular can deliver for her during a season like that. And then how we partner with Walmart to deliver those. We talk a lot, especially at Flywheel, as we think about the strategy behind these programs and delivering in commerce. So we think about the stakeholders. How do we think about what's important for the brand to deliver?

14:14What's important for the retailer to deliver? And really, ultimately, what's the right solution for the shopper, right? We really need to think about how do we deliver on those three things. So in that Be So Extra campaign, it really was all about what do we need to do for that mom during that occasion? How does Hershey deliver for her? And how do we do that through Walmart, which is a really important place for her during those seasons for her to go and get those solutions? And what is that ecosystem? And how do we deliver through that ecosystem of Walmart, which is really what allowed us to deliver that campaign?

14:47We leveraged influencers. We leveraged retail media. We leveraged the store, of course, and really brought it all together, you know, in that total commerce solution. That's so important right now. Well, first of all, I want to say that it made me smile that you brought up that campaign. It was actually my first campaign as a Hershey employee. So, and it was my first partnership definitely with TPN and I agree with everything that Ali said. But one of the things that also was to me very impressive about how Hershey approaches this, it ties to the same thing, to the business challenge and the consumer need.

15:28If you understand very clearly what those two things are and you create these campaigns with those two principles in mind, then you will deliver this type of campaigns. Because, again, it will all fit into place and it will come to life, especially when you partner with, you know, people like Flywheel that have a great idea as always. So if you are very clear in your delivery of that brief on what you need, then magic happens. And yes, we won that Effie for Easter. Always nice to have the hardware. I love that. Ali, let me follow up with you. In your role at Flywheel, you obviously sit across the table from many CPG clients.

16:09I guess my question is, how rare is it for you to see a brand successfully stitch together an entertainment IP partnership plus international expansion and a seasonal retail activation all in one campaign? That seems like a lot of complexity. What made Hershey stand out to you? It's not easy, right? I mean, it is. I mean, we're talking about it, right? Because Hershey did this really successfully and not everybody is able to accomplish it. I think this, you know, the idea of, you know, first of all, being able to bring together the stakeholders internally to accomplish it is no easy feat. and kind of getting together the idea early enough in order to do that and then kind of build the sell-in is a huge part of it.

16:54So I would say it's not necessarily often, but when it works, to use the word that Jessica just used, it's magic. When it works, it's really incredible. So for us, I think what really worked well about this is, I'll go back to some of the things that Jessica said in the beginning is really kind of, you know, identifying that business challenge and then allowing us kind of the time and the access to resources within Hershey to really understand the information that they had about the different markets and the consumers and the behaviors. We worked with Hershey in partnership with Hershey and then as well as our own internal resources to gather information about those markets and those behaviors to really bring together with our partnership marketing team, our commerce strategy team, and then the Hershey resources across the markets to really understand what are those behaviors?

17:53What are the dynamics during this season? What is the brand really trying to accomplish so that we could come at it from a really smart strategic standpoint? And not just coming and saying, here's the partnership we want, go execute it, but really allowing that exploration. And what is the right answer? Because, you know, and sometimes it isn't a partnership. We really try to come at it from a strategic place of, is a partnership the right thing for the brand? In this case, you know, it really was. And it's been a really successful situation. And then building, thinking about the partnership across all of those different channels has also been really successful.

18:29This came, you know, this came to execution across, it came out in retail, but also there was PR and there was social and it really activated in a very integrated way. We knew from the beginning that what we were going to do with this program was we knew we needed to start from a really core place that worked for the brand at a global level that then the markets were going to be able to take and activate in different ways that were going to work for those markets. So we built it in a way that we knew they were going to be able to flex. We knew would remain consistent because the core of the idea we knew was going to work for the brand and the partner, but then allowed flexibility for those markets to take and activate in a way that they needed.

19:14The Screen for Reese's campaign delivered compelling seasonal concepts and highlighted opportunities to prioritize Reese's product placement at retail. How do you actually influence product placement in international markets where your retail relations are not quite as established as they are in the U.S.? What's the commerce infrastructure playbook for markets like Mexico or Puerto Rico or anywhere else that you don't have kind of the boots on the ground ability to shape the way you do domestically? I don't really think that is that different than how you do it in the U.S. I would say the common denominator is when you come to a retailer, you have to come with a strategy.

20:03So retailers want to grow. Normally, they want to grow in the category that you're part of. They want to grow across all retailers in the marketplace. And so when you come to them saying, we have this growth strategy, we have this partnership that we think can resonate with your consumers, and you do have those insights as to why they would resonate, and you have the plan and you present it to them, most of our retailers or distributors, because like some of our markets have distributor model, are receptive to it. Because again, we all want to win. Everybody wants to win at retail. And so with a compelling story, that is the reason that why Scream?

20:47We talked about this. Why Scream? Why is it a good fit? Why is it a good fit during Halloween? Why do we think it resonates with your consumer? Why would they take a second look when they see Scream? Because Scream, and let's say compared to other properties is a synonym of Halloween. We know that Ghostface is the number one costume basically across the globe. And so bringing all those items to the conversation makes that extra placement, extra skews, you know, like a lot easier. And that's how we saw growth with our retailers across the board. So Jessica, the Scream for Reese's campaign delivered what was called a compelling seasonal concept and highlighted opportunities to prioritize Reese's product placement at retail.

21:32My question is, how do you actually influence product placement in markets where the retail relationships are not necessarily as established as they are in the US? Is that the case? I guess the question is. And what's the commerce infrastructure playbook for markets like, you know, Mexico, Puerto Rico, or what have you? To be honest, it's not that different as it is in the U.S. What I would say the biggest difference is that in the U.S., our retailers know we're number one in the category. So absolutely, they're bought into anything that we bring to them because consumers are looking for us. Outside of the United States, we're not number one in the category yet, but we are coming to them.

22:16So then even more important to come with this compelling story, which we want to grow the category. So do they. They know they see the opportunity. We bring a great partner that we bring that insight that their consumers are connecting with that partner IP that we brought. So again, we are bringing a strategy. We're bringing insights and we're bringing an opportunity for them to grow within the category. Every retailer wants to win market share, category share across all retailers. So I think that when you come with all of that and deliver it to them, it presents a strong case to give us additional placement.

22:58As we can see with our growth and what the numbers that we delivered with the Scream for Recess campaign. Ali, I remarked before we started recording that I was at a club wholesale store today and I saw my first Halloween display and I thought, oh, my God. And so it begins. Yeah. But the seasonal confectionary category is one of the most contested shelf sections in retailer. Every brand is fighting for the same holiday display real estate. From a commerce strategy standpoint, how do you counsel people like Jessica and Hershey to think about the interplay between in-store placement, the digital shelf and social to amplify a very limited time partnership activation like this?

23:53By the way, it is now called Summerween. If anybody hasn't heard, it gets earlier and earlier. And it's really important. And it's one that we are all talking about right now and figuring out. And this notion of total commerce or connected commerce, which is really important because the way that our targets, our consumers, and what they expect from brands really is this seamless experience, right? We know that everything is connected. The way that they are shopping and living and interacting with community and brands really requires us to be not fragmented in the way that we are. But really, we know that they expect this seamless experience.

24:34They expect this kind of very consistent brand presence across all of the channels that they are living in, especially with this target of Gen Z and millennials that often we are trying to reach. They are building community and shopping and living on social. And so we really want to make sure that from social to digital to shelf to e-com, that that is all a very connected experience. And so that's what we are always trying to counsel. And as we were talking about earlier, the importance of kind of getting clear on what we're trying to accomplish early and bringing those stakeholders together, the more we can do that and the more that we can communicate around those objectives, the more successful these programs are going to be.

25:24And Jessica mentioned it, but I think a really big part of that is getting that getting that total story together so that when you are going to your retail partner and you're trying to explain to them, this is what we're trying to accomplish. If you can get them excited about the total story, that's going to help with that getting on shelf part of it as well. Let me remind our audience that today I'm speaking with Jessica Cain from the Hershey Company and my colleague Allie Gill from Flywheel. All right, let me start with Jessica, and then I'll throw it to you, Ali. But in the UK, the campaign gave consumers a chance to win exclusive tickets to a private screaming of Scream 7 through in-store promotional materials.

26:06Sweepstakes and experiential prizes are classic shopper mechanics. But how do you measure their commerce impact beyond the number of entries? What are the right KPIs for a promotion like this? I will say consumer promotions are, to me, they're very, very interesting because they're very nuanced, right? I mean, I think that a lot of people want to measure by how many people entered the sweepstakes, that is equal success, or how many people, if they participated or if the retailer felt that it was compelling enough in order to participate. I actually think that consumer promotions put the product in the occasion top of mind for the consumer and even give them a reason to believe, a reason to participate in the season, a reason to think about the season, brings that awareness high.

27:04And it also gives them a reason to think, OK, maybe I can be part of this. Not a lot of people take the extra step to enter, but I think that it motivates some of them, if you have the right partner, to at least follow what is going on with your brand and everything. So the right KPI would be absolutely engagement, sales when the promotion is happening. and I will say, yes, the entries would be another level, but I would say for us, that is one that we don't necessarily use it as an extreme measure of success because as you can think, for us, outside the US, we have a smaller share. And so what we want is awareness.

27:49We wanna be buzzworthy. We want people to engage more with our brands. So those are other different KPIs that we use. Ali, any thoughts? I completely agree with what Jessica is saying. And I would just add to that. It was one of the components of the program that we allowed to be flexible. It was one of the things that as part of the toolkit, the different market activations, they could execute the sweepstakes, but they didn't have to. So it was one of those things that the teams could select from the toolkit, but also if they felt that using the assets of Ghostface and the display vehicles, etc., was enough to get them that execution at retail, they could use the sweepstakes or not.

28:32The other thing I think it did well for us in terms of just that cultural connection for the brand is it sort of took that nostalgic connection we knew the target already had with the property and connected it to this upcoming release of the film. So it sort of it generated that excitement between and that kind of affinity between something we knew the audience was already excited about and connected it to the brand that we were trying to get them enrolled in. Jessica, Scream is a franchise with a very specific fan base. They're older. They tend to be horror savvy, a little bit nostalgic. Reese's SKU is obviously much broader than that.

29:14How do you make sure that the partnership reaches the casual Halloween consumer and not just this ghost face super fan? And does that create any tension in balancing the creative that you're looking to activate? I've learned a lot about Scream and their following since I started this campaign and started working with Paramount. There are different levels of Scream fans. definitely there is the the fan base that will follow every movie that studies every movie actually in the last three movies they a little like make fun of that following right of the scary movie fans but then there's the other type of fan that just likes scream because it's just a signature of halloween season like the people that like relate scream and other movies like scream as part of what they watch every Halloween season to make themselves feel like they're in the mood of it and like they recognize the costumes.

30:18So I would say like the generic Halloween fan falls in between that. You know, like so from like they really, really like Halloween and like they start celebrating in July, you know, they start looking at their costumes to the ones that are like wait until like end of September, October, but they still are participating. So I think that Scream has a broader audience than just like the diehard fanatics. From the very beginning, we knew that Rhesus was not going to be scary. I mean, we knew that. We intentionally stayed away from blood, gore, knives, or anything that would push a campaign into horror.

30:52But we wanted to keep that ghost face iconic. So we made it work because we actually made it a little cheeky. We kept Ghostface intact and scary, but we made Reese's be part of that scream universe. So we have an ad that actually says the classic rules on how to survive scary movies. And so we have Reese's actually saying, don't answer the phone. And it kind of like alludes like it's answering the phone. And then don't separate, don't leave your Reese's behind. And then Ghostface chases people. Basically, he's chasing Reese's or we allude to it. So we integrated the two worlds and it actually worked really way without being into the horror piece.

31:33So it was fun. Well, let me go to Allison first on this. I know from my perspective, I'm sure you'd agree we're seeing more CPT brands pursuing entertainment IP licenses, particularly around seasonal campaigns, whether it be candy, beverage, snacks. Do you see this as a durable strategic playbook or is this just kind of everything aligned? It was the perfect timing for this. What do you think separates a partnership that genuinely builds brand equity from one that's just looking for that short term jolt to the to the quarterly numbers? I think it's a balancing act, right? As we've been discussing, it has to be rooted in a brand objective or a business problem to solve.

32:15We always have to start there. So as we were mentioning earlier, we really want to make sure we understand the problem and explore whether a partnership like this is the right answer in the first place. It isn't always necessarily the answer, but when it is and when it's right, it can work really well. One of the things that when we at Flywheel, when our partnership marketing team explores these types of things for clients, we really want to make sure that it's the partnership or the partner does not overshadow the brand, right? Like Jessica was just saying, like these two brands came together really well in a balanced way to kind of work together.

32:58I think even the way the idea came out in Scream for Reese's was such a great balance between Scream and Reese's and kind of driving that call to action for the audience to come into the brand just worked really well for the two brands together. I think from a longevity standpoint, again, it kind of goes back to the strategy. I think there are a lot of partnerships that you can partner with over time. You can say, as a brand, we're going to stand for music or we're going to stand for movies. And you can use that as a partnership strategy. And then over time, use movies as a tentpole kind of activation strategy at the right times during the course of a year, because that also works really well in commerce, too.

33:45So, again, I think it depends on your objectives and your strategy, but it certainly works well in a tentpole situation. But I think that tentpole can be in conjunction with a longer term strategy from a partnership standpoint. Jessica, anything to add? Yeah, I mean, I think that sometimes, sometimes, and I mean, I think we've all been at fault is sometimes brands fall in love with the property instead of solving for the business problem. So in the case of entertainment, for example, entertainment is not the strategy, it's an accelerator. So again, going back, we started with a simple question.

34:21How do we make reasons synonymous of Halloween and grow the Halloween season internationally? So once we knew that behavior, Scream became an incredible, powerful way to accelerate that journey. It's very different from saying, let's partner with a movie because it's popular. You think about Gen Z as now everybody's thinking about Gen Z as their consumer. They want something authentic. They don't want brands showing up in culture just for the sake of showing up. They expect authenticity and relevance. So I think that the future, like you were asking earlier, is fewer partnerships that are more intentional and building platforms that can evolve multiple years instead of one-off promotions.

35:02mm-hmm ali as i think about the rise of agentic commerce particularly in 2020 question to you is if if an agent's doing the halloween shopping as we get to contextual shopping searches sure how does how does a brand need to think about winning um an agentic shopping agent's efforts to choose the right products for someone's halloween basket what what's kind of going through your mind and how do you how do you offer counsel to someone like Jessica? This is really important. I mean, shoppers are using AI supported shopping tools, right? And those tools are pulling from brand feeds. They're pulling from site content and data, right?

35:44So what's culturally relevant more and more is definitely going to register. I think as brands think about all of the content that's out there, agents are becoming smarter and smarter. The AI, the tools are becoming more and more sophisticated. So I think it's, we have to think about how our content is showing up in all of these channels, right? Of course, the way our content on digital shelf and things like that needs to be correct and scrubbed, and it's got to show up the right way for these search tools. But I think even as we think about the way that our content shows up across every channel, That really becomes more and more important as these agentic tools really are becoming more like assistance for our shoppers and how we want them to make decisions in an automated way.

36:34We have to be very choiceful and deliberate about the way that our content and our brands are showing up in those channels. And Jessica, how is this kind of creeping into your plans for the 2026 season? And is it platform by platform? Is it market by market that you're really thinking about how your brands show up in a Gentix search? What's kind of your thought process around that? I think like as much as like most brands, we are still trying to figure this out. Not that it's not part of our plans. We're definitely thinking about it. We are thinking about it. We're thinking about how we show up authentically, how, you know, like to navigate that world, which is very relevant, but at the same time is very complex.

37:23So it is part of our plans. It is part of what we are studying and how the consumer integrates with it. But I will say it's still a work in progress at this moment. So my last question to you, Jessica, is you described this campaign as kind of just the beginning as a template for future collaborations. How do you build upon the cultural connection that you've already established as you start thinking about taking this into the next big summer wean Halloween season? Well, we are, we're doing a second year with Scream. So, 2026, we will be having Scream for recess one more time. And this is for this year.

38:08Now, past 2026, we are working really strategically with our team to think what is the next iteration? having those same insights in mind, having the same shopper needs in mind. How do we elevate Halloween and our partnerships for 2027? More to come, but definitely it's in the works. And again, going with the same, you know, like a strategy in mind, how do we now build, like now that we're building momentum with Recess, now that consumers, like we're seeing growth and we're seeing retailer engagement, How do we keep building on that momentum with our insights and, you know, having a consumer in mind?

38:53So, yep, you will see soon, coming soon. Very excited. July 2027. To our listeners and the over 46 ,000 followers on LinkedIn, thank you, thank you, thank you for doing what you do every day, whether you're building brands, driving retail partnerships, deploying technology or shaping the future of commerce. You are the industry we cover, and this podcast exists because of you. If today's conversation sparked something for you, maybe a new idea, fresh perspective, or just a reminder why this industry is worth showing up for every day, share it. Tag us. Tell a colleague. The more voices we bring into this community, the sharper all of us get.

39:35Jessica, Allie, thank you for taking time out of your days to have this conversation. I absolutely loved it. It was a great case study in activation around a category tentpole event. Thank you for joining us. Thank you. Thank you for inviting us. It was a pleasure. Yes. Thank you for having me. Okay. Until next time, keep pushing the conversation forward. I'm PBSB on behalf of my co-host, Papa Raj. This has been the CPG Guys podcast. Goodbye.

40:13Thank you.

40:43to any specific product or entity does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by CPG Guys LLC. The views expressed by guests are their own, and their appearance on the program does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent. The views expressed by CPG Guys LLC do not represent the views of their employers or the entity they represent. CPG Guys LLC expressly disclaims any and all liability or responsibility for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or other damages arising out of any individual's use of, reference to, or inability to use this podcast or the information we present in this podcast.

From the publisher

The CPG Guys are joined in this episode by Jessica DuQuesne, Global Brand Marketing & Strategy Lead at The Hershey Company and Allyson Gill, Managing Director at Flywheel, the commerce accelerator division of Omnicom.

Follow Jessica on Linkedin at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-duquesne-exec/

Follow the Hershey Company online at: https://www.thehersheycompany.com/

Follow Alyson on Linkedin at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allyson-holland-gill-55194a2/

Follow Flywheel online at: https://flywheeldigital.com

Jessica & Allyson answer these questions:

1. The "Scream for REESE'S" campaign was described as Hershey's first partnership of this kind. What was the internal case you had to make to greenlight something so unprecedented — pairing a candy brand with an R-rated horror franchise — and how did you overcome skeptics?

2. The explicit goal was to establish REESE'S as the quintessential Halloween treat in five key international markets where U.S.-style Halloween culture is still emerging. How do you localize a Halloween campaign for markets where the holiday doesn't have the same roots, and what did success look like differently country to country?

3. The Effie-winning "Be So Eggstra" Easter campaign at Walmart was all about converting shopper interest into action. How does the consumer psychology of Halloween differ from Easter when you're building a commerce strategy — and did those Easter learnings inform how you approached the Scream activation at retail?

4. From Flywheel's vantage point sitting across dozens of CPG clients, how rare is it to see a brand successfully stitch together an entertainment IP partnership, international expansion, and seasonal retail activation all in one campaign? What made Hershey's execution stand out?

5. The campaign delivered "compelling seasonal concepts and highlighted opportunities to prioritize REESE'S product placement" at retail. How do you actually influence product placement in international markets where Hershey's retail relationships are far less established than in the U.S.? What's the commerce infrastructure playbook for markets like Mexico or Puerto Rico?

6. Seasonal confectionery is one of the most contested shelves in retail — every brand is fighting for the same holiday display real estate. From a commerce strategy standpoint, how should CPG brands think about the interplay between in-store placement, digital shelf, and social to amplify a limited-time partnership activation like this one?

7. In the UK, the campaign gave consumers a chance to win exclusive tickets to a private screening of Scream 7 through in-store promotional materials. Sweepstakes and experiential prizes are classic shopper mechanics — but how do you measure their commerce impact beyond entries? What are the right KPIs for a promotion like this?

8. Scream is a franchise with a specific fan base — older, horror-savvy, nostalgic. REESE'S skews much broader. How did you make sure the partnership reached the casual Halloween consumer and not just the Ghostface superfan? Where was the creative tension in that balancing act?

9. We're seeing more CPG brands pursue entertainment IP licensing — from candy to beverages to snacks. Is this a durable strategic playbook, or a moment in time? And what separates a partnership that genuinely builds brand equity from one that's just a short-term sales bump with a logo slap?

10. Agentic commerce and AI-driven shopping are beginning to reshape how consumers discover and buy seasonal products. If an AI agent is doing a consumer's Halloween shopping — choosing between REESE'S and a competitor — what does a brand need to have in place to win that moment? Does a Scream partnership even register?

11. Seasonal is the highest-stakes, most compressed window in CPG. The entire campaign has to land in 6-8 weeks. How is the rise of AI-powered media planning and retail media networks changing how you resource, pace, and measure a seasonal program like this one?

12. You've described this campaign as "just the beginning" and a template for future collaborations that deepen brand relevance and seasonal impact. What's the evolution of this playbook — and as Scream 7 actually hits theaters in February 2026, how does Hershey sustain the cultural connection beyond the Halloween window?

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SheCOMMERCE Website: https://shecommercepodcast.com/
Rhea Raj’s Website: http://rhearaj.com
Lara Raj in Katseye: https://www.katseye.world/

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CPGGUYS LLC expressly disclaims any and all liability or responsibility for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential or other damages arising out of any individual’s use of, reference to, or inability to use this podcast or the information we presented in this podcast. 

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