OMS & Hershey

All Case Studies
Case Study — CPG / Confectionery / Chocolate / Candy

Hershey.
Photography as Iconic
as the Brand Itself.

From the melt of a chocolate bar to the gooey pull of a s'more, Hershey needed imagery that matched the nostalgia, appetite appeal, and precision of one of the world's most recognized confectionery brands. OMS delivered - from studio classics to seasonal launches.

Client The Hershey Company
Category CPG / Confectionery
Services Photography · Food Styling · Retouching · Set Design
Studio Cincinnati, OH
Output Retail · eCommerce · Advertising · Social
01 The Brief

An iconic brand. Visuals that live up to the legacy.

Hershey is one of the most recognized names in American food — a brand built on nostalgia, indulgence, and the kind of product familiarity that spans generations. That equity demands photography that doesn't just show the product, but captures the feeling of it: the texture of chocolate, the warmth of a seasonal moment, the crispness of a packaging hero on shelf.

OMS was engaged to build high-quality, brand-aligned imagery across classic chocolate lines, new product innovations, and seasonal campaigns — covering retail, eCommerce, advertising, and social simultaneously.

  • 01Studio photography for chocolate bars, candies, and seasonal snack innovations
  • 02Lifestyle and usage photography for recipes, family moments, and campaign content
  • 03Packaging hero imagery for retail and eCommerce channels
  • 04In-house chocolate and candy retouching for advertising and packaging compliance
02 Our Approach

The Chocolate Experts - In-House at OMS Photography

Chocolate is one of the most technically demanding food photography subjects- reflective surfaces, temperature sensitivity, and texture detail that has to read in a thumbnail and a billboard simultaneously. OMS's full in-house team - food stylists, photographers, prop designers, and retouchers - handled every phase without outside handoffs.

Phase 01 - Pre-Production
Shot planning with brand and agency partners
OMS collaborated with Hershey's internal brand teams and agency partners to develop shot lists, mood references, and set concepts aligned to campaign objectives. Seasonal launches required additional pre-production to coordinate product sampling, prop sourcing, and set build timelines.
Phase 02 — On-Set
Styling chocolate for the lens
OMS food stylists managed the particular challenges of confectionery photography — temperature control, surface texture, melt behavior, and ingredient scatter — under controlled studio lighting. Each setup was optimized for appetite appeal at every output size, from a social crop to a retail endcap.
Phase 03 — Post-Production
Chocolate retouching at CPG standard
OMS's in-house retouching team handled color grading, highlight management on glossy packaging and chocolate surfaces, background work, and final formatting across retail, eCommerce, and advertising specs. Color accuracy was cross-referenced against approved brand assets throughout.
Phase 04 — Scale
Supporting a portfolio brand at volume
Hershey's portfolio spans dozens of SKUs across classic lines and seasonal innovations. OMS's production infrastructure — multiple shooting bays, six full-time retouchers, and an integrated workflow - allowed high-volume output without sacrificing consistency across the library.
KitKat chocolate bar placed on a gaming desk with RGB keyboard, headphones, and mouse under purple lighting.
04 The Work

The complete Hershey image library — chocolate classics, new innovations, and seasonal campaigns.

05 The Results

Brand-accurate. Appetite-driven. Ready for every channel.

4+
Channels served from a single production pipeline
2
Full-time in-house retouchers on the OMS team
15+
Year ongoing client relationship
100%
In-house — photography, production, retouching
  • Complete studio and lifestyle image library delivered across retail, eCommerce, advertising, and social channels
  • Chocolate and candy retouching met all brand compliance and retail vendor specifications
  • Full in-house production pipeline - food stylists partners, photographers, prop designers, and retouchers - eliminated outside vendor handoffs
  • Ongoing relationship supports Hershey's seasonal launch cadence and new product innovation pipeline
Work with OMS
Ready to shoot your next CPG campaign?

OMS Photography specializes in full-service food, confectionery, and consumer brand photography from our studios in Cincinnati, OH and Denver/Golden, CO - from pre-production through final retouching.

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