Think of chocolate, think of Hershey. Buy chocolate, buy M&Ms. Own the brand, lose the category. As a powersports industry that’s already feeling the approaching recession wonders what to do, one approach might be to consider what’s more important – brand, or category? Is there a difference? You bet. And how you define your marketing approach may determine whether your product lives or dies.

Right now the good folks at Hershey – Reeses, Almond Joy, Jolly Rancher, Kit Kat – are feeling the pain delivered by those other good folks named Mars. Mars you say? Sorry, don’t know them. Ah, but you’re buying their brands – M&Ms, Twix, Snickers, Starburst. And right now they’re dominating the candy category (now mentioned as snackfood – much less sinister) formerly owned by Hershey, which just recorded a 65% drop in net profit with analysts predicting more of the same.

One historic note worth mentioning – it wasn’t that long ago that Hershey, family owned then and now, refused to advertise. That’s right, you never saw an ad for Hershey chocolate. If memory serves, the first ads were for Kisses. Today, though, M&Ms outsell Hershey’s famous chocolate bar by a bunch.

For their part Hershey’s pledging to up ad spending in an effort to regain market, an outcome not assumed by all. Mars will continue their brand promotion and with it category dominance, while Hershey may be stuck owning the best brand recognition while losing the category. The gods of irony are having a holiday with this one.