Hershey's Credibility Push: Loved Brands Must Be Chosen Actively

Hershey's chief marketing officer said the company's biggest brand challenge is translating long-held consumer affection into daily purchase decisions. The comment came during a panel at Advertising Week New York, where marketing leaders from Hershey, e.l.f. Beauty, and LinkedIn discussed how brands build and keep credibility in a shifting cultural landscape.

Stacy Tappitt, Chief Growth and Marketing Officer at The Hershey Company, framed the problem bluntly. "You can be loved but not chosen actively," she said. The comment gets at a structural issue for any legacy consumer brand: familiarity alone no longer drives consideration. Hershey, which operates 90 brands at different stages of maturity, has to manage that risk across its portfolio. Its proprietary Alpha Score sits at 46 out of 100, a Mixed reading that reflects the same tension, high awareness without guaranteed active demand.

Panelists agreed that credibility is earned through visible action, not messaging. Tappitt said Hershey looks for partners that share its values and can open new occasions. She cited Reese's collaborations with Oreo and Nitro Bar. The Nitro Bar partnership, she said, introduced a Reese's pumpkin latte and reached a younger consumer while opening "a new occasion where people are making recipes and using the products in different ways."

Lori Lamb, Chief Brand Officer at e.l.f. Beauty, described consistency as the foundation. "It's also the consistency of playing (out) values, so not just delivering values, but standing behind your values," she said. She described e.l.f.'s "zero distance" culture as a mechanism that exposes employees across levels to company decisions. The brand also uses community conversation to inform partnership choices. Lamb said e.l.f. collaborated with Bubble, another beauty brand, and combined products from both. The company looks for a distinctive contribution from each partner rather than an interchangeable collaboration.

LinkedIn's approach focuses on providing data and career stories rather than self-promotion. Paolo Provinciale, Vice President of Marketing, said the company's economic team tracks hiring and skills trends and publishes research. "It's not what you say, but actually the way you show up," he said. "Provide value to your audience before actually asking for that credibility and trust back." LinkedIn showcases people with nonlinear career paths, a DJ who was a former accountant, an NFL player who used the platform's "open to work" banner while waiting for the draft. Provinciale said those stories show how people navigate professional change.

For Hershey, the challenge is especially acute for legacy brands. Tappitt said the task is "being top of mind and being relevant every single day." When brands make mistakes, she said they should acknowledge them directly. "You own up to a mistake. You're transparent about it. You try to make it right, and you live to fight another day." She said Hershey prepares content to address likely questions and builds the ability to respond quickly in a world where criticism spreads fast.

Lamb warned that purpose becomes a platitude if it is not tied to action. She said e.l.f. aims to shape culture rather than chase every trend. "We're not chasing trends, but we're shaping the way that the narratives are built," she said.

The panel made it clear that credibility is not a one-time campaign. It is a continuous choice about what a brand offers, whom it partners with, and how it responds when things go wrong. For Hershey, that means proving every day that being loved is not enough, the brand has to be chosen.