Confectionary Objective to Find and Share the Love

LinkedIn is the social network platform dedicated to connecting professionals through networks in order to find and share information. The LinkedIn algorithm is designed to connect subgroups and networks to larger and larger groups as the content is shared with other professionals. Scott Cornell writes in his Article the Purpose of LinkedIn as: “If you're ranking social media networks by how formal they are, LinkedIn surely takes the prize. That's because LinkedIn is a professional social media network, where users create profiles highlighting current and prior work experience. You can upload resumes, connect with colleagues and classmates and build a network that can help you advance in your career.” So, how can a business tackle a formal professional network for the purpose of advancing the company mission?

As per my norm, I reach toward The Hershey Company for LinkedIn and proactive use for a major company (https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-hershey-company/). The Hershey Company posts to LinkedIn the least of all the social media platforms. Unlike, the other platforms, The Hershey Company LinkedIn posts are inspirational, report on a philanthropic campaign, or connect employee with proactive company drives. There is very little mention of the candy products in the LinkedIn posts. The logo and the confectionary delights are always in every image, but the content primarily avoids promoting candy.

LinkedIn is where The Hershey Company confectionary objective is to find and share the love of community and the Hershey Story. Yes, we come back to sharing the Hershey Story. For example, the most recent Hershey Company LinkedIn post is about Hershey’s dedication to Human Rights of the Cocoa Farmers from which Hershey purchases the beans to make their Chocolate. The post starts with “December marks not only a time to look back at the past year, but also a time to look ahead. In just the last year, we announced a new Human Rights policy that outlined our commitment to respect human rights throughout our value chain. Now, as we approach Human Rights Day (and a new year) we’d like to take some time to look back at our progress to date and ahead at what’s to come.

To Learn more click: “(https://www.linkedin.com/posts/the-hershey-company_human-rights-the-hershey-company-activity-6607669411992211456-LAtV).

The LinkedIn post is concise and speaks to the dynamic goodwill of the company. The post is also linked to the website which takes you to more articles and links to their products while advancing prospective customers down the sales funnel.

Hershey does not disappoint with their efforts to promote good will and increase their ethos among their cliental, while striving to reach the community at large. In other words, you do not have to like chocolate or any Hershey Products to feel good about the work the Company is doing throughout the world. LinkedIn is a perfect platform for expanding awareness and increasing their philanthropic work and Hershey is taking advantage of the opportunity.

Amazingly, the Hershey Company is diligent and deliberate about their LinkedIn posts. It is paying off with 188,504 followers and 6,422 employees networked to the Hershey Company LinkedIn profile page. A proactive company can use LinkedIn with an objective to find and share the love of community while building awareness.

Thanks for reading. Be sure to connect with me on LinkedIn (linkedin.com/in/donald-don-crane-7ab0a216). Many Thanks to the Hershey Company and the great work they are doing.

Until Next Time, You know I love ya, Don

www.thehersheycompany.com

Cornell, Scott. "Purpose Of LinkedIn." Small Business - Chron.com, http://smallbusiness.chron.com/purpose-linkedin-62179.html. Accessed 10 December 2019.

Retail and Social Media Alignment : Hershey and YouTube

YouTube is a powerful social media platform with literally billions of content videos used throughout the world. Owned by Google, YouTube states their objective and purpose is “We believe that everyone deserves to have a voice, and that the world is a better place when we listen, share and build community through our stories.” (https://www.youtube.com/about/) As a video social media platform, YouTube captures the story in video format and connects people together.

Although it still has only a limited presence outside North America, Hershey is the reigning giant in the US chocolate business with a large portfolio of well-established and much-loved brands. It was the first American company to develop a recipe for milk chocolate at the beginning of the 20th century and has more or less cornered the local market ever since with its distinctively Hershey's bar. The brand has also been spun off into a variety of other confectionery treats as well as syrup and drinking chocolate. The eponymous product is accompanied by another billion-seller in the form of Reese's and dozens of other candies.

The Micro Market of Hershey is not limited. There were regular and active videos posting of their TV commercials in 2015-2016 on YouTube. In more recent years, Hershey has moved toward storytelling and propagating their philanthropic efforts. Simon Mainwaring wrote this week in Forbes, “Brands across the spectrum are positioning themselves as purpose-driven leaders. In this environment, how can a company stay true to their unique reason for being and give back in authentic ways that distinguishes it from the competition? It's not about being the agent of change but rather creating a platform for others to drive meaningful change” (see article reference below).

The Hershey Company has monetized the use of the YouTube channel to connect with their employees for training and with their customers/shareholders for awareness in developing a brighter future.

To foster that sense of social inclusion, the Hershey launched a new initiative called The Heartwarming Project and hosted a Makers Of Good Teen Summit this year. The Summit was created for teens by teens and focused on overcoming social isolation. After the initiative and throughout the month of October, Hershey interviewed the Youth Participants and captured the interviews on video and posted them to YouTube.

Through the month of December 2019, Hershey is posting a series of employee training videos. The company’s own description is “Retail and media channels are merging as digital media and commerce are now a part of everyday life.” (https://youtu.be/eZEv0ZjyADc) The latest posted video is an informative testimonial of Two of Hershey's experts discussing insights-driven manufacturers which help retailers have high-impact category sales plans.

Using the voice of YouTube, Hershey has once again, energized it’s employees, used story to bring about positive change and added to the value of their story.

The positive influence of Hershey and YouTube makes you enjoy milk chocolate that much more.

Thanks for reading … connect with me on YouTube and as always, You know I love ya. Don

For more Information Check Out the Forbes Article and the Hershey Company Below:

Mainwaring, Simon. Purpose at Work: How Hershey Stands behind Youth to Create the Future. Forbes, 12/3/2019. https://www.forbes.com/sites/simonmainwaring/2019/12/03/purpose-at-work-how-hershey-stands-behind-youth-to-create-the-future/?fbclid=IwAR3jtzilRHtk6DUa_wkexFP_EcdVV3JHbadN9uz4coWwcioavLC6zmhdZaA#1168bb8a4640

www.thehersheycompany.com

https://www.youtube.com/about/