Brands earn credibility through visible action — providing value, delivering on promises and choosing partnerships that fit — according to marketing leaders from Hershey, e.l.f. Beauty and LinkedIn speaking at Advertising Week New York.

For Stacy Tappitt, Chief Growth and Marketing Officer at The Hershey Company, the credibility challenge is sharpest for legacy brands. "You can be loved but not chosen actively," she said. The panel explored how marketers push brands from familiarity into active consideration through useful content, partnerships grounded in shared values.

What does value have to do with trust?

Every example the panelists cited started with one question: what does a brand give its audience in exchange for attention or loyalty?

For LinkedIn, the answer is information about the world of work. The company's economic team tracks hiring and skills trends and publishes research for members and policymakers, said Paolo Provinciale, Vice President of Marketing at LinkedIn.

"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 also pushes back on the myth of the straight-line career. The company showcases people whose careers changed direction, Provinciale said, because "their linear career progression was not linear at all, [it] was actually a zigzag, a step back, a step forward."

Lori Lamb, Chief Brand Officer at e.l.f. Beauty, tied her company's credibility to consistency between stated values and behavior. "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 way to expose employees at different levels to company decisions.

Hershey's task is keeping familiarity from turning into passivity. The company manages 90 brands at different stages of maturity, Tappitt said, and each has its own relationship with consumers. For legacy brands, the job is "being top of mind and being relevant every single day."

What makes a partnership worth doing?

Hershey screens partners for shared values. "We look for brands or partners that share our values, maybe have a common mission, but that can offer something complementary to both brands," Tappitt said.

She pointed to Reese's collaborations with Oreo and Nitro Bar. The Nitro Bar partnership introduced a Reese's pumpkin latte, reached a younger consumer and opened "a new occasion where people are making recipes and using the products in different ways."

At e.l.f., community conversation informs partnership choices. The brand worked with Bubble, another beauty brand, and combined products from both companies. Lamb said e.l.f. wants a distinctive contribution from each partner rather than a collaboration any two brands could execute.

LinkedIn's partnership examples centered on personal career stories. Provinciale described work with DJ John Summit, a former accountant, and Las Vegas Raiders NFL player Fernando Mendoza, who used an "open to work" banner while waiting for the NFL draft. The stories, he said, show how people navigate professional change.

When should a brand join the conversation?

The same test applies to trends. Provinciale said marketers should decide what they can contribute before jumping in. "The overarching rule is not to ask yourself how can I jump into the conversation, but what can I add to the conversation," he said.

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

That judgment gets harder when criticism spreads quickly or misinformation appears. Tappitt said Hershey prepares content to address likely questions and builds the capacity to respond fast. When a brand makes a mistake, it should own it: "You own up to a mistake. You're transparent about it. You try to make it right, and you live to fight another day."

The panel's takeaway: credibility lives in what a brand offers, whom it partners with and how it responds under pressure — not in what it says about itself.