Soul & Science : #113: Hershey’s CGO Stacy Taffet | Modernizing a Timeless Brand Without Losing the Magic
SHOW NOTES
For legacy brands, the hardest work isn’t necessarily making change—it’s choosing what to protect.
In this episode of Soul & Science, Jason Harris sits down with Stacy Taffet, Chief Growth Officer at The Hershey Company, to talk about what it takes to modernize a over 130-year-old brand portfolio while protecting the meaning people already love.
They also explore how Hershey thinks about snacking moments across candy, salty snacks, and better-for-you options. Plus the role of experimentation when measurement tools don’t capture long-term brand value. And Stacy breaks down a standout example: the Reese’s x Oreo launch, built with a culture-first, fan-powered approach that outperformed traditional playbooks.
Key Takeaways
✅ Why brand stewardship requires restraint, and not constant reinvention
✅ How to design platform-first creative built for modern attention
✅ Using cross-functional operating models to turn insight into growth
✅ When to trust the data, and when to invest beyond what’s easy to measure
✅ Balancing nostalgia and innovation without diluting legacy brands
Memorable Moments
💡 “Restraint is harder than reinvention.”
💡 “In a world of sensory overload, people want something they can trust every time.”
💡 “We shifted from reach-first to resonance-first.”
💡 “Business is a matter of human service.”
Brought to you by Mekanism.
Soul & Science
Does marketing live in the heart, or in the head? Should you trust your instinct, or your integers? If the answer is both, should you lead with one more than the other? As a creative agency, Mekanism has been asking these questions of ourselves and our clients for over 10 years. Join co-founder and CEO of award-winning creative agency Mekanism, Jason Harris, on his quest to answer these questions with the world’s leading marketers from the brands we’ve all come to love. Named CEO of the Year by The Drum Magazine, Jason will draw from his experience during these easily digestible 20-minute episodes to explore the Soul of these famous brands and the Science of staying relevant, exploring how they’ve become culture defining emblems in our modern world.
Brought to you by Mekanism
Brought to you by Mekanism








