Sweet Success: Inside Hershey’s Influencer-Focused Campaigns

Jessica Du Quesne is a seasoned marketer and sales professional with over 15 years of experience in multiple industries. Du Quesne’s greatest strengths are her passion, creativity, drive and leadership. Her professional style is based on her inter-personal communications, ability to make the best possible use of her personal network, management of multi-functional work teams, customer service and sales. Originally from Lima, Peru she has worked in many different roles, all of which have helped shape her business acumen, approach for driving solutions and exposure to various business cultures. Jessica was recognized as one of the 2017 Northwest Arkansas Women In Business and 2020’s Celebrate Magazine One’s to Watch. Currently Du Quesne is a Brand Manager for the International Commercial Growth Office at the Hershey Company where she is leading the development of resources and projects to build capabilities across Global regions, with a priority focus on Digital Marketing and Omnichannel advancements across all retailers. At her time at Hershey she also led the Omnichannel Marketing Team that supports Walmart and the Club Business. Du Quesne was primarily responsible for providing thought leadership and strategic executional guidance to develop insight-based activation plans, providing mutual benefits to the shopper, retailers and manufacturers. Previous to her time at Hershey Du Quesne was a Shopper Marketing Account Leader with Saatchi & Saatchi X in Springdale, Arkansas and her clients included Procter & Gamble, Del Monte and The Coca-Cola Company.  Du Quesne’s commitment to the Northwest Arkansas community continues to get stronger every year. She has been one of the leads in the local Hershey Company Corporate Social Responsibility efforts for the last two years and dedicates much of her spare time serving in a leadership capacity on the Cancer Challenge, The American Heart Association, The Boys and Girls Club, the Corporate Leadership Council for the Walton Arts Center and, recently, the Community Cohesion Project. Her passion for diversity and inclusion are well known within the organization represented by her selection and constancy as co-lead of the Latino BRG Chapter in Sales for Hershey. In early 2020, Jessica co-founded “Heart of Arkansas” with the objective to bring a spotlight and support Arkansas local businesses.

Aliza Freud has always believed in the power of women -- as entrepreneurs, consumers, leaders, and as a community. She founded SheSpeaks in 2008 with a mission to amplify women's voices after 10 years at American Express where she rose through the ranks to become Vice President of Global Marketing. Today, SheSpeaks is an award-winning influencer marketing company renowned for uncovering women's insights and creating needle-moving programs for some of the world's most iconic brands, as well as a platform comprised of the largest, most diverse community of female consumers and creators in America with a network reach of more than 300 million consumers per month and growing. Freud has created a multi-media platform that inspires and champions women to express their creativity, ideas, and opinions and provides access to endless opportunities to expand their influence and, in many cases, build profitable businesses doing so. She also hosts the weekly The SheSpeaks Podcast and LinkedIn Live Series, Powerhouse Women.

Nicole is a journalist turned social media strategist and content creator. Her notable career includes companies such as The New York Times (where she handled UGC, social media, and off-platform content on the widely popular 1619 Project) and ABC News which helped shape her journalistic expertise while giving her the room to grow in the digital and social media space. A maestro in social media strategy, she’s transformed brands on social, from The Daily Beast to NBCLX to HubSpot's business newsletter The Hustle, by weaving compelling narratives, strong visuals, and wit leading to record-setting impressions, views, and readership. And Nicole isn't just a social media expert for other brands. As she has done in her clever op-eds for publications like The Daily Beast and The Week, she sparks thought-provoking conversations on TikTok and Instagram with a healthy serving of relatable humor to an audience of 10s of thousands. What’s her secret? Masterfully using journalistic skills and comedy to dissect difficult subjects involving culture, race, and feminism while ensuring all facets are explored.