Andrea Steele is the Director, Digital Direct & Operations at the Hershey Company responsible for managing Hershey’s owned digital properties (including B2B and brand.com), as well as leading CRM, Search, Content, and Digital Insights and Intelligence.

Previously, Steele led Digital Transformation and Digital Operations for Unilever’s US business. Prior to that, she was a digital consultant at L2 Inc. (now part of Gartner), where she helped companies such as Shiseido, L’Oréal, and Moet Hennessy develop digital and organizational strategies, led Digital IQ Index® reports, and managed 35 global accounts. Andrea began her career in a rotational program run by Marketing EDGE, the nonprofit arm originated by The Direct Marketing Association (now the ANA).

Upon completion, she was hired by strategic-marking firm Goodman&Company to consult for organizations like PayPal, SAP, and Microsoft. Steele holds a bachelor’s degree from Columbia University and a master’s degree from the Fashion Institute of Technology. 

Why did you choose to pursue eCommerce in your career? “CPG and Ecommerce” were not frequently heard together when I started in this space. It was exciting to play a role in helping to define what this industry looks like and to learn what works (or doesn’t!) across various consumer goods industries as it relates to digital and ecommerce.  

What is your biggest strength, and how have you used it for your success in eCommerce? My biggest strength is dot-connecting. As a former field hockey goalkeeper, I like to see the whole field, and then be able to connect the dots and orchestrate the team to operate as a unit. This has been useful throughout my career, and in ecommerce, particularly, because success is so dependent on collaboration with different parts of the organization – IT, media, shopper marketing, marketing, sales, catman, etc. You have to see the big picture and connect the dots to drive your online and offline sales via digital.

What is the weirdest skill or talent to come in handy in your eCommerce experience? I have always been a fast typist, and it has paid off in various jobs, such as when I had to manually transcribe eight episodes of The Beatles Anthology for a film production internship in college. For my job today, it helps me keep track of my meeting notes day-to-day because I have handwriting worse than my 2-year old. 

How have you most successfully influenced change within your organization (or with your clients)? Taking 3-6 months to set a strong strategy and roadmap has been critical to drive change. Sharing a 4-year plan, rooted in achieving shared business goals, has helped to align various partners and teams internally and externally and get us moving down the path of digital transformation. 

What was your most “valuable” career failure, and why? Several years ago, I tried to integrate a new technology into a media campaign and it totally failed – we could not get proper tracking and the technology did not function properly. The test was very valuable though, because it taught me how to get to the root cause of why something is not working – we had to interrogate the entire process end-to-end to figure out why it had not performed as expected and keep asking why until we got to the core issues that caused the failure. 

In the last five years, what new belief, behavior or habit has most improved your life? In the last 5 years I had my first kid, and that has changed just about every belief, behavior, and habit that I have, and she has markedly improved my life ???? 

What are you learning right now? The difference between weeds and real plants as I start gardening again after being in New York City for many years.  

What are the 1-3 songs that would make up your career soundtrack today?

• Good Job by Alicia Keys is a track that I think everyone needs to hear on repeat right now. It is hard for everyone on my team to balance working from home at an accelerated pace, meeting family needs, and the stress of everything going on in the world. We all need a reminder that we are doing a good job and that each of our contributions, although all different, are important for the world. 

What are the 1-3 books you’ve gifted the most or that have greatly influenced your life, and why?

• The Natural Baby Sleep Solution by Polly Moore: This book was a lifesaver when our daughter was born 2 years ago, and I have recommended it to many new parents.
• Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi: This is my husband and my favorite cookbook from the 6 years we spent as vegetarians. Although we are now omnivores again, we still gift this beautiful book frequently.\
• The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien: I have not gifted it much, but I am a huge fan (I have a LOTR quote engraved on the inside of my wedding ring).

If you could have a gigantic billboard for the world to see with anything on it, what would it say, and why? “Make your own road.”

In this space, there often is not a road “less traveled by”. You have to use a machete or weed whacker and define your own path – figure out what gaps a business has and go help solve them.  

What are the worst recommendations or advice you have heard related to eCommerce? “You need a dashboard” – data without context or an action/purpose attached to it is not very useful. Figure out what action you want people to take before you jump to the tool or technology. 

What advice would you give to a future leader of change about to enter business, or specifically the eCommerce field? Be comfortable with operating in the grey space. So often, when it comes to digital and ecommerce in CPG, we do not have the right data, off-the-shelf solutions do not exist, and we do not have the necessary processes in place. It is less important to know the answers (because they likely do not exist). It is more important to be able to clearly articulate the challenge, and to be able to use data and consumer/customer insights and needs to forge a new path to resolve it. 

What specific, industry-related change do you believe will happen that few others seem to see? I believe CPG companies will have the most evolution over the next few years as it relates to adopting a full-funnel media approach. It will shake up everything end-to-end, including how we plan, allocate, brief, develop creative, test, measure success, partner, etc. 

What is the last thing you bought online, and why? Groceries from Instacart (to eat!) 

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First Movers is a change leader interview series featuring select industry pioneers who are boldly driving the evolution of digital commerce, the consumer and everything in between.