Ahad Afridi, CMO for the Americas at Pladis, owner of Godiva, shares how the legacy chocolate house’s “hundred-year reboot” is reshaping the brand for a new generation of snackers, particularly millennials and Gen Zers.
Ahad Afridi, CMO for the Americas at Pladis, owner of Godiva, shares how the legacy chocolate house’s “hundred-year reboot” is reshaping the brand for a new generation of snackers, particularly millennials and Gen Zers.
Episode Transcript
Please note, this transcript may contain minor inconsistencies compared to the episode audio.
Damian Fowler (00:00):
I'm Damian Fowler.
Ilyse Liffreing (00:01):
And I'm Ilyse Liffreing,
Damian Fowler (00:02):
And welcome to this edition of The Big Impression.
Ilyse Liffreing (00:09):
Today we're joined by Ahad Afridi Chief Marketing Officer for the Americas at Pladis, the company behind the Godiva brand, those premium chocolates we all live.
Damian Fowler (00:20):
We're diving into Godiva's bold new campaign, featuring Leighton Meester portraying the legendary lady, good diver, a modern spin on an iconic story of courage and individuality.
Ilyse Liffreing (00:31):
We'll talk about how the brand is trying to stand out ahead of the holiday season and how Pladis is evolving its brands for the next generation of snackers.
Ahad Afridi (00:40):
Let's get into it. It's a comprehensive launch. It's a launch of a new product within the Godiva range called Masterpiece, but it's also the start of a brand reset. And so part of this has an eye towards the now of launching this new product that's great, but also towards activities that are going to happen over the next one year. Godiva turns 100 next year, and so what we wanted to accomplish was the first big step in this centennial, what we call re-imagining of the Godiva brand.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Yeah, that's a legacy brand for sure.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
And happy birthday as well.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Thank you
Speaker 3 (01:20):
A hundred years. Thank you. Thank you to Godiva. On behalf of Godiva, I'd say thank you.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
Yeah. In that hundred, how would you define what Godiva stands for as a legacy brand over that century?
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Godiva is a premium chocolate brand. It's been called a luxury chocolate brand, but we prefer to call it premium because it makes it more accessible, which we can talk about a little bit more. It's a Belgian heritage brand. Belgian chocolates are different than the normal.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
That’s good, in my opinion,
Speaker 3 (01:53):
Different than the normal chocolate milk-based chocolate, but it's just great tasting, high quality chocolate that you feel great giving to others as a gift and having for yourself as well.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
So just to ask you about this specific campaign, what made you wanted to bring that legacy as it were up to date? Is that the right way of putting it into today's culture through this campaign?
Speaker 3 (02:18):
Yeah, in a way. Let's say it's a hundred year reboot because turning a hundred, you have to celebrate your heritage, but reposition for the future. So it's about getting contemporary, bringing some of those traditional values and equities of the brand, but modernizing them for today and starting this, what we call re-imagining with totally new offerings coming over the next one to two years. We've started with what we call Masterpiece, and Masterpiece is a small chocolate piece that comes in a bag with multiple pieces in there, and it's great for sharing with others or treating yourself. So this is the first step. We've just launched this now it's in the market. In the next few weeks you'll see a totally reimagined what we call gold box and truffle box, which is high-end premium chocolate in specialty stores and on the giva.com website where we've totally revamped chocolate and got new offerings in that. So that's coming over the holiday period, Valentine's Day, there'll be another new collection coming next fall. Towards the end of the next year, we'll have some more gifting chocolates available that will be broadly available. And that's the start. And then after that, in the year 2027, we've got other exciting things coming in. So it's a sequenced campaign.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
Good timing for the holiday season, I'm sure.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
Exactly, exactly. Holiday seasons are important for us. Every day is important for us, but the holiday seasons are very important for us. Yes.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Can you describe a little bit of the campaign itself and what viewers might see and experience as they witness the campaign?
Speaker 3 (04:06):
Yeah, I guess the first thing you'll see is a wonderful cinematic traditional sort of advertising, which has got some drama in it. It's got wonderful aesthetic, but at its heart it's a product centered ad and the product is celebrated in there, the taste of that. So that's let's say the hero piece or the centerpiece. But in addition, what you'll see is a lot of social content in different variations. You'll see different versions in digital tv. You'll see a billboard coming later, so some nice still art coming there. Now what's unique about this is we didn't look at it as just a specific campaign and a point of time. We look at this as a one year program where we're relaunching the brand. So you'll see Layton Meer again in the holiday periods, Valentine's period and throughout next year. Why
Speaker 1 (05:03):
Leighton Meester? I mean, I know Ilyse is a fan.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Oh yeah. I mean Gossip Girl lover obviously.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
Well, she's a great representation of some of the values of Lady Godiva and Lady Godiv was the, let's say the initial inspiration for the brand. It's obviously called Godiva. So she, lady Godiva played a big role in the identity of the brand. But Leighton Meester is someone that we respect a lot. She's very popular, she's highly likable, she's multifaceted, great actor, musician person who has her own specific identity, and we think that's a great person to partner with in this
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Now premium chocolate, that space is a pretty packed one. How does this campaign really help the brand stand out, especially as we head into those important holiday seasons?
Speaker 3 (06:04):
Yeah, so premium chocolate is a growing segment within overall chocolate. So certainly chocolate's a very broad area, so many different offerings, and premium is a very important segment within that. And there are different offerings within premium. We like to consider Godiva as the high end of the premium segment. And there's something special. It's like in a category full of square shapes and round shapes,
Speaker 4 (06:32):
You've
Speaker 3 (06:33):
Got Godiva coming in with something totally different. And if you see the Masterpiece product, you'll see it's a very unique sort of shape there. So we pride ourselves in being kind of the premium of the premium but being accessible. And it's our goal to provide unique offerings that really tastes great and are cut above the rest of premium, but yet at let's say a fingertip away from desire.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
When you say relaunch, what does that mean? Does it mean like you're trying to reach new audiences, new consumers? How are you thinking about the people you're trying to reach? And I guess that does tie in with getting a celebrity like Leighton Meester.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
Yeah, it's important for us to connect with a broader range of consumers, younger consumers. So we're trying to get millennials and Gen Zs now, which the brand hadn't really targeted before and over a hundred year period you will have a core cohort which will age over time, and we're making a purposeful effort to try and reach a broader audience. Now contemporize the brand and our activities around doing that,
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Does that also have to do with perhaps the decision to call it premium chocolate versus luxury chocolate or what is that thinking?
Speaker 3 (08:02):
Well, the category is divine is premium chocolate, but people say good dive is a luxury brand and sometimes people talk about chocolate as being luxury. I don't think chocolate should be luxury. Chocolate should be accessible as well. And so it's really around that. It's not a conscious big effort saying, Hey, call us premium. Don't call us luxury.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
You can call us what you want, but it's just great tasting chocolate that is accessible. And our key point is luxury is often reserved for special occasions or milestones and that's certainly fine, but could dive a chocolate is also accessible every day. A little bit of happiness and a little smile is an everyday treat that we all have a right to.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
My wife reminds me of that every day. She says, should we have a chocolate? Now she's a millennium. She'll be very happy if I give her a Godiva chocolate. Well, we have them here for you to try. Okay, well we will just pause the podcast.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
We right back anyway. So just to talk about PLAs. So good diver is one of the brands within Pladis and which has a big portfolio of snacking. I just want to talk a bit more about the consumer you're trying to reach. What kind of insights have really shaped how you think about this new strategy?
Speaker 3 (09:30):
Chocolate plays a meaningful role in people's everyday lives. It's not something that's only reserved for special occasions once or twice a year. And so what we see is that people need, if you look at what we call a demand space map of consumers needs and occasions during the day, there are many opportunities in there for us to provide little bits of happiness, little bits of indulgence, a treat for yourself that is accessible and that's important for us. That's an important insight. The second is that chocolate is more than a product, but it may provide an emotional benefit. It might make you feel good, it might help you connect with others. It might be a reboot for the rest of the day, three o'clock, little piece of chocolate it with a coffee or a cup of tea or something like that is fantastic. So we've mapped consumer occasions to see that that's important. So those are really two very important insights for us.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
Curious, now that the campaign is out, I know it's early days, but are there any KPIs that you're really keeping your eye on or your hopes around brand impact that you're going to get from this campaign?
Speaker 3 (10:54):
Yes. Well, we have a broad range of metrics that we look at. You can bucket them around awareness and visibility as one. Engagement. How consumers get involved is to sentiment, what are people saying and how do they feel about it. And then importantly, fourth but not least, is the commercial impact. What kind of sales impact do we have? How's it driving the business? And we're one week into the campaign,
(11:20):
So we don't have any of those metrics now, but we will be tracking them. But what we're very encouraged by is just the initial, let's say feedback, what people are saying, how much people are talking about it and what they're saying about it. And it's very, very positive what we're hearing about this. And even in this first week, we're seeing remarkable engagement. People are even reediting bits of the ad and combining it with Layton Meer in other roles. It's a very scene in one of her previous shows, which she's very famous for where she says, lady Godiva is my only friend. So we're getting recut edits of that with snippets of the new ad. So consumers are sending those back to us.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
Now. You've talked before about how storytelling is very key to building great brands. Has this campaign changed how you think about what really connects with today's consumers?
Speaker 3 (12:22):
I think this campaign will confirm what we think is important in storytelling. And for us, storytelling has got to be something that captures people's attention, draws some interest, so they stick with it and is something that they'll remember later on. And we are trying to find new ways to deliver that and create that impact. But within that, we have to embed elements of the brand and the product experience that's so important in that. And this first centerpiece ad is a wonderful example of that because it's a captivating ad, but at the heart it is a product brand centered ad. So I think that's very important is to combine those things.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
When we look at the sort of bigger shift, and you've sort of addressed this a little bit, but I'm just curious, we are in a moment of time where people are a little bit anxious in some cases about the economy and where things are going. How do you market into that where you're talking about the importance of premium at a time, that might be something where people would think, oh, should I, shouldn't I? How do you think about that?
Speaker 3 (13:42):
Well, the good thing about chocolate is it is something that's important every day or can be important every day. It should be accessible every day. And whether the economy goes up or it goes down, it's something that's there. And available chocolates, you were talking earlier about luxury. God, IVA is not a Hermes bag. You don't have to wait two months, or sorry, two years to get that. It's something there that you can have. And if it provides that little bit of lift, that smile on your face, that moment of connection, that's something that is important for people regardless of economic conditions. And if they're having some moments in life or particular experiences in life where they need a little pick me up even more than it plays an even bigger role. So it's our job to provide the right offerings, make them accessible and be available for them.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
Does it signal anything about how you might approach other Plaice brands? I know they're very different, but just
Speaker 3 (14:52):
Yeah, we have multiple other brands around the world and some are chocolate, some are biscuits, some are cakes. And each brand has to find a way to tap into consumer desire. And our Pladis mission we say, is happiness in every bite. And that's what we're trying to deliver. And each brand has to try and deliver that in its own unique way.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
Now with a heritage brand such as Godiva, how are you still keeping it modern while staying true to its heritage? Because the snack worlds today is changing so fast, we have new wellness trends all the time, digital shopping, et cetera, et cetera.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
Well, it's such an important question because the challenge for every brand is to be relevant today. And what got you there in the heritage is helpful, but it doesn't necessarily deliver against what makes you relevant for today. It just makes people notice or gives you a little bit of credibility or trust. So a big part of this brand, re-imagining it a hundred years is about that. It's about contemporizing the brand, making sure that we stand out in today's world, that we're conveying those benefits that meet the needs of today's consumers, that we are using the right codes to communicate Kate and making it easy for consumers to notice us, to think about us, to remember us to desire us.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
How do you think about the way modern brands are going about marketing? Are there any interesting tidbits or trends that you're noticing?
Speaker 3 (16:43):
Lots of littles. There's a study by work that talks about the aggregate, let's say the cumulative effect of little bits of exposure on your brand actually deliver more than singular big pieces of visibility. And if a brand can try and do that show up in different places, just little bites, little bite size bits of
Speaker 4 (17:10):
Content
Speaker 3 (17:11):
That comes across a lot, that is a great way for connecting and getting consumers to remember you.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
We've got these kind of quick fire questions here at the end. And what's one thing that you're obsessed with figuring out in confectionary marketing right now?
Speaker 3 (17:30):
I'm obsessed with figuring out how to connect with consumers in a meaningful way. And that is evolving. It's very difficult. Consumers are bombarded with so many stimuli that the ability to connect with them in a relevant way is so important.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
Outside of snacks, do you have a brand that you really admire for nailing culture and doing just that?
Speaker 3 (17:58):
Yes, I love what Heinz is doing. They're fantastic. They're a great example of leaning into your heritage, creating distinction versus other brands in a category that seemingly doesn't have a lot of variety. They are very strong at having distinctive brand assets that they tap into all the time. Make it easy for consumers to think about them, remember them, and they're great at tapping into culture. They've got great little mini campaigns under their overall brand platform. It has to be hez that keep the brand very vibrant. I love what they're doing.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
What's the best piece of marketing advice you've ever received and do you still follow it?
Speaker 3 (18:47):
Message delivered does not mean message received. And I think that that applies not just to marketing, it applies to change management leadership. And it's something that I think about a lot, especially now. So if you think about it from a marketing perspective, a brand manager's perspective, it's easy to fall in the trap that if you create something and you put it out there that consumers are going to notice it, love it, and buy your brand. And what we try and tell them is, this is not Iowa Field of dreams. It's not a build it and they will come. You have to really work hard at creating relevance and getting noticed and the odds are stacked against you. So making sure your message or your intent is received, not just delivered is very important.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
Very nice. One more for fun. If money were no object, what's a dream marketing move you'd make?
Speaker 3 (19:52):
So I can give you the traditional answer on top of those lots of littles. It'd be great to have some big mega programs. I would love to have, we're talking about Godiva today. I'd love to have Godiva in the Super Bowl. I'd love to have Lady Godiva show up and present the trophy, the NFL trophy or the US Open Tennis trophy or I'd love that stuff, but I'll go past that. It would be great to have Lady Godiva as a Marvel superhero movie and have her deliver chocolate to save the world. Something's going on and she just comes and gives a little piece of chocolate and everything's okay. And that's it
Speaker 1 (20:36):
For this edition of The Big Impression.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
This show is produced by Molten Hart. Our theme is by love and caliber, and our associate producer is Sydney Cairns,
Speaker 3 (20:45):
And remember lots of littles. There's a study by work that talks about the aggregate, let's say the cumulative effect of little bits of exposure on your brand actually deliver more than singular big pieces of visibility.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
I'm Damian and I'm Ilyse
Speaker 3 (21:05):
And we'll
Speaker 1 (21:05):
See you next time.