Godiva’s Ahad Afridi on marketing chocolate as an everyday indulgence

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 (.css-j9qmi7{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-flex-direction:row;-ms-flex-direction:row;flex-direction:row;font-weight:700;margin-bottom:1rem;margin-top:2.8rem;width:100%;-webkit-box-pack:start;-ms-flex-pack:start;-webkit-justify-content:start;justify-content:start;padding-left:5rem;}@media only screen and (max-width: 599px){.css-j9qmi7{padding-left:0;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;}}.css-j9qmi7 svg{fill:#27292D;}.css-j9qmi7 .eagfbvw0{-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;color:#27292D;}