This is the story of how Godiva, a niche brand in the UK, looked beyond their traditional chocolate boutique stores and exploded into everyday luxury – into supermarkets. This was a brand extension that didn’t just drive sales for Godiva, it grew the premium chocolate category.
Unusually, Godiva didn’t try to entice people to switch from competitors. Instead the strategy successfully brought new people into the premium chocolate category. This was a whole new audience of younger, more affluent ‘experience lovers’ entering the world of Godiva and premium chocolate.
The disruptive campaign successfully inspired mainstream chocolate lovers to ‘DIVE IN’ to Godiva Masterpieces – a new product inspired by iconic chocolates from the boutiques and redesigned for the grocery channel - with the seductive promise that ‘Chocolate Never Felt So Good’.
Artistic, dynamic, vibrant and modern, the multi-touchpoint campaign not only broke category conventions, it broke the luxury paradox, achieving the utopia of being both aspirational and accessible. Given the strength of our significantly better known and much-loved competitors, the results were extraordinary. Arriving in Sainsbury’s in September 2017, Godiva doubled their expected four-month sales target. It was also a positive for the category as a whole. By bringing in a new, younger audiences to premium chocolate, Godiva contributed an astonishing 97% of category growth for Sainsbury’s.
This remarkable launch came from a brand starting from scratch in the grocery channel, with just 10 boutique stores concentrated in South East England and a modest 18% brand awareness pre-launch. 1 Godiva has proven that you can democratise luxury successfully; achieving mass sales, whilst always keeping luxury credentials at the beating heart of the brand.
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(Please note: parts of this case study may have been redacted for confidentiality purposes.)
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