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

Gossip Girl fans might well remember the scene where Leighton Meester, playing the sharp-tongued “queen bee” Blair Waldorf, lounges in bed surrounded by Godiva chocolates and dramatically declares, “Lady Godiva, my only friend” as her social standing plummets.

More than 17 years later, Meester portrays the legendary Lady Godiva in a bold new campaign celebrating the Belgian chocolate house’s 100th anniversary. In a modern twist on the iconic tale, she pulls off a museum heist to showcase Godiva’s new Masterpiece Collection, riding off on horseback in a leather suit, a nod to the Lady Godiva legend.

In this episode of The Big Impression, hosts Damian Fowler and Ilyse Liffreing sit down with Ahad Afridi, CMO for the Americas at Pladis, the company behind Godiva, to unpack how the heritage chocolatier is positioning itself for the next century — striking a balance between heritage and modernity.

“Turning 100, you have to celebrate your heritage but reposition for the future,” Afridi says. “It’s about getting contemporary. Bringing traditional values forward but modernizing them for today.”

Afridi also shares the strategy of marketing the brand as an everyday indulgence rather than an exclusive one. It’s the reason the brand refers to itself as “premium” chocolate, and not “luxury.”

“Luxury is often reserved for milestones, but Godiva chocolate is also accessible every day — a little bit of happiness and a little smile we all have a right to,” he says. From cinematic storytelling to social-first activations, Afridi explains how Godiva’s “hundred-year reboot” is reshaping the brand for a new generation of snackers, particularly millennials and Gen Zers.