You know what’s sweeter than chocolate? The challenge of making a nearly 100-year-old brand feel as fresh as a box of just-unwrapped truffles.
That’s exactly what Godiva set out to do with its centennial glow-up and swanky new campaign starring the actress Leighton Meester, which premiered on September 30.
Picture this: Leighton channeling Godiva’s iconic character, Lady Godiva, in a cheeky “reverse heist” commercial. Instead of stealing art, she’s returning the prized “masterpiece” chocolate to a museum right where Godiva says it belongs. This was a way to bring a legacy character into the modern age, Angela Fotopoulos, Marketing Director, Godiva, Pladis Americas, said.
“Within the ad, we capture all of the true elements of our new masterpiece collection, which is the Belgian snap, the new packaging, and it’s done in a very playful and modern way,” said Fotopoulos.
100 Years Young: The Power of Brand Reinvention
If you thought having a century of history meant Godiva would just coast on nostalgia, think again.
Fotopoulos put it simply: “For us, it’s all about Belgian craftsmanship and preserving our recipes, because we are a 100-year-old brand.” But nostalgia only takes you so far. Godiva’s big centennial, which officially kicks off in 2026, marks the launch of a brand reset.
So what changed? Pretty much everything you see and taste. Think cleaner, more modern packaging, a refined logo that puts Lady Godiva herself front and center and a commitment to chocolate recipes that uphold authentic Belgian craftsmanship.
“Our new positioning is ‘Reimagining chocolate that started in 2026,’” she said. True premium brands can still innovate decade after decade, she added.
It’s a balancing act: Stay rooted in the classics, but show up in ways that feel fresh, she said. If your brand is reaching a milestone, dig deep into its authentic DNA and see how you can remix it for today’s crowd.
Cultural Relevancy and Experiential Marketing
How do you take a legacy brand and drop it squarely into the cultural conversation? Sometimes it’s as simple as tapping into a moment people already have tucked away in their collective memory. Enter Leighton Meester, whose Gossip Girl character once dramatically cried into her pillow, “Lady Godiva, my only friend.”
From there, Godiva built a campaign that lived across the channels where their audience already spends time. These channels included CTV, social, IRL experiences and big, splashy moments designed to be both seen and remembered. Their New York Public Library gala, which was held in October, is a prime example: celebrity guests, mountains of truffles and a towering 500-pound chocolate horse anchoring the celebration.
In 2026, Godiva is taking the brand on the road with a whimsical pink truck — an homage to postwar Belgium — set to pop up and surprise fans. It’s a reminder that experiential marketing doesn’t have to be over the top to matter; it just has to connect with people with a sense of charm and intention.
And when you create moments that land both online and in real life, your campaign has a heartbeat wherever your audience shows up, Fotopoulos added.
Measuring What Matters
Legacy brands — or really any brand making a splash — can’t live on vibes alone. There’s got to be a bottom line. “Brand impact is just as important for us as business impact,” Fotopoulos said. This centennial isn’t just for nostalgia points, she insisted.
So what’s the actual recipe for Godiva’s measurement approach? It starts with the basics: Are people buying the product, and how quickly is it moving off shelves? From there, the team layers in a mix of modern signals — how the brand is showing up in conversations online, whether its social presence is growing and how people are feeling about it overall. “We want to make sure we’re driving experiences but also quality and results,” she said.
That balance guides where the brand shows up. Godiva leans into digital and CTV placements, puts real effort behind finding its core audience and expects agency partners to bring both strong creative ideas and a clear sense of discipline around what the brand stands for.
As for creative freedom, Godiva isn’t interested in playing it safe. The brand gives its partners room to experiment, as long as every idea still connects back to the fact that the chocolate should feel premium, grounded in heritage and unmistakably sensory. In other words, try something new, just don’t lose the thread.
And maybe that’s the real lesson: Whether you’re a century old or just getting started, the brands that stay interesting are the ones willing to evolve.
