Ch. 4 - The Marketing Environment

GODIVA, Everywhere

 Godiva chocolate company has a great marketing plan, as far as external marketing environment is concerned and has been doing well. This the reason, today the Godiva brand can be found in more than 80 countries, bringing the best of Belgium to the world. The founder of Godiva, Joseph Draps began the international Godiva expansion in 1958 by opening a Godiva boutique in Paris on the fashionable Rue St. Honore'. Openings in the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, and more soon followed. Eventually, in 1966, Godiva traveled across the pond to the United States, where Godiva became available at one of the country's most elegant department stores, Wanamaker's in Philadelphia. Six years later, the first stateside Godiva boutique opened on New York's fashionable Fifth Avenue.

Demographic Factors

The population of the United States has been divided into different categories which includes tweens (ages from 8 to 12), teens, Generations Y,  is made up of people born between 1979 and 1994, Generation X, people born between 1965 and 1978, and then baby boomers, people born between 1946 and 1964. Among this population, the Godiva brand has become very popular which caters to people of all ages. American market belongs to people from all over the world, and the three major ethnic groups besides the White Americans, are the Hispanic Americans, African Americans and Asian Americans. The psychology behind chocolate suggests consumers see it as a 'naughty but nice' impulse treat. This intriguing desire for chocolate has helped Godiva to grow its business in all these major markets.

Economic Factors

Due to the fastest growth of the company's business in the international markets, Godiva doubled its store network in the Chinese market as well. The consumers in China spent about $1.1 billion on chocolate in 2011, and the market was all set to have annual growth of 11 percent from 2010 to 2014, according to market researcher Mintel. With this rapid growth, Godiva will be better equipped to accelerate the brand's growth and increase broad global expansion across Godiva International in the coming years.Godiva operates more than 600 retail stores around the world, and it has no trouble selling its gold-boxed offerings in a variety of other channels as well. The company sales have grown more than 30% since 2008, to $650 million in 2011.

Social Media

As we all know, social media are web based technologies that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content through the internet. These modern age technologies have helped many business to grow faster and more effectively. No doubt that Godiva's business has also grown over the years through social media. The single most important thing Godiva does with the community is 'Listen'. People gather feedback through these channels about their members' lifestyles on a daily basis, helping them develop compelling new products and programs that enhance the Godiva experience. In addition, the member-to-member conversations in the community provide Godiva with a unique way to learn how their chocolate fits into members' lives. All these advertising sources such as,Facebook, Twitter, Youtube etc. are the most common factors in businesses' growth in recent times.

Consumer's Income and Recession

When people think of Godiva, the words that come to mind are "WOW," "LUXURY," and "EXPENSIVE". Because of the ailing economy, consumers were reluctant to go for things which they felt were luxuries, and a result, Godiva's sales were soft at some point. Through various exercises and assignments members completed, the community brought to life the changes in behavior such as shopping habits, gifting patterns and self-treating in the midst of recession. The only consideration consumers were interacting with the brand were accessibility and affordability. Where members love eating Godiva, they were avoiding their visits to malls where the majority of Godiva boutiques are located. At the same time, competitors were making premium chocolate available in supermarkets and grocery stores. As members were budgeting themselves in the economic crisis, therefore seeking premium chocolate at value. The Godiva stores enhanced their sales by offering gift certificates and other sales coupons. Godiva offers much more versatility than ever before in terms of maintaining its customer relationship. By tapping into universal behaviors like "sharing" and "casual gifting," Godiva Gems makes the brand more relevant all year around.

Ch. 3 - Ethics & Social Responsibility

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Is the company Godiva Chocolatier, Inc. an environmentally responsible company? Well, based on the research, Good Guide has given Godiva Chocolatier, Inc. an Environmental Performance Rating of 3.2 out of 10 based on the following criteria:

1. Transparency:0
2. environmental Management: 4
3. Resource Use: 4
4. Environmental Impact: 4

As chocolate lovers, we all have our favorite Godiva pieces. But do we always know what's in the chocolate that makes it so rich and irresistable? Ethically, Godiva's chocolate is best known for its rich expensive chocolate, but can everybody afford it? The Godiva consist of high quality chocolate, but ethically they don't reach out for a group of customers that can afford it. obviously, Godiva provides information about the chocolate and the types of brand they offer. But they don't provide information of how the chocolate is made, such as the ingredients and how much calories it is. A lot of customers go by the presentation and most of these products can cause high cholestrol and high blood pressure depending on the ingredients they contain. However, there are also nutritional and weight-loss benefits associated with eating dark chocolate on a daily basis. It is imperative to only consume a small amount, as the sugar and fat can be bad for you if too much are consumed.


As a socially responsible company, there is a survey about Godiva company for job related issues.Here are some ethical comments made by people working at Godiva the company.

Store (Boutique) Manager (Former Employee0
Emeryville, CA
I worked at Godiva Chocolatier

Pros -- The pay was good and I was able to build a great team of associates to work for me at my store.

Cons-- But not even my team or the paycheck could keep me there in the end. Godiva doesn't want to appreciate leaders. They want sheep! They want to control every move you make in your stores. When I say "they", I am referring to the district manager and regional director. Micro-managing is the name of the game at Godiva. If you are willing to have
every ounce of self-respect and confidence drained from your body, then being an employee of Godiva Chocolatier is the perfect job for you.
On a good sales day , my store was rarely recognized. on a great sales day we'd a gentle nudge and then
called out on how we could have done better. Our district manager would set us up for failure on a weekly basis, by expecting us to do upwards of 300% over LY sales on specific days. Pathetic if you ask me.

I quit my job because I was not exceeding my sales by enough. That's right. I was threatened with termination because my sales INCREASES were not big enough. I was threatened with anaction plan for underperforming managers because I wasn't moving the needle fast enough. These are desperate acts of upper management and a company that refuses to live in reality.

Ch. 2 - Strategic Planning for Competitive Advantage -WI Students Begin Marketing Plan

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Hoping to get people to eat more chocolate, Godiva marketers wondered, how can we take chocolate from nibble to nosh? The answer wasn't inside the old brand's signature gold box, where people tend to deliberately choose a single piece, the company says. Instead, Godiva saw it needed to come up with new forms of chocolate for customers to munch mindlessly, and new places to buy them. Therefore, when Godiva Chocolate celebrated its 80th anniversary, updating its direct creative approach, redesigning its retail stores and even revamping its signature gold box with new pieces and packaging.The company which has seen double-digit direct growth in recent years, is currently snack-dab between its two busiest times of the year, The December holidays and Valentine's Day, says Beth Sash, director of e-commerce and direct marketing.Godiva's customers often buy for friends and family but aren't afraid to indulge themselves, notes Sash. "We're seeing more and more customers coming into our boutiques daily to buy one or two pieces for themselves as a treat in the middle of the day."Recent efforts to contemporize the brand have helped Godiva reach a more aspirational, fashion-forward audience, she adds. It now attracts younger people overall, 25 to 35 year-old vs 35 to 49 year-old previously.

High-end chocolatiers want to put their sweets everywhere shoppers are, whether it's chocolate covered pretzels in an upscale department store or chocolate-coveredespresso beans at the coffee shop."We want to get more Godiva into people's mouths more often," said Lauri Kien kotcher, chief marketing officer for Godiva and senior vice president of global brand development. "It's about chocolate snacks, little chocolate treats. --- When those things come, you just keep eating." Godiva says there are up more than 13% year-to-date, and it expects total sales to top 4650 million in recent years. Godiva's strong belief about its product is that there are three basic reasons why people purchase premium chocolate: to give as a gift, to share with a group and to eat by oneself. The first category, gift-giving, has been Godiva's strong suit for decades, especially at occasions such as Valentine's Day and Christmas Holidays Season.

Godiva stores, which used to be awash in gold boxes, now also stock small chocolate truffle bars(priced at $2.95), sleeves of chocolate-covered almonds($12) and boxes of chocolate-covered cookies($25 for three dozen). In other words it's a completechocolate experience. Godiva is looking to appeal to a wider audience of gift givers. Its holiday catalog reads like a shopping list, suggesting various new products ---a box of brownies? a chocolate-fondue basket? ---for babysitters, neighbors, teachers and clients.

  Godiva is venturing into new places, putting jumbo candy bars on grocery store shelves and cupcakes and brownies online. It is adding new products like chocolate-covered Oreos to the offerings at Godiva boutiques.The chocolate market has been getting especially competitive in supermarkets and drugstores, with European brands like Cadbury, Toblerone and Ferrero Rocher, fancy offerings from mass marketers like Symphony bars from Hershey, and familiar boxed offerings from Whitman's and Russell Stover. And there are niche products with cult followings, too, such as chocolate-dipped pears from Harry & David and Trader Joe's peanut butter cups.These supermarket products were created to be at the ready in case of chocolate emergencies which compels the customers' urges for chocolate. Godiva has dismissed the risk of diluting its brand to the grocery stores by maintaining the quality of its products and meeting the expectations of its everyday customers.

Godiva: Finest Belgian Chocolate Co., since 1926. K.Sharif

Since 1926 Godiva has been the premier maker of fine Belgian chocolate. Over 75 years ago, Godiva began as a small praline-making business run by the Draps family out of their home in Brussels, Belgium. The company was called Chocolaterie Draps until Joseph Draps decided he wanted to produce a more exclusive chocolate and open up a chocolate shop. One of the first Godiva shops still stands in the beautiful, historic Grand Place in Brussels.




In 1966, the Draps family came to contact with the American company Campbell Soup Company, which acquired one-third of a stake in Godiva that year. Thus, the American operation of the company was the first to introduce premium chocolate to the American palette. By 1968, Godiva Chocolatier, Inc., had begun domestic production, using the executive Belgian recipes.







The company has continued to grow and expand over the years, The U.S. plant in Reading, PA, now produces the same amount of chocolate for the U.S. market as the Belgian plant produces for the rest of the world.There are now over 270 Retail locations as well as over 2000 Wholesale doors. In addition to retail and production, Godiva runs a direct business (www.godiva.com and 1-800-9-Godiva) and a wholesale merchandising sales force across the country. Godiva's world headquarters are located in Midtown Manhattan.

Godiva's Mission Statement

Godiva's mission statement is to go global and to promote a high quality product and service. Godiva chocolate is made to bring sheer delight to their customers. Their slogan sounds like: "Look, smell, listen, feel and taste that's what Godiva chocolate is all about." The store locators can be in Godiva Boutiques, a total of 23 franchises as well as fine department stores, duty free locations and other gourmet shops that carry Godiva pralines a total of 277 stores.