Godiva Japan
Jérôme Chouchan has the kind of job that would leave a chocoholic drooling.
As managing director for Japan and South Korea at chocolatier Godiva, Chouchan oversees the Japan operations of one of the world’s most recognisable premium chocolate brands. The company that began as a single boutique in Brussels in 1926 now has, under the stewardship of Turkish group Yildiz Holding, retail outlets in more than 70 countries.
As the company has grown, its products have diversified. Besides its signature chocolates, it now markets baked goods, ice cream and dessert beverages such as its hugely successful Chocolixir range of chocolate drinks.
Godiva first came to Japan in 1972, opening a sales outlet in the Mitsukoshi department store in Tokyo’s Nihombashi district. It has since expanded to 246 sales outlets across the country, and this year its business grew 20% from January to September. Just as impressive, Godiva boasts a 90% brand recognition rate among Japanese consumers. When Japanese think special chocolate, chances are they think Godiva first.
So what’s behind that success?
“A lot of it comes from a first mover’s advantage. Being first in Japan is huge,” Chouchan says. “We were the first luxury overseas chocolate brand to come to Japan. We created the category of chocolates as a premium gift here through our department stores sales, then we steadily built the buying of luxury chocolate as a self treat.”
But being the first mover in Japan means nothing unless you continue to innovate. Godiva never stops.
“If you don’t innovate and surprise the customer, you don’t grow in this competitive and mature market,” Chouchan says. “Japanese consumers in particular have a real appetite for new products, which is why Godiva’s range in Japan is larger than in any other country, with a portfolio of around 150 products.”
Japanese consumers also have specific tastes and needs, which Godiva Japan responds to with its own product development.
The popular Chocolixir drink range has been tweaked for Japan by regularly developing new seasonal flavours and making it less sweet than in other countries. Items like Godiva’s white chocolate and matcha (green tea) biscuits have been designed specifically for Japan, combining familiar Japanese flavours with European influences. Some of that in-country innovation has even led to products that achieved success in markets outside Japan.
Localisation applies to marketing too. In February 2011, Godiva did its first TV commercials in Japan, to promote its Valentine’s Day line-up. The campaign was conceived and made locally, with input from the global team, targeting Japanese consumers. It helped make the crucial 2011 Godiva Valentine’s sales the best ever.
“Part of our success is that we have a global consistency but with the flexibility to adapt it to each market. There’s a positive tension between global and domestic that allows us to get the best out of both our global experience and our local insights,” Chouchan says.
Godiva is also flexible about its outlets.
Historically, the brand has always been strong in travel retail (airport duty free areas) and had a major presence in prestigious locations such as the Mitsukoshi and Takashimaya department stores. In recent years it has diversified without compromising quality, or service, or what Chouchan calls a “luxury experience”.
“We now have a shop in Shinjuku station – the busiest station in the world – to take advantage of impulse buying and reach a bigger market. People aren’t likely to go out of their way to buy something that’s gone as soon as chocolates, drinks or ice cream, but they will treat themselves to something special like Godiva when they happen to walk past a store.”
Not that innovating is always easy in Japan. Although consumers are open-minded, Chouchan says there tends to be a reluctance to change within the industry. There can also be resistance within the company. Godiva’s recent deal to sell ice cream through the Seven-Eleven chain of convenience stores in particular raised eyebrows, with some people worrying it could dilute the brand.
But Chouchan says it’s important to be more forward thinking than that. The key when taking a brand like Godiva into new territory is to manage the move without compromising the company’s DNA, and still provide for specific consumer needs.
With the Seven-Eleven ice cream sales, Godiva does that by limiting the availability to certain seasons and by occupying the highest price point in the ice cream category. In its own stores, service plays a big role in providing “moments of luxury” for customers.
“Our staff are trained to serve you as if you are buying a one-carat diamond, regardless of whether you are buying an ¥800 box of chocolates in Shinjuku or something more expensive elsewhere,” Chouchan says.
“If you offer customers a high-quality product and service, you have luxury regardless of the point of sale – and the customer still feels something special.”
And, as any chocoholic will tell you, feeling special is what chocolate is all about.