How Godiva found sweet success by using a DAM solution for global brand management

Consistency is a major factor for any brand that wants to thrive. This can be a challenge when serving different markets: How do you stay on brand while telling your company’s story with a unique voice in every market? The answer: Use a sophisticated approach to global brand management.

Godiva Chocolatier, having established themselves as royalty among luxury chocolate brands in their 90-year history, has done this by providing their global design team with a digital asset library. They chose Canto as their core platform for global brand asset management, applying its functions every step of the way, from storing and sharing to researching and developing.

It’s all about consistency

Godiva is a global consumer brand. As such, they need to uphold their brand image globally, tell their brand story and provide a unique brand experience. This starts with unwrapping their iconic golden packaging and culminates in the savory sensation when the silky smooth chocolates meet the customer’s taste buds. Everything about it needs to convey this look and feel that is Godiva – consistently.

Different markets, however, come with different expectations and variables, language being the most obvious. There are further nuances, cultural distinctions and regulations that might apply for any given market. Content working in one region might not work in another. Thus, a human touch is required to adjust the content and to avoid creating one-use materials.

Godiva’s design team is spread around the globe to create the Godiva experience fitting every target region. By employing a system for global brand asset management, they bridge the gap between the target market’s requirements and the demands of brand consistency.

Godiva now stores all of its images, consumer research and global calendars in Canto, enabling the team to communicate within the tool and have all brand resources available if they need to recreate or avoid duplicating a design.

Keeping designers on the same page

Aligning a brand experience requires that all persons involved have access to the same information and can draw from the same resources. Godiva’s global design team needs to be in sync with current packaging design and global brand development in order to complete their mission.

They are provided a single source of truth, their asset repository hosted in Canto. All of the brand’s designs are uploaded and maintained here. This eliminates the first major hurdle many teams are struggling with: knowing where to find a specific file.

Furthermore, the Canto media library is searchable and prevents file duplicates. Thus, any available asset is automatically the most current version, keeping all users on the same page and prohibiting the use of outdated material.

Godiva ensures that the global design team has access to their cloud-based asset storage in Canto. The team members use the DAM platform to pull from the latest assets and create the Godiva experience that brand consistency demands – with just the regional touch the target market requires. Even though the team members may be in different locations, thanks to their sophisticated approach to global brand management, they can tell the same story – Godiva’s brand story – wherever they are.

Data-driven decisions, better collaboration and always on brand

By accessing Canto, every Godiva user can now instantly find, grab and apply any asset that is critical to their mission of providing a unique but consistent brand story and experience for each region. Any new content is on brand, even when adapted to cultural nuances or legal requirements. The brand’s appearance and image remain untouched.

Moreover, Canto boosts their capacity for collaboration. The global brand asset management system encourages and enhances synergies between the team members. When one team develops a design another can use, it’s right at their fingertips, saving hours of duplicated design work.

Canto also enables the Godiva team to work more efficiently. The data provided in Canto guides decisions for future endeavors in the brand’s development. Canto’s content analytics enable the decision-makers to look back on what has been done before and how designs have changed – or to put actual numbers to questions such as what kinds of assets perform better than others. Thus, Godiva’s asset repository in Canto is also a chronicle of the brand’s development.

We can see what’s going on across the globe. So rather than spend and get resources to develop two different things, one region will develop it and another one will borrow it and vice versa.

For the creative decision-makers at Godiva, going with Canto as their DAM solution for global brand management was one single step that repays trifold and keeps on giving.

Ready to take the next step for your brand’s consistency? Learn more about what Canto can do for you.