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The Big Impression

The Big Impression

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The Big Impression returns for another season of insights and inspiration from leaders at the world’s most influential brands. Editors and co-hosts Damian Fowler and Ilyse Liffreing will look to uncover candid stories on game-changing campaigns from some of the world's biggest brands — including wins, losses, and lessons. New episodes are released every Wednesday.2023 The Current Podcast Economía Exito Profesional Gestión y Liderazgo Liderazgo Marketing Marketing y Ventas
Episodios
  • Godiva’s Ahad Afridi on marketing chocolate as an everyday indulgence

    Godiva’s Ahad Afridi on marketing chocolate as an everyday indulgence
    Oct 29 2025
    Ahad Afridi, CMO for the Americas at Pladis, owner of Godiva, shares how the legacy chocolate house’s “hundred-year reboot” is reshaping the brand for a new generation of snackers, particularly millennials and Gen Zers. Episode TranscriptPlease note, this transcript may contain minor inconsistencies compared to the episode audio. Damian Fowler (00:00):I'm Damian Fowler.Ilyse Liffreing (00:01):And I'm Ilyse Liffreing,Damian Fowler (00:02):And welcome to this edition of The Big Impression.Ilyse Liffreing (00:09):Today we're joined by Ahad Afridi Chief Marketing Officer for the Americas at Pladis, the company behind the Godiva brand, those premium chocolates we all live.Damian Fowler (00:20):We're diving into Godiva's bold new campaign, featuring Leighton Meester portraying the legendary lady, good diver, a modern spin on an iconic story of courage and individuality.Ilyse Liffreing (00:31):We'll talk about how the brand is trying to stand out ahead of the holiday season and how Pladis is evolving its brands for the next generation of snackers.Ahad Afridi (00:40):Let's get into it. It's a comprehensive launch. It's a launch of a new product within the Godiva range called Masterpiece, but it's also the start of a brand reset. And so part of this has an eye towards the now of launching this new product that's great, but also towards activities that are going to happen over the next one year. Godiva turns 100 next year, and so what we wanted to accomplish was the first big step in this centennial, what we call re-imagining of the Godiva brand.Speaker 2 (01:17):Yeah, that's a legacy brand for sure.Speaker 3 (01:18):And happy birthday as well.Speaker 2 (01:20):Thank youSpeaker 3 (01:20):A hundred years. Thank you. Thank you to Godiva. On behalf of Godiva, I'd say thank you.Speaker 1 (01:26):Yeah. In that hundred, how would you define what Godiva stands for as a legacy brand over that century?Speaker 3 (01:34):Godiva is a premium chocolate brand. It's been called a luxury chocolate brand, but we prefer to call it premium because it makes it more accessible, which we can talk about a little bit more. It's a Belgian heritage brand. Belgian chocolates are different than the normal. Speaker 2 (01:51):That’s good, in my opinion,Speaker 3 (01:53):Different than the normal chocolate milk-based chocolate, but it's just great tasting, high quality chocolate that you feel great giving to others as a gift and having for yourself as well.Speaker 1 (02:08):So just to ask you about this specific campaign, what made you wanted to bring that legacy as it were up to date? Is that the right way of putting it into today's culture through this campaign?Speaker 3 (02:18):Yeah, in a way. Let's say it's a hundred year reboot because turning a hundred, you have to celebrate your heritage, but reposition for the future. So it's about getting contemporary, bringing some of those traditional values and equities of the brand, but modernizing them for today and starting this, what we call re-imagining with totally new offerings coming over the next one to two years. We've started with what we call Masterpiece, and Masterpiece is a small chocolate piece that comes in a bag with multiple pieces in there, and it's great for sharing with others or treating yourself. So this is the first step. We've just launched this now it's in the market. In the next few weeks you'll see a totally reimagined what we call gold box and truffle box, which is high-end premium chocolate in specialty stores and on the giva.com website where we've totally revamped chocolate and got new offerings in that. So that's coming over the holiday period, Valentine's Day, there'll be another new collection coming next fall. Towards the end of the next year, we'll have some more gifting chocolates available that will be broadly available. And that's the start. And then after that, in the year 2027, we've got other exciting things coming in. So it's a sequenced campaign. Speaker 2 (03:47):Good timing for the holiday season, I'm sure.Speaker 3 (03:50):Exactly, exactly. Holiday seasons are important for us. Every day is important for us, but the holiday seasons are very important for us. Yes.Speaker 2 (03:58):Can you describe a little bit of the campaign itself and what viewers might see and experience as they witness the campaign?Speaker 3 (04:06):Yeah, I guess the first thing you'll see is a wonderful cinematic traditional sort of advertising, which has got some drama in it. It's got wonderful aesthetic, but at its heart it's a product centered ad and the product is celebrated in there, the taste of that. So that's let's say the hero piece or the centerpiece. But in addition, what you'll see is a lot of social content in different variations. You'll see different versions in digital tv. You'll see a billboard coming later, so some nice still art coming there. Now what's unique about this is we didn't look at it as just a specific campaign and a point of time. We ...
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    21 m
  • The Guardian’s Sara Badler on promoting journalism that’s “global, independent and free”

    The Guardian’s Sara Badler on promoting journalism that’s “global, independent and free”
    Oct 22 2025
    In late September, The Guardian launched its first major U.S. marketing campaign, featuring the tagline “the whole picture.” It’s a bold statement of intent from the 204-year-old news organization aimed squarely at American audiences, which highlights The Guardian’s brand of free, independent journalism.In this episode of The Big Impression, our hosts catch up with Sara Badler, chief advertising officer in North America for The Guardian U.S., to explore the vision behind the campaign, as well as some early takeaways since launch. Episode TranscriptPlease note, this transcript may contain minor inconsistencies compared to the episode audio. Damian Fowler (00:00):I'm Damian Fowler.Ilyse Liffreing (00:01):And I'm Ilyse Liffreing.Damian Fowler (00:02):And welcome to this edition of The Big Impression.Ilyse Liffreing (00:08):Today we're joined by Sara Badler, the chief advertising Officer of The Guardian U.S. She's leading the charge behind the Guardian's first major US brand campaign called The Whole Picture, a bold effort to reintroduce one of the world's most trusted news organizations to American audiences.Damian Fowler (00:29):It's an ambitious moment for The Guardian with plans to expand coverage in New York and DC launch new US podcasts and connect with readers in fresh ways. The campaign is signaling a big step forward for the brand and for quality journalism in the digital age.Ilyse Liffreing (00:44):From that striking yellow billboard in Midtown Manhattan to new approaches in digital marketing and audience engagement, the Guardian is proving that serious journalism can still make a splash and drive real impact.Damian Fowler (00:58):Let's get into it.Sara Badler (01:01):The whole picture is really, it's The Guardian saying, which I think now is more important time than ever, is this idea that we are completely global perspective, we are independent and we have no paywall. Everyone can read us and we are focused and dedicated to journalism. And the whole picture really shows dedicated in every sort of way of telling the facts whether that is culturally, artistically with the World Cup coming upon us. And obviously The Guardian is a massive, one of the biggest soccer ducks in the world, if not the biggest, and really showing up in different ways the whole picture. And so I'm probably talking too much about this, but you see us on the subway, we did a live activation last week in the Meatpacking District and it's just really showing who we are and what we represent.Damian Fowler (01:59):Yeah, it is interesting. It's one of those things like the 1111 thing when you think about it and you notice it. Once I saw the campaign launch, then I saw it on the New York subway and it was everywhere. But I'd read that the editor of the Guardian, Catherine ER had said that this is the perfect time to reintroduce the Guardian to US audiences. And I know it's had great traction in the country for a while. Why is that? Why do you think it is the perfect time, especially in New York and metropolitan cities, why is it the right time?Sara Badler (02:34):I think now more than ever, we really want alternative news sources. And I say that mean the Guardian's been around for 200 years. We are not new by any means, but we are new-ish and more of a teenager here in the US and we have tons of obviously news outlets and a lot of them are owned and operated by billionaires. And there's all different things that are happening to them. There's consolidation, there's putting up more paywalls. And I think now more than ever, having something free and a truly global perspective is unique and something that we have.Ilyse Liffreing (03:11):And the campaign itself has such a striking centerpiece, the creative looking at it, it's bright yellow, there's words that are hidden. I'm curious if you can describe a little bit about that creative choice developed with Lucky Generals and can you walk us through basically the idea behind that concept?Sara Badler (03:32):It was not easy. I would say that it took our marketing and cross organizational functions a long time to come up with this with Lucky Generals to credit to them. They've been amazing and they've worked with us in the UK and now in the US and we also work with PhD as an agency, which also has been amazing. And it just took time of evolving of what our real story is and what we want people to get out of it. And I think the global perspective, free independent journalism that's factual with integrity and talking about culture in these key moments is really what we wanted people to understand. And here,Ilyse Liffreing (04:14):Yeah, looking at the media strategy a little bit, what was the plan for go to market and for reaching those target audiences?Sara Badler (04:24):And I think this is with every marketing campaign. I was actually on talking yesterday on a panel and saying there's no more, my marketing campaign is like a media plan. You've got a podcast, you've got ...
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    25 m
  • Michael Rubenstein on Founding Firsthand, AI, and the Future of Ad Tech

    Michael Rubenstein on Founding Firsthand, AI, and the Future of Ad Tech
    Oct 15 2025

    Mike O’Sullivan (Co-Founder of Sincera and GM of Product at The Trade Desk) sits down with Michael Rubenstein, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Firsthand, for a candid founder-to-founder conversation about innovation, risk, and leadership in the age of AI.

    From DoubleClick to AppNexus to Firsthand, Michael shares lessons from decades at the forefront of ad tech: what it means to build with purpose, how to hire and scale teams that thrive, and why the next wave of growth will come from brands who embrace AI directly.

    If you care about founder stories, AI, ad tech innovation, and building products that last, this episode offers a rare inside look from two builders shaping the future of the open internet.


    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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    39 m
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