There are a couple of trends that I perceive, in working in this space of consumer communications and brand representations.
First, it’s clear that there are continuously emerging “new brands”, which might be “repositioned” old brands. Confectioners work in one place, rebuild in another. They carry their story; but this also can apply to the enablement – the engagement of new storytelling in “who they are”. Chocolate groups which have some brandstory attached to them tend to have a higher value. New brands have to make up the pace in the innovations of their offerings. A classic chocolate brand, that remakes itself in the presence of a consumer tends to deepen that relationship. In our experience in thinking of brands metaphorically as stories it is in this space that consumers develop more significant relationships. It’s like: “do you know about this chocolate? They’ve been making it for years, and it’s based on years of experiment; besides how great it is, the taste and texture – and where they got the beans to make this; their packaging is so cool! So, here’s your gift – brand new, 125 years old!” Luxury is affixed to lust, therein the etymology of the word – and people are attached to, lust after things that are rare, more difficult to acquire and have a certain intrinsic caché that speaks to this character; it’s not the same old; it’s the new old. Chocolates that are based on distant Mexican recipes of royal and extinct races, new plantations of specially selected beans, combinations with new spices and especial flavorings – all of these (which I’m sure you might recognize) have a story attached to them. Those that don’t surely lose out on a potential avenue of consumer connection; it’s richer, it’s layered, it’s just like…really good chocolate, a depth of experience that can be motivating, magnetic and captivating. Worth lusting for…