Strategy
2024–2026
Côte d’Or: Force de caractère
A new brand platform rooted in the founder’s search for more intense cocoa: strength of character, in the chocolate and in the people who eat it.
Client
Mondelēz
Role
Strategic planner, Ogilvy Social.Lab
The brief
Côte d’Or needed a brand platform that would restate what makes it different in a crowded chocolate category, launched alongside a new visual identity, new packaging and a new mould for one of its flagship bars.
The insight
The brand’s character was there from the start. Its founder, Charles Neuhaus, sailed to the Gold Coast in search of more intense, aromatic cocoa beans, and that intensity is still what you taste. People look for the same thing in themselves: the strength to be who they are, despite the judgement of others.
The idea
“Force de caractère.” A platform that links the intensity of the chocolate to the courage it takes to step out of your comfort zone.
It launched on TV at the end of December 2024 with 20- and 30-second films and a 10-second spot for the new mould, followed by digital from January 2025 and in-store activation. In 2026, chef Thierry Marx became its face.
The role
Contributed to the platform strategy from Brussels, alongside Ogilvy Paris.
In the press
Covered by CB News, with the launch on ogilvy.com and the Thierry Marx chapter on La Réclame.
Agencies: Ogilvy Paris, Ogilvy Social.Lab Brussels, Hogarth Paris. Visual identity: Bulletproof.