GODIVA names former Hard Rock exec John Galloway as chief marketing and innovation officer

Galloway brings 30 years of marketing and leadership experience to chocolate brand.

Godiva's updated Gold Discovery Collection features both classic and creative flavor combinations. Photo from Godiva.

GODIVA Chocolatier has appointed John Galloway as its chief marketing and innovation officer, effective Oct. 22. Galloway will be responsible for leading the brand’s global marketing and innovation team and joins the business’ Global Executive Committee.

Galloway joins GODIVA with nearly 30 years of marketing and leadership experience. He began his career with marketing agencies including Young & Rubicam and TracyLocke. This was followed by a 13-year period with PepsiCo where Galloway held marketing leadership roles for Gatorade, Pepsi and other PepsiCo brands.

Galloway left PepsiCo to become the chief marketing officer for Hard Rock International, where he amplified digital and experiential marketing to elevate Hard Rock Cafe, Hard Rock Hotel and Hard Rock Casino. His responsibilities also included licensing, creative studio, digital division, music, memorabilia and artist relations. Under his direction, Hard Rock International step-changed their digital efforts across the board, dramatically increasing owned and earned media through social and CRM platforms. He also launched the brand’s first unified loyalty program across 75 countries.

“John has incredibly valuable knowledge of digital, CRM and experiential marketing,” said GODIVA CEO Annie Young-Scrivner. “His creative agency experience infused with the disciplined approach of the consumer-packaged goods industry and his entrepreneurial spirit make him the perfect leader for this role. John believes in the power of teams and has gained strong followership in each of his leadership roles. I know that John is looking forward to joining our Executive Committee team and his team to revitalize our brand across multiple channels globally.”

Galloway added: “GODIVA is a beloved, iconic brand that holds a special place in everyone’s heart. I’ve always celebrated life’s special moments with GODIVA. I feel incredibly fortunate to join this business and work with its talented people around the world to make more meaningful connections with our customers across all channels and own more occasions.”

Alyse Thompson has held many positions with BNP Media, first serving as an intern at Candy Industry Magazine in summer 2012. She joined Candy Industry's staff full time as associate editor in August 2016 after a few years at newspapers in West-Central Illinois, becoming managing editor in March 2019. Alyse has also served as managing editor of Cannabis Products Magazine since March 2019. She has bachelor’s degrees in journalism and Spanish from Western Illinois University.