Breaking the Mold: How Tony’s Chocolonely Turns Culture Into Conversation

On this week’s episode, we sat down with Noelle Davidson, Senior Communications Manager for Tony Chocolonely US & Canada, to unpack what it really takes to build a mission-led brand that cuts through culture.

As Noelle put it simply, “I think I have the best job in the entire world, which is sharing chocolate and talking about chocolate day in and day out. And furthermore, for a brand that is focused on impact even more than business.” 

That impact is central. “At Tony’s, we are on a mission to end exploitation in cocoa.” 

From Intern to Cultural Architect

Noelle joined Tony’s seven years ago, at the very start of her career. “I’ve been at Tony’s for my entire career, which might put you in the direction of thinking I love it, which would be in fact true.” 

Back then, the U.S. team was tiny. “I think I was employee number nine in the US.”  Today, that team is closer to 45.

Her growth mirrored the brand’s. In a defining early moment, when leadership needed insights on web performance, she stepped up: “I wrote a 12-page report on what we could be doing better there. And ever since then, it’s stuck. They haven’t been able to get rid of me.” 

Her passion? “My personal interest is really in storytelling and how marketing intersects with culture.” 

Culture Is the Channel

When asked how Tony’s consistently shows up in culture without missing the mark, Noelle credits attention and instinct.

“It comes from an authentic love of culture and paying attention to what’s going on there.” 

From legislation to Super Bowl moments, Tony’s inserts itself into conversations with clarity and conviction. “It’s really just paying attention, staying tapped in and quite frankly, having fun with it.” 

That cultural agility was born out of necessity. For years, Tony’s operated under a strict philosophy: “For a long time, we had a no-paid media policy right up until 2022.” 

Why? “We had this deep core belief that the best stories were going to be worth telling and were going to be spread.” 

So they became exceptional storytellers.

“We had to get really savvy at telling an interesting, compelling story in platforms where it didn’t cost us to do that.” 

Influencers as Friends, Not Just Media Buys

Tony’s influencer strategy evolved organically. In the early days, it was scrappy: “It was really a lot of organic seeding and waiting for someone to post about us and just pouring our love into them.” 

It was relational, not transactional. “Just being tuned in the way that you would with people in your own life and paying attention and making them feel like a friend because to us, that’s really what they were.” 

Today, even with paid campaigns, the principle hasn’t changed. The red thread is resonance.

“Resonance is at the core. That’s the red thread for us.” 

Sometimes that looks obvious, like partnering with a mukbang creator who makes chocolate look irresistible. Other times, it’s unexpected. “Doing the unexpected and breaking the boundaries of what a chocolate brand should be doing and who we should be working with has been a real strength for us.” 

Creatively, they lead with trust. “We know that at the end of the day, the influencers know their audience better than we ever could.” 

That trust shows up in briefs that are intentionally open. “Other than that, pitch us your creative ideas and run with it.” 

The one non-negotiable? “Creating a storyline that works and having the flexibility to do that dance with us.” 

The Red Pop-Up That Took Over New York

The conversation shifted to Tony’s latest cultural moment: an immersive, all-red pop-up with artist CJ Hendry.

“We did just last weekend have an immersive all-red pop-up with the artist CJ Hendry. It was first of its kind for us in so many ways.” 

The color red is not accidental. “The reason we chose red for our initial bar is because it’s alarming. It stands out on shelf.” 

But red also carries meaning. The pop-up centered on a powerful contrast: chocolate bars sold for $1.

“What if we sold your chocolate bars for a single dollar because you can’t get anything for a dollar these days.” 

That pricing anchored a deeper truth. “The farmers that produce cocoa earn 78 cents a day.” 

The event blended gamification, exclusivity, and activism. Influencers and media attended a private opening night, and over the weekend, lines stretched for hours. “There were four hour lines over the weekend.” 

The impact was visible. “I truly would be surprised if there was any New Yorker that said they didn’t see their feed covered in red that weekend.” 

Even criticism became part of the storytelling. The mystery bag mechanic mirrored inequality in the cocoa industry. “Not everyone gets the same thing and it helps us tell that story.” 

As Noelle framed it, “Conversations about inequality and cocoa are the right kind of conversations that we should be having.” 

Breaking the Mold

Perhaps the most striking takeaway from the episode was how intentionally Tony’s embraces discomfort.

When asked about using red in branding, often considered risky, Noelle didn’t hesitate. “Breaking the mold, trying to do something in some ways different because they say to steer away from it.” 

Tony’s doesn’t just sell chocolate. It builds conversations, communities, and cultural moments around a mission.

And in Noelle’s words, the strategy is both simple and demanding: pay attention, tell a story worth spreading, and trust the people who help you tell it.