Mumbai: Godrej Industries Group has revealed a new purpose and brand identity, marking a defining moment in the Group’s evolution as it aligns its identity, strategy, and ambition for its next phase of growth. Rooted in the strength of a 129-year legacy and the energy of a Group just two years old in its new form, the new purpose and identity reaffirm both where the Group comes from and where it is going, bringing sharper strategic coherence across its diverse portfolio spanning consumer products, real estate, financial services, agriculture, and chemicals.
Speaking at a media roundtable Tanya Dubash, Executive Director and Chief Brand Officer, Godrej Industries, said that the brand refresh is not a strategic shift. “It’s an articulation and a clarity of what we want to do. I think we’ve always been a very values led company, but it’s really an articulation of how we want to behave going forward and how we want to be wildly successful, which we absolutely aim to be. We very much believe in the idea that you can be tremendously successful by holding on to values.
“We’ve always believed that, but now we’ve articulated it in a way that we have goals that are so ambitious, leading in ambition, as well as values like holding on to ESG and things that other people might think are mutually exclusive. So we believe we can hold two things at the same time and, and we’ve given clarity to that idea. This is something that the group has always believed in, but I think we have given clarity to that idea so all of us know what it is that we have to do going forward.”
She further explains that the new logo, the new identity aims to create cohesiveness and clarity amongst corporate stakeholder. “It’s a corporate identity. We recently separated from our cousins. So this is a way of giving more clarity about who we are, as not only separate from them, but just uniting all our businesses in one system.”
She noted that while Godrej has a 129 year legacy, Godrej Industries Group is also just a two year old company after the separation of the company into two the other company being Godrej Enterprises Group. “We felt that this was the right time to think through who we are, what we want to stand for and how we want to build for the future. Although we have a legacy of values and trust that we want to hold on to tightly, we wanted to also absolutely articulate what it is, how we want to build for the future. So we thought the timing was right.”
Listed companies will fund their own growth. Capital will be invested in the unlisted entities. Godrej sees huge headroom for growth in Godrej Capital since it is a new entity. Godrej Ventures is also making progress through things like a Studio which will be completed next year. The aim is to offer state of the art facilities for movie production. This is a real estate play,.
By 2031, more companies of Godrej Industries Group will be listed. In all probability one will be Godrej Capital. The company she said believes in creating value internally as well as externally for investors. “We believe that one way to do it is through listing companies and so if we find value in any of the businesses and the timing is right, we will do it. It might be two, it might even be three, it might be one.”
AI: She said that AI has been completely integrated into the organisation, including the marketing function, product innovation. “We have an AI lab which focusses on AI across all our organisations. All our businesses use it extensively. We apply it to all the software regularly. We do a lot of training around it.”
AI is helping with faster decision making. “It helps on all fronts. We use it in marketing, we use it across the board. Our financial services company is one of the leaders in using it. It’s an absolutely digital first company.” Having said that she also noted that while the company is curious about AI it is not building dependency on AI.
AI she explains is a tool that helps the company be slightly more efficient and structure thoughts and put some order and do it quickly. “It’s a great tool for that.”
Targetting Younger TGs: In terms of appealing better to Gen Z and Gen Alpha she said that Godrej Industries Group has a tremendous legacy of values which appeals to everyone, but we are also building in a lot of contemporariness and a lot of the idea of creating delight. This would be very important to young stakeholders. I think more importantly, some of our bigger beliefs that we have to have like ESG leadership really resonate with younger consumers.
“I think if they look at a company which is both wildly successful and leading in sustainability, etc., it’s hugely appealing. I think in terms of some of the things that you’ve seen around people and planet and this young energy in the group, we have certain group enablers which are already there and we are going to build more focus on that. So you heard about Disco as one of the group enablers.
“We also have Godrej Good & Green. That’s a specialised platform and a team that focusses on sustainability and doing that across businesses. We have the Godrej DEI Lab. That’s to accelerate DEI adoption and practices, not just across our company, but across organizations (6:50) in India. And we have goals for each of these that are leading worldwide, not only in India. We very much believe in holding that together with holding success and profit.”
When asked if safeguarding brand reputation is the biggest challenge she noted that it is the biggest opportunity because it’s the company’s biggest asset. “And of course, it’s a challenge.
“Because it’s such a tremendous asset that we have, it’s a tremendous responsibility. I think it’s not about tactics. I think it’s about behaviours. You should not need to protect. You should not do anything from which you need to protect reputation. You should make sure you build and strengthen the reputation that you have been handed down with such care. That’s how we look at it.”
She went on to note that balancing performance marketing with brand building is a constant juggling act. “It is a little bit of a tightrope that you have to play when you’re building brands like the master brand or even individual brands. You have to have a long-term lens. But in certain situations, especially if you’re a listed company, of course, you have to look at quarterly results. But this is never at the expense of the long-term lens.”
In terms of what the role of marketing should be she noted that one issue is that while Godrej Industries Group actually does a lot, is very ambitious, very bold and creative, all this is not externally perceived. “So I think one of the biggest roles of marketing over the next few years will be to make sure that that perception is understood. And, of course, that we continue to build on what we already have, But equally important to explain and express that and change the perception.”
She said that the company knows where it needs to use the new identity in corporate spaces, where it needs to differentiate itself but not in brand spaces where it is already a legacy brand and it’s used as an endorsement. There might be some digital corporate communication on the new identity. There will be on websites, on other platforms like that, but if you talk about typical ads of products, then as of now the company is not looking to do that to push the new identity.
Right now there is no plan for a marketing campaign around the new identity as such but these are early days. It has to evolve. “We will identify what it is needed in as we use it and as we get some feedback and understand it. We have to also play with it a little bit and live with it and see how to use it is what I would say.”
Creating the identity was a two year process. A lot of research was done by DISCO to understand each business vertical. The company was mindful of not doing a quick, slapstick job and not having a chalta hai attitude. Radical thinking was needed as opposed to linear thinking. A lot of ideation about the new identity was given by the young team.
“I think after this is launched our organisation, employees, people, new talent need to first start to use it responsibly understand the meaning of it. And then it makes sense to talk about it because when you walk into Godrej you should be able to see this in a way it’s meant to be. If you do that right then it creates an experience and once the experience is there then we feel more confident talking about it.”
Linear TV Continues to be Important In The Media Mix: When asked about the importance of linear TV in the media mix she said that it is still important as a platform for Godrej Industries Group’s mass brands. “Whilst the other engagement platforms are growing for our mass brands and we have a lot of mass brands it is still quite important and will be for a while to come. Much as we are playing more with other digital platforms and things like that linear TV is still the best way to reach people at the scale that we need.”
She said that hyper-personalisation is growing in importance in certain businesses. Even in the consumer products business the company does some of that. “We go within states, within districts. You identify cohorts that are much smaller than we used to do earlier. That’s very critical and how well a company does that will determine how successful it is going forward.”
She noted that the current geopolitical situation is a challenge. “It affects everyone. There’s inflation for everyone. I think it affects the whole world.” However the situation will not affect the company’s media spends. “We see media as an investment. So I don’t think it necessarily impacts that area.”
