Mumbai Edition

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March 2014 | The Smart CEO

COVER STORY

DISRUPT,
CREATE,
EMPOWER
Godrej Chotukools
three-pronged approach
to build new markets

Navroze Godrej and Team Chotukool take us into a deep dive to

help us understand eight fundamental questions they explored
in crafting a path-breaking strategy for Godrej Chotukool
BY POORNIMA KAVLEKAR AND S. PREM KUMAR

18 The Smart CEO | March 2014

thesmartCEO.in

March 2014 | The Smart CEO

19

T
COVER STORY

he scene on March 8th 2014 appeared

just like a reel out of Aamir Khan-starrer, Taare
Zameen Par. A bunch of primary and middle school
children were showing off their painting prowess
in an art competition sitting inside a wonderfully
designed geodesic dome in a rapidly growing city
in Maharashtra, 500 km from Mumbai. What stood
out was that the kids were not painting on canvas
or sheets of chart paper but on a Godrej Chotukool.
When quizzed about it, the kid said: It is a cooling
solution where my mother keeps cold water,
vegetables and food.
This was at the launch of the reincarnation of
Chotukool, a cooling device, which is a part of
Godrej & Boyces disruptive innovation initiatives.
In every sense, it was unlike any other launch there
was no fanfare, no celebrities and no ribbon cutting.
The real celebrities of the day were the school
children from various schools who were creating
magic with their paintbrushes.
Why an art competition? asked a woman
entrepreneur (from one of the Self Help Groups),
pertinently, to the team of Godrej executives. G
Sunderraman, vice-president, corporate development
at Godrej & Boyce and a key member of the Godrej
Innovation Center, explained to her in the local
language (which is translated here): The essence of
the new Chotukool is about creating a sense of pride
and identity. Personalization is at the core of it. Each
Chotukool can be customized with your choice of a
unique piece of art, a digital image, a photograph
you name it. And, that is the art these kids are
creating. He added, much to her delight, You can
even take your family photo and we can embed that
print during the manufacturing process when we
create your Chotukool.
This event was conceptualised by Team Chotukool
in partnership with SSP (Swayam Shikshan Prayog,
a development organisation that works with several
micro women entrepreneurs). The unique geodesic
dome structure that was erected, the art competition
and the interesting invites stoked much more than
curiosity, it made people feel like they were a part of
something meaningful and distinctly special.
Chotukool, of course, is not new to the market. The
product, born out of Godrej & Boyces foray into

20 The Smart CEO | March 2014

disruptive innovation technology, was first launched

in 2009. The company consciously chose to operate
under the radar, using the first iteration of Chotukool
to understand usage needs of a wide variety of
customers.
Over the last few years, Team Chotukool spent
quality time with the users in both rural and urban
India, which is discussed in detail in this story. It
understood that one of the key challenges of the new
generation of the product should be to break the
barriers between affordability and aspiration. Quite
consciously, the latest version, that was recently
launched, de-segments the market and has various
features that could appeal to a diverse range of
people. A customised Chotukool with bespoke art
could be used to store expensive beverages and a
rural household could use it to store fresh food.
In this story, we take our readers through the eight
strategic questions that Team Chotukool asked
themselves as they set out on a path of building an
aspirational cooling solution that applies to rural and
urban life, alike. As Sunderraman says, The essence
of finding the answers is an iterative journeywhat
all innovations go through.

Were gearing up to build the Chotukool,

a product that has the potential to disrupt.
What do we really mean by innovation and
what is the impact it can have?
The question is important because one cannot really
define innovation that easily. Navroze Godrej,
Executive Director, Godrej & Boyce, agrees and
explains, Innovation is a state of mind. It is the
underlying philosophy to think of better ways to do
what you do, on an everyday basis, and expand your
frames of reference on how you see the world. So,
innovation really is a set of lenses, ones that allow
you to look at the world in fresh ways, in creative
ways, in holistic ways and in more ambitious ways
as well. Clearly, the impact an idea can have on its
users is a critical part of any new innovation. With
this state of mind, he and his team have worked on
transforming Chotukool to be what it is today.
When it was decided that ChotuKool will be sold
to emerging market customers, the team realised
that they needed to understand a whole new set

thesmartCEO.in

of parameters that would appeal to them. This is

because there were several big brands that were
trying to push products to these customers, but the
products were not really addressing any of their
pain points. Navroze says, We had to understand
what was going to add meaning to the lives of these
people. The company chose to empower them
by giving them a greater sense of self-worth and
potentially, strengthen their earning power.
Sunderraman recalls an incident from the early days
of Chotukool. I can never forget a conversation I
had with Mr. Jamshyd Godrej a few years back. He
said, I want to give to the bottom of the pyramid, a
product that the top of the pyramid aspires for. He
believes in exploiting the potential of technology and
innovation for the society, at large. We are looking
for profit, no doubt. But the struggle for the last few
years was to get it right for people with constraints
on affordability.
The leaders of the organisation now believe that they
have a good foundation and strong understanding
of what needs to be done to build a business for the
emerging markets. As we have that foundation
in place, we can now think about how a simple
Chotukool can permeate a more evolved consumers
life, says Navroze.
Riding on the back of such an enriched perspective,
Godrej recently launched the latest Chotukool as an
aspirational product that cuts across the traditional
rural-urban divide.

How do we, deeply and genuinely,

understand the needs of our target groups?

Within the Godrej Innovation Center, one can

often sense the deep regard the whole team has for
Professor Shoji Shiba, an international expert on
breakthrough management. The professor suggested
this simple, yet very powerful idea of jumping into
the fishbowl to develop a deep understanding of
whatever you are trying to do. Navroze says, You
need to put yourself right inside the context and
understand the feelings of everyone involved.
As a first step, the company gave the initial set
of prototypes to people in rural India who had
traditionally been non-users of a cooling device.

did you know?

THE UNDERLYING TECHNOLOGY AND
PRODUCT SPECS OF CHOTUKOOL
Chotukool can offer up to a drop of
28C from the surrounding temperature,
as it works on Solid State Technology
with a Thermo-electric Chip, instead of
refrigerator compressors. Team Chotukool
wanted to create a cooling solution that is
portable, compact, economical and just
right. It consumes 62W of power, has an
internal capacity of 35 Liters, weighs 7.3
Kgs and can keep items cool for 2-3 hours
without electricity.

Several team members, then, closely worked with

them to understand their needs and usage patterns.
It is not just what they liked and did not like, but
what was the product doing to the home and family
construct? What was it doing for the community?
Whenever you are trying to do something new, it
is important to think of its larger context. The next
question is, what is it doing for the nation? explains
Navroze.
Keeping this is mind, several Chotukool team
members stayed in villages for long periods, lived
with the families, understanding the habits and needs
of not only these people but also its society at large.

Now, that we understand our target group,

how do we communicate with them?

While reaching out to a set of users whose needs

were still evolving, the approach to communication
had to be unique.

March 2014 | The Smart CEO

21

COVER STORY

The team at Godrej was convinced of the immense

benefits that the non-user customers would derive
from using Chotukool. The team, during its research
stint in villages, closely observed various use cases.
A small kirana storeowner in rural India would store
mineral water bottles in a Chotukool and potentially
sell more bottles per day, hence, increasing his
earning power. A rural household would use it to
store food prepared in the morning to save time and
often avoid wastage of food.
Navroze says, I think the biggest challenge from a
communication standpoint is demonstrating these
benefits. I think when people see others in their
community use the product and talk about it or
actually observe its benefit, that is when it has the
maximum impact.
Team Chotukools communication strategy revolves
around this model of enabling the community to
spread the word. The Sakhi Mela (mela for women
entrepreneurs part of a SHG), which Godrej
conducted in partnership with SSP, is an example of
enabling such word-of-mouth. In fact, as part of the
launch, a few sakhis (women entrepreneurs) carried
some Chotukools, decoratively wrapped around in

a silk red cloth. The event was wholly co-created

with these women entrepreneurs and this helped
them interact with prospective consumers in an
environment they were comfortable in. The micro
women entrepreneurs answered questions on the
benefits of such a cooling device and where it fit into
their daily routines.
Even as such events were being organised, the
company did not lose sight of its brand story. Often
enough, the essence of the story fades and the agenda
to sell gains more prominence. We decided to define
the brand story first by citing the impact of our
product in the users life, says Sunderraman.
The new ChotuKool, which has several features
from the last six years of learning, aims to live
up to the promise of an aspirational product at an
affordable price point. To communicate this strategy,
the company decided to connect emotionally with
the user rather than invest in traditional marketing
efforts. Users do not bother about your story, they
want to know if you are listening to theirs, says
Sunderraman, outlining the central approach to its
communication strategy.

Tete-a-Tete with Navroze Godrej

KEY MANAGEMENT
LESSONS LEARNT
FROM THE CHOTUKOOL
JOURNEY
Be aware of your
surroundings and the
context that you are
in. As someone who is
working with multiple
complexities, it is critical
to be responsive towards
what is going on around
you.
Stick to your guns. It is
very easy for a good idea
to dilute itself. It is critical
to understand what you
are trying to achieve and
understand the bigger
picture and philosophy
behind it and stick to that.

22 The Smart CEO | March 2014

YOUR LEARNINGS FROM MR.

JAMSHYD GODREJ THAT HELPS IN
YOUR PROFESSIONAL LIFE
I have observed a few things, not
sure if I am following it: His ability
to take in information and then
translate that into what is most
needed and important, ability to
move between big picture, goals,
and philosophies, value systems
that drives the company and
finally, getting into the micro
details about how things work and
how to improve things these are
few things I have observed.
One of his biggest strengths is
the ability to listen. He has an
amazing way of allowing people
to express themselves, allowing
them to try new things and be
patient. I hope to imbibe them
someday.

WHAT INSPIRES YOU?

What inspires me
is art fine arts,
performing arts and
artists - as it leaves
behind such a rich
legacy for many
generations. Art has
a lot to offer business
as one can learn from
people who are able
to express themselves
and are able to
convey a larger
meaning for what
drives us, as people. It
is that sort of purity
and integrity that is
very fundamental to
art which we often
lose sight of in the
business world.

YOUR OPINION ON
PERCEPTION VS. REALIT Y
IS IT IMPORTANT TO
CREATE THE RIGHT
PERCEPTION AND HOW
DO YOU RETAIN THAT
PERCEPTION?
I do not know if you
can draw a distinction
between perception and
reality. Perception has to
be earned by serving the
customer well rather than
creating an aura around it.
Traditionally, businesses like
to control this perception.
But that is incorrect. It is
entirely dependent on how
people use and perceive it.
In todays world, if people
try to control that, it will
work against them.

thesmartCEO.in

The other obvious aspect is that the behaviour

patterns will be different for different markets
be it urban or rural. If one looks at an urban user,
Chotukool is more of a useful complement, one that
will find use at an office or a bedroom. For people
in rural India, while the core value proposition
is the functional benefit, one has to respect that
they too have aspirations. We need to realise that
they also live within the context of media, what
they see in the movies and what their friends do.
It is difficult to have clear segmentation models
where there is so much cross-flow of information
and continuously changing landscapes, explains
Navroze.
For Chotukool, the segmentation of the market is
based more on activities, attitudes and usage, rather
than on the user. Navroze is convinced that the way
forward is to help young Indians feel they deserve
better and will get better in the future. Navroze
adds, While communicating the core benefit is
crucial, we need to look at how people want to
express themselves and what they want to say about
their own lifestyles. And, this concept of letting

people express their taste is a defining aspect of

engagement with all consumers.

How do we make this product really

aspirational?

One of the most interesting features in the newly

launched version of Chotukool is that it allows
the user to personalise the skin design. The skin is
essentially a piece of art one that you can choose
from a variety of options designed by artists.
Navroze says, This is not a brand telling you what
you want; it is not a manufacturer saying this is
the color, shape and pattern and this is what you
want. That is the old way of doing things. In todays
world, people are creating stuff for themselves
everywhere. This creative empowerment is really
important. It is a brand asking its users, how would
you like to see something you have created come
to life?
To enable this, Godrej is also working with a group
of artists who will create a number of designs.

March 2014 | The Smart CEO

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COVER STORY

Fundamentally, Chotukool is not only the effort of its

internal team, but also the co-creation efforts of its
various partners. Godrej worked with Future Factory,
a Mumbai-based industrial and product design firm,
to tap their expertise in industrial design. Artists
whose designs adorn the Chotukool will be able to
boost their earnings. Women entrepreneurs in SHGs
will benefit economically by being a conduit to reach
the users, in addition, to playing a role in co-creating
communication strategies to sell to consumers. Most
importantly, users have the choice of co-creating a
Chotukool with their unique design. And, this whole
process adds meaning to peoples lives.

did you know?

CHOTUKOOLS SOCIAL
IMPACT
Chotukool hopes to create social
impact by helping tackle 3 Ls
livelihood, living standard and lifestyle.
It won Gold in Edison Awards
2012 for social impact.

To implement the strategies discussed above,

what sort of team do we build?

Navroze says, The team was deliberately built up to

be multi-disciplinary. It was a core belief among the
senior team that people from different backgrounds
and experiences had to come together for a project
like this.
While the initial approach to building Chotukool
was only economic empowerment, with this model,
creative empowerment has also come into being. The
newly designed website, Chotukool.com, has product
features in place to enable the consumer to choose
from existing designs created by artists or create
your own.

15 fascinating
elements from Team
Chotukools approach
of creating markets
that dont exist
24 The Smart CEO | March 2014

In the early days of researching Chotukool, the team

was extremely small. It was almost like a startup
within Godrej and Boyce that got the prototype out.
You needed a few committed people who would go
out there in the world with their feet and ears on the
ground. This team played a crucial role in helping us
shape our thought process by immersing themselves

Jamshyd Godrejs vision of giving to the bottom

of the pyramid, a product that the top of the
pyramid aspires for
Looking at the process of innovation through
multiple lenses
Jumping into the fish bowl and getting the
team members to put themselves right inside
the context and understand the feelings of all
stakeholders involved
Building a product based on not only what it was
doing to a set of consumers but also looking at
the impact it had on the community and society
at large
Conceptualizing and creating a process by which
every Chotukool can be personalized with a

thesmartCEO.in

in the context of the idea of a disruptive cooling

device, explains Navroze.
Today, the team has grown a fair bit and is gearing
up to take to market, the personalised Chotukool.
People from various backgrounds designers, MBAs,
architects, artists, direct sales professionals and
manufacturing engineers, among others have come
together to build this business. Navroze adds, It is
really important for people from different fields to
come together and develop a shared understanding of
the challenge. It needs a systematic approach, a set
of tools and methods. The innovation center has been
building a repository of tools over a period of time.
One such program to build further skills is with
IIT Chicagos Institute of design, where a group
of students from different parts of the world work
alongside Godrej executives on select themes. It
brings about a multi-cultural perspective and Navroze
is convinced that this results in lasting solutions,
besides building capabilities in structured innovations.
The other interesting approach is to bring key
stakeholders from all fields to the table, early on.
The marketing person is involved in the product
development process; the technology expert has a
deep understanding of the usage needs and so on.
But the most important approach is learning by
doinginnovations are built on iterative experiments

over time, adds Sunderraman.

While Chotukool is unique today, it

would be nave to think we will not have
competition. What is our competitive
strategy, going forward?
Before we delve deeper into understanding the
competitive strategy, let us understand the core
features of the product. The primary offering is
that it is a cooling device that offers storage (food,
vegetables, cold water) and the benefits of saving
time and money that result from it. Today, a sizable
percentage of the Indian population does not have
access to a refrigerator and Chotukool can potentially
address this space.
In addition to cooling, the device is unique in terms
of temperature (amount of cooling drop), shape,
size, weight, use of non-rusting material and even
a sleep mode that makes it more energy efficient.
Sunderraman asks, Are we really competing on
any of these parameters? These are all the typical
parameters. So, we asked ourselves, can we
compete on a whole new dimension? Answering
this question, he says, It struck us that if we can
find a way to make the device stunningly unique,
maybe even iconic, we will have a whole new
parameter to compete with. The whole approach to
personalisation with unique pieces of art thus began.

unique piece of art, photography, digital image etc.

Co-creating various parts of the process including
product development and communicating with
customers
Segmenting the market based more on activities,
attitudes and usage, rather than by user
Understanding that emerging market users and
balancing their affordability and aspirations
Competing on a whole new dimension by making
the device stunningly unique, rather than compete
on the typical parameters of cooling drop, size etc.
Building a multidisciplinary team with people from
various backgrounds working together and develop a
shared understanding of the challenge

Focus on learning by doing and realizing that

innovations are built on iterative experiments over
time
Playing to the distinctive capabilities of Team
Chotukool
Overcoming tough manufacturing process
challenges to ensure that every Chotukool can be
customised
Devising a business model while still at a price point
of Rs. 4690
Work towards a dream of creating a platform
of products that will empower people both
economically and creatively

March 2014 | The Smart CEO

25

COVER STORY

Of course, today, co-creation of design with users is a

part of the engagement process.

Chotukool in their villages and make a commission

on sales.

Almost 80 per cent of the Indian population does

not have a refrigerator and if more people want to
enter this segment, the market will expand, declares
Sunderraman. Moreover, Godrej does not have the
capacity to serve the entire need of the market. As
Sunderraman says, It is not about competing to have
a larger market share. It is about competing to get
a piece of the market that you are interested in and
where you can play to your distinctive capabilities.

Additionally, Godrej has also setup a direct sales team

to visit the homes of customers to help them custom
design a Chotukool, using an interactive tablet, and
also buy one if they like.

Does it mean that we are fully protected against

competition? Not really. Some new innovation can
hit us very hard and from corners we do not know,
he adds. The company needs to keep an eye on the
market, understand the larger domain and identify the
various blind spots with respect to technology, users
and market. So, its not competition, its competing
alternatives. The moment you start imagining your
success, start imagining what could lead to its failure,
you start preparing yourself for it, he says. In other
words, at any point of time if you lose your humility
or fail to look at the outside world, or dont pay
attention to what is constantly changing, you will get
into trouble.

What will our logistics and distribution

strategy be? And, how do we price the
product?

The Chotukool strategy across its various business

functions from marketing and communication to
product development and technology is unique,
thanks to the approach of its leaders and the mindset
to create social impact. From a logistics standpoint,
this meant that it had to figure out a way to reach out
these products to widely dispersed markets in India
while retaining its affordable price point of around
Rs. 4,690 (higher for a customised device).
For distribution and logistics, Godrej has partnered
with India Post. The company has setup Chotukool
kiosks at select post offices in Maharashtra, Gujarat
and Tamil Nadu, where the postal staff has been
trained to explain the features of the cooling device to
walk-in customers. One can deposit cash and expect
to receive the Chotukool within three weeks. Through
this partnership, women entrepreneurs will sell

26 The Smart CEO | March 2014

Sunderraman believes that, over time, selling online

will become a critical part of the B2C sales process.
Users will visit Chotukool.com, create their own
designs (or a selection from the basket of designs) and
order their selection of Chotukool. The customised
Chotukool will be delivered at their doorstep within
three weeks.
The most interesting aspect on its logistics is that
its a two-way chain. The design comes from the
customer (through Chotukool.com) and is fed into the
manufacturing process. The entire logistics platform
is interlinked with the web portal.
Godrej also plans to setup migrating experience
centers built as geodesic domes in various parts of
India both rural and urban. Sunderraman believes
that this is a unique way of reaching out to spread
out markets, where spaces, that come alive with
engagement, will be established.

Where do we see Chotukool, five years from

now?

Navroze says, The dream is to create a platform of

products that will empower people both economically
and creatively. We originally wanted to build cooling
products to improve peoples lives, especially in
emerging markets. The current vision is to extend that
philosophy to new landscapes beyond cooling.
The team at the Godrej Innovation Center has already
started working on the next few domains, but feel it is
too early to speak about them.
We have now begun to understand the various unmet
needs we want to solve. It is extremely important
to prioritise these and offer solutions in thoughtful,
efficient and elegant ways, says Navroze, as he
wraps up.