Module Name: Brand Design

Module code: BEMM 128

Assignment: Branding Strategies of Godrej

Name of Tutor: Dr Sotiris T Lalaounis

Date of submission: 2nd May 2014
Number of words: 2600

Submitted By: Ayush Agrawal

Student Number: 630058475
Candidate Number: 002330
 BEMM 128 BRAND DESIGN
Branding Strategies of Godrej

Table of Contents
1 Introduction ......................................................................................................... 1
2 Brand Audit ......................................................................................................... 1
2.1 Customer Based Brand Equity (CBBE) Model .............................................. 4
Brand Equity Pyramid ......................................................................................... 4
2.1.1 Brand Salience ....................................................................................... 4
2.1.2 Brand Performance & Brand Imagery ..................................................... 4
2.1.3 Judgement and Feeling .......................................................................... 5
2.1.4 Brand Resonance ................................................................................... 5
3 Brand Development & Strategy ........................................................................... 6
3.1 Brand Product Matrix .................................................................................... 6
3.2 Global branding ............................................................................................. 7
4 Bibliography ......................................................................................................... i
5 Annexure 1 ...........................................................................................................ii

Table of Contents
Figure I Value pillars of 'Godrej'.................................................................................. 1
Figure II Godrej's current performance outcomes by consumers ............................... 3
Figure III Brand Equity Pyramid ................................................................................. 4
Figure IV Feeling and emotion for Godrej .................................................................. 5

List of Tables
Table 1 Brand Product Matrix ..................................................................................... 6
Table 2 Brand relationship factors for Godrej ............................................................. 8
Table 3 Future Market performance for 'Godrej' ......................................................... 9

1
 BEMM 128 BRAND DESIGN
Branding Strategies of Godrej 1

1 Introduction
Established in 1897, Godrej is still young even after 116 years of existence. The brand has come
a long way from manufacturing its first safe in 1902 till creating Gojiyo, a free browser-based 3D
virtual world in 2010.
The brand has 7 major companies with significance in real estate, FMCG (Fast Moving
Consumer Goods), industrial engineering, appliances, furniture, security and agriculture with
turnover crossing 4.1 billion dollars. The brand is present in 60 countries and overall overseas
business is around 26%. (The Godrej Group, 2013)

2 Brand Audit
This helps in measuring the health of the brand and revealing the sources of brand equity.

It is conducted in two parts, first the brand inventory, which is companys perspective to
understand how their products and services are sold and marketed.
Godrej rebranded them with the theme called brighter living for the strength to dazzle
consumer with their wide range of products and unparalleled services. Through brighter living
the company is targeting to bring their brand to life. In past lustrum Godrej focuses on building
value pillars of progression, expression, empathy and experience, which results in creating more
contemporary entity from their perspective. (Issuu, 2014).

Figure I Value pillars of 'Godrej'

By Progression they mean taking steps forward with customers. It means challenging prejudice
and confronting convention. The company projects themselves as constant innovator to race for
the future, with the tagline tomorrow is ours, own it today. (Issuu, 2014).
Expression is giving customers the products and services to express themselves. An
initiative called Bedhadak bolo was implemented where the thoughts (expressions) from the
customers and the employees from the company are welcomed. This enables internal marketing
by word of mouth which they believe is more reliable than any TV commercial. The company
thinks that in open speaking of the mind lays the power of all transformation. (Issuu, 2014).
Empathy means taking time to connect with their customers and thanking them. The
agenda is to know the customers thought and understanding how their product is part of the
world.

Efforts by: Ayush Agrawal (Student No. 630058475) (Candidate no. 002330)
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Branding Strategies of Godrej 2

And finally experience denotes looking at the bigger picture by going beyond the basic
needs. Godrej tries to deliver excellent products and services that customers cant forget and
they believe this will make them hunger for more and they will come back. (Issuu, 2014).

The value pillars mentioned above has forged a stronger connect with the 500 million Indians
whose lives are touched by Godrej group of companies every day. (Issuu, 2014).

To market the master brand Godrej took the initiatives like Khelo Jito Jiyo- an exclusive TV
game show where contestants comprising 3 family pairs contend to be the one worthy pair who
can win a home and everything in it,;
Godrej Power play- a consumer connect initiative which allows its consumers to
participate in the very reputed cricket league called IPL (Indian premier league) by making their
teams and win prizes while creating a lifestyle of their own using the products in the process.
And finally Gojiyo- an online 3 dimensional world. (The Economic Times, 2014).

Godrej is well aware that they have a strong and unique association in consumers mind.
People prefer their products because they are convinced of the advantages over other brands.
The PODs is created due to functionality of their products and services which delivers good
performance. Further Brand Godrej is difficult to attack; their marketing strategy is defensible
hence competitive POPs are established due to eliminated disadvantages.

Efforts by: Ayush Agrawal (Student No. 630058475) (Candidate no. 002330)
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The second part is brand exploratory, which is consumers perspective to understand their
perceptions and beliefs to discover the true meaning of Godrej and its products to them.

The consumers respect the brand Godrej and prefer buying its products. In order to understand
the reasoning behind the influence, 20 primary surveys were carried out using certain brand
related questionnaires with diverse respondents. (Ref. Annexure 1). Also to gather more inside
information, 2 interviews were also carried out with existing employees of the company. Data
was analysed by comparing responses in percentage basis.
The outcome of the survey helped in getting a coherent picture of the brand as the collected
information relate very well to the outcomes of brand inventory. Some of the analysed data is
shown below.

Figure II Godrej's current performance outcomes by consumers

Because of the century long history and still on, Godrej has strong association with its
consumers. In words of Keller, Customer-based brand equity occurs when the consumer has a
high level of awareness and familiarity with the brand and holds strong, favourable, and unique
brand associations in memory. (Lupisella, April 2014) Hence CBBE is used to further understand
the customers actual perspective for the brand Godrej.

NOTE: Only Indian market is taken into consideration for the survey.

Efforts by: Ayush Agrawal (Student No. 630058475) (Candidate no. 002330)
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2.1 Customer Based Brand Equity (CBBE) Model

The pyramid (shown in Fig1) is segregated into four levels: Salience, Performance and Imagery,
Judgment and Feeling, and Resonance. It helps in understanding how the foundation involves
achieving brand salience with the ultimate goal to reach at the summit of accomplishing brand
resonance.
Brand Equity Pyramid

Figure III Brand Equity Pyramid

2.1.1 Brand Salience
People are well aware and relate sincerely with the brand Godrej as its products are considered
to be iconic. Their products are the first that comes to the consumers mind when considering a
commodity in that category. E.g. Godrej locks and safes are considered as first option. (Insights
Godrej, 2014)(Survey data- Fig II,)

2.1.2 Brand Performance & Brand Imagery

The company is in operation since past a century certainly because it is performing and satisfying
customer needs through the products offered. Their products are Reliable due to the consistency
maintained till date; and durable which was proved when only Godrej safes survived the
devastating blast at SS Fort Stikine in 1944. (The Godrej Group, 2013), but the shortcomings lies
with effectiveness of the serviceability as company do not provide delivery and installation
option in all the places. (Insights Godrej, 2014)(Survey data- Fig II)
The consumers have a robust love and passion for the brand Godrej due to its quality,
and hence they buy its products despite of knowing the fact that its prices are higher compared
to its competitors. They also have nostalgic attachment with the brand as it its products
generates a symbolic connection with the preceding generations.
Based on the above mentioned facts the consumers have formed positive judgements
and feelings about Godrej which is the subsequent level up on the pyramid.

Efforts by: Ayush Agrawal (Student No. 630058475) (Candidate no. 002330)
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2.1.3 Judgement and Feeling

They consider it to be more superior to its rivals. Brand credibility is extremely high. At present
Godrej is the market leader in almost all the sectors they operate.
Trustworthiness of the brand is reflected as the company prioritise the old suppliers
more than the new, despite of the fact that they give less business to the company but yet
former were there when company was working on its foundations. (Insights Godrej, 2014)
Finally the likeability is due to the new wash of colours in the iconic logo. The change-
hungry, tech reliant youths are now able to recollect brand easily. (Business line, 2013)

Brand feeling and emotion

From the survey and the interviews conducted (Insights Godrej, 2014), it was concluded that
Godrej generates a positively outward feeling in the hearts of their consumers. Positive feeling
is due to the sentimental attachment, warm heartedness and love with the brand. This is
because the brand was used by consumers parent which makes them nostalgic. This builds the
right emotion. Godrej commodities were used as gifts and was considered as a token of love
Further Outward feeling is due to the excitement generated by the brighter living that
has pervaded the brand identity with high energy level.

Figure IV Feeling and emotion for Godrej

2.1.4 Brand Resonance

To an extent Godrej have achieved brand nirvana in customers mind. This is because of the
strong relationship that results in loyalty by the users and stronger ability to defy competitive
actions taken by rivals.
Godrej fulfil almost all the categories for brand resonance. For instance, the behavioural
loyalty is extremely high in FMCG sector. E.g. four of companys brands (GoodKnight, Cinthol,
Godrej No.1 and Godrej Expert Hair Colour) were ranked among the 100 Most Trusted Brands in
India. (Times, 2012); the attitudinal attachment is high for Godrej properties; the active
engagement with the Godrej Industries is high because of growing share value which promises
good returns to the investors.
The current position still not makes them complacent as they keep on innovating and upgrading
themselves because constant vigilance is indispensable to sustain the present position in the
minds of the users.

Efforts by: Ayush Agrawal (Student No. 630058475) (Candidate no. 002330)
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Hence from the CBBE model, it is concluded that Godrej has two shortcomings which they need
to tackle through their branding strategy. First is serviceability in brand performance and the
second is creating sense of community through brand resonance. Further the strategy should
also target to cater different market segments and also to explore the possible opportunities
such as penetrating market of different countries. (Survey data)

3 Brand Development & Strategy

Brand development is a determined endeavour entrenched with the combination of strategic
thinking and tangential creativity which drives the business ahead. Out of the seven main
companies of Godrej group FMCG sector has most number of brands and maximum potential,
hence for brand development focus is done on this sector only. Also as mentioned above godrejs
FMCG products were ranked among Top 100 brands of India.
The shortcomings observed from the CBBE model has to be targeted while developing strategy
for the company. Considering FMCG, serviceability doesnt play any role and not even require for
creating brand community. But do have a immense scope for extension and going global.

3.1 Brand Product Matrix

Table 1 Brand Product Matrix

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The branding strategy adopted by the company has both breadth and depth as they have many
brands across different product categories.
Godrej has a huge brand line and brand mix in various categories. They leveraged on their
existing brand equity by using Brand Extension Strategy. The company launched brand Cinthol
(Ref Tab 1) through just soaps but then ventured into powder, deo spray, gel etc. The outcomes
were very fruitful and now the company excels in the all the fields they operate. The company
keeps on extending the range of varied products in their list but capping them under the same
brand name.
Further the company extended their product line by launching a sub-brand called Godrej No.1
(Ref Tab 1) in the soap category. The product mix was increased by soaps Jasmine, Lavender,
Lime, aloevera & sandal. This was done to pursue numerous market segments who desired for a
cheaper alternative. (Aperia, Keller, & Georgson, 2012) Similarly in the hair dye category Colour
soft brand was launched in a cheaper segment of Godrej expert. Both of these steps were taken
because the company wants to increase their shelf presence. The retailers can be persuaded
easily to stock and promote the products because of parent brands image. The strategy behind
this is that they dont want consumers to shift to other brands and hence provide variety. This
also helps them in achieving economies of scale in brand development, advertisement,
merchandising and obviously sales.
The company is sagacious about market conditions and there brand extension strategies doesnt
cannibalises their sales.

Recommendation
Presently the company has adopted the brand extension strategy and is following it safely but
they can also opt for product flanking for certain brands. This may cover many market segments
by offering same product in different size and prices to tap the infinite market opportunities. E.g.
launching Cinthol shower gel or Colour soft hair colour in small sachets. This will make the
product more affordable to lower segment of consumers. Further the regular customer can use
them as a trial or for travel which might build more market in long run.

3.2 Global branding

As mentioned above presently, Godrej operates in 60 countries but yet generates only 26% of
the revenue overseas. (The Godrej Group, 2013) The group must try to cater international
opportunities by expanding their global reach.
One of the reasons to go global is the increased competitors in the domestic market. Companies
such as Emami, Marico Ltd, Dabur India ltd, Hindustan Unilever ltd, and ITC ltd. etc have
restricted the market size and hence push to explore new market overseas. Further due to
globalisation MNCs like P&G, Nestle, Colgate Palmolive etc have also ventured in India and are
giving them tough competition. Although Godrej is still at No. 4 (Top 10 FMCG Companies in
India 2013, 2014). The company can diversify their risk by targeting the less developed and
developing nations because of their affordable prices compared to their rivals, on which they can
compete.

Efforts by: Ayush Agrawal (Student No. 630058475) (Candidate no. 002330)
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Another reason for Godrej to go global is that their products are advanced, useful, reliable and
most important low priced which is the requirement of the target nations. To venture into such
market, godrej needs to adapt the locally followed requirements for optimizing their brand
effectiveness. E.g. Amendments in the packing and names to fit local populace and market
needs. Godrej should specifically notice that the product with an Indian name doesnt imply
some bizarre meaning in the local market of different country.

The company should understand the similarity and differences between Indian and foreign
market. They should retain their thematic consistency but upgrade their presentation for
developing countries and alter them for other less developed countries. To go global, Godrej
needs to build strong brand equity. It involves a lot of considerations and risks. Customised
marketing campaigns are required to satisfy the local market segment. These marketing
campaigns involve identification of consumers behaviour and making corresponding
adjustments to the brand which can be different even in neighbouring countries.

Creating a marketing infrastructure in a new country is time consuming and involves lots of
complications. Godrej can do geographic extension as their existing brand is competent for less
developed nations. They can cultivate further brand relationship by creating alliance with
companies in developed nations as their product might require up gradation for these markets.
The company should adapt to capitalise on existing marketing infrastructure which can be done
by joint ventures or acquiring certain stakes in others holdings. In fact the Godrej already
approached this global branding but in a developed country by acquiring keyline brands of UK.
(The Godrej Group, 2013). This was a poor decision as huge investment was involved and is not
successful (Insights Godrej, 2014) hence not a recommended option for global branding.

STRATEGY NATION FACTORS

Speed Control Investment
Geographic extension Developing Slow High Medium
Brand Acquisition Not recommended
Brand Alliance Developed Moderate Low Low
Table 2 Brand relationship factors for Godrej

The above table shows impact of recommended branding strategy for Godrej on speed, control
and investment when done in different types of nations.

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BRAND PERFORMANCE & METRICS

These brand development strategies are evaluated on the basis of market performance. The
brand value will be created by building profitable sales. To identify the brands future
performance through brand flanking and global branding is as under:

OUTCOMES CHARACTERISTICS
It will be more, due to product flanking, people will
Price Premium prefer buying 'Godrej' products even when the prices

DIRECT REVENUE
would be on a higher side

STREAM
It will be more because of competition. Customers might
Price Elasticity shift to other brand due to price increase but on the
contrary sales would be augmented on decreasing price
It will increase in developing nations due to the
Market Share
geographic extension strategy

Presently 'Godrej' follows line and Category extension

Brand Expansion and is very successful. This adds revenue to the
company.
Initially this would be high because of advertising. Once
Cost Structure 'Godrej' establishes itself in target customers mind, cost
can be cut due to economies of scale.
Initially it will be low but once the brand awareness and
Profitability its products are established in the target global market,
profits would start flowing.
Table 3 Future Market performance for 'Godrej'

CONCLUSION:
Godrej is currently following brand extension strategy with huge brand line and brand mix in
various categories. They have also increased the product line but for further development they
should opt for product flanking for Indian market by offering their product in small sachets/
packs in order to cater lower segment of consumers.
Another recommended strategy for Godrej is to target the opportunities of their
international market using global branding. This is due to the shrinking domestic market because
of competition and competency of their products to compete globally. Building global brand
equity and understanding consumer behaviour is important before venturing into a different
country. The returns from the global branding strategy would be low initially but would be
beneficial for the company in long run.

Efforts by: Ayush Agrawal (Student No. 630058475) (Candidate no. 002330)
 BEMM 128 BRAND DESIGN
Branding Strategies of Godrej

4 Bibliography
Aperia, T., Keller, K. L., & Georgson, M. (2012). Strategic Brand Management- a Europen
Perspective. Edinburgh: Pearson Education.

Business line, T. H. (2013, May 30). Godrej goes for rebranding to connect with youth.
Retrieved from http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/:
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/companies/godrej-goes-for-rebranding-to-
connect-with-youth/article4766480.ece

(2014, April 20). Insights Godrej. (A. Agrawal, Interviewer)

Issuu, I. (2014, April 18). A short and Splendid guide to a brighter Godrej. Retrieved from
Godrej Brand Book:
http://issuu.com/godrej/docs/godrejbrandbook/2?e=1800038/5294440

Lupisella, J. A. (April 2014). The Branding Pyramid. Glimpse, Vizual. Inc.

The Economic Times. (2014, April 17). Best Indian Brands 2013: Who made it to the list of
top 10. Retrieved from Brand Equity:
http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-07-31/news/40915578_1_tata-
sons-tata-brand-tata-business-excellence/4

The Godrej Group. (2013, March 31). Retrieved from www.godrej.com:

http://www.godrej.com/godrej/godrej/aboutgodrejgroup.aspx?id=1&menuid=1163

Times, E. (2012). Brand Equity.

Top 10 FMCG Companies in India 2013. (2014, April 30). Retrieved from mbaschool.com:
http://www.mbaskool.com/fun-corner/top-brand-lists/7764-top-10-fmcg-
companies-in-india-2013.html?start=9

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5 Annexure 1

CONSUMER SURVEY
QUESTIONARE TO DETERMINE THE BRAND PERFORMANCE
1 Age of the Respondent 10 to 17 18 to 25 26 to 40 40 to 65

2 Please select the brand that you Cinthol Santoor Lux Hamam
would most likely purchase when (Godrej)
considering buying soaps

3 Please select the brand that you Godrej Harrison keylocks Locally made
would most likely purchase when (pride)
considering buying locks and safes
3a For the brand identified in the Safety Price Stylishness Durability
previous questions, please rank the
values of the product that is most
important to you?

4 Please select the brand that you Godrej Revlon Garnier Loreal
would most likely purchase when Expert
considering buying hair colours?

5 Please select the real estate brand Godrej Unitech DLF group Parsvnath
that you would like to invest Properties group developers
considering furture returns limited

6 Who influences the majority of Yourself Your Parents Joint decision

purchasing decisions in your spouse
household?
COMPANY SPECIFIC QUESTIONS
7 How is the after sale services for Outstanding Satisfactory Average Unsatisfactory
'Godrej' Appliances

8 When you think about 'Godrej', what

product category immediately comes
to mind

9 What aspects of this brand would you

suggest improving in the near future?
(i.e. quality, price, location of shops
or others)

DATE SIGN

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