Godrej Enterprises earmarks ₹1,500 crore for branding and marketing over 3 years

Following the family settlement agreement of the Godrej Group, the Godrej Enterprises Group found itself at a pivotal juncture. With a portfolio spanning everything from home appliances and locks to aerospace, defence, consumer durables, energy, and real estate, the question was no longer just about legacy but also about how do you unify such a diverse portfolio under a single, future-forward narrative, without losing the trust built over generations?

As evolving consumer expectations pushed for more design-led innovation and a stronger digital experience, Godrej embarked on a comprehensive brand repositioning. At the helm of this transition is Sumeet Bhojani, Head of Brand and Strategic Insights, who shares how the rebranding was shaped not by surface-level changes, but by deeper shifts in strategy, structure, and storytelling.

In this interview, he unpacks the thought behind the repositioning, what it means to unify a diversified conglomerate under one narrative, and how Godrej is striking the balance between brand-building and performance.

From unlocking new brand worlds to building future-ready marketing teams, Bhojani gives us a peek into what it takes to reimagine a legacy.

Edited Excerpts:

Let’s start with the big shift. What prompted the decision to reposition the Godrej Enterprises Group brand at this stage? 

The repositioning was driven largely by what our consumers told us. They trust us to deliver on functionality, quality, durability, and they have a lot of respect for the brand. But they wanted more from us in terms of design, aesthetics, and use of digital technology, not just embellishing products like fridges or door locks, but also improving the overall experience in the customer journey.

So, this was more of a natural evolution for the brand to keep up with the times and continue to be future-ready. That is why we went in for this rebranding exercise. And to my mind, this is more than just a facial change. It's not just a change in identity, it’s more fundamental. It's a pivot in our approach toward all our businesses to ensure consistency of brand experience across all touchpoints and to increase our focus on design-led innovation.

We’ve taken this opportunity to create a refreshed brand identity. As you know from the launch, it’s something more distinctive, something we can own across our diverse businesses, from appliances, furniture, locks, and security to more advanced engineering sectors like aerospace and real estate. So, we launched new colours, visual imagery, tone of voice, all of which you're aware of. That’s the reasoning behind the shift.

As a legacy brand, how is this transformation playing out both internally and for your consumers?

Like with all transformations, when we started in November, we began in a phased manner.

Internally, it has caused a renewed sense of purpose and ownership across teams. It has unified our businesses under a common narrative while still allowing each category to express its own identity and strengths. By clearly articulating the brand promise and direction, we’ve encouraged stakeholders to see themselves as contributors to our journey of innovation.

Post-launch, we’ve conducted multiple workshops and socialisation sessions across internal teams, and this will continue. It’s not a one-time exercise but an ongoing process.

Externally, a lot of work has gone into transitioning touchpoints, both digital and traditional. We’ve received great responses for our newly designed website, social media presence, and ATL campaigns that reflect the new identity. Our visual presence, especially with the new lead color, purple, has become more cohesive and aspirational across touchpoints. Being consistent has helped create a more unified face for the brand.

For a corporate of our size, these changes are still being rolled out in phases across touchpoints. It’s an ongoing effort.

How are you now looking to position the brand, what core idea or identity will define Godrej going forward?

When we began the repositioning exercise, the question was: how do we unify such a diverse spectrum of businesses from aerospace to security to civil engineering? We anchored the narrative around core attributes that transcend categories like trust, design-led innovation, sustainability, and nation building.

Design-wise, the identity itself helped. The bold purple color symbolises dynamism and confidence, and visually connects our diverse portfolio. Earlier, with three colors, we struggled with consistency. Now, with one strong color, it's easier to maintain unity across our businesses.

At the same time, we wanted to retain some legacy elements, like the iconic cursive Godrej logo to maintain continuity. This wasn’t a complete overhaul, but rather a thoughtful evolution.

From a communication perspective, our ‘Unlock New Worlds’ campaign resonated internally and externally. It wasn’t just a campaign but a narrative platform, aligning with our purpose of pioneering innovation that adds value and drives progress.

This theme of ‘unlocking value’ became a strong, unifying narrative across the group.

Godrej Enterprises spans a wide range of business verticals. How did you arrive at a unifying brand narrative that works across the diverse verticals, and what structural or operational shifts were needed within marketing to bring this integrated vision to life?

We already had a central marketing structure, with individual business units having their own marketing teams. We realigned this structure to enable seamless collaboration between cross-functional teams, both at the center and at the business unit level.

The central marketing team now functions like a hub that connects the mother brand, digital experience, consumer insights, and analytics. It’s become a center of excellence that business teams can tap into.

We also amplified the role of brand governance. It’s crucial, especially in a large corporate, to maintain consistency across all touchpoints while allowing flexibility for businesses to cater to their specific audiences.

Another big change was expanding our in-house visual communication and design team. This team helps interpret the brand identity across touchpoints by creating templates, blueprints, and best practices. It ensures consistency while giving individual teams the tools they need to execute effectively.

How are you planning to measure the impact of this repositioning, both in terms of long-term brand equity and immediate business outcomes?

Repositioning isn’t a short-term effort, it’s a long-term journey. So, we look at both business outcomes and internal cultural transformation.

On the business front, we’ve already seen early signs of enhanced brand equity, greater salience, and deeper consumer engagement. We have formal metrics in place:

1. Corporate reputation and its key drivers.

2. Brand health tracking across categories, using KPIs like salience, consideration, and preference.

3. Share of search in B2C categories, this tracks consumer search intent on Google compared to competitors.

In the long term, we expect tangible results like better pricing power, higher revenues, and enhanced profitability, all of which stem from strong brand equity.

What kind of investment has been planned for marketing over the next few years, and how is that being allocated across brand-building, digital, traditional media, and innovation-led efforts?

We’ve earmarked around ₹1,500 crores for branding and marketing at the group level over the next three years. This includes both on-air and on-ground spend.

The media mix remains balanced, but we’re over-indexing on digital platforms, CTV, OTT, and search campaigns in particular. That said, traditional media like TV and print still play a key role. TV continues to offer unmatched scale, while print is effective in Tier II and Tier III markets.

Roughly 50% of our media spends go toward digital, and that’s expected to grow. A significant portion of the investment is also going into transitioning our large B2C store network to reflect the new brand identity.

Performance marketing, especially at the bottom of the funnel, is expected to grow as well. It helps us reach high-intent customers and drive conversions, whether on our own platforms or marketplaces.

Are there any recent or upcoming campaigns that clearly reflect how you’re looking to position Godrej going forward? What kind of marketing efforts are being taken to bring this new brand direction to life, both in terms of messaging and media choices?

Last year, we launched the ‘Unlock New Worlds’ campaign. In Q4, we extended that with category-specific campaigns for digital locks, home lockers, and smart ACs. These focused on ‘worry-free living,’ ‘tension-free security,’ and ‘smart cooling.’

These weren’t just one-off creative campaigns, they’re part of a broader platform. Even going forward, we’ll use the ‘Unlock’ narrative to articulate customer benefits across touchpoints.

This year, we’re planning future versions of the campaign depending on the context and category. For now, the campaigns from March are still strong, so we’ll give them one more round of media spends. A creative refresh will likely happen in Q3 or Q4, depending on evaluations.

As someone leading both brand and insights, how are you ensuring these don’t operate in silos, and instead fuel real-time, contextually relevant campaigns in an increasingly non-linear consumer journey?

Every marketing initiative typically starts with an insight. Whether it’s creative or performance marketing, or even predictive analytics, insights are the foundation.

In our interiors business, for example, we use predictive analysis to anticipate demand spikes during campaigns or seasonal peaks. This helps with inventory management and better customer service.

We also closely track share of search, which reflects campaign effectiveness. After major campaigns, we often see spikes in consumer search behavior, and we now try to engineer these spikes around seasonal peaks or strategic moments.

So yes, insights and marketing are tightly integrated and form a core part of our planning and execution.

In a performance-driven world, how do you maintain the balance between short-term metrics like CAC or CTR, and long-term brand-building goals? Where does that tension show up most?

There’s always pressure to deliver short-term results. Performance marketing helps us tap into high-intent buyers, those already in-market. We never compromise on this because immediate sales are important.

However, we also keep a close eye on long-term brand KPIs, like salience, spontaneous awareness, consideration, and preference. If we see slippage, we activate brand-building efforts early.

We also use share of search as a lead indicator. It often correlates strongly with brand activity, and one of the best ways to impact it is through large-scale brand campaigns.

So yes, it’s a tightrope. There’s no fixed formula, but we work hard to maintain that balance between brand and performance every year.

Godrej has leveraged AI in demand forecasting and inventory, but where do you see AI having the biggest creative or storytelling impact next? Are you experimenting with dynamic content or personalisation at scale?

AI is evolving rapidly, especially in generative areas. Compared to even a year or two ago, the capabilities are transformational.

We see potential in using AI to create content at scale, but we’re cautious. There are legal and brand-related guardrails we must consider, ensuring that generated imagery stays on-brand and doesn’t infringe on copyrights or trademarks.

We use AI on the backend, for chatbots, websites, and customer service. On the creative front, we’re optimistic but also careful. It’s not a straightforward journey for a large corporate like ours. So, we approach AI with cautious optimism.

What does modern marketing leadership look like in a conglomerate like Godrej?

Whether it's a conglomerate or a startup, the marketing function must be a champion for the consumer. That remains constant.

In today’s landscape, agility is key. Consumer behaviour and tech are evolving quickly, and we need to respond with speed and precision.

Consistency is equally important. While we evolve, the core of the brand must stay intact and show up in every interaction.

Modern marketing teams must also break silos and collaborate deeply. New roles in digital, AI, performance, etc. are emerging, and it’s critical to empower cross-functional collaboration. Data and digital tech should simplify, not complicate, the marketing value chain.

Ultimately, everything we do must serve the consumer. Everything else is just a tool or enabler.

As you build future-ready teams, what skillsets or mindsets are you prioritising for the next phase of growth?

There are two types of skills: functional and leadership/behavioural.

Functional skills include marketing fundamentals, communication, research, campaign execution, and evolving areas like digital, social media, and AI. These keep evolving, and we continuously look for talent with these capabilities.

Behavioural competencies are even more critical. We look for:

• A strong focus on delivering results

• The ability to collaborate

• A mindset to challenge the status quo and bring in fresh thinking

• Passion and openness to learn new things

Gone are the days of narrow specialisation. Today’s marketers must be agile, curious, and ready to expand their impact zones.