Q] Tell us about how Godrej Locks has evolved over the years.
The journey has been very exhilarating. Considering the number of patents and design registrations that we have had to our name over the last few decades, it has been a journey of innovation, both in terms of technology platforms and design led innovation. And we have always been at the cutting edge of all the available technology platforms that one can offer in safety solutions, both in terms of standard, ready to use solutions at retail, as also a lot of customized bespoke solutions for not just internal, but also institutional and industrial customers. So, it has been a few decades since a great number of new products have been added to our range of safety solutions. In terms of protection it offers to the users, both in B2C and B2B space, we have been very fast paced and have been leading from an industry point of view.
Q] What marketing & communications strategies have worked best for your brand till now?
We've always believed in understanding the customers in the B2C and B2B space respectively, gathering key insights and developing communication for various touch points. And we've had our share of innovations, even in terms of marketing & communications. We had a 360 degree approach to communication in reaching out to the end users, influencers like architects and interior designers, carpenters, contractors and also the B2B customers. We've done work with the reformed robbers from Yerwada jail in Pune, and great communication in public interest on understanding the psyche of the robbers and how they end up gaining access to flats, how they manage to break in. Those insights we have made available to the public through our communication channels. We have made some great documentaries around the same subject with internationally renowned documentary filmmakers to communicate how robbers really work. And what we should be really keeping in mind. For new products, our focus right now is on digital door locks for the residential and the hospitality sectors and we will be able to reach out to our consumers by way of product communication. We use platforms which are largely digital in nature, have stayed away from the traditional offline media, but from time to time, we do use Print, TV and Radio to reach out to both urban and semi urban consumers.
Q] Godrej recently unveiled the second phase of its Covid-19 #AgentofSafety initiative, what was the insight behind it and how has it been received?
The past two years of pandemic has actually demoralized a lot of citizens in this country and around the world. We celebrated our second anniversary in 2019 of Home Safety Day by launching this program called ‘Agents of Safety’. During the COVID times, we managed to really get across to people and make people aware of COVID warriors working round the clock across the nation, as agents of safety. So this message that we bundled along with the program of #AgentofSafety that we had launched was very well received, there was a great deal of empathy surrounding this entire program. And I think people did realize that we have done our bit of contribution to the safety of our citizens by launching a whole range of contactless safety products in the year 2020.
Q] What was your overall marketing spend in 2021 and what kind of growth have you seen during the year?
If I look at this financial year, FY 21-22, we are already seeing about 53% growth over the last year. We have always believed in investments when we are on a decline, because that's the right time to invest in the brand and keep the brand salient. We also invest in new products across various categories that we are present in as far as range expansion is concerned. We made available some great products to both our urban and our semi urban consumers and also to various institutional buyers, along with a lot of customized products that we made available for various industrial sectors and industry verticals. And we ended up spending about 15 to 20 crores in 2021. And, this year too, we will witness about a 10% to 15% jump in our spends as far as marketing communication, and on ground activations are concerned involving various touch points that our consumers are exposed to.
