Godrej Locks dumps traditional advertising mediums for digital

Godrej Locking Solutions and Systems has become one of the few companies in India to ditch all forms of traditional media such as TV and print for advertising. The company, a market leader in the segment, has declared it will spend its entire advertising budget on digital media.

According to Shyam Motwani, EVP and Business Head, Godrej Locking Solutions and Systems, the brand will abandon traditional media for future campaigns as well since it doesn’t allow for two-way interaction.

Shyam Motwani

“As a matter of policy, we are going to stay away from traditional, offline media. There’s more to achieve on the digital mediums with respect to younger and newer customers. Traditional media is not a person-driven category. Our target audiences are engaging more with the digital platforms.”

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As their last digital campaign received a good response, they will continue to use the same medium with the same message.

“There will be many more campaigns in context to importance of safety in our lives. This is just a beginning,” said Motwani.

Right now, the brand holds a lion share of 45% in the market. To increase this percentage, Godrej Locks is choosing BTL marketing, new product launches and influential marketing.

“We get our lion’s share from B2C while we measure our wallet share in B2B. We are going to increase the current market share through various go-to-market initiatives, especially on the B2C front; it also involves our influencers, architect community, interior community. It is also going to be driven by new product launches and a lot of trade investment from time-to-time,” said Motwani.

The brand now has a 25% share in the rural market but is still choosing not to use any mass-traditional medium like TV, radio or outdoor.

“Our presence in rural India accounts for 25% of the total business. Firstly, we are launching the right and relevant products for rural India. Secondly, we are ensuring we have a very high level in-store presence. We are also engaging with the local carpenters and retailers over there.”

The brand was last seen advertising on TV in 2014. Last year, it launched a campaign called #HowSafeAreYou only on digital media.

Godrej is also hoping to increase its market share as the tax rate in the category reduced substantially after implementation of GST last year.

Before GST, the tax was between 22-25% but came down to 18%. The brand is now eyeing to increase its market share this year by beating the unorganised sector, which accounts for more than half of the share.

“GST implementation stabilised the levels. The unfair advantage that the unorganised sector had before GST has now gone away. The top two or three brands will ultimately benefit. We got this benefit after six months of implementation, and we do firmly believe that with our efforts and initiatives, promoting ‘safety’ at a mass level, GST will help my brand to grow in terms of revenue and market share,” said Motwani.

Internationally, Godrej Locks is eyeing at doubling its revenues in three years.

Godrej has also ventured into kitchen fittings and is giving the existing international brands in India a tough time.

“We are taking on multi-nationals because we are offering products most suitable for Indian kitchens as opposed to the competitors. We see a lot of promise in this new segment of our business. Going forward to this year, we will be able to see a fair amount of traction for the efforts that we have put in,” said Motwani.

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