Brands
Hawkins ad spend flat in Q1-2015
BENGALURU: Indian pressure cooker manufacturer Hawkins Cookers Limited (Hawkins) spent Rs 3.37 core (34.1 per cent of Advertising and Sales Promotion or ASP) towards Advertising (Ad spend) in Q1-2015, 2.7 per cent lower than the Rs 3.46 crore (19.7 per cent of ASP) in Q4-2014 and 1.2 per cent more than the Rs 3.33 crore (39.4 per cent of ASP) in Q1-2014. Overall, ad spend was almost flat across the three quarters – Q1-2015, Q4-2014 and Q1-2014.
Note: 100,00,000 = 100 lakh = 10 million = 1 crore
The company’s ASP comprises ad spend and discounts. As per Fig 1 below, based on historical data over the nine quarter period starting Q1-2013 until Q1-2015 (current quarter), the company spends the maximum towards ads in Q3, the festive season in the country. In Q2 and Q4, it resorts more towards discounting.
The company has been skewed more towards offering discounts as compared to advertising. Over the nine quarter period under consideration, the simple average ad spend in terms of percentage of ASP is 26.7 per cent, while the proportion of discount over the same period works out to 73.3 per cent of ASP. This trend is likely to continue based on historical data across the nine quarters under consideration. The company in Q2-2015 is likely to resort significantly on offering discount and spend a lower towards advertising. Q3-2015 is likely to see the company’s ad spend go up significantly.
The company’s highest ad spend over the nine quarters has been Rs 8.67 crore in Q3-2014 (49.3 per cent of ASP). Hawkins ad spend has been lowest in terms of rupees in Q4-2013 at Rs 0.35 crore (2.9 per cent of ASP), while the lowest in terms of percentage of ASP was in Q2-2013 at 2.8 per cent (Rs 0.37 crore).
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The company’s ASP in Q1-2015 at Rs 9.88 crore (10.2 per cent of Total Income from Operations or TIO) was 43.7 per cent lower than the Rs 17.55 crore (12.4 per cent of TIO) in Q4-2014 and 17 per cent more than the Rs 8.44 crore (11.2 per cent of TIO) in Q1-2014. ASP in terms of simple average in absolute rupees across the nine quarters under consideration is about Rs 13.01 crore.
Hawkins TIO in Q1-2015 at Rs 97.20 crore was 31.5 per cent less than the Rs 141.87 crore in Q4-2014 and 29.1 per cent more than the Rs 75.31 crore in Q1-2014.
While the company’s TIO across the nine quarters under consideration shows a linear upward trend, the company’s ASP seems to have flattened out linearly in terms of absolute rupees, and shows a slightly downward trend in terms of percentage of TIO. Please refer to Fig 1A below.
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Hawkins PAT for Q1-2015 at Rs 7.07 crore (7.3 per cent of TIO) was 46.1 per cent lower than the Rs 13.13 crore (9.3 per cent of TIO) in the immediate trailing quarter and 44.6 per cent more than the Rs 4.89 crore (6.5 per cent of TIO) in the corresponding year ago quarter. Please refer to Fig 2 below.
Overall, on a linear basis, PAT seems to be moving upward both in terms of absolute rupees as well as percentage of TIO.
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Brands
Godrej clarifies ‘GI’ identifier after logo similarity debate
Says GI is not a logo, will not replace Godrej signature across products.
MUMBAI: In a branding storm where shapes did the talking, Godrej is now spelling things out. Godrej Industries Group (GIG) has issued a clarification on its newly introduced ‘GI’ identifier, addressing questions around its purpose and design following a wave of online criticism. At the centre of the debate were two concerns: whether the new mark replaces the long-standing Godrej logo, and whether its geometric design mirrors other corporate identities.
The company has drawn a clear line. The Godrej signature logo, it said, remains unchanged and continues to be the sole logo across all consumer-facing products and services. The ‘GI’ mark, by contrast, is not a logo but a corporate group identifier intended for use alongside the Godrej signature or company name, and aimed at stakeholders such as investors, media and talent rather than consumers.
The need for such a distinction stems from the 2024 restructuring of the broader Godrej Group into two separate business entities. With both continuing to operate under the same Godrej name and signature, the identifier is positioned as a way to differentiate the Godrej Industries Group at a corporate level.
The rollout, however, triggered a broader conversation on design originality. Critics pointed to similarities between the GI mark’s geometric composition and logos used by companies globally, raising questions about distinctiveness.
Responding to this, GIG said its intellectual property and legal review found that such overlaps are common in minimalist, geometry-led design systems. Basic forms such as circles and rectangles appear across dozens of brand identities worldwide, the company noted.
It added that the identifier emerged from an extensive design process and was chosen for its simplicity, allowing it to sit alongside the Godrej signature without competing visually. While acknowledging that elemental shapes may appear less distinctive in isolation, the group emphasised that the mark is part of a broader identity system that includes a custom typeface, sonic branding and other proprietary elements.
Following legal and ethical assessments, the company said it found no impediment to using the identifier, reiterating that the GI mark is a corporate tool not a consumer-facing symbol.
In short, the logo isn’t changing but the conversation around it certainly has.
