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Godrej aims to make its Locks synonymous with safety
MUMBAI: High-tech is changing the way we live. People take advantage of advances in technology but not so much when it comes to our home door locking system. A majority of people still use traditional locking systems which may not be enough to deter criminals from breaking in and taking valuable items.
What exactly does a burglar think while breaking in? How easy or difficult is it for him to intrude in our homes? Wouldn’t it be great if we could get these answers straight from the horse’s mouth?
That is exactly what Godrej has done in its latest campaign #HowSafeAreYou to raise awareness on home safety by releasing a series of three videos that ‘unlock the mind of a robber’. Urging homebuyers to be proactive in their approach to safety, Godrej Locks has launched a series of interviews on digital mediums that captured three reformed robbers speaking on their modus operandi. These videos go beyond giving consumers insights into what deters a robber from attacking a home and break a few myths too.
As a part of creating awareness about new and advanced locking solutions, Godrej worked closely with architects and carpenters by training them as a majority of purchase decisions in India about locking systems are directed to these professionals. Godrej Locking Solutions and Systems executive VP and head of business Shyam Motwani says the objective of the campaigns was to promote awareness on safety and the risk associated with it due to the lack of it.
The digital campaigns were created by Whyness Worldwide, which is fairly a new kid on the block, though the company is led by Ravi Deshpande who has been in the media world for quite some time. Motwani assigned creative duty to the agency as he believes Whyness team has adapted to the changing dynamics of the industry where agencies have to deliver more than the traditional advertising agencies.
It took a period of two months for the team to decide on the cast for the ads, which turned out to be actual former robbers. Produced by Blue Drop, the films are directed by Nikhil Mahajan and it took extensive research and meetings to source out three former robbers who were willing to speak about their extraordinary experiences and home safety tips on camera. The ad films were all shot in just a day’s time. The agency took utmost care that the real identities of the ex-robbers remains protected.
But why the agency decided on using real robbers, one may ask. To that, Whyness Worldwide vice president of creative Ranjit Sasidharan explains, “We asked ourselves, what would make the world sit up and take notice of the topic of home safety? The answer was, real ex-robbers revealing their modus operandi and offering home safety tips. An ex-robber speaking about robberies makes for an almost irresistible and disruptive digital content.”
Focused only in top metros as of yet, Godrej will use these digital ads in cinemas starting December which will also be supported by BTL activities to promote its safety mechanisms.
To this, Sasidharan from the agency adds, “The ex-robbers’ digital films are planned as part of a larger campaign to make Godrej Locks synonymous with safety. We shall be rolling out further additions to the campaign soon.”
Over the last few years, Godrej has seen a dynamic shift in its advertising spends. The company spends heavily on digital, a small amount on print and absolutely nothing on television. The company’s investment on digital is increasing 2x every year. Motwani says, “We are doubling our spends on digital and it is not only an increment by a certain percentage but rather on an exponential level. It will only grow further.”
Motwani didn’t reveal the company’s targeted revenue or expected margins as he is still waiting for the new GST regime to pan out completely. “We will be able to make assessments only by January or February,” he concludes.
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Samsung certifies 1,000 Maharashtra students in AI and coding
The South Korean electronics giant marks its first large-scale skilling push in the state, with women making up nearly half the national programme’s enrolment
PUNE: Samsung has put 1,000 students in Maharashtra through a certified training programme in artificial intelligence and coding, the largest such drive the South Korean electronics company has run in the state and a signal that corporate India’s skilling ambitions are moving well beyond the boardroom brochure.
The certifications were awarded under Samsung Innovation Campus (SIC), the company’s flagship corporate social responsibility programme, which launched in India in 2022 with the stated aim of democratising access to future-technology education. The 1,000 graduates were drawn from four institutions: 127 from Savitribai Phule Pune University, 373 from Pimpri Chinchwad University, 250 from D.Y. Patil University’s Ramrao Adik Institute of Technology and 250 from Anjuman-I-Islam’s Kalsekar Technical Campus. All completed training in either AI or coding and programming, the two disciplines Samsung has identified as the critical pillars of the digital economy.
The programme does not stop at technical training. Soft-skills development and career-readiness modules are baked into the curriculum, a deliberate attempt to close the gap between what universities teach and what employers actually want.
“India’s digital growth story will ultimately be shaped by the quality of its talent pipeline,” said Shubham Mukherjee, head of CSR and corporate communications at Samsung Southwest Asia. “As technologies like AI move from the periphery to the core of industries, skilling must evolve from basic training to building real-world capability. This milestone in Maharashtra reflects how industry and academia can come together to create a future-ready workforce that is both globally competitive and locally relevant.”
The Maharashtra drive sits within a rapidly scaling national effort. Samsung Innovation Campus trained 20,000 young people across India in 2025, hitting its stated target for the year. Women account for 48 per cent of national enrolments, a figure the company cites as evidence of its push for an inclusive technology ecosystem. The programme is implemented in partnership with the Electronics Sector Skills Council of India and the Telecom Sector Skill Council.
Samsung, which is marking 30 years in India this year, runs SIC alongside two other initiatives, Samsung Solve for Tomorrow and Samsung DOST, as part of a broader effort to build what it calls a generation of innovators with both the technical depth and the problem-solving mindset to thrive in a fast-moving digital world.
A thousand certified students is a tidy headline. Whether they find jobs that match their new skills is the harder question, and the one that will ultimately determine whether corporate skilling programmes like this one are genuine pipelines or well-photographed gestures.
