Brands
Marico merges men’s grooming brand Beardo into its parent company
MUMBAI: Marico is tidying up its house.
The FMCG group on Tuesday announced the integration of Beardo, its men’s grooming brand, into the parent company, folding the Rs 214-crore business into Marico through an intra-group restructuring aimed at sharpening operational efficiency.
The move will be executed via the voluntary liquidation of Zed Lifestyle, Marico’s wholly owned subsidiary that runs the Beardo brand. Its entire business undertaking will be transferred to Marico, the company said in a regulatory filing, allowing resources, teams and decision-making to be consolidated under one roof.
In the last financial year, Zed Lifestyle posted a turnover of Rs 214.17 crore, accounting for 1.98 per cent of Marico’s consolidated revenue. The subsidiary reported a net worth of Rs 18.61 crore.
Marico first invested in Beardo before fully acquiring the brand in 2020, when it bought the remaining 55 per cent stake in an all-cash deal. The integration marks the final step in embedding the men’s grooming label into Marico’s core portfolio.
Popcorn, too
Alongside the restructuring, Marico also signalled its appetite for premium snacking. The company announced the acquisition of a controlling stake in Zea Maize, owner of gourmet popcorn brand 4700BC, for Rs 226.83 crore.
Marico will initially acquire a 93.27 per cent stake, with the transaction expected to close within 30 days. The company retains the right to buy the remaining stake after three years, at a valuation to be determined at that time.
Markets approve
Investors appeared unfazed by the corporate reshuffle and acquisition spree. Shares of Marico ended 0.85 per cent higher on Tuesday, closing at Rs 747.20 on the BSE.
Beardo is now fully inside the tent, popcorn is on the menu, and Marico’s message is unmistakable: fewer silos, tighter control and a sharper focus on growth.
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.
