Brands
Top 10 television advertisers during first 24 weeks of 2017
BENGALURU: Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL), Reckitt Benckiser (India) Ltd (RBIL) and Baba Ramdev’sPatanjaliAyurved Ltd (Patanjali) were the three top advertisers that have been present in all the 24 weekly lists of Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC). All the three players are from the FMCG genre.Overall, 27 advertisers have been present at least for one week in the BARC’s weekly lists of TOP 10 Advertiser Across Genre : All India (U+R) : 2+ Individuals.
HUL leads the pack by far with a total of 27,56,296 ad insertions during the 24 week period, followed by RBIL with 14,00,356 insertions. Patanjali with 5,68,023 insertions (just a fraction above 20 percent of HUL’s ad insertions) is third. Ad insertions by the HUL group would be much higher once the insertions by other companies associated with HUL are added.
The fourth largest advertiser during the period is confectionary giant Cadbury’s India Limited (Cadbury’s) which was present in BARC’s Top 10 advertisers lists for 23 of the first 24 weeks of 2017 – Cadbury’s had insertions of 5,26,685 during the period. HUL’s beverages associate – Brooke Bond Lipton India Limited (Brooke Bond) was fifth in the pecking order with 4,48,054 insertions during the 22 weeks that it was present in BARC’s weekly lists. It may be noted that the sum of insertions mentioned in this paper are the sum of only those numbers when they were present in BARC’s weekly lists of top 10 advertisers. The actual number of insertions will be much higher. Please refer to the figure below for a list of top 10 advertisers during the first 24 weeks of 2014, based on their presence in BARC’s weekly lists of top 10 advertisers
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.
