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What’s in a name (logo)?
Changing times warrant not only a change in way of doing business but also the
way in which organizations communicate with its consumers. What better way to
communicate than through the name and logo? In this edition of ‘Tastes of India’,
we look at interesting stories of Indian companies that have changed their
names/logo either to depict a conscious change in strategy or to communicate a
changed positioning of the brand or even due to societal compulsions. From a
tobacco company, ITC becomes a full fledged FMCG marketer while HUL gets closer
to Unilever by dropping ‘Lever’ and Dabur, Godrej, Marico too re-invent themselves
to re-connect with their consumers.
No stops for ITC: Tobacco giant to FMCG powerhouse
ITC, which started in India as BAT’s tobacco subsidiary in the year 1910 has come a
long way from being just a tobacco company to a diversified conglomerate today.
This journey has also been reflected in its name. For example, when BAT had to
reduce its stake due to foreign investment norms in 1960s …
… its name changed from Imperial Tobacco Company to Indian Tobacco Company.
Following diversification into hotels/paper in 1970s, name further changed to I.T.C.
With its conscious decision to expand beyond cigarettes into FMCG (foods, personal
care etc.), the name changed to just ‘ITC’ (with tagline, ‘No stops for ITC’.)
Hindustan Unilever: From global to local and now global plus local
HUL’s history goes back to 1888 when the Sunlight soap was imported as ‘Made in
England by Lever Brothers’, though Lever Brothers was created in India in 1913.
Rising power of Swadeshi movement as well as global recession induced the group
to localize the business by setting up facilities in India in 1930s…
… though Hindustan Lever was formed in 1956 by merging three Indian arms and
the pre-fix Hindustan (India) symbolizing deep connect with the local roots.
In 2007, though, the name changed to Hindustan Unilever to reflect ‘One Unilever’
philosophy that is built on ‘Think global – act local’ which was followed by slew of
launches (could also be incidental).
Dabur: One of the greatest successes in Ayurveda
‘Ayurveda’ has a long history in India and Dabur arguably has been one of the most
successful stories in this domain.
Dabur has been able to extend Ayurveda into FMCG model creating product niche.
While the company had always been active in rolling out new products…
… it seems there had been a change in its approach in 2004 which also coincides
with the change in the giving it a more youthful feel.
Godrej group: New logo to become contemporary
Godrej group, one of the oldest Indian houses began its journey in 1895 and today
it is amongst the most diversified groups.
While it all started with locks, cupboards, soaps around 50-70 years back, it today
has a diversified portfolio spread across FMCG, real estate, agri, furniture, retail.
An early mover advantage however became a drawback as it was not viewed as
contemporary which induced the group to change its positioning and…
… the logo too which was just red in colour till 2007 transformed into a multi-colour
backed by extensive communications (on Television etc.).
Marico: From trading mindset to consumer franchise
Marico which started as a primarily trading organisation is today amongst the most
exciting home-grown consumer stories in India.
The current chairman who took over the consumer business formed ‘Marico
Industries’ in 1990s with aim to build consumer franchisee.
And by 2005, the company changed its avatar and the name was reduced to
‘Marico’, also supported by a new logo reflecting closer association with consumers.
No stops for ITC –tobacco giant to FMCG power-house
British-American Tobacco (BAT) which was formed in 1902 through a JV
between UK’s Imperial Tobacco Company and USA’s American Tobacco
Company with a focus on markets beyond UK and USA entered into India in
1910 forming Imperial Tobacco Company in India. In 1960s, BAT had to give
up control of ITC following the new foreign exchange norms and the name
was Indianised therefore to Indian Tobacco Company.
During 1970s, ITC was directed by Monopolistic Trade Commission to reduce
its share of cigarette business to less than 50%, following which, ITC decided
to foray into paperboards and hotels and also changed the name to I.T.C. in
1974. During this decade, ITC opened its first hotel in Chennai and also
started its paperboard plants in a sub.
During 1980s, ITC entered into the financial services business and during
1990s, I.T.C., under its Chairman, KL Chug tried hands at power but its
overall diversification went through tough times as financial services, edible
oils, international trading all were into losses. Given importance of India for
global major, BAT used this failed attempt at diversification to gain control of
ITC but was unsuccessful as ITC was able to convince the government to
protect its Indian status. Around this time, KL Chug decided to step down
paving way for current chairman, YC Deveshwar (YCD) in 1996.
In 1996, when YCD inherited ITC, the organisation was faced with several
issues including charges of foreign exchange violations and in fact, some of
its managers were also jailed on these charges. Even while these issues were
on, ITC was even struggling in its paperboard business. YCD decided to
merge the business into itself in order to provide parent’s support.
By 2001, things were coming on-track as paperboards was showing
improvement and hotel business too was witnessing strong growth rates. YCD
led ITC to grow beyond these businesses and decided to create next growth
driver and decided to foray into non-cigarette FMCG. The company name
changed from I.T.C. to just ITC with tagline, ‘No stops for ITC’ in 2001.
ITC forayed into greeting cards and lifestyle during the same year which was
followed by its entry into packaged ready meals. And today, ITC is present in
biscuits, confectionery, noodles/ pasta, salty snacks, soaps, shampoos,
stationery, matches etc. Even while the segment continues to be in red, the
company has made significant progress on the topline and market shares.
With US$1.2bn of new FMCG topline, ITC amongst the largest non-cigarette
FMCG company in India ahead of several domestic firms.
Hindustan Unilever: From global to local and now global plus local
Indian roots for HUL travel back to almost 1888 when Kolkata harbour
received a consignment of Sunlight soap bars, embossed with ‘Made in
England by Lever Brothers’. With it began an era of marketing the branded
FMCG products in India. There were slew of launches thereafter like Lifebuoy
(1895), Pears (1902) etc. The sales growth was strong and in order to keep
the focus on, a subsidiary in England, Lever Brothers India Limited was
created which carried on business in India on cash basis during 1913.
Around 1930s, a big change came in the form of growing power of Swadeshi
(Indigenous) movement which almost co-incided with a worldwide recession
that also impacted India; a jump in duties on soap exacerbated the issues
and soap sales declied to record lows.
In order to get closer to India and optimise on costs (import duty, freight),
the group decided to establish a facility in India and Lever Brothers India Ltd
was set up in the year 1933 focussing on soaps. There were other entities like
United Traders Limited and Hindustan Vanaspati focussing on other segments.
All these were merged in 1956 to form Hindustan Lever which offered 10% of
its stake to Indian public. The issue was priced at Rs10.05/sh and was
subscribed 6x with 21,623 Indian shareholders. This was followed by
appointment of Prakash Tandon who became first Indian Chairman.
The liberalization of Indian economy in 1991 and subsequent removal of the
regulatory framework clearly marked an inflexion for HUL to explore new
opportunities without any constraints on production. HUL had also set up a
subsidiary in Nepal, Nepal Lever Limited.
The company too persued aggressive inorganic growth opportiunity and in
one of the most talked about events of India’s corporate history, the erstwhile
Tata Oil Mills Company (TOMCO) merged with HLL in 1993 and continued its
focus on inorganic opportunities therafter by acquiring brands like Kissan,
Kwality, Lakme and Modern. With the world-wide acquisition of Brooke Bond,
Indian arms too merged with HUL in 1996.
In 2007, the name was changed to Hindustan Unilever, to reflect ‘One
Unilever’ philosophy that seeks to use Unilever’s global reach and local
knowledge of its Indian operations. The name reflects the company’s Indian
heritage and its global alignment and new marketing formula/mantra: ‘Think
Global, Act Local’.
The three letter ‘HLL’ logo changed from a green leaf symbolizing nature &
environment friendliness to a new logo, symbolises mission of ‘adding vitality
to life. The logo consists of 25 icons like sun, bee, hand, recycling, water,
heart, etc each depicting specific meaning through which HUL wants to
portray its diversified horizon. The new name still retains ‘Hindustan’ as the
pre-fix to reflect continued commitment to local economy, consumers etc.
From global to local and now global plus local
The story of Dabur goes back to 1884 when Dr SK Burman had set up a small
health care product facility in a small pharmacy in Kolkata as he started
mailing his medicines to small villages in Bengal. The brand name Dabur was
derived from the words ‘Da’ for ‘Daktar’ or ‘Doctor’ & ‘Bur’ from ‘Burman’. In
1896, following growing popularity of Dabur products, Dr. Burman had set up
a manufacturing plant near Kolkata for mass production of formulations.
In 1936, Dabur became full-fledged company and launched slew of products.
In 1981, the name was changed to Vidogum & Chemicals but it again became
Dabur in 1986 following the reverse merger. In 1990’s, Dabur entered
ayurvedic medicines and IPO followed in 1994.
In 2004, Dabur unveiled its new logo which retained characteristic of banyan
tree, but represented a younger look in form & colour. The trunk of the new
tree mirrors the form of three people with their arms raised, conveying
exultation and leaves represents growth, vitality, rejuvenation, & renewal.
Godrej group: New logo to become contemporary
Established in 1895, Godrej Group was incorporated by Ardeshir Godrej with
a capital of just Rs3,000 starting with surgical tools. With the rise of burglary
incidents Ardeshir decided to manufacture locks that offer better security and
at the same time are made through automation.
In 1902, Ardeshir expanded into safes, in 1918, started manufacturing and in
1923, launched cupboards. In 1928, Ardeshir transferred the ownership and
control of the company to his brother, Pirojsha. Interestingly, in 1944, a cargo
carrying cotton, gold & ammunition caught fire and the explosion was
catastrophic destroying whole buildings but, one of the few things to survive
this devastating blast were Godrej safes.
The group introduced typewriters in India in 1955 and became first Indian
group to manufacture refrigerators in 1958 followed by hair dye. In 2001,
GCPL was formed by demerger of consumer division of Godrej Industries.
Given Godrej’s association with Indian consumers for so long, it was not
viewed as a contemporary brand. To address this, in 2008, the group changed
its logo from ‘red’ and harmonised the logo across the group with new colours
that were targeted towards young India backed by extensive communications.
Marico: From trading mindset to consumer franchise
In 1971, the current Chairman, Harsh Mariwala joined the family business of
Bombay Oil Industries and was given control of Consumer division in 1980
that functioned mainly on bulk sales given trading focus. The company sold
its oil to intermediaries who re-sold them to retail outlets in loose form.
Harsh travelled, interacted with intermediaries and learned the business in
the field and played the role of owner-cum-salesman. He believed in building
consumer franchise and introduced coconut oil under the brand, ‘Parachute’.
The company gradually entered into various states and pioneered consumer
packs for oils and converted most of the tin market into plastic containers.
Marico researched and found that the consumption of safflower oil helped
reduce harmful cholesterol and Saffola edible oil adopted the health platform
and was promoted as ‘cooking oil that cares for heart’.
Bombay Oil soon became a profitable branded business and consumer
division was spun-off and Marico Industries Limited was formally born in 1990.
Marico’s logo was adopted during 1989 and while it moved with times, its
identity had not as it still reflected its industrial past. In 2005, Marico adopted
a new logo which was much softer and the trust mark (the symbol ‘M’)
retained its basic strength, the pillars while green leaves bring to life the
focus on beauty & wellness.
India Equity Research Reports, IPO and Stock News
Visit http://indiaer.blogspot.com/ for complete details �� ��
What’s in a name (logo)?
Changing times warrant not only a change in way of doing business but also the
way in which organizations communicate with its consumers. What better way to
communicate than through the name and logo? In this edition of ‘Tastes of India’,
we look at interesting stories of Indian companies that have changed their
names/logo either to depict a conscious change in strategy or to communicate a
changed positioning of the brand or even due to societal compulsions. From a
tobacco company, ITC becomes a full fledged FMCG marketer while HUL gets closer
to Unilever by dropping ‘Lever’ and Dabur, Godrej, Marico too re-invent themselves
to re-connect with their consumers.
No stops for ITC: Tobacco giant to FMCG powerhouse
ITC, which started in India as BAT’s tobacco subsidiary in the year 1910 has come a
long way from being just a tobacco company to a diversified conglomerate today.
This journey has also been reflected in its name. For example, when BAT had to
reduce its stake due to foreign investment norms in 1960s …
… its name changed from Imperial Tobacco Company to Indian Tobacco Company.
Following diversification into hotels/paper in 1970s, name further changed to I.T.C.
With its conscious decision to expand beyond cigarettes into FMCG (foods, personal
care etc.), the name changed to just ‘ITC’ (with tagline, ‘No stops for ITC’.)
Hindustan Unilever: From global to local and now global plus local
HUL’s history goes back to 1888 when the Sunlight soap was imported as ‘Made in
England by Lever Brothers’, though Lever Brothers was created in India in 1913.
Rising power of Swadeshi movement as well as global recession induced the group
to localize the business by setting up facilities in India in 1930s…
… though Hindustan Lever was formed in 1956 by merging three Indian arms and
the pre-fix Hindustan (India) symbolizing deep connect with the local roots.
In 2007, though, the name changed to Hindustan Unilever to reflect ‘One Unilever’
philosophy that is built on ‘Think global – act local’ which was followed by slew of
launches (could also be incidental).
Dabur: One of the greatest successes in Ayurveda
‘Ayurveda’ has a long history in India and Dabur arguably has been one of the most
successful stories in this domain.
Dabur has been able to extend Ayurveda into FMCG model creating product niche.
While the company had always been active in rolling out new products…
… it seems there had been a change in its approach in 2004 which also coincides
with the change in the giving it a more youthful feel.
Godrej group: New logo to become contemporary
Godrej group, one of the oldest Indian houses began its journey in 1895 and today
it is amongst the most diversified groups.
While it all started with locks, cupboards, soaps around 50-70 years back, it today
has a diversified portfolio spread across FMCG, real estate, agri, furniture, retail.
An early mover advantage however became a drawback as it was not viewed as
contemporary which induced the group to change its positioning and…
… the logo too which was just red in colour till 2007 transformed into a multi-colour
backed by extensive communications (on Television etc.).
Marico: From trading mindset to consumer franchise
Marico which started as a primarily trading organisation is today amongst the most
exciting home-grown consumer stories in India.
The current chairman who took over the consumer business formed ‘Marico
Industries’ in 1990s with aim to build consumer franchisee.
And by 2005, the company changed its avatar and the name was reduced to
‘Marico’, also supported by a new logo reflecting closer association with consumers.
No stops for ITC –tobacco giant to FMCG power-house
British-American Tobacco (BAT) which was formed in 1902 through a JV
between UK’s Imperial Tobacco Company and USA’s American Tobacco
Company with a focus on markets beyond UK and USA entered into India in
1910 forming Imperial Tobacco Company in India. In 1960s, BAT had to give
up control of ITC following the new foreign exchange norms and the name
was Indianised therefore to Indian Tobacco Company.
During 1970s, ITC was directed by Monopolistic Trade Commission to reduce
its share of cigarette business to less than 50%, following which, ITC decided
to foray into paperboards and hotels and also changed the name to I.T.C. in
1974. During this decade, ITC opened its first hotel in Chennai and also
started its paperboard plants in a sub.
During 1980s, ITC entered into the financial services business and during
1990s, I.T.C., under its Chairman, KL Chug tried hands at power but its
overall diversification went through tough times as financial services, edible
oils, international trading all were into losses. Given importance of India for
global major, BAT used this failed attempt at diversification to gain control of
ITC but was unsuccessful as ITC was able to convince the government to
protect its Indian status. Around this time, KL Chug decided to step down
paving way for current chairman, YC Deveshwar (YCD) in 1996.
In 1996, when YCD inherited ITC, the organisation was faced with several
issues including charges of foreign exchange violations and in fact, some of
its managers were also jailed on these charges. Even while these issues were
on, ITC was even struggling in its paperboard business. YCD decided to
merge the business into itself in order to provide parent’s support.
By 2001, things were coming on-track as paperboards was showing
improvement and hotel business too was witnessing strong growth rates. YCD
led ITC to grow beyond these businesses and decided to create next growth
driver and decided to foray into non-cigarette FMCG. The company name
changed from I.T.C. to just ITC with tagline, ‘No stops for ITC’ in 2001.
ITC forayed into greeting cards and lifestyle during the same year which was
followed by its entry into packaged ready meals. And today, ITC is present in
biscuits, confectionery, noodles/ pasta, salty snacks, soaps, shampoos,
stationery, matches etc. Even while the segment continues to be in red, the
company has made significant progress on the topline and market shares.
With US$1.2bn of new FMCG topline, ITC amongst the largest non-cigarette
FMCG company in India ahead of several domestic firms.
Hindustan Unilever: From global to local and now global plus local
Indian roots for HUL travel back to almost 1888 when Kolkata harbour
received a consignment of Sunlight soap bars, embossed with ‘Made in
England by Lever Brothers’. With it began an era of marketing the branded
FMCG products in India. There were slew of launches thereafter like Lifebuoy
(1895), Pears (1902) etc. The sales growth was strong and in order to keep
the focus on, a subsidiary in England, Lever Brothers India Limited was
created which carried on business in India on cash basis during 1913.
Around 1930s, a big change came in the form of growing power of Swadeshi
(Indigenous) movement which almost co-incided with a worldwide recession
that also impacted India; a jump in duties on soap exacerbated the issues
and soap sales declied to record lows.
In order to get closer to India and optimise on costs (import duty, freight),
the group decided to establish a facility in India and Lever Brothers India Ltd
was set up in the year 1933 focussing on soaps. There were other entities like
United Traders Limited and Hindustan Vanaspati focussing on other segments.
All these were merged in 1956 to form Hindustan Lever which offered 10% of
its stake to Indian public. The issue was priced at Rs10.05/sh and was
subscribed 6x with 21,623 Indian shareholders. This was followed by
appointment of Prakash Tandon who became first Indian Chairman.
The liberalization of Indian economy in 1991 and subsequent removal of the
regulatory framework clearly marked an inflexion for HUL to explore new
opportunities without any constraints on production. HUL had also set up a
subsidiary in Nepal, Nepal Lever Limited.
The company too persued aggressive inorganic growth opportiunity and in
one of the most talked about events of India’s corporate history, the erstwhile
Tata Oil Mills Company (TOMCO) merged with HLL in 1993 and continued its
focus on inorganic opportunities therafter by acquiring brands like Kissan,
Kwality, Lakme and Modern. With the world-wide acquisition of Brooke Bond,
Indian arms too merged with HUL in 1996.
In 2007, the name was changed to Hindustan Unilever, to reflect ‘One
Unilever’ philosophy that seeks to use Unilever’s global reach and local
knowledge of its Indian operations. The name reflects the company’s Indian
heritage and its global alignment and new marketing formula/mantra: ‘Think
Global, Act Local’.
The three letter ‘HLL’ logo changed from a green leaf symbolizing nature &
environment friendliness to a new logo, symbolises mission of ‘adding vitality
to life. The logo consists of 25 icons like sun, bee, hand, recycling, water,
heart, etc each depicting specific meaning through which HUL wants to
portray its diversified horizon. The new name still retains ‘Hindustan’ as the
pre-fix to reflect continued commitment to local economy, consumers etc.
From global to local and now global plus local
The story of Dabur goes back to 1884 when Dr SK Burman had set up a small
health care product facility in a small pharmacy in Kolkata as he started
mailing his medicines to small villages in Bengal. The brand name Dabur was
derived from the words ‘Da’ for ‘Daktar’ or ‘Doctor’ & ‘Bur’ from ‘Burman’. In
1896, following growing popularity of Dabur products, Dr. Burman had set up
a manufacturing plant near Kolkata for mass production of formulations.
In 1936, Dabur became full-fledged company and launched slew of products.
In 1981, the name was changed to Vidogum & Chemicals but it again became
Dabur in 1986 following the reverse merger. In 1990’s, Dabur entered
ayurvedic medicines and IPO followed in 1994.
In 2004, Dabur unveiled its new logo which retained characteristic of banyan
tree, but represented a younger look in form & colour. The trunk of the new
tree mirrors the form of three people with their arms raised, conveying
exultation and leaves represents growth, vitality, rejuvenation, & renewal.
Godrej group: New logo to become contemporary
Established in 1895, Godrej Group was incorporated by Ardeshir Godrej with
a capital of just Rs3,000 starting with surgical tools. With the rise of burglary
incidents Ardeshir decided to manufacture locks that offer better security and
at the same time are made through automation.
In 1902, Ardeshir expanded into safes, in 1918, started manufacturing and in
1923, launched cupboards. In 1928, Ardeshir transferred the ownership and
control of the company to his brother, Pirojsha. Interestingly, in 1944, a cargo
carrying cotton, gold & ammunition caught fire and the explosion was
catastrophic destroying whole buildings but, one of the few things to survive
this devastating blast were Godrej safes.
The group introduced typewriters in India in 1955 and became first Indian
group to manufacture refrigerators in 1958 followed by hair dye. In 2001,
GCPL was formed by demerger of consumer division of Godrej Industries.
Given Godrej’s association with Indian consumers for so long, it was not
viewed as a contemporary brand. To address this, in 2008, the group changed
its logo from ‘red’ and harmonised the logo across the group with new colours
that were targeted towards young India backed by extensive communications.
Marico: From trading mindset to consumer franchise
In 1971, the current Chairman, Harsh Mariwala joined the family business of
Bombay Oil Industries and was given control of Consumer division in 1980
that functioned mainly on bulk sales given trading focus. The company sold
its oil to intermediaries who re-sold them to retail outlets in loose form.
Harsh travelled, interacted with intermediaries and learned the business in
the field and played the role of owner-cum-salesman. He believed in building
consumer franchise and introduced coconut oil under the brand, ‘Parachute’.
The company gradually entered into various states and pioneered consumer
packs for oils and converted most of the tin market into plastic containers.
Marico researched and found that the consumption of safflower oil helped
reduce harmful cholesterol and Saffola edible oil adopted the health platform
and was promoted as ‘cooking oil that cares for heart’.
Bombay Oil soon became a profitable branded business and consumer
division was spun-off and Marico Industries Limited was formally born in 1990.
Marico’s logo was adopted during 1989 and while it moved with times, its
identity had not as it still reflected its industrial past. In 2005, Marico adopted
a new logo which was much softer and the trust mark (the symbol ‘M’)
retained its basic strength, the pillars while green leaves bring to life the
focus on beauty & wellness.
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