Q] Godrej Locks has long stood for legacy and trust. Today, it is also evolving rapidly with new-age technology. How has this journey unfolded?
With several decades in the safety solutions business, we have earned the trust of millions of consumers in India and abroad. Historically, our strength lay in mechanical technology. By the late 20th and early 21st centuries, we were among the few global companies offering one of the finest mechanical platforms—the 3KS technology, around which we built applications for both retail and B2B customers. As electronics, mechatronics and digital technologies advanced in the early 2000s, we began observing a clear shift in markets closer home, especially in Southeast Asia. Through discussions with companies and consumers there, we understood that the evolution was not about eliminating mechanics, but enhancing it with digital access.
In mechatronic locks, the physical locking mechanism remains mechanical, while access becomes digital, offering keyless operation, customised access for different users, and a more contemporary aesthetic. Recognising the shift, we began this journey in 2016 and have since invested deeply in in-house capabilities across industrial design, hardware, firmware and software. While we work with a strong partner ecosystem, manufacturing takes place in our own factories. Today, digital solutions sit alongside mechanical ones, and both continue to evolve.
Q] The ‘Har Ghar Surakshit’ campaign has been running for several years. What was the core insight behind it, and how has it performed? Which markets did it lean into?
The insight was cultural. In many parts of the country, particularly beyond big cities, safety is not taken too seriously. People often do not perceive threats; sometimes, they don’t even lock their homes while stepping out, an issue more concerning in households with children and senior citizens. As a leading safety brand, we had to address this. ‘Har Ghar Surakshit’, launched in 2018, was conceived as a social initiative to drive awareness. Since then, it has been central to our outreach.
The impact has been significant, with awareness increasing manifold. Alongside the campaign, we introduced direct-to-consumer home visits, where technicians assess a home’s main door and recommend upgrades based on household size and usage. Till date, we have conducted around 1,70,000 to 1,80,000 visits, including about 26,000 this year alone. Two years ago, we also launched the Home Safety Score, enabling consumers to evaluate their home’s safety and identify improvements. The campaign began in bigger cities and gradually expanded to Tier-II and Tier III markets through society-level activations and partnerships with local security agencies. This improved brand awareness and our reach.
Q] ‘Befikar Living – Unlocked’ marked a tonal shift towards lifestyle-led communication. What drove this change?
Advertising has always balanced functional and emotional messaging. While functional benefits remain important, emotional payoffs help people truly connect with a brand. Over the years, our communication has increasingly focused on how safety solutions improve quality of life, allowing people to live more freely and without anxiety. ‘Befikar Living’ reflects that thought. It highlights emotional reassurance while offering a functional window into the product. This balance has helped us connect better with consumers and communicate our message more effectively.
Q] Godrej Locks recently collaborated with ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’. What were the business objectives behind this association? Can you share any measurable outcomes?
The primary objective was reach. ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’ has been an extremely popular programme for decades. Over the past two years, we have seen it as an excellent platform to build awareness, particularly around the fact that a trusted legacy brand now offers advanced digital safety solutions. The idea was to communicate enhanced safety, aesthetics, and keyless customised access to a very wide audience.
We tracked brand uplift closely through pre- and post-campaign metrics such as awareness, consideration, preference, likability and brand imagery. Beyond these, we also evaluated reach, click-through rates on digital platforms, and overall brand perception. Importantly, we have seen strong growth in our digital business, which is currently growing at around 50 per cent year-on-year. That has been a key outcome for us.
Q] As digital becomes an increasingly important part of marketing, how are you balancing investments between traditional and digital channels? Does this vary across markets and platforms such as print and television?
There is still a long way to go for digital to catch up with mechanical solutions. This year, we may end up with about five to seven per cent of our revenues coming from digital. Traditional continues to receive significant attention because it still represents the larger share of the business, chiefly because safety penetration across the country remains relatively low.
Since we began ‘Har Ghar Surakshit’ in 2018, we have also focused on building a strong on-ground presence in Tier-II and Tier-III cities. As a result, 27% of our revenues today come from Tier-II, Tier-III and even, Tier-IV cities, supported by our channel partners and strong market availability. Mechanical locks will continue to command attention because they deliver volume, especially in smaller towns.
At the same time, metro cities are moving faster towards digital solutions, so the share of digital in urban markets will continue to increase, even as mechanical products dominate in non-metros for some time. Print plays a more selective role for us. We use it primarily for specific industry verticals and influencer communities, such as hospitality-focused publications and those catering to architects and interior designers. Beyond that, our mix is largely digital, along with traditional television, including our current association with Sony TV through ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’.
Q] Is artificial intelligence (AI) being used to shorten consumer research or decision cycles? How is AI being applied for personalisation or targeting?
We are still exploring the potential of AI. As an industry, we are in the early stages of understanding where it can add real value. At this point, there is no concrete evidence that it has significantly shortened research or product development cycles for us. It will take a few more years before we can assess its true impact.
In terms of targeting, we use AI only to a limited extent. While e-commerce platforms leverage AI heavily, we are still evaluating how to apply it effectively across targeting and personalised messaging. The space is evolving quickly, but it is still too early for us to share definitive outcomes or numbers.
Q] What are the key marketing priorities for Godrej Locks and Architectural Solutions in 2026?
One of our core objectives has always been to sustain our leadership in locks, including digital solutions, and to continue growing our relative market share versus competition. A key marketing priority is to deliver on our digital locks aspiration, taking digital to at least 10 per cent of our overall revenues over the next two to three years. Alongside this, improving reach and awareness for digital solutions remains an important focus.
Another major objective is to increase the contribution of Tier-II, Tier-III and Tier-IV markets from the current 27 per cent to around 30–40% over the next three to four years. India lives in these cities too, not just in big metros. We believe prosperity is spreading across the country, and there is a clear opportunity to leverage that growth. Beyond these, there are broader revenue growth objectives that will guide our plans from 2026 onwards.
