In our previous article, we extensively studied the SWOT analysis of GHCL. Today, we will learn deeply about the marketing strategy of GHCL – an established chemicals, consumer products, and textiles brand in India.
The primary objective is to shed light on how GHCL grew as a company and how diversity has become a core part of its business. We will also check out the different marketing approaches they implemented that brought them success in their industry.
Every company has an end goal of diversifying, scaling, and generating higher revenue. To develop a substantial income, the products have to be good, but the marketing strategy also has to do so. The world has been gradually shifting towards newer forms of marketing, and one such form is digital marketing. So, if you wish to do a big business, you need to know the ABCs of digital marketing. To learn that, check out IIDE’s free Masterclass on Digital Marketing 101 by our CEO and Founder, Karan Shah.
Before we cover the various marketing strategy of GHCL in 2022, we first need to know the story of the company, its business model, and its digital presence. Let’s dive in, shall we?
About GHCL – An Overview of the Company
Gujarat Heavy Chemicals Ltd is known as GHCL short. GHCL was incorporated on the 14th of October, 1983, and the promoters were the GIIC and the Dalmias. Today with more than thirty years of being in the industry, GHCL clocks a turnover of close to 30 Billion INR.
Since its inception, the company has diversified into chemical, textiles, and consumer products.
The yarn industry of GHCL is one of the market leaders. They produce high-quality cotton and synthetic blend yarn. The consumer products section sells spices and honey under the brand name I-FLO. They have been showing robust and sustainable year-on-year growth. GHCL is a good company to invest in, looking at the company fundamentals.
| CEO | Mr M. Sivabalsubramanian (yarn division) and Mr MV Murali Krishna (consumer products division) |
|---|---|
| CMO | Mr Sunil Bhatnagar |
| Area Served | Pan India |
| Industry | Conglomerate |
| Market Share/ Revenue | 3778 Crores INR |
| Vision | GHCL limited company’s vision is to grow their business with responsibility, governance, sustainability, and keeping the core values in mind. |
| Tagline | The Choice of a Healthy Family |
Marketing Strategy of GHCL
In this section, we will discuss the marketing strategy of GHCL in 2022. We will learn how they used various marketing channels to promote their products.
Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning
A critical factor in the marketing strategy of GHCL is how they have segmented their products. Since its inception, GHCL has diversified into many industries and products. These industries include chemical, yarn, and consumer products. They are one of the leading producers of Soda Ash Light, Soda Ash Dense, and Sodium Bicarbonate and have also captured a big market in cotton and synthetic blend yarn. Under the brand name I-FLO, GHCL sells spices, honey, and salt.
The second key factor in the marketing strategy of GHCL India is how and who are their products targeting? GHCL is both B2B and B2C. Its target customers are both other industries and companies and the ordinary person. It supplies chemicals to the dye-ing sector and the companies producing polymers and plastics, and the company sells its handloom products to distributors. The I-flo brand sells spices, honey, and salt directly to the customer through e-commerce platforms.
The last factor to consider in the marketing strategy of GHCL India is their positioning in the market and against the competitors. GHCL has positioned itself as one of the industry leaders in both chemicals and yarn industries. The consumer products side is still under development, but I-flo as a brand would make a name for itself with proper marketing. The products have competitive pricing. The price of i-flo honey matches their competitor’s price. I-flo salts are slightly lower prices with respect to its competitors.
Marketing campaigns
The consumer products brand of GHCL is called i-flo. The marketing strategy of GHCL includes marketing its consumer products through different digital marketing campaigns and print campaigns. GHCL started launching its promotional videos on home decor in the year 2011.
By 2016, they had already begun promoting their i-flo branded iodized salt and spices. They launched most of the ad campaigns in 2018. In that year, GHCL made a promotional video about their product called Fabfit, a range of Comfortable, easy storage sheets and sizes available all year round.
GHCL actively uses Instagram to run marketing campaigns. They use ceremonial and auspicious days to promote their products. They share exciting recipes and testimonials of customers on the social media platform. In 2020, the company launched ‘Food Kala’, an internship opportunity for budding designers. They wanted to prove that GHCL thinks about the youth and wants to provide employment opportunities to them.
Other promotions were for Rekoop and Cirkularity, which were also bedding products. The website shows they had started selling over print media in 2017. In August 2018, i-flo started print media marketing for its honey product.
Social Media Marketing
GHCL can be found on LinkedIn and Youtube, while one can find i-flo on Instagram, Youtube, and Facebook. A key indicator in the marketing strategy of GHCL company is that GHCL Limited has a good number of LinkedIn followers (12394 followers). In contrast, i-flo has a good following on Facebook (116250+ followers). They actively promote their company on LinkedIn.
On Instagram, I-flo has many promotional as well as informative posts. Two of the videos had done well on Youtube among the promotional videos. First was the launch of I-flo triple refined iodized salt, and the other was the i-flow Indian spices.
SEO Strategies
The image shows that GHCL hasn’t used the SEO strategy to its fullest. As one can see from the picture, the number of organic keywords is 2086. This number isn’t alarming, but it is average.
The monthly traffic number is 15111, which isn’t bad but average again. The DA stands at 33, and it should have been better given the number of years the website has been up and running.
The marketing strategy of GHCL company suffers a setback here.
Influencer Marketing
During our research, we have found nothing about the influencer marketing of GHCL ltd or I-flo. They do not have any brand ambassadors as a part of their promotional strategies. Still, in December 2021, GHCL tied up with Indo Count Industries Ltd, a leading manufacturer and exporter of home textiles.
The tie-up has helped GHCL in increasing its revenue in the bedding segment.
The joint capabilities have also helped the design and innovation. It has also helped the company enhance its customer-centric approach, flexibility, and service levels, which has been a good inclusion in the marketing strategy of GHCL.
E-Commerce Strategies
The websites of both GHCL and i-flo have no in-built e-commerce facilities. At least the i-flo website should have an e-commerce set-up so that people visiting the website can directly buy from them.
I-flo consumer products are available on all leading e-commerce platforms like Amazon, IndiaMART, etc. People can buy those products from there.
Mobile Apps Strategy
The Company has no mobile app; thus, the question of mobile apps strategy doesn’t arise.
Content Marketing Strategies
GHCL Ltd is very active on LinkedIn, and they post various types of content there. They have excellent promotional strategies here. From promotional content to wishing their customer base on an auspicious occasion, GHCL has been ideally engaging in LinkedIn. They show how the company is regularly growing, media briefings alongside product promotions. One should award positive points to the marketing strategy of GHCL.
The company releases a press release on their results every quarter called the ‘GHCL investor presentation.’ Thus, it is beneficial for the investors to keep track of the company’s financial health.
This ends our elaborative marketing strategy of GHCL. Let us conclude our learning below from the marketing strategy of GHCL.
What’s Unique in GHCL’s Marketing?
Given the gigantic size of GHCL’s market capitalization, it is safe to say that the company is quite significant. When we talk about marketing, certain things done in the marketing strategy of GHCL and its sub-brand I-flo are right.
On the positive side, GHCL, as a B2-B company, really knows how to handle LinkedIn. The content that they provide there would attract not only customers but also other companies willing to collaborate. GHCL uses LinkedIn to market both its Yarn and consumer products.
Another good thing is the quarterly results press release, which benefits the GHCL investor presentation. On the negative side, GHCL should improve their Youtube and Instagram capabilities for I-flo. Their consumer products brand is B2C, which needs proper branding to stand heads up against its competitors. They should work on SEO on their website, and both physical and digital marketing strategies need work.
We learned from the marketing strategy of GHCL that the sales would have skyrocketed if GHCL had done a better marketing job on the consumer products side. People like the quality of what they sell, and they lack proper promotional activities on their digital channels. And this is the place where Digital marketing comes in. To increase a company’s reach, one has to take the help of online marketing.
The scope of digital marketing in today’s world is immense, and every other business nowadays requires a digital marketing team. The growing opportunities in the sector have attracted many young people to join the industry and build fruitful careers for themselves. To upskill your digital marketing game, we recommend you join IIDE’s Online Digital Marketing Course in India, which is of only four months at an affordable fee structure.
We hope this blog on the marketing strategy of GHCL has given you a good insight into the company’s marketing strategies.
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