A MAKE-OVER:The new logo of the Murugappa Group,
which was unveiled in Chennai on Wednesday.

CHENNAI: With the fourth generation members of the family coming into business, the well-diversified $3 billion Murugappa Group has gone in for an image make-over.

As a part of this exercise, it has unveiled a new brand identity with the launch of a refurbished logo. The new logo, the Murugappa group peacock, is in a vibrant red, reflecting the strength and energy that the group radiates. Also, it seeks to reiterate the group's time-tested faith in its core values.

In a way, the new brand identity sends out a sense of keenness on the part of the new bosses to stay contemporary even while keeping its traditional values in tact. The need to refresh the brand also stems from a desire to communicate to the world at large its identity even as the group keeps spreading its wings within and outside the country.

Unveiling the new logo here on Wednesday, A. Vellayan, Murugappa Group Executive Chairman, said “This contemporary rendition of the Murugappa peacock is a sign of the group's global outlook and the dynamic targets we have set out to reach. Red as a colour embodied vigour, power, passion, drive, energy and is renowned for its excellent visibility.”

He went on to add that “the clear lines and the unique lower case style in which ‘murugappa' is written help connect with audiences through simplicity and elegance.” To a question, he said, the new logo symbolised “energy with pride.”

The group, he said, would spend around Rs.10 crore on a national brand campaign. He said the group had drawn up an ambitious plan to scale $7.7 billion by 2013-14. He was confident that individual businesses of the group would achieve a compounded annual growth rate of 24 per cent each.

“The cost of the brand campaign is miniscule. The campaign has, however, wider implications,” he said. The objective was to make the brand lot more visible,” Mr. Vellayan added. He also underscored the collective urge within the group to pursue bigger goals. He said that the new brand campaign was built around the theme “energy unbound”. It was in sync with the group's growth ambitions, he added.