Crompton Greaves In Logo Tangle

What's in a name? What's in a logo? Some may say everything. Others may say nothing. Isn't it confusing? It is indeed. Well, a public notice a few days ago in a leading English newspaper by Crompton Greaves Consumer Electronics has set tongues wagging. The public notice obviously is intended to put to rest confusion over the identity of the owner of a particular logo.

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Asserting that the company “only uses the logo/house mark Crompton as part of its corporate identity and business,” the company made it clear that it “has got no association, connection, reference or affiliation with CG logo or the company which owns the logo”. “Crompton does not associate with any of the products being sold or marketed bearing the aforesaid CG logo or warranty claims/liabilities which arise out of such incorrect association,” it further said, warning the general public, trade and others.

 A trip down memory lane will put the whole issue in perspective.  In early 2017, the name of Crompton Greaves Ltd. was changed to CG Power Industrial Solutions Ltd. The products of CG Power, a fully integrated B2B power transmission and industrial solutions provider with a diverse portfolio of products, solutions and services for power and industrial equipment and solutions, had been marketed under the existing registered CG logo, while the consumer products under the erstwhile B2C segment of the company was manufactured and marketed as “Crompton’ or “Crompton Greaves”. Pursuant to the demerger of the consumer business into a separate entity, namely, Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals Ltd (CGCEL) as sanctioned by the High Court of Bombay, CG Power and CGCEL had agreed to transfer the trademarks associated with the consumer products business –  “Crompton” and “Crompton Greaves” – to CGCEL and, consequently, discontinue the use of trademark “Crompton” and “Crompton Greaves” in the corporate name of CG Power. 

Sometime in the middle of 2020, Murugappa Group-led Tube Investments of India Limited invested around ₹700 crore for a 56% stake in CG Power. Much water has flown under the bridge since then. CG Power under the Tube Investment has been a steller turnaround story.  And its share prices have zoomed over 15x in the last four years or so. With CG Power and CG brand hogging headlines, Crompton Greaves is caught in a huge discomfort.  Not surprisingly, it has prompted Crompton Greaves to promote its original Crompton brand. The clarification on Crompton must also be read in the context of its acquisition of Butterfly Gandhimathi Appliances, a Chennai-based consumer appliances company in 2020.
Logos can also have an unsettling power, it appears.

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