Cultural branding in India: the case of Godrej “Storwel” cupboards (1944-1991)

The purpose of this paper is to outline the marketing history of the Godrej Storwel steel cupboard before India’s economic liberalisation in 1991 to find possible reasons for the brand’s iconic status and strong presence in the Indian public memory.

The paper uses archival material, secondary sources and the idea of cultural branding to analyse the marketing strategies used at various points in the history of Godrej Storwel.

Godrej Storwel found cultural context in the two decades following India’s independence (1947) as a product that addressed the social and economic anxieties of the country, as well as embodied its aspirations at the time. In the following decades up to 1991, the product did not find similar cultural resonance with its consumers.

The unavailability of sales records of the Godrej steel cupboards meant that certain conclusions could not be made concrete.

Because Godrej Storwel has had such a long lifespan, it serves as a useful medium through which changing trends in marketing in India can be viewed. The paper is a good point of reference for those researching the steel industry, storage product histories and marketing in India and could encourage corporates to archive their histories.

While a lot of nostalgia surrounds the Godrej Storwel in India, this is the first work that attempts to place the product and its marketing strategies in the context of Indian industry, culture and consumption.