Smiley strategy: RPG group rebuilds identity with happiness as focus

How does a 139-year-old organisation craft a corporate brand that appeals to employees and customers far removed from its storied past?

Hello happiness’. What sounds more like a rock star’s opening line on stage or one espoused by a spiritual guru is actually the corporate brand baseline chosen by one of the country’s venerable business houses to represent itself. The RPG group that began life as a tyre company 139 years ago and has today expanded its influence into a host of other areas is rebuilding its identity with happiness as its core value and a smiley emoji as a representation of its corporate vision.

“We were trying to internalise what is the purpose of business? What matters most in life? We