Tapping the Indian consumer market is not easy, especially when trends keep changing every day, the market is made of diverse people with diverse needs and there is a tough throat competition.
Yet, one brand proved its worth to the world even after all of it.
What is going on?
This is the story of how back in the 1970s each Indian only knew about Surf as their go-to detergent. Hindustan Unilever Limited launched Surf and achieved a monopoly in the market. It was a little expensive but captured the market share due to good quality, performance and result.
Appeared in the market by the name of Nirma, created by Karsanbhai Patel who was a lab scientist and had enough experience with chemicals to make a decent product. Nirma tuned out to be soft, easy to use and economical.
It dodged fancy packaging and focused more on quantity and quality. With a huge difference, Rs 3.50 per kg for Nirma and Rs 13 per kg of Surf, it was known what the customers would not go for. Low pricing got customers to try the product during those days and boosted the revenues of Nirma. Once at a certain level of income, Mr. Patel decided to launch an advertisement ad to compete against big brands like HUL.
The not so big, not so fat, Indian ad
The advertisement was very basic, had people singing and dancing, a lot of different chips of clothes being washed and then one common conclusion, four ladies or the Nirma girls carrying the washing powder with them. The mascot aka Nirma girl finally gives a twirl that signifies the end of the ad.
However, the best part of the advertisement? The jingle is used as background music. The jingle joined all clips together, made the ad more sound and hard selling. Without it, the vibe would have been off and the advertisement incomplete. The Jingle that goes like ‘Washing powder Nirma, Sabki pasand Nirma’ is now engraved in people’s minds, is super catchy and super fun to hear, boosting the entire happy image of the official Nirma ad.
The reason Nirma is in every household today is because of its jingle. It has invested much in the video clip which might look a little outdated these days but then again, it is the jingle that continues to grab the attention of new customers. For Nirma, their strategical pricing, prime focus on simple cleanliness of clothes and well, the on-point Jingle, it all works.
