Sab ki Pasand Nirma | Story of India’s most iconic Detergent brand
SEASON 2 | from ZERO to HERO | Stories of Inspiring Indians
“Aaj Nirma ne sara shahar ko dho dala (Today Nirma washed the entire city clean)” says the hero (Abhay Deol) of the film Chopsticks, patting the leading lady Nirma (Mithila Palkar). When asked why she was named after a washing powder, she says her father was so fascinated by the irresistible jingle, “Washing powder Nirma, doodh si safedi, nirma se aayi, rangeen kapda bhi khil khil jaayae….” that he could not help naming her Nirma. As the film very aptly points out, the catchy jingle stayed put on the lips and minds of people, boosting the Nirma detergent sales to phenomenal heights. Most certainly, even today the jingle remains as fresh and crisp as the clothes washed by the detergent.
Besides the jingle there is yet another feature of the product that remains indelibly etched in the minds of customers. That is the picture of a happy girl on the packet, whirling around in a white frock with blue floral motifs. But how many people know that it was the heart-rending tribute of a father to his daughter? Nirupama was her name and the doting father used to call her Nirma — a little girl who was killed in a car accident while she was walking back home from school!
A father’s desire to keep his daughter’s memory immortal is the story of Karsanbhai Patel who named his second love, Nirma the washing powder brand, after her.
Many Indians have used Nirma washing powder at some stage in theiur lives. But how many have bothered to check out the genesis and events that lead to this great brand story??? Here is this inspiring story of the Patels. Special thanks to astro strategist Hirav Shah for his 2020 blog which is so well written and whose research is used in this blog.
Introduction
Growing up in the 90s was awesome (at least that’s how every 90s kid would feel). Those were the simpler times when life was a lot easier and people found joy in everyday things. Even today, when these memories are revisited, many people are overcome by waves of nostalgia. In the 90s, the Indian middle class was economically mobile, the quality of life had changed and with it, new identities were formed. This was reflected in the advertisements of the decade as well.
Talking of advertisements, the most popular one, also the most unforgettable one, was arguably the Nirma washing powder advertisement. The ad-jingle has remained largely unchanged for decades and indeed, it laid the foundation of one of the biggest brands of its time. This ad played a significant role in one of the biggest underdog stories in Indian corporate history.
The founder of the brand Nirma — Karsanbhai Patel, was born in a family of farmers on April 13th, 1945, in Ruppur, Gujarat. He completed his B. Sc. in Chemistry and worked as a Lab Technician in the New Cotton Mills, Ahmedabad. In 1969, at the age of 24, the quest to invent something triggered in his mind, and Patel started making an eco-friendly, phosphate-free detergent in the backyard of his house and packaged it in polythene bags. He named it ‘Nirma’ derived from his daughter’s name, Nirupama, who had passed away in an accident. Stories suggest that during the initial days, Karsanbhai would go around on a bicycle and sell his homemade Nirma detergent door-to-door after work to make a few extra bucks. Thus began the Nirma journey.
Karsanbhai took it upon himself to market the yellow coloured detergent in person and sold a minimum of 20 packets every day. He priced his product at a minimum of Rs 3/kg and positioned it as a common mass product that was affordable and yet of good quality. He also gave people a money-back guarantee if the product didn’t work. To everyone’s surprise, his environmentally-friendly innovation became a hit among the masses, especially the middle class.
In the 70s, ‘Surf’ manufactured by Hindustan Lever Limited (now Hindustan Unilever) was an established brand of detergent. Detergents were considered a premium product back then, and Surf was a product that was aimed at people belonging to the higher-income groups in India.
Surf was being sold at around Rs. 13/kg and was not affordable for everyone. Karsanbhai opted for a different approach — he started selling Nirma at Rs.3.50/kg. This unique pricing strategy of Nirma detergent gained the attention of the public and sales picked up from the middle and lower-income groups. Three years later, Karsanbhai quit his job to set up a shop in Ahmedabad and sell his locally-popular Nirma detergent. Over time, Nirma gained attention and sales grew, but it needed a boost from radio and TV commercials to continue growing well and compete with other detergent brands.
Purnima Advertising Agency came up with the famous jingle “Washing Powder Nirma. Washing Powder Nirma. Doodh se safedi Nirma se aaye, Rangeen kapda bhi khil khil jaye. Sabki pasand Nirma. Washing Powder Nirma.” In 1975, the famous ‘Sabki Pasand Nirma’ jingle was first aired on radio and continued its streak for 33 years. In 1982, the ad starring Sangeeta Bijlani was first broadcasted on TV.
In 2011, Nirma gave a makeover to the characters of Hema, Jaya, Rekha aur Sushma, and launched a campaign focused on these four characters pushing out an ambulance that’s stuck in the mud, as men around them just stood around and watched. In 2016, Nirma took another progressive approach for their ad campaign — this time starring Hrithik Roshan, aimed at challenging the gender stereotype around women and laundry, and portraying the message that doing laundry is a gender-neutral activity.
Since its inception the marketing strategies of Nirma have always been ‘ahead of its time’ and unique. On that note, India’s top Astro-Strategist, Hirav Shah quotes, ‘It’s important to have a strategy that is unique and effective’. Recall is always to music and his woman oriented commercial and jingles were the right presentation for the product. The commercial focused on the quality of the Nirma Washing Powder, a tribute to the budget-conscious housewives and reflected the company’s mission to provide, “Better Products, Better Value, Better Living. Nirma’s advertising aired on television and captured the public’s attention overnight. Nirma washing powder has now become well-known throughout the country, not just in Gujarat.
Recapitulating the zero to hero story, Nirma is the story of a failed inventor, a desperate business man and a sad father aged 24 — all the qualities that make one feel like a total loser. But the protagonist, Karsanbhai Patel was a fighter and each travail encouraged him to strength his dream of making his product both palpable and a household name. Salutations to this great Gujarati.
