Holistic Marketing

"Holistic marketing concept is based on the development, design, and implementation of marketing programs, process and activities that recognizes their breadth and inter dependencies.

Nirma is a customer-focused company committed to consistently offer better quality products and services that maximize value to the customer." - AMA Definition

The customer-centric philosophy has been well emphasized at Nirma through:

•           Endlessly exploring & evolving new products & processes.

•           Laying importance on cost effectiveness.

•           Teamwork and active participation.

•           Enforcing Quality Management.

•           Fulfilling the safety, environment and social obligations.

•           Signifying belonging and model behavior towards organisation and its goals.

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY MARKETING

Nirma Education & Research Foundation (NERF) in 1994

Today, this state-of-the art academic infrastructure runs various institution bodies such as Institute of Technology, Institute of Management, Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Institute of Diploma Engineering.

Nirma Memorial Trust and Nirma Foundation

- Nirma Memorial Trust looks after deprived women in Gujarat. It builds Ashrams and guesthouses for pilgrims and the elderly. The Nirma Foundation, set up in 1979, contributes towards the running of schools, colleges, temples and social institutions, within the state and outside.

Analyzing Business Markets

The business market can be analysed by taking a closer look at the detergent industry in India.

Nirma started off as small business but then went on to become the market leader.

Surf which was the market leader gained back its position with many product line enhancements.

The current scenario looks something like this.

Nirma is a B2C product maily focusing on the delivery of product to end customer.
So this results in product driven orientation and emotional quotient being high.

B2B is a business which caters to other business. The differences can be seen as below.

The stages in buying process is as follows

1. Problem recognition
2. General need description
3. Product specification
4. Supplier search
5. Proposal solicitation
6. Supplier selection
7. Order-routine specification
8. Performance overview

 The B2B comes in to picture when the raw materials and other products are consumed by Nirma to make the end product.


It can be noted that the process is similar to consumer buying process.

Analyzing Consumer Markets

Consumer Behavior is the study about the actions taken by the consumer pre-during-post purchase.

It is very necessary to analyse the consumer behavior in order to satisfy their needs.

The Marketing Stimuli is the Marketing Mix that is the Product, Place, Price and Promotion. Until the the product isn't available to the consumer or the awareness isn't created, there wont be any generation of stimulus towards the product from the consumer.

Nirma has made sure the product is widely available and the product awareness is made through promotions.

Consumer Psychology:

Motivation: Prior to Nirma, deetergents was not a basic need but a luxury item. Nirma with its quality and price appealed to the customers and motivated them to buy the product.

Memory: With its catchy jingle and advertisements, Nirma could be easily associated to the brand through its jingle. Hema Rekha Jaya aur Sushma could be easily related as they are among the most common names of women.

Consumer Characteristics: The cultural, social and personal factors play an imprtant role in the consumer buying behavior. 

Culture: When the socia-economic is taken into consideration, Nirma is targeted to differnt sections with different products. While Nirma Super was towards premiun, other Nirma products were for the lower economic sect.

Becauses of its brand image and affordability, it was desired by the women .

Consumer Buying Behavior has already been explained in the previous post. 

Purchase Decision:

The consumer evaluates his alternatives and considering his basic intention decides on the product. Here Nirma is a product which has quality and affordable price.

Branding and Brand Equity

                                      “Nirma remains strong in all age segments”


"A brand is a name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of them, intended to identify the goods or services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors." - AMA definition

Branding is very necessary to get your target market choose your product over the other competitors.
It is making sure that the consumers understand the values and prospects you want to deliver.

The brand brought a revolution creating a new segment for itself in the detergent industry. This has been made possible because of its low price and famous jingle.

A good brand has:

·         Concentration on user Loyalty

·         Value is delivered

·         Initiates/ Motivates the customer to buy

·         Emotionally connects to the consumer

• 

During the times when Surf was the only detergent available in the market and it targeted only the premium segment of the society, Nirma was a brand which was available at almost one third of Surf’s price. The detergent powder was overnight converted into a common man’s necessity from being a luxury of a few.

They could associate to a brand instead of using the local made detergent cake

Brand Equity

"Brand equity is a phrase used in the marketing industry to try to describe the value of having a well-known brand name, based on the idea that the owner of a well-known brand name can generate more money from products with that brand name than from products with a less well known name, as consumers believe that a product with a well-known name is better than products with less well known names." - AMA definition.

It is necessary for the brand to re-instigate its values and objectives to its customers

The company also must keep its employees and to reduce the turn over ratio. 

The brand recall of Nirma is very high because of the Jingle.

Nirma has a hihg level of loyalty and also is considered as a reliable brand.

Nirma plays a major role amongst the low segment.

Brand Extention:

It segregated its market in the later years for low cost and also premium segment. It introduced Nirma Super was introduced targeting the premium brand. It also came up with soap bars.

Unique marketing strategy for the premium and other segments.

It mastered the geographic sentimentalization technique. 

Sales Management

"The planning, direction, and control of the personal selling activities of a business unit, including recruiting, selecting, training, equipping, assigning, routing, supervising, paying, and motivating as these tasks apply to the sales force. Sales management involves three interrelated processes: (1) formulation of a strategic sales program; (2) implementation of the sales program; and (3) evaluation and control of sales force performance. In formulating the strategic sales program, sales management involves a number of activities including development of account management policies, demand forecasts, and quotas and budgets; sales organization; sales planning; territory design; deployment; and routing. In implementing the sales program, sales management activities include supervising, selecting, recruiting, training, and motivating the sales force. In addition, implementation requires the development of compensation systems and sales force incentive programs. The evaluation and control of sales force performance involves the development and enforcement of methods for monitoring and evaluating sales force performance. Sales management activities typically required for evaluation and control include behavioral analysis, cost analysis, and sales analysis." - AMA Definition

Sales Managment deals with the following concepts:

• Personal selling
• SalesForce Management

The personal selling concept was used extensively by the founder in the initial days to promote his product. It was an innovation which had to delivered to the consumers and since it was not the age of televisions, he used personal selling as a source.

Later he hired agents who would go door to door selling the product and assuring quality of product and also offering money back policy.

Now Nirma has a huge distribution channel and spread over the country including the rural and urban cities. 

Segmentation, Targeting & Positioning

Segmentation 

Segmentation is the process of dividing the consumers based on the different needs and their wants.
It deals with who buys and why the consumer buys the product.

Nirma has always segmented its consumers based geographic, demographic and psychographic.

Geographic: The reach of Nirma is excellent because of its distribution channels and also sincce it caters to rural and also urban areas, its spread is vast.

Demographic: It considers the economic level of the consumers. Nirma was made for the perople who could not afford detergents of higher price. It stressed on 'Value for Money'.

Psychographic: Nirma  made people relate to a brand when consumers could not afford a branded detergent. They usually used local soap bars. It made the consumers easily accessible to the rural market.

Target 

Mass Marketing :Nirma is spread across a huge market.It has a lot of loyal customers with its products ranging low price segments to premium segments.

Concentrated Marketing: It segregated its market in the later years for low cost and also premium segment. It introduced Nirma Super was introduced targeting the premium brand

Pricing Perceptive - In order to make sure the non detergent users start using Nirma, it set its price at a very affordable level and also this made them go ahead of their competitors

Positioning for Nirma

• Nirma positioned itself as an affordable product between the people who could not afford detergents and for people who were looking for something more reasonable and added value for money.
• It broke the image of detergent being a luxury item.
•  With its quick success because of low cost it spread vigorously over the years.
•  It is positioned as a powerful stain remover which is low on cost.
•  Its unique features makes it consumer friendly and builds the loyalty among them.
•  It has the highest penetration in India. 

Nirma Washing Powder
Parent Company	Nirma Ltd
Category	Home Care brands- detergents
Sector	FMCG
Tagline/ Slogan	‘Sabki Pasand Nirma, Washing Powder Nirma’
USP	Product with low price without compromising on quality

Promotions & IMC

NIRMA Advertising

In the  1970s and 80s:

•        Since nirma was a low cost brand, it did not have sufficient funds for advertisement.

•         It started off with word of mouth and product awareness.
•       When it started gaining popularity it aired its first radio ad. 

•        With the arrival of TV, Nirma started off with TV ads as well.

Later...
•         “Dudh si safedi NIRMA se aaye, Rangin kapdabhi khil khil jaaye. Sabki pasand NIRMA”.

•         35 years and its stillthe same jingle which is used. 

•         Emotional strategy was used ot attract the customers.

Message:

•         “Get clothes cleaner” 

•         “Super Mummy” can clean any kind of dirt from clothes.

•       Hema, Rekha, Jaya aur Sushma.. Sabki pasand Nirma..

Sales promotion

•         Nirma had the money back poilcy if the customer is not satisfied with the product

•         There were free hampers given out like buckets.

Direct and Interactive marketing

•         Personal Selling

•         Product Demonstration

•         Expert Channel –Changing Washing Habits.

Improvised Look:

•       New packaging, changed the look and feel of the product

Integrated Marketing Communication

IMC according to AMA is "an approach to achieving the objectives of a marketing campaign through a well-coordinated use of different promotional methods that are intended to reinforce each other"