HISTORY OF NIRMA

It was way back in 60s and 70s, where the domestic detergent market
had only premium segment, with very few players and was dominated
by MNCs. It was 1969, when Karsanbhai Patel started door-to-door
selling of his detergent powder, priced at an astonishing Rs. 3 per kg,
when the available cheapest brand in the market was Rs. 13 per kg. It
was really an innovative, quality product with indigenous process,
packaging and low-profiled marketing, which changed the habit of
Indian housewives for washing their clothes. In a short span, Nirma
created an entirely new market segment in domestic marketplace, which
is, eventually the largest consumer pocket and quickly emerged as
dominating market player a position it has never since relinquished.
Rewriting the marketing rules, Nirma became a one of the widely
discussed success stories between the four-walls of the B-school
classrooms across the world.
The performance of Nirma during the decade of 1980s has
been labelled as Marketing Miracle of an era. During this period, the
brand surged well ahead its nearest rival Surf, which was well-
established detergent product by Hindustan Lever. It was a severing
battering for MNC as it recorded a sharp drop in its market share. Nirma
literally captured the market share by offering value-based marketing
mix of four P s, i.e. a perfect match of product, price, place and
promotion. Nirma stepped into toilet soaps relatively late in 1990