PROJECT REPORT

Of

RURAL MARKETING – NIRMA WASHING POWDER

MBA Class of 2020

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of

Master of Business Administration – Marketing & Sales

SUBMITTED TO:- SUBMITTED BY:-

Dr.Ritesh Dwivedi Praish Gupta (B15)

Assistant Professor Gagan Singhal (B28)

Department of General Management Ashish Pradhan (B36)

Lokesh Chakravarti (B52)

Prashant Mahato (B67)

AMITY BUSINESS SCHOOL

AMITY UNIVERSITY UTTAR PRADESH
SECTOR 125, NOIDA - 201303, UTTAR PRADESH, INDIA
 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that Praish Gupta, Gagan Singhal, Ashish Pradhan, Lokesh
Chakravarti student of Master of Business Administration – M&S at Amity Business School,
Amity University Uttar Pradesh has completed the Rural Marketing project Report on “Nirma
Washing Powder”, under my guidance.

The report has been checked for Plagiarism and is within limits of acceptance.

Dr.Ritesh Dwivedi

Assistant Professor

Department of General Management

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

In pursuing and completion of my MBA and other commitments, we undertook the task of
completing my Rural Marketing report on “NIRMA WASHING POWDER”

We fortunate in having sought and secured valuable guidance, continuous encouragement and
strong support at every stage of my guide and supervisor Dr. Ritesh Dwivedi and I deeply
grateful to him.

We want to acknowledge the help provided by my guides. The precious inputs provided by
them have helped in compiling this report.

We express our deep-hearted thanks and gratitude to all of those who helped me in this Project.

Praish Gupta

Gagan Singhal

Ashish Pradhan

Lokesh Chakravarti

Prashant Mahato

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 Table of Content
Chapter No. Topics Page No.
Certificate i
Acknowledgement ii
Table of Content Iii
List of Tables and Figures iv

1 Introduction 1
1.1 History 1
1.2 Vision, Mission & Philosophy 2
1.3 Major Products 3
1.4 Nirma washing Powder Competitor 3
1.5 Various variant in Washing Powder under Nirma Limited 4
2 Data Collection Tool 5
2.1 Data 5
2.2 Sampling 5
3 Data Analysis and Interpretation 6
4 Conclusions and Suggestions 9

Annexure 10

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 LIST OF TABLES

Table No. Title Page No.

Table 1.1 - Nirma washing Powder Competitor 3

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure No. Title Page No.

Figure 3.1 - Preference for Washing Clothes 6

Figure 3.2 - Brand 7

Figure 3.3 - Buying Frequency 8

Figure 3.4 - Quantity 8

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Chapter 1: - INTRODUCTION

Nirma is one of the few names - which is instantly recognized as a true Indian brand,
which took on mighty multinationals and rewrote the marketing rules to win the heart of
princess, i.e. the consumer. Nirma is a group of companies based in the city of Ahmedabad in
Gujarat, India that manufactures products ranging from cosmetics, soaps, detergents, salt, soda
ash, LAB and Injectables. Karsanbhai Patel, an entrepreneur and philanthropist of Gujarat,
started Nirma as a one-man operation. Today Nirma has over 15,000 employees and a turnover
of over ₹3,550 crores. Starting as a one-product, one-man outfit from a 100 sq ft (9.3 m2) room
in 1969, Nirma became a very successful company within three decades. The company had
multi-locational manufacturing facilities, and a broad product portfolio under an umbrella
brand –Nirma.

Nirma successfully countered competition from HUL and carved a niche for itself in the lower-
end of the detergents and toilet soap market. However, Nirma realised that it would have to
launch products for the upper end of the market to retain its middle-class consumers who
would graduate to the upper end. The company launched toilet soaps for the premium segment.
However, analysts felt that Nirma would not be able to repeat its success story in the premium
segment.

In 2000, Nirma had a 15% share in the toilet soap segment and more than 30% share in the
detergent market. Aided by growth in volumes and commissioning of backward integration
projects, Nirma's turnover for the year ended March 2000 increased by 17% over the previous
fiscal, to ₹1,217 crores

1.1 History

In 1969, Dr. Karsanbhai Patel, a chemist at the Gujarat Government's Department of Mining
and Geology manufactured phosphate-free synthetic detergent powder and started selling it
locally. The new yellow powder was priced at ₹3.50 per kg, at a time when HUL's Surf was
priced at ₹13. Soon, there was a huge demand for Nirma in Ruppur (Gujarat), Patel's
hometown. He started packing the formulation in a 10x10ft room in his house. Patel named the
powder as Nirma, after his daughter Nirupama. Patel was able to sell about 15-20 packets a day
on his way to the office on bicycle, some 15 km away. By 1985, Nirma washing powder had
become one of the most popular, household detergents in many parts of the country.

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By 1999, Nirma was a major consumer brand, offering a range of detergents, soaps and
personal care products. Nirma's success in the highly competitive soap and detergent market
was attributed to its brand promotion efforts, which was complemented by its distribution reach
and market penetration. Nirma's network consisted of about 400 distributors and over
20 lakh retail outlets across the country. This huge network enabled Nirma to make its products
available to the smallest village.

In November 2007, Nirma purchased American raw materials company Searles Valley
Minerals Inc., making it among the top seven soda ash manufacturers in the world.

The Logo of Girl which is mostly printed on the bags of detergent is drawn by Mr Khanvilkar
who lives in Pune

1.2 Vision, Mission & Philosophy

Nirma is a customer-focused company committed to consistently offer better quality products

and services that maximise value to the customer.

This customer-centric philosophy has been well emphasised at Nirma through:

▪ Continuously exploring & developing new products & processes.

▪ Laying emphasis on cost effectiveness.
▪ Maintaining effective Quality Management System.
▪ Complying with safety, environment and social obligations.
▪ Imparting training to all involved on a continuous basis.
▪ Teamwork and active participation all around.
▪ Demonstrating belongingness and exemplary behaviour towards organisation, its goals
and objectives.

Nirma is a phenomenon and synonymous with Value for Money. The brand transcends the
specific dynamic of any particular product category, which is best captured in its above mission
statement - a statement of sustained innovation, an unceasing effort to deliver better value to
consumers, through better product quality.

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1.3 Major Products
• Soda ash • Cement
• Linear alkyl benzene • Single super phosphate
• Soaps • Castor oil
• Detergents • Multilayer tubes
• Edible & industrial salt • Seamless tubes
• Alpha olefin sulfonate • Tube laminate
• Sulfuric acid • Flexible laminate
• Glycerin • Paper & plastic cups
• Infusions • Tarpaulin
• Injectables • Injection molding
• Critical care products • Bromine
• Medical disposables • Phosphoric acid
• Sugar

1.4 Nirma washing Powder Competitor

Table No. 1.1- Nirma washing Powder Competitor

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1.5 Various variant in Washing Powder under Nirma Limited

Nirma Washing Powder:

This product created a marketing miracle, when introduced in the domestic marketplace. In
1969, when the detergents were priced so exorbitantly that for most of the Indians, it was a
luxury item. Nirma envisioned the vast Fabric Wash market segment and sensed a tremendous
potential therein. This product was priced at almost one third to that of the competitor brands,
resulting into instant trial by the consumers. Owing to its unique environment-friendly,
phosphate-free formulation, the consumers became loyal to this brand, helping it to over-take
the decades’ old brands, in terms of volumes. This brand had been ranked as the “Most widely
distributed detergent powder brand in India” as per All India Census of Retail Outlets carried
out in 435 urban towns by the AIMS (Asian Information Marketing & Social) Research agency
[Brand Equity - The Economic Times, March 11, 1997]. As per the ORG-MARG Rural
Consumer Panel [December 1998] survey, Nirma brand has been ranked as highest in terms of
penetration in washing powder category [BT Rural Market Watch, Business Today, June 22,
1999].

Super Nirma Washing Powder:

Exploding the myth that ‘better quality always demands higher price”, Nirma introduced a
spray-dried blue coloured washing powder in the premium segment, in 1996. Available in 25g,
500g and 1000g packs, this product out-classed its competitor brands. Though, priced almost
40 % lesser, thus providing a very attractive ‘value-for-money’ proposition. This brand, within
a short span of two years, had cornered substantial market share in the premium detergent
segment and continues to perform well.

Nirma Popular Detergent Powder:

To cater to the needs of the specific target audience, Nirma launched a good quality product at
a very affordable price. The objective is to convert the non-users of detergents into users and
also prevent the competitors and local manufacturers to lure away the prospective Nirma
consumers by sub-standard products. This product has created a loyal consumer base of its own
and has established substantial amount of volumes. It is available in pack sizes of 500g and
1000g pack sizes.

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Chapter 2: - DATA COLLECTION TOOL

Research Design: It is a framework of methods and techniques chosen by the researcher to

combine various components of research in a logically manner so that the research problem is
efficiently handled.

2.1 Data

Data Collection:
There are two ways of collecting data i.e., primary and secondary data. This report data has
been collected through both the sources.

Primary data:
The Primary data was collected from the people through structured questionnaire and also
through observation, discussion with people, and observe their reactions while giving their
reviews about the Nirma washing powder.

Secondary data:
Secondary data collected through offical website of the product and wikipedia.

2.2 Sampling

Sample Size:
Total 145 peoples who lives in rural area.

Sampling Area:
The research was conducted on rural area at Uttar Pradesh (Shahdara Village & Villages in
Rampur District)

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Chapter 3: - DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

PREFRENCE FOR WASHING CLOTHES

Washing Powder
35%

SOAP
65%

Figure 3.1
Figure 3.1 shows that 65% people use the soap for washing their clothes and 35 % use washing
powder for washing their clothes.
As the people in rural market are inefficient to purchase the washing machine as they can’t
afford it which reduces the usage of washing powder. On the contrary the soap is much more
efficient as it is value for money and it’s consumption rate is less somewhat from washing
powder.

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 BRAND

Patanjali
25% Nirma
29%

Tide
11%

Surf excel
35%

Figure 3.2

Figure 3.2 shows that 29% people choose nirma, 11% people choose tide, 35% choose surf
excel and 25% people choose Patanjali.
As a detergent, Surf Excel and Patanjali are more preferred brands in comparison to washing
soap. The reason can be the quality of product is more liked as a detergent than as a washing
soap. 29.0% of rural respondents are preferred Nirma detergent powder over other brands. The
reason can be its affordable price.

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 BUYING FREQUENCY
5 or more
10%
1 time
30%

2-4 time
60%

Figure 3.3
Figure 3.3 shows that 30% people buying 1 time 60% people buy 2-4 time and 10% people buy
5 or above

QUANTITY
1 kg
15%

25 gm
500 gm 55%
30%

Figure 3.4
Figure 3.4 shows 55% people buy 25 gm packing 30% people buy 500 gm and 15% buy 1kg
The purchase of larger quantity pack is done in very large family or where they are also
carrying out laundry work for extra income. They intake the packet of 1kg or above. Many
large family have purchase intake in distributed manner as they purchase differently.

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 Chapter 4: - CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

CONCLUSIONS

1) Most of the people prefer to buy soap rather than the washing powder and the reason we get is
soap has more life than the washing powder
2) Surf excel has 35% share in the Shardra village market as the provide their product in all
quantity like 25gm, 500 gm, 1kg while nirma has 29% market share
3) In shardhra market people prefer to buy washing powder in small packet instead of in large
quantity

SUGGESTIONS
1) It is found that nirma washing powder only has 500g and 1 kg pack as 55% people prefer to
buy 25gm quantity, so they should supply the 22-gm pack
2) It is also found that nirma washing powder supply is not good as the surf excel so they should
provide continuous supply in the market

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Annexure

Nirma/निरमा (Washing Powder/ कपड़े धोि़े का पाउडर) Survey/सर्वेक्षण

1. NAME/ नाम _______________________ DISTRICT/जिला_______________________

2- AGE/ उम्र a)18-30 b) 30-50 c) above 50

3- Gender/ ल ग
िं a) Male/ पुरुष b) Female/महिला

4- Occupation/ व्यवसाय a) Farming/खेती b) Labour/श्रम c) Homemaker/घरवाली d) Student/छात्र

e) Other/अन्य

5- Family Size/ परिवाि का आकाि a)2 Members/सदस्य b) 4 Members/सदस्य c) 6 Members/सदस्य

d) Above 6

6- Monthly Income/ मालसक आय _______________________________________________

7- Which brand you use for washing clothes/ आप कपड़े धोऩे क़े ल ए ककस ब्ािंड का उपयोग कित़े हैं

a) Nirma b) Surf excel c) Tide d) Patanjali e) Others/अन्य____________________________

8- What you prefer for washing the clothes/ आप कपड़े धोऩे क़े ल ए क्या पसिंद कित़े हैं

a) Soap/साबुन b) Washing powder/कपडे धोने का पाउडर

िं पाउडि खिीदऩे का कािण क्या है

9- what is the reason of buying washing powder/ वॉल ग
a) Life b) Easy to use/प्रयोग करने में आसान c) Price/कीमत d) More benefit from
soap/अधधक लाभ

10- What is the reason of buying washing soap / धोऩे क़े साबुन खिीदऩे का कािण क्या है

a) Life b) Easy to use/प्रयोग करने में आसान c) Price/कीमत d) More benefit from washing
powder/अधधक लाभ

िं पाउडि क्यों नहीिं खिीद िह़े हैं

11- Why you are not buying the nirma washing powder/ आप ननिमा वाल ग

a) Availability/उपलब्धता b) Not available in small pack/छोटे पैक में उपलब्ध निीीं िै

c) Not provide good washing/अच्छी धल
ु ाई की व्यवस्था निीीं िै d) Other/अन्य___________

िं
12- How frequently you buy the washing powder in a month/ एक महीऩे में आप ककतनी बाि वाल ग
पाउडि खिीदत़े हैं

a)1 b) 2-4 times/बार c) 5 or above/या ऊपर

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 िं पाउडर का कौि सा
13- Which quantity pack of washing powder you buy most of the time/ र्वॉश ग
मात्रा पैक आप ज्यादातर समय खरीदत़े हैं

a)25g / 25ग्राम b) 500g / 500 ग्राम d) 1kg/1ककलोग्राम

िं पाउडर
14- Did you buy every time nirma washing powder? / क्या आपि़े हर बार निरमा र्वाश ग
खरीदा है?

a) yes/िााँ b) no/ निीीं

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