Insights from the Research:
1) Awareness about the brand Nirma is good and most of the individuals relate it with its
popular jingle “Washing powder Nirma”.
2) Customers associate Nirma with a low cost, unattractive packaging and a not so good
quality product.
3) Majority of the customers are not sure if they would buy a new product from Nirma.
However, they would consider it if the quality of the product is good.
4) Brand loyalty for Nirma is on the lower side and customers are willing to switch to
other products with better offerings.
Launching A New Product:
From the research it is evident that there is a need for Nirma to launch a better-quality
product for the mass segment. We intend to launch it under the brand name Blanco which
would be in direct competition with other brands in the market like Surf Excel. Blanco would
be a premium quality washing powder with special focus on whitening, removing tough
stains, lather and with a good fragrance.
Branding Strategy:
Blanco, which means white, would be a new brand away from the umbrella of Nirma. Thus,
unlike other products launched by Nirma, Blanco would not start with the name Nirma.
Also, it woud only contain the brand name Nirma on the back side of the packaging. This
would help Nirma create a new product away from its brand name with a better quality.
Packaging Strategy:
An important insight from the research showed that the customers believed that packaging
of Nirma was not very attractive and did not give a premium feel. With the new packaging
Blanco would see a significant change and the would help attracting the customers. The
colourful image of a seemingly happy woman drying her clothes woud give a refreshing look
to the packaging.
Blanco would be available in the following sizes:
1) 4 kg
2) 2 kg
3) 1 kg
4) 500 grams
5) 200 grams
6) 50 grams sachet for a single wash
Pricing Strategy:
The idea behind Blanco is to provide a premium quality product at a medium price range.
For this purpose, a penetration pricing strategy would be implemented by initially pricing
Blanco comparatively lower than other competitors in the market. The expectation is to
ensure acceptance by the customers and attract loyal customers of other brands. This would
also be helpful in attracting customers that are looking for a premium quality product but at
the same time are also price conscious. Special focus would also be given on the
manufacturing process to give customers a premium quality product at optimum pricing.
For Example: The price for 1 kg pack would be kept at Rs 170 as in comparison with Rs 180
of Surf Excel.
The prices of different Blanco packages would be as follows:
Sales Promotion for Blanco:
In the initial stages of the launch of Blanco the following promotional schemes would be
undertaken to drive growth:
1) Free samples of the 50g sachets while purchase of other products through
shopkeepers. This would help create awareness about Blanco and create new
customers.
2) Bonus pack premium in the form of extra quantity within the same price so as to
attract customers.
3) Near pack premium in the form a bucket would be given free with the 4 kg pack
4) Packaging of 2 kg and 4 kg would be in reusable containers.
5) To encourage large purchases by dealers, discounts would be offered on a purchase of
large amount of Blanco. Additionally, a 2 per cent commission would also be given in
the form of products or cash once the dealer crosses a certain threshold limit. This
strategy becomes important for any new entrant in order to increase distribution and
ensure availability of the product.
Strategy Against Aggressive Competitor:
To be able to minimize the impact of damages caused by an aggressive competitor offering a
superior product at a premium price, the following strategies can be implemented by
Blanco:
Pricing Strategy:
Before responding to any kind of price cuts, it is important to consider certain situations:
1) If the competitor is willing to cut the price again and re-establish the price difference
then in this case matching a price cut could be ineffective for Blanco as the
competitor might be willing to bring the price as low as possible and has little to lose.
Here the aim should be to exploit untouched markets and look for ways to develop
neglected segments, demographics.
2) Blanco should respond to a price cut with similar strategy if there are reasons to
believe that competitor is strong, and the price change would be cheaper than loosing
sales to the competitor. A strong competitor with a superior product could create a
survival threat for Blanco.
Non-Pricing Strategy:
1) Differentiate Blanco from other products and develop a niche for the the brand.
2) Increase awareness about Blanco and exploit untouched markets to develop neglected
markets, demographics.
3) Partnering with suppliers and dealers, giving them exclusive deals in order to prevent
them from dealing with the competitor.
4) Acquisition of the competitor is also an option. This strategy would have an
advantage of instantly removing new competition and incorporating them to the
Blanco brand. However, this is an expensive strategy and is only applicable when
there are strong reasons to believe that the threat from the competitor is high and there
is significant scope of its growth.
