Nirma, the price warrior trades up

The detergent brand has shed its affordable tag for a more premium positioning as rival Ghari consolidates its position as a mass-market player

The clock has turned a full circle for Nirma, the detergent brand from Gujarat that dethroned Hindustan Unilever’s (HUL) Surf as the leading washing powder in the 1980s. Led by its charismatic founder Karsanbhai Patel, the Ahmedabad-based major became synonymous for its astute marketing skills predicated on a simple insight. This was that a washing powder had to be effective at a price sensitive to its customers, namely, housewives.

Surf back then and even now remains a premium brand in the HUL stable, luring consumers with the proposition that no stain is bad. It can wash any dirt clean hence Daag