Brand Stories- Story No. 3

From working as a peon to building a company with more than Rs 6,000 Crores revenue!

The Fevicol Story - How Mr. Balvant Parekh built India's largest adhesives brand?

( A Thread )

1) Mr. Balvant Parekh was born in Mahuva, a small town in Gujarat in the year 1924.

After completing his school education in Mahuva, he moved to Mumbai to study Law.

2) After getting his lawyer's degree, he decided that he didn't want to practice as a lawyer because of the amount of lies in the profession.

So, he took up a job as a peon in a wood trader's office in Mumbai to meet his expenses.

3) One day, he decided to start his own business with the help of an investor and started importing cycle, areca nut, paper dyes from western countries.

4) The business did well and he eventually launched his own company with his younger brother Sushil Parekh in the late 1950s. This company was later named Pidilite Industries.

5) Mr Balvant Parekh observed that the Indian Adhesives Market was dominated by glues made from animal fat which were clumsy and cumbersome.

The adhesive market in India was unorganized and had very few branded products.

6) Seeing this as an opportunity, his company started manufacturing white synthetic resin adhesive (white glue) called Fevicol which made the lives of carpenters easier.

7) Fevicol was initially used only for industrial or commercial purpose (like in furniture making industry).

Mr. Balvant Parekh wanted to build Fevicol into a strong adhesive brand known for its quality.

8) He observed that the humble carpenter played a vital role in determining which adhesive to use and was also the most important person in the value chain.

9) When other brands focused on the middlemen (hardware stores and timber marts), Fevicol focused more on selling directly to the carpenters.

10) Fevicol focused on the product quality and organized various campaigns to help carpenters realize the importance of using good quality adhesives.

11) Fevicol frequently sponsored activities for carpenters and their families like free dental checkups, celebration of festivals, scholarships for children, blood donation camps etc.

If the carpenters required any favor, Pidilite industries was their sole supporter.

12) Fevicol Champions Club (FCC) was another innovative initiative which built a platform for carpenters to increase their social contacts.

13) With these activities Fevicol built extremely strong bonds with carpenters.

This resulted in great word of mouth publicity for Fevicol!

14) In 1970s, Fevicol introduced smaller tubes for retail consumers. It created brand awareness with its awesome marketing campaigns.

15) Its ads were intelligent and fun to watch. They won the hearts of the consumers.

16) Fevicol continued to grow over the decades by focusing on product innovation, maintaining product quality, building a solid distribution network and with outstanding marketing.

17) Today, the word Fevicol has become synonymous with glue in India and the brand has close to 70% market share!

It is an amazing success story of converting a commodity like glue into an iconic brand!

18) Over the years, Pidilite Industries has successfully created several popular brands like Fevikwik, Fevistik, M-Seal, Dr. Fixit, etc.

Today, Pidilite generates more than Rs 6,000 Crores of revenue annually!

[ The End ]

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