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Ghari detergent, a brand started as a small family business from Kanpur in 1987, went on to become the largest detergent brand in India
Managed to compete & beat brands from HUL, P&G & Nirma & grab market share of 22% with 5000 crore revenues
A thread on Ghari detergent
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Managed to compete & beat brands from HUL, P&G & Nirma & grab market share of 22% with 5000 crore revenues
A thread on Ghari detergent
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In India, the detergent market was divided in 3 segments: premium, mid range and mass. Today, Ariel and Surf dominate the premium market, Tide and Rin rule the mid range, finally Ghari, Nirma and Wheel compete for the mass segment.
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In terms of revenues, premium, mid range and mass account for 15%, 40% and 45% respectively. Mass segment being the largest.
Till 1980, HULs Surf held the number one position in the Indian detergent market. There was no Rin, Wheel or Ghari back then
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Till 1980, HULs Surf held the number one position in the Indian detergent market. There was no Rin, Wheel or Ghari back then
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Started in 1969, Nirma was launched as an alternative to the costlier Surf. It targeted the mid range and mass market as there was a clear gap
Nirma started doing exceptionally well and became number 1 detergent by market share in 1985
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Nirma started doing exceptionally well and became number 1 detergent by market share in 1985
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Realizing that it's late to the game, HUL retaliated by launching Rin and Wheel. Using its muscle power, HUL was able to position Wheel in the mass segment and split the market with Nirma
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1987 - In the midst of all this, Murlidhar and & Kumar Gyanchandani, who ran a small family business of selling oil soap in Kanpur, launched a new detergent brand called Ghari
The pricing was higher than Nirma, the industry leader. Was priced almost the same as Wheel
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The pricing was higher than Nirma, the industry leader. Was priced almost the same as Wheel
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The company had a clear focus on mass segment. The consumers associated more foam in a soap/detergent with the quality of the product.
Ghari leveraged this insight and marketed their product which generates a lot of foam reflecting high quality
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Ghari leveraged this insight and marketed their product which generates a lot of foam reflecting high quality
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In its advertising, the company used the tagline: pahle istemaal karein, phir vishwas karein (try before believing).
This confident claim helped in getting the curious customers to try this new product
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This confident claim helped in getting the curious customers to try this new product
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In its early years, the sole focus was on their home state of UP. The detergent started gaining traction and became a famous brand in UP in few years
Only after that the company started to expand to neighbouring states of MP, Bihar, Punjab and Haryana
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Only after that the company started to expand to neighbouring states of MP, Bihar, Punjab and Haryana
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The company spent only 2% of sales on advertising. But it used very innovative means for the same.
They never hired any celebrity. Their encourage the trial ads sponsored the popular Mahabharat show on TV. They also advertised on exterior of many trains (image below)
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They never hired any celebrity. Their encourage the trial ads sponsored the popular Mahabharat show on TV. They also advertised on exterior of many trains (image below)
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They offered higher margins (6%) to dealers compared to the competition (5%). This encouraged dealers to push Ghari to customers
They focussed on limited number of states only to manage it's operations effectively. Very unlikely that you would find it in Southern states
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They focussed on limited number of states only to manage it's operations effectively. Very unlikely that you would find it in Southern states
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2005 - the company was rebranded from Ghari to RSPL. And it started introducing other products as well like Dishwash bar Xpert, Xpert Ultra gel liquid, personal hygiene items: Proease sanitary pads & a toilet soap: Venus
Though, Ghari remained the largest brand
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Though, Ghari remained the largest brand
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By 2012, it had toppled Wheel from the market leadership position
Today, it has close to 20% market share in the detergent category with close to 5000 crores in annual revenues. Still No. 1
It has good presence in around 12 states with a dealer network of 3500
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Today, it has close to 20% market share in the detergent category with close to 5000 crores in annual revenues. Still No. 1
It has good presence in around 12 states with a dealer network of 3500
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And that's how a small business used a simple insight and intelligent advertising to defeat the largest global and Indian behemoths
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