The
V.P Marketing of Pixilate industries, Mr. Dinesh Thakkar was getting ready for
a meeting with his CFO. He suspected the company was beginning to lose market
share on the flagship Fevicol brand because the competition was extending
credit to their wholesale /retail dealer network. Fevicol had diligently stayed
away from extending credit to its distributors for the simple reason that the Fevicol
brand was very strong for the past 50+ years in India, and had carved out a
unique niche in the market. The board of directors of Pidilite did not want to
take on any financial liability on their books by extending “distributor
credit”.
Ø HISTORY OF THE FEVICOL BRAND
In
1954, synthetic glue for carpenters was unheard of in India and was uncommon.
Glues were mainly made up of animal fat or starch. B.K Parikh (Founder chairman
of Padilite) did great deal of work with carpenters to arrive at formulae for
synthetic adhesive which met their requirement. This product was then branded
“FEVICOL”. In the initial years, great efforts were put in to conduct trials on
Fevicol with carpenters throughout the country. As this was a proposition which
sought to change their established practice of using animal glue and starch, it
took great deal of patience and perseverance to the product accepted by the
carpenter community.
The
customers that use the product were illiterate and unaware of the superior
benefits of the products. To increase brand recognition, he decided to develop
a logo that would be symbolic of the performance of the brand. At that time, Mr.
P.N Sharma, the head Ogilvy & Mather, a leading advertising agency in India
and Mr. Ranjan Kapoor were the key executive at the agency. The logo for the
brand was to convey “The strength of adhesion” after many rounds of discussion
the finalized the iconic logo of two elephant (facing opposite direction)
together pulling a plank of wood between them.
Most
of the furniture in India was custom build, hence, the support from the
carpenter community was critical for success of furniture – related adhesive
like Fevicol.Thus promoting the interests of the carpenter was of paramount
importance. In 1980, they launched quarterly black & white for-page design
book called Fevicraft, which they, mailed to all carpenters to help expand
their business. It had pictures of different furniture designs line drawings of
interior spaces to help the carpenters showcase designs to their clients, thus
generating interest in terms of ordering interior designs and new furniture. IN
1985, the color version of the book was launched.
Ø FOCUS ON CORE BENEFIT
From
the very onset the brand build confidence and trust with trade, offering the
best product formulation for furniture adhesives application, achieved through
a unique formulation, compared to the messy traditional animal glues. This
approach started building confidence amongst the carpenters, the trade, and the
end users. Gradually the product quality of Fevicol became the benchmark for
the “Best Adhesive”.
Thereafter
the company consciously built trade/market- friendly policies, implemented with
local sales executive teams to provide genuine services to trade and to
end-user customers, thus creating a strong personal bond and trust for the
Fevicol brand.
Ø REDESIGNING THE PACKAGING
In
2002, Pidilite decided to revamp the packaging of the brand, Fevicol. The
original design of Fevicol was changed once in the 80’s. This Meant a revamp of
the design of the pack as well as the logo. Along with that there was a revamp
of the container which gave the product an entirely smarter and seeker look
with a stronger handle, making it easier to carry a bulker pack.
Ø PRICING AND DISTRIBUTION
Premium
pricing is adopted in line with the product image and offering. This had helped
the brand consolidate its position in the market. The adhesive segment has
robust and wide-spread distribution channel across India. It is manufactured at
the plant and then dispatch to the carrying and forwarding Agent From where the
goods are distributed across the country to various distributors, who then further
distributors product to the retailers.
Ø INTERNATIONAL PRESENCE
Company has Global presence in 14 countries across the globe. In
Bangladesh and Egypt, the company has manufacturing facilities. There has been
significant increase in export two of consumer and craftsmen product in order
to achieve sustained growth. This has been possible because of the expanding
distribution network in various countries and deploying additional manpower.
To facilitate better Global networking, Pidilite has
established offices/subsidiaries in several countries including Singapore, USA,
Brazil, UAE, Indonesia, Egypt, Bangladesh, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Thailand,
Ethiopia, Myanmar and Ghana. Most of their products are manufactured in house
with the help of a strong research driven innovation overlaid with customer
insights a well-equipped and well-staffed R&D centre continuously develops
and enhances products for consumers, craftsmen and industries Pidilite has also
established a state-of-the-art research centre in Singapore that is now a
member of Singapore chemical industry council (SCIC).
