Ujala The Supreme Whitener

ABOUT FABRIC WHITENERS Contd...

TABLE I
DIFFERENT TYPES OF BLEACHES

Type of bleach	Use	Best as…
Chlorine	Removes stains, whitens and brightens; repeated use weakens fabrics	Disinfectant, whitener
(Liquid or Gel)
Hydrogen Peroxide	Removes stains, whitens	Milder solution able to whiten fabrics
Oxygen	Removes stains;	Safe for most colored fabrics
Color removers	Reduce or completely removes colored dyes from apparel	Removing rust or dye stains from white apparel

Source: Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service.

Blues, or optical brighteners, contain a blue dye or pigment or a solution of fine blue powder. During the washing process, the fabric picks up the blue color, which makes it ‘appear'whiter. Optical brighteners work on the principle that ‘white with a little blue tint appears to be brighter^[4] '(if two similar white fabrics are kept under a spectrograph, the one with a blue tint would appear brighter).

The popularity of blues in India is rooted in the country's societal system and cultural values. The cleanliness of clothes has traditionally been regarded as an indicator of the efficiency of the housekeeper, that is, the lady of the house.

Consequently, most of the detergents in the country were sold on the ‘our product washes the whitest'platform. A majority of the detergent and washing soap advertisements emphasized whiteness and featured literally ‘shining'white clothes as a symbol of the housewife's prowess.

Shombit Sengupta (Sengupta), an international brand strategist, attributed the above phenomenon to the attitude of Indians regarding laundry. According to Sengupta, washing was regarded as a chore in the West, while Indians reportedly had a ‘more holistic relationship'with this task, as laundry was done everyday. Since blues happened to make clothes whiter, Indian households used them frequently. Also, unlike the West, where the concept of the unified detergent had emerged, in India blues continued to be used separately after clothes had been washed. Sengupta said, “The concept of a unified detergent in India would always be a problem, which is why products like Robin would always be a necessity in the marketplace.”

Despite the widespread use of blues, the Indian fabric whitener market was highly fragmented. Most of the players were small manufacturers who sold their products at very low prices. R&C, the first player in the organized sector, dominated the market for years with its Robin Blue powder. The brand's popularity grew to such an extent that over time, the term ‘blue'became synonymous with the name Robin. Though other organized sector brands like Ranipal were also available, they remained confined to limited geographical areas and posed no significant threat.

Since Robin enjoyed a smooth run, R&C did not make any major marketing efforts to promote the brand. While Robin continued to be used by a limited number of ‘brand-conscious'urban consumers, the rural masses continued to use locally manufactured blues. The entry of Ujala into the market in 1983 did not attract much attention – perhaps, Robin saw it as ‘just another'local brand. However, in the years to come, Ujala went from strength to strength – all due to the sustained and focused efforts of Jyothi's promoter M P Ramchandran (MPR).

MARKETING UJALA

WHAT LIES AHEAD

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

ADDITIONAL READINGS & REFERENCES

^[4] The human eye sees objects because of the light reflected by them. When light falls on an
object, it absorbs the full spectrum of the light and throws back only a part of it. The color of
an object is perceived according to the part of the spectrum reflected by it. The blue tint on
white fabrics absorbs the yellow part of the spectrum, thereby making the yellowish tint
invisible. This makes the cloth look whiter.