History:
52 years ago Taj Din, laid the foundation of a dream so unique for its time that
he chose to call it "Nirala". Over the years, his family has embraced the timeless traditional values of good taste and unmatched quality, by bringing you fresh mouth watering mithai so uniquely called Nirala!
Today, we proudly uphold the traditions of our pioneer that have earned us the love and loyalty of millions of customers all over the world. We continue to make the happy moments of your life truly memorable and joyful and give you all the right reasons to stay in love with our
1940s
Nirala's legend began with the sub continent partition when Mr. Taj Din migrated from Amritsar, India to Lahore, Pakistan. He settled in one of the busiest areas of Lahore, The Meva Mundi, which was basically a market place where people came from large distances to sell their goods. Mr. Taj Din had an entrepreneurial spirit and saw an opportunity to provide food to the travelers. He partnered with a friend to open a breakfast shop, which grew popular in a couple of years. During the same time, his partner sold off his share to him.Mr. Taj Din aspired to be the best in the business and wanted to develop a brand name everyone would recognize. He and his son, Farooq Ahmad, wanted to choose a name that was unique and thus Nirala was formed. The word Nirala stands for 'exceptional', 'distinctive', 'only one of its kind' and Nirala stands true to its name.
1950s
In 1952-53, Mr. Taj Din started selling methai as a complimentary line. He hired the best methai makers in the market. He also traveled to Karachi to hire methai makers that made methai fairly new to the people of Lahore. It was the first time cheese based methai was introduced in this region.The shop was then moved from Meva Mundi to Fleming Road. This was when Nirala got more recognition. In 1965, Nirala became the Official Methai Supplier for the Governor House.
1960s
1967-68 Mr. Farooq Ahmed joined the business when his father fell ill.
During the decades following his joining the business, Mr. Farooq Ahmed was very instrumental in building up the business. He was more service oriented and wanted to change the concept of selling methai.
1970s
In 1970, Mr. Farooq Ahmed visited Japan and bought showcases for his shop. This was the first time when the concept of sales persons was introduced.Nirala moved a step ahead in 1971-72, when Mr. Farooq Ahmed decided that the conventional methods of packaging methai were too uninspiring. He contacted Packages, so they could help him create his ideas into reality.
1980s
In 1985, Nirala received the World Star Packaging Award from Packages. Nirala's delights were served in the Islamic Summit Conference in 1974 and also were the favorites of the King of Jordan. In 1982, the outlet was moved from Fleming Road to Jail Road. This made Nirala more accessible to the rather modern areas of Lahore and gave its name a further boost.In 1987-88, Mr.
Farooq Ahmed fell sick. His brothers then ran the business for a few years until Mr. Farooq's son (Faisal Farooq) decided to join the business in 1996.
1990s
During the first few years the business was expanded in the city. Therefore from year 1991 to 1994, Nirala spread in the major areas of Lahore by opening branches in Moon Market Allama Iqbal Town, Hafeez Center Gulberg and Sadiq Plaza Shahrah-e-Quaid-e-Azam, respectively. When Faisal Farooq joined the business, he took the business to higher grounds by deciding not to restrict their potential to a single city. In January 1999, the branch in Islamabad was opened and was an instant success. The following years saw the rapid growth of Nirala.
Nirala's delights were also served in state dinners during the visit of Queen Elizabeth and Former First Lady of The United States, Mrs. Hillary Clinton. Nirala's sweets are served in state dinners to date.
2000s
Branches in Faisalabad and Karachi were opened in March and August 2000, respectively. Year 2001 saw Nirala move to a whole new level when its first international branch was opened in Dubai. Later that year another branch was opened in Defence, Township, Lahore and one in Rawalpindi in early 2002. Nirala also launched an outlet in Al-Fatah, one of Lahore's most popular shopping Centers.
Early months of the year 2003 brought about worthwhile growth for Nirala, when 7 new outlets were added into its list. 3 more shops were opened in a day in Karachi. In Lahore, Lakshmi and Gulshan-e-Ravi were added to the list of shops in February along with one shop at Shell Fuel Station busiest outlet in Thokar Niaz Baig and another at Allama Iqbal International Airport in March. As the year progresses further, it is planned to add more shops in the cities of Sialkot, Gujranwala and Peshawar.
Although the business is now operating on a whole new level since its humble beginnings more than half a century ago, the tradition of taste and quality is still prevalent. Most of the products are still as original as they were two generations ago. Nirala only changes for the better.
Vision
Our vision is to make Nirala a global brand, a brand recognizable for its uniqueness and quality in ethnic food market all around the world. In this perspective we consider our self as an innovative and a pioneer company, continuously offering unique products and interesting service concepts that others haven’t even dreamt of.
Core Values
The core values of our organization which we consider the Spirit of Nirala have not changed over the past half century. Those values and traditions which have made the brand Nirala a market leader for the past 60 years are:
• Continuous Improvement
• Innovation
• Integrity
• Team work and
• Social Responsibility
System, Structure And Process
Departments
Administration
Efficient management of all administrative affairs of Nirala Group of Companies is the job of the Administration department. From legal matters to general day-to-day operations of the office, the Administration department ensures that all affairs run smoothly.
Finance And Accounts
The Finance and Accounting departments at Nirala are responsible for the total financial management of the different businesses of the Group. From the usual accounting statements and sheets to risk and portfolio management, the team ensures that every rupee coming into and out of the Companies' pockets is properly documented and audited.
HR
The Human Resource department at Nirala spearheads the recruitment process to ensure that the finest human resource is taken on board at Nirala. Resumes of candidates are carefully filed and documented for current or future reference. The department, besides carrying out succession planning, maintains and implements HR policies pertaining to employment, retention and superannuation. Assessing training needs of employees and ensuring adequate training is also carried out by the professional HR team at Nirala.
Marketing
Consisting of leading marketing professionals of the industry, who are graduates of top business schools of Pakistan, the Marketing Department ensures that from product need identification to product development, launch and post-launch, all strategic decisions are made based on authentic information and research. Identifying the target markets, effectively communicating to them and building the image of the brands as well as the Companies, is the job of the professionals running the marketing at Nirala.
Milk Procurment
Consisting of leading marketing professionals of the industry, who are graduates of top business schools of Pakistan, the Marketing Department ensures that from product need identification to product development, launch and post-launch, all strategic decisions are made based on authentic information and research. Identifying the target markets, effectively communicating to them and building the image of the brands as well as the Companies, is the job of the professionals running the marketing at Nirala.
MIS
The MIS department at Nirala ensures that all automation is running error-free at all times. Regularly modifying and updating the Company's accounting software is also the MIS team's responsibility.
Production
Modern technology is part and parcel of Production at Nirala. More than 20% of Mithai production at Nirala Sweets is carried out at automated plants, either imported from abroad or custom-made in the country. Fresh and crisp snacks products of Nirala Snacks (Pvt.) Ltd., are prepared and packaged on modern machines as well. As far as Nirala Dairy (Pvt.) Ltd., is concerned, the state-of-the-art plant set up at Tandlianwala near Faisalabad, has a processing capacity of more than 300,000 litres of milk per day, making it one of the largest in the country. Professionally qualified human resource efficiently works night and day to maintain highest hygiene standards.
Quality Assurance
Quality Assurance is strictly followed in all companies of Nirala Group. Be it Nirala Sweets, Nirala Dairy or Nirala Snacks, qualified food technologists at this department ensures that highest quality parameters are adhered to through all steps of production and that the products reach the consumers as per promise.
Retail Stores
Whereas Shop Operations is the sales force of Nirala Sweets, the Retail Sales are responsible for the sale of all products of Nirala Dairy and Nirala Snacks at all leading retail outlets in the cities and towns where Nirala has entered. At the moment, Nirala Dairy and Nirala Snacks products are sold at more than 30000 retail shops across more than 50 cities of Pakistan.
Shop Operations
All operations of Nirala's 39 company managed outlets are run by the shop operations department. This department, in simpler terms, is the sales force of the business. It includes professionally trained front-line salesmen at the shops, experienced floor managers, area managers, headed by a General Manager. Identifying strategically new locations and opening new shops is also done by this team.
Store And Procurement
The Stores & Procurement department working under Nirala Sweets is responsible primarily for procurement of all raw and packaging material and keeping its record for Nirala Sweets and Café Gowalmandi.
Supply And Distribution
This department falls under Nirala Sweets and ensures timely and effective distribution of the products to the chain of Nirala Sweets stores spread all across Pakistan. From transportation management to obtaining route permits and approvals, is done by this department.
Marketing Strategy
Industry analysis
Sweets (mithai) is in our culture for centuries. It is our cultural heritage; people of our region have different taste in sweets as compared to west. The western people eat chocolate as sweets but in our region sweets are mithai. So in every town every city of Pakistan these sweets shops are seen. Lahore and the people of Lahore are known for their tastes and eating habits so there are many small scale sweet shops in almost every area. Nirala has also started as a small shop in Lahore but with changing market conditions with increase in purchasing power of customer and their every day changing taste buds nirala has also improved. Although the tastes of customers in many other dishes are changing people now a days are eating fast foods and liking Chinese and western dishes rather than our typical eastern or Pakistani dishes, like we have seen many western dishes in our wedding occasions which shows the changing consumer needs. But this trend is not in sweets industry the habit of eating sweets is very much in like centuries before. It is the most essential component of wedding no wedding, no ceremony or other occasion of celebration is complete with out sweets. with the ever increasing purchasing power people are purchasing sweets in bulk form. Although the industry of sweets is century old but it is not fading with the time it is getting rich day by day.
Strategic Situation Analysis
Now a days Nirala is known as the most well known brand n sweets industry catering the higher end of the market continuously improving and expanding. If we talk specifically about the sweets market we find that Nirala is facing competition from two sides those who specifically produce deals in sweets and those who produce sweets in addition to other main products.
• The most direct competitors are no where near to Nirala. Nirala’s revenue is much ahead than others their branch network is also large expanding every day from cities of Pakistan to other countries in middle east and now to Europe. Therefore Nirala is only Pakistan sweet company which is also in west, as they are opening new shops in U K and Canada very soon. This shows the immediate competitors and Nirala position which are no where near. Because Nirala has proper setup in the form of fully developed company with departments which control the different activities from procurement to manufacturing till final selling to customer like any other multinational organization. They are fully equipped with latest technologies and manufacturing plants, but their competitors are only targeting small segment of the market they are not been upgrading themselves that is why in the race of capturing market they are staying behind the market leader Nirala
• Nirala has big threats in Pakistan from Gourmet and Shezan bakers in sweets as these are the only few stores who are catering the same market as Nirala is doing. They also have well established brand name and image. The quality of their products is also not less than Nirala. their branches are also not less than Nirala especially Gourmet which is doing business expansion at fast pace. The organizational structure of Gourmet is well established and their brand image and perception is also strong so Gourmet can be the biggest threat for Nirala.
Market Vision, Structure and Analysis
Sweets industry in Pakistan is growing. Mithai is used in Pakistan on weddings, celebrations and other happy occasions. There are many sweets shops in Lahore only. Nirala is in this industry for many decades they been serving this industry effectively.
Segmenting Market
There prices of Nirala products are higher as compared to their main competitors and secondly they shops and stores are mainly located costly areas of cities. Keeping these factors in view we can say that there target market is upper middle to upper class.
Continuous Learning about The Market
Nirala is different from others because they have been continuously upgrading themselves over the years. They started their business from the inner city congested locality as traditional sweet shop mostly found in cities doing small scale business and selling only mithai related products or dairy products.
But Nirala has learned a lot from the changing tastes of their customers and their preferences. They changed their stores outlook made them more modern and updated and introduced more updated functions in stores operation. They have been successfully able to shift their small scale business to a company level business. Their initial area of business was their hometown Lahore, but they successfully expanded their business to other big cities of Pakistan.
Secondly they continuously keep working on their products and for over the years been able to launch different successful products in market. Their major focus is on quality of their products so to maintain strict laws of quality they have separate quality control department.
The other example of their continuous learning about the market is their successful launch of snacks product category and their dairy products. They launched Nirala milk in the market a few years back although their milk was not the big success as it has to compete industry giants like nestle, haleeb etc. but their snacks category is successful and been able to capture a large portion of the market. These snacks are not only available at Nirala stores but at some other stores also.
DESIGNINIG MARKETING STRATEGY
MARKET TARGETING AND STRATEGIC POSITIONING
If we analyse the nirala target market we came to know that its target market is mainly the middle, upper middle and the upper class. We come to know about this when we analyze its sweets prices which are much higher then its main competitors, the quality and the variety is much richer than the others. Secondly major nirala stores are located at the costly areas of cities. They store environment and the level of cleanliness and the behavior of their staff is not less than any international product shops. The other most important point is their corporate clients which include companies big and multinational companies and some big banks also. Nirala sweets provide these big companies sweets on their functions and also their desired packing. These companies order nirala for the sweets and snacks and nirala earn a large portion of their revenue from these corporate clients .
BRAND IMAGE
So by analyzing all these unique features of nirala business the immediate positioning of nirala came to mind is that
• It is sweet store which gives complete range of sweets,
• Employees in a uniform neat and clean.
• Nirala sweets are high quality sweets and full of freshness and taste.
• Their packaging styles are highly personalized according to the choice of customer and related to the event. Price vise their positioning as already said is higher price targeting higher class of SEC.
MARKETING RELATIONSHIP STRATEGY
Nirala is practicing the marketing communication tools in the form of hoardings, leaflets, banners, magazines, newspapers and on public transport. In addition to it they also having promotional activities which are discounts on the bulk purchase, wedding offers, free sampling on the launch of new product.
Although all these tools are very good and efficient and nirala been able to raise their sales over the years. But in spite of all these they haven’t been able to develop TV advertisement campaign. This is seen in the case of nirala milk as it is not been successful enough in the market as nirala didn’t have any advertisement in TV for nirala milk.
Target Market Analysis
Demographics:
Mithai is a product well-known among all age group people.
People of all:
ü Age
ü Gender
ü Generation
ü Family Size
People belong from all ages generally love sweets and our core products so there is no exception likewise teenagers like it whereas old people don’t like it, but in one sense Nirala is targeting more towards people belong from age group approx 10 to 50 years i.e. including teenagers, youngsters, mature people however age group exceeding 50 years i.e. old usually suffer from different sugar prohibit diseases. So this sector is a low consumer of their traditional product.Gender is not an issue at all. Both genders came in the sphere of Nirala’s target.
New generation is more concern about new taste and looks, Nirala seems quite conscious about this factor. It is continuously modifying its products according to the changing needs of the new generation i.e. virtual placement in order to facilitate the customers worldwide.
Being a server of eastern society like Pakistan where family size is usually large which means strong concern about events and occasions. Nirala as one of the largest sweet dealers was always be there to facilitate them i.e. whether it’s a joyful moment like marriges or a moment of sorrow.
Geographic:
Nirala is targeting mostly the urban areas all over Pakistan
ü Lahore
ü Karachi
ü Islamabad
ü Rawalpindi
ü Faisalabad
ü Sialkot
ü Kasur
ü Multan
ü Gujranwala
Nirala is expanding its network globallyü Dubai
ü Sharjah
ü UK (opening soon)
ü Canada (opening soon)
Psychographic:Marriges, cultural occasions and personal events are the events from which no social class can be excluded. However being a sole marketer of high quality which ultimately leads to higher price, Nirala’s focus is more towards society’s middle and upper class.
Media Graphics
ü Hoardings
ü Banners
ü Leaflets
ü Magazines
ü Newspaper
ü Advertisement on public transport
Competitor AnalysisCompetitors:
Direct competitors of Nirala Sweets include:
v Rafique Sweets
v Fazal Sweets
This diagram shows the different level of competition of Nirala Sweets which first of all includes the direct competitors which are Fazal Sweets and Rafique Sweets as they all are dealing with the homogenous category of their products, primarily sweets. Moving towards the second level of competition, it basically includes the indirect competitors such as gourmet, rahat bakers and shezan. These are indirect competitors because they are dealing with number of categories in which sweets is on of their revenue source. Third level of competition involves the generic competition which includes those retail outlets that are providing different alternatives to sweet taste such as pastries, cakes etc. last level of competition is the budget competition which includes items such as ice cream, custards, chocolates etc.
Placement:
Nirala having 18 outlets in overall Lahore city which gave him a competitive edge as compared to fazal (7 outlets), Rafique (9 Outlets) which enable the customers to access Nirala’s product more easily and conveniently which categorize one step ahead from his immediate competitors.
Target Market Strategy
Demographic:
Demographically Nirala and its competitors Fazal and Rafique are targeting same Market
Geographic:
Brands Number of National Branches Number of International Branches
Nirala Sweets 33 2
Fazal Sweets 07 0
Rafique Sweets 09 0
Psychographics:
Brands Upper Class Upper Middle Class Middle Class Lower Middle Class
Nirala Sweets Yes Yes Yes No
Fazal Sweets No Yes Yes Yes
Rafique Sweets No Yes Yes Yes
As you can see from the above table that Nirala is catering the upper class, upper middle class and middle class, compared to its competitors who are not catering towards the upper class.
Media Graphics:
Brands Leaflets Hoardings Banners Newspapers Magazines Public Transport
Nirala Sweets Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Fazal Sweets Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Rafique Sweets Yes No Yes Yes Yes No
Features/Attributes:
Brands Product
Quality Milk Quality Butter Quality Freshness of Product
Nirala Sweets High High High High
Fazal Sweets Medium Medium Medium High
Rafique Sweets Medium Medium Medium High
Benefits:
Brand Name Same Taste Shop
Environment Cleanliness Social High
Class Brand
Name Psychological
Benefits
Nirala Sweets Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Fazal Sweets Yes No Yes No Yes No
Rafique Sweets Yes Yes Yes No Yes No
Promotional Offerings:
Brands Discounts on
bulk. Wedding Offer. Free sampling
Nirala Sweets Yes Yes Yes
Fazal Sweets Yes Yes No
Rafique Sweets Yes Yes No
Nirala Sweets is effectively using the free sampling promotional technique to attract the quality conscious group of customers. At one side free sample reflects the customer friendliness of the business, on the other hand it also make a commitment that product category is free from faults and help the customer to make quick decision at the spot. However both fazal and rafique sweets seems to be unaware of the technique’s strength to attract major chunk of customers. However wedding offers and bulk discounts are the factors shared by three competitors.
Product Value Analysis:
Brands Product
Quality Taste
Uniqueness Shop
Environment/
Cleanliness Psychological
Benefits Freshness of Product
Nirala Sweets High High High High High
Fazal Sweets Medium Medium Medium Medium High
Rafique Sweets Medium Medium Medium Medium High
The superior product quality of the Nirala sweets helps to maintain its uniqueness of taste which allows its customers to enjoy the psychological benefit of utilizing the superior brand in the market. Unlike the fazal and rafique sweets who’s less emphasis is on product quality that restricts its customers to enjoy such benefits.
Industrial SWOT Analysis
Strength:
Pakistan can be rightly termed as “sweet lovers” with presence of the sweets become an essential factor in almost every event, occasion and even for satisfying personal taste. Despite events, people from every age group and gender came in the lover circle which makes it a unique strength of sweet businesses.
Weakness:
Large scope in Pakistan also attracted a wide group of sweet dealers who are just concern about the sweet concern characteristic of the society with not been able to provide quality and health measures. In aggregate its negatively affecting the efficiency of the industry, if not been restricted may overall spoil the image as a whole.
Opportunity:
Our society is basically an “Opportunity Heaven” for sweet industries with high utilization of sweet products. Whether we are talking about any marrige ceremony or may be any death event, presence of sweets always there while conveying different messages. Even our cultural and religious occasions are considered incomplete without such a sweet stuff. The core idea is that sweet industry got a tremendous scope in Pakistan’s society with having negligible chances for its failure.
Threat:
With the changing trend of the society the traditional shape and taste of our sweets are changing and many other alternatives are replacing it. Status consciousness is among one of the strongly contributing factors which is continuously changing customer taste. Such as cake, pastries, ice creams and chocolates are the popular categories that are giving tough time to traditional desi sweets.
SWOT Analysis of Nirala
Strengths:
Research and Development Center:
By having a strong R&D center Nirala is offering a quality product to their customers. Nirala is offering a product to their customer in different packing and according to different occasions.
Well Organized Structure:
Nirala has a well organized structure. All the departments perform their work according to the organizational structure. More than 20% of Mithai production at Nirala sweets is carried out at automated plants.
Computerized Database System:
Nirala has an organized database; all the activities are recorded in the database. Computerized database provides error free center. It is updated on the regular basis.
Team Work:
All the departments are working as a team such as Quality assurance, Marketing, MIS, HR and Administration etc. Working as a team increases the efficiency of the Nirala sweets.
Quality:
By applying the various strengths Nirala offers the product to the customer. Nirala never compromise on quality that is why they are able to capture a huge market share. Sweet is prepared with immense care using traditional and authentic recipes to give unforgettable taste.
Customer Retention:
As Nirala is offering complete range of sweets to their customers with the best quality and taste. Nirala is able to retain the customers because of its brand name and worth of the brand. As retaining the customer is better rather than switching towards the new customers.
Online Purchase:
One of the major strengths of Nirala sweets is to purchase online. You can now send mithai, flowers and gifts to Pakistan from anywhere in the world, whether you are in another city or another part of world.
Weakness:
Less Financial resources for advertisement:
Nirala is using less financial resources for advertisement. By using the appropriate resources they can advertise their product by different tools of advertisement.
Latest Machinery required to increase the Production Rate:
Latest machinery is the key strength of any organization, but Nirala lacks in this point. By using the latest machinery Nirala can increase the production rate.
No broadcast media is used:
The term broadcast media covers a wide spectrum of different communication methods such as TV, radio, newspaper, magazines and many other materials supplied by the media and press, so more focus should be on broadcast media.
Opportunities:
Many cities to capture:
One of the most important opportunities is that Nirala can increase their target market by capturing other cities which consist of the potential customers.
Brand Worth:
Nirala is the well recognized brand nation wide and it is also operating internationally which means the worth of the brand is good in the mind of the customers. Because of the brand worth Nirala can come up with the different market of bakery products.
New market to explore nation wide and internationally:
It is the great opportunity for Nirala to expand their business and market by exploring the new markets nation wide and internationally.
Threats:
Gourmet Bakers:
Gourmet could be a big threat because it is also offering a sweet Nirala’s taste and quality could be the restrictive force for other to penetrate.
Change in the consumer preference:
Changing of consumer preferences is a major threat of any organization. As if we talk about Nirala sweet now people prefer cakes overs sweets which have become a major threat.
Fazal and Rafique Sweets with low rates:
Price of Rafique and Fazal are low as compare to Nirala and it could be a threat for Nirala Sweets. However Nirala is charging high price and also giving high quality to their customers.
Positioning/Personality:
Nirala carries its image in a positive manner. In consumer’s perception Nirala is producing hygienic products with high quality. its packaging is perfectly according to the occasions. For the best quality and impressive representation of the events people prefer Nirala.
1. Brand Positioning:
Nirala Position their product in the mind of the consumers by offering:
q Superior in Price and Taste
q Quality
q Freshness
q Superior Quality Brand Name
2. Brand Image/Personality:q Superior in Price and Taste
q Status Conscious (consumers perception)
q Strong Commitment
q No Compromise on Taste & Quality
Positioning Perceptual Map
Product Analysis:
The main product because of which nirala was able to make a name for itself and has been continuing to go on and on is mithai and they are famous for it. So it is their primary product. Apart from this they are also selling other things and have introduced a lot of other products such dairy products like milk, oil (ghee). As they have been doing well so they decided to increase their range so that they are not know as a one product company. The product includes
1. Product Attributes/Features:
The products being sold at Nirala carry the following attributes which are”
• Quality:
Nirala has been very careful and has been following a very strong standard for maintaining its quality so that customer is not complaining about its products. Since they are dealing in food products where quality plays a very vital role so they believe in quality good and healthy product to the customer.
• Purity:
Its another attribute which has been taken care of. In products such as mithai where people like that they get pure things specially in milk and better where there are chances that the customers don’t get pure products. Nirala has made sure that they use pure materials in making of the product so that when the customer gets it they don’t feel that its not pure.
• Freshness:
Food products all over the world are loved for their freshness and if we talk about products which nirala is selling they should be fresh otherwise customer wont purchase it. Nirala promises to give fresh products to their customers by giving them those products which they feel are good and healthy to eat and if any product they feel is not fresh enough they wont give it to the customer.
• Good Taste:
Taste is because of which a customer would love to purchase a product again if he likes the taste of your product. For so many years, nirala has been way ahead in the market and leading it on the basis of its taste and it promises to give good taste to their customer so that they enjoy it.
2. Benefits:
Consumer Point of View:
• Same taste:
This is one of the biggest benefits of coming to Nirala that the consumer will get the same taste whenever he purchases products from nirala its not that at one time the products will taste different and other time they would be different.
• Uniqueness :
One of the strong aspects of nirala is that its sweet (mithai) has a unique and at the same time very nice taste which no other player in the market is providing.
• Large Variety :
The customers can benefit from a large range and variety which Nirala is providing them not only in its major products which is sweet (mithai) but lot of other products such as dairy products etc.
• Cleanliness:
At each and every outlet of Nirala, special emphasis is laid on cleanliness so that consumer feels that he is standing at a nice place and doesn’t get irritated.
Owner Point of View
• Social Class:
From Nirala’s point of view they are benefiting from segment they are targeting which is the upper middle and upper class as they enjoy a large amount of profit by charging handsome amount and are enjoying huge amount of financial reward.
• Brand Name:
Nirala is one of the strongest brand name and market leader in its field which enables them to get more benefit out of it. Since they are one of the biggest as well as the oldest in this field they have established a name in the market and consumers are automatically attracted towards Nirala.
Functionality:
Because of its taste and since in our culture where people like to eat sweet (mithai) on occasions like Eid, Weddings, for your loved ones/special ones Nirala gets a lot of advantage on these special occasion or when the season of weddings is on where people purchase products to
ü Get Respect
ü Get Love
ü Get Pride
ü Emotions are Involved
Packaging:Nirala offers sweet products in over 80 different types of packaging, all designed by N Design, another company under the umbrella of Nirala. Besides traditional paper and cardboard, we work with tin, wood, glass and handmade paper to give you the flexibility and choice in selecting the packaging.
Not only that, our customized packaging division offers a unique service to design your box yourself, with your text message or photograph on the packing. A wide range of individuals as well as the corporate sector rely on this personalized service to make their occasions entirely special and worth remembering
Price:
The prices of Nirala Products are high as compared to its competitors in the same segment.
1. Retail Prices of various offers:
Description
Prices
Regular Mix Mithai 250/kg
Luddu/Pannpairay 250/kg
Jaleibi 250/kg
Gulab Jaman 250/kg
Barfee 250/kg
Balushahi 250/kg
Sugar Free (Mix) 295/kg
2. Pricing Strategy:
Nirala is charging high price because of high quality of products. Another reason is that Company is targeting elite Class. Target segment is ready to buy their products on these high prices due to the prestigious repute of Company.
3. Competitors Price Analysis:
Brands
Product Name
Price
Nirala Sweets Mix Sweet 250/kg
Fazal Sweets Mix Sweet 170/kg
Rafique Sweets Mix Sweet 160/kg
Placement:
Nirala has a strong network of their shops all over the Lahore. They have their own distribution channels in which they are their selves the producers and retailers. They never offer any franchise. The company has tried to capture maximum potential areas of Lahore for the ease of their target market. Café Gowalmandi is a fine example of their excellent placement.
1. Distribution Channels:
“Own Distribution Channel”
PRODUCER CONSUMERS
2. Availability of Product: (Specific in Lahore)
Nirala is one of those companies which has a very large network and it has tried to reach each and every corner of Lahore and taking this as an advantage for themselves since all the other companies don’t have as much outlets as many nirala has and this serves as a unique selling proposition for them. They have reached the following areas of Lahore.
o MOON MARKET
o TOWN SHIP
o SADIQ PLAZA
o DEFENCE
o LIBERTY
o MAIN MARKET
o GULSHAN-E-RAVI
o LAKSHMI CHOWK
o AI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
o THOKAR NIAZ BAIG
o MOZANG CHOWK
o MALL ROAD
o HAFEEZ CENTER
o SOZO WATER PARK
o WAHDAT ROAD
o SESSION COURT
Promotion:
Promotion matters a lot in the success of any business. Nirala does not really have to put more effort in promoting its products since it already holds a great market share, But as soon a new occasional or seasonal product is launched or when company offers any special discounts promotional activities become more active. Company is using the following promo materials for promoting their products.
ü Hoardings
ü Banners
ü Leaflets
ü Magazines
ü Newspaper
ü Advertisement on public transport
1. Sales Promotional Strategies:Nirala is using the following Sales promotional strategies to promote their brand in all seasons & occasions.
ü Discounts on bulk.
ü Wedding Offer.
ü Broacher's Discount.
ü Free sampling on the launch of new product.
2. Frequency of Advertisement:
ü 2-3 months gap between Advertisement.
ü New product launch.
ü Seasonal/Occasional (marriages, Eid, Eid-Milad-un-Nabi, etc).
This is how Nirala has been advertising. When they advertise after that they keep a gap in between of 2-3 months and then they advertise again. Usually advertising in done on the launch of a new product to make consumers aware about it other than that on occasions such as eid where people are inclined to purchase sweet (mithai) they advertise to attract more and more consumers.Media opted for:
Following are the distribution of Nirala’s advertising budget to different Medias:
Media Advertising Budget
Billboards 40%
Banners 20%
Newspapers 20%
Public Transport 10%
Internet & Others 10%
The above figure mentions how much they spend on different media’s. Like majority or major amount of the budget goes to billboards which are located in major sites of Lahore and they are quite expensive as well. Then they also advertise on banners and newspapers as well. But usage of internet and public transport is not that heavy and mainly they use billboards to advertise.
Conclusion
In conclusion to our evaluation of Nirala’s marketing strategy, we would like to conclude our project with some remarks and attempt to give some recommendations to the firm based on our study of their marketing strategy:
Ø Nirala Sweet is an excellent sweet mart with the a large variety of sweets.
Ø Running in an advance and computerized database management system which makes it easier for them to manage the entire operations of the company.
Ø They are opening new branches internationally which no other sweet mart is providing which helps them in reaching to those Pakistani’s who live out of country and want to enjoy Nirala.
Ø Nirala is market leader and they have no GAP relevant to their customer needs since they are catering to the needs of the customer and by getting regular feedback they are trying to eradicate their weak areas.
Ø They are fulfilling their promises regarding their claims which they are giving to their customers and when they fulfilling it that means that they are satisfying their customers.
RecommendationsØ They should review the costs of their products since they are targeting the higher class and upper middle class so that’s why the rates are high as compared to their competitors which makes it difficult for the people with medium income and low income. If they review their costs and cut down a little bit on their prices then they can cover a much more number of customers and their sales will increase.
Ø By adopting reduce price strategy they can make more and permanent customers. Not only more customers will come there will be increase in the number of loyal customers as well.
Ø They have to acquire new technology for production if they don’t move towards acquiring new technology then they wont be able to meet the needs of customers.
Ø Sales promotions like prizes, lucky draw schemes should be introduced to attract more customers and involve kids and children to increase sales.
Ø Enter in the bakery products is a very good option for nirala since they are doing good and by entering into baker would increase their range and it would give a broader view of the company to the consumer.
Ø Must capture some special events like local sports series, convocations & charities shows by sponsoring these shows as would give a good image about the company to the consumer.
