Ujala - The Supreme Whitener

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Marketing Ujala Contd...

R&C argued that the term 'neel' used by Ujala referred to Robin Blue as in the local market people often referred to it as 'Robin Neel.' R&C also argued that Jyothi's claim to have invented Ujala was misleading, as the ingredient (acid milling violet) was already known. On basis of these arguments, R&C filed a case under Section 36A of the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act 1961 (MRTP).10 However, the court decided that there was no authenticated survey to verify that Robin Blue was also known as Robin Neel. It further stated that even if for the sake of argument it accepted that Robin Blue was indeed called Robin Neel, the word 'neel' used in Ujala's advertisement could not be equated to Robin Neel. The court also decided that there had been no misrepresentation of facts by Jyothi, as it had never claimed to have invented insta-violet concentrate. Jyothi had only claimed to have developed the formula of Ujala. The court declared that such a claim could not be called misleading or regarded as a misrepresentation of facts and decided the case in favor of Jyothi.

In another advertisement, Ujala depicted a group of kids teasing a fellow student because her uniform was not dazzling white. This advertisement met with criticism from the advertising fraternity. The use of children in this advertisement was considered quite unnecessary. According to Suguna Swamy, Creative Director of leading advertising agency, Ogilvy & Mather (Chennai), “The Ujala campaign does not make any sense. No kid will ever ask his friend whether he has switched over to a whitening product such as Ujala.” Jyothi was criticized for using 'peer group pressure' and 'social embarrassment' in its advertisements.

Despite these minor problems, Jyothi continued to have a dream run with Ujala. By 2001, the company had grown significantly: it employed about 5000 people, of which 1200 were field staff distributed all over the country. In 2001, the company decided to enter the FMCG market in a big way through personal care products. In the same year, Jyothi planned to make an initial public offering to raise about Rs 1-1.2 billion to fund its expansion and diversification plans.¹¹ Till then, it was a closely held company with only some investment from ING Barings, and Ujala was the only brand in its portfolio. Commenting on this decision, MPR said “We plan to launch at least 2-3 new brands every year and want to become a full-fledged FMCG player.”

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10] Under the MRTP act, an organization can be charged with indulging in unfair trade practices if it is found that for the purpose of promoting its sales, it gave false or misleading facts about the goods, services or trade of another person. In addition, an organization can be booked under MRTP, if it falsely represents its goods to be of a particular standard, quality, grade, composition, style or model.
11] The plan for raising money through an IPO was later abandoned and Jyothi decided to sustain itself on internal accruals.