Company: Dr. Fixit
Founded by: Balvantray Kalyanji Parakeh
Dr. Fixit, one of the most popular waterproofing solutions in construction industry, was launched by Pidilite Industries in 2001. The parent company was founded by Balvantray Kalyanji Parakeh in 1959. Currently managed by his son, Madhukar Parekh, Dr. Fixit has become a well-known brand in the country owing to extensive advertisements and sustained efforts to educate the consumer on the part of its parent company.
It is mainly through these sustained initiatives that waterproofing solution has come to the attention of common public rather being in the domain of construction contractors and engineers.
Already managing a number of other popular chemical and adhesive brands, Pidilite Industries has been successful in making a significant impact in the construction chemical industry, in which it was a comparatively new entrant. Although, it did have extensive experience in the adhesives category and owning four state-of-the-art industrial-grade chemicals manufacturing plants in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Himchal Pradesh, along with several national and international research facilities.
The Beginning
The story of Pidilite, the parent company owing Dr. Fixit brand, starts with the rise of its eminent founder Balvant Parekh from a middle class background to the pinnacle of a multi-crore organization. He was born in a small town named Mahuva, which is situated in Bhavnagar Gujarat.
Although he studied law from Government Law College, Mumbai he never did practice his trade, he joined a dyeing and printing press in the city. He got married while in college and subsequently even stayed in a warehouse with his wife while working as a peon.
His professional career took a decisive turn when he decided to start his own business with financial help of an investor and started importing cycles, nuts and dyes for paper from Western countries. Later, he entered into an equal partnership with a German firm named Fedco, which was marketing for Hoechst, the parent company. He even visited Germany for a month and later decided to trade directly with them.
Subsequently, Balvant Parekh started manufacturing and marketing dyes, pigment emulsions and industrial chemicals in 1954. He was joined in the business by his two brothers, Sushil and Narendra, and the venture was named Parekh Dyechem Industries. The company changed its name to Pidilite Industries in 1959.
The Road to Success
After incorporation of the company in 1969 as a public limited venture, Pidilite Industries began to grow steadily throughout the second half of the century. One of its adhesive brands became synonymous with glue in India. Soon the company gained the premier position in adhesive, art colors and polymer emulsions category.
Then it decided to expand its business into the construction chemicals industry and launched “Dr. Fixit” range of waterproofing solutions in a big way by providing the brand nationwide media coverage. The idea was to educate consumers about the benefits of waterproofing to prevent leakages years later.
Marketing Strategies
The brand-building exercise of Dr. Fixit is an excellent instance of proper marketing of a comparatively lesser-known useful product. Pidilite Industries turned a primarily business commodity into a product education and promotion exercise for the common consumers, while increasing their market value in the category significantly.
The total market of waterproofing solutions in India is estimated to be around 2,500 Crore rupees – Dr. Fixit range of products offered by Pidilite Industries have captured a large chunk of it. Currently offering around fifty different solutions, the company has even opened Experience Centers in important commercial hubs throughout the country where business influencers like plumbers and construction contractors can learn more about scientific waterproofing and its long-term benefits.
The brand positions itself as an ‘expert’ on waterproofing with the Hindi tagline “Waterproofing ka Doctor”. Indeed, in a market governed by contractors and service personnel where the end-consumer was unaware about waterproofing as an important aspect of building construction, Dr. Fixit has been successful in educating the common man. This has been possible by the sustained media coverage and long-term investment in the brand-building exercise, along with roping in one of the leading advertising houses of the country for the job.
During the early part of the new millennium, while people were aware about leakage problems and possible preventive steps, there was less concern about the type and quality of the products used in the process. Dr. Fixit strived to exploit that lack of proper scientific knowledge of the masses and positioned itself as the “go-to” brand in the category. Much like its illustrious brand in the adhesive market where its product name is synonymous to glue, Pidilite sought to achieve similar results in the construction chemicals sector.
Dr Fixit Campaigns
To this effect, they roped in Amitabh Bachchan, one of the most well-known and beloved Indian actor to promote Dr. Fixit brand. Since 2016, he has been featured in a series of TV and print commercials as the ambassador of the products and has sought to enlighten the viewers about its different beneficial aspects.
This exercise was approached in two different advertising methods. In one set of media advertisement series, Mr. Bachchan appears as himself and eulogizes the importance of waterproofing its various benefits, while pointing out the pitfalls of using inferior-quality solutions. The idea of such advertisement is to deliver the brand’s credibility message through an authoritative figure.
In another set, he is used in a humorous and light-hearted way often with the help of a comedic co-performer (like the octopus-man in one TV spot). These media presentations are aimed towards creating awareness about the brand through comedic situations and characters. The popularity of Amitabh Bachchan was surely one of the considerations while choosing him for leading the TV advertisement series coupled with the fact that his dignified appearance, age and screen presence made for a compelling on-screen statement.
This combination of quality product with sustained brand-building efforts has helped Dr. Fixit to become one of the most recognized brands in the construction chemicals industry.
Conclusion
Dr. Fixit has been successful in creating its premier position as a brand in its category since its launch in 2001. With the help of constant innovation in the research centers of Pidilite Industries, the brand can now look forward to expansion in the international markets and consolidating its place as the leading waterproofing solution provider in the Indian construction market.
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