Sulekha Ink

I started writing for the first time in a pen which had this brand of ink……. Many of you must have

Sulekha Works Limited is one of the pioneers in manufacturing in India in the field of writing inks and other stationary materials. It was created in 1934 and was the symbol of the Self Reliance Movement flagged off by Mahatma Gandhi himself. The pre independence company stood for Indian independence from the colonial rule and thus garnered alot of public attention.

Apart from writing ink, Sulekha works manufactures a number of office and school stationery including permanent and washable marking inks, adhesives, industrial products etc. Most of the homecare products deal with heath and hygine.

The presence of a strong Research and development team ensured that Sulekha came out with top notch products to meet the growing needs of the Indian masses. This coupled with the “Indian-ness” that was attached to the brand resulted in huge profits for the company. The company was always at an advantage as it understood the target markets much better than the foreign companies and thus could cater to this audience in the much better manner. The focus of the company was always the betterment of the society and the indepence from foreign products. This was synonymous with the feeling in the masses which ensured that the company never fell short of customers.

          The company had to shut down in the 1980’s because of Union issues and other finance related issues. Although the company closed down almost 3 decades ago, the brand “Sulekha Ink” still reverberates in the minds of the Indian consumers. The fountain pens might have been  replaced by the ball point pens but the strong impact and the typical fragrance of Sulekha Ink is still imprinted on the minds of the people. This was the primary reason for the company to start all over again in 2005. The people have welcomed this decision of the company with open arms and Sulekha Ink is all set to reclaim its long lost placed as one of the top brands of India.

History

On the request of Mahatma Gandhi many Indians started businesses on their own to free India from the clutches of imported products. One such business enterprise was Sulekha Works. The ink was given a significant importance as it was a symbolic defiance of the British rule.

           Shri Satish Chandra Dasgupta who was the chief Chemist at Bengal Chemicals instructed Shri Sankaracharya Maitra and Shri Nani Gopal Maitra to setup the company for manufacturing writing ink in 1934 at Rajshahi. The company was named Sulekha as it meant “good writing” in Bengali.

          Even though the start to the company was a very minute one, the ultimate aim was crystal clear. The company was to product writing ink of the heighest quality to be at par with the foreign inks. This aim led to the rapid growth of the company which coupled great quality with domestic sentiment.

          The company started in 1934 had very few resources and thus it was nearly impossible for them to use the traditional methods of marketing. Thus initially the two brothers applied direct marketing by selling their products door-to-door. This led to the early popularity of the ink and the rest of the work was done by the product itself. The company started getting mails from the customers inquiring about their products and thus from the initial push strategy, the company turned to the consumer pull strategy to market its products.

          Due to the sheer poverty of the Indian masses, price was a major concern. The fact that Sulekha ink provided high quality ink at affordable prices was something that no one could stop talking about. Thus the primary mode of marketing the product was word of the mouth.

          In 1936, the company opened a showroom on Mahatma Gandhi Road which served as a front end point of sale for the company. Since every one used to use fountain pens at that point of time, almost everyone walking on the road was a customer. The brand Sulekha was synonymous with the Indian indepence struggle. In 1971 during the war with Pakistan , many refugees were given employment at the company. Thus the brand continued its indepence theme even after India’s independence.

Brand Sulekha Ink

The Brand “Sulekha Ink” reverberated in the minds of the Indian people long after the company was shut down. This shows the solid impact the brand had on the people of India. The primary reason for this was the pillars upon which the brand stood. There were quite a few attributes of the brand Sulekha ink which made sure that its name would be etched in history.

High Quality

          The company not jus produced ink manufactured domestically but they in fact manufactured high quality ink which was comparable to imported standards. This was the key reason for the success of the brand Sulekha ink. The brand has to be backed by a high quality product and in this case the product ensured that all the shortcomings in marketing resources were made up for by the sheer quality of the ink. The domestic Research and Development team not only tried to improve the product quality but at the same time tried to lower the cost of the product so that the same could be passed on the end consumer. This ensured that the masses were enveloped in the target market and thus the consumers appreciated the efforts of the company by increases sales year after year.

Good writing aka Sulekha

          Foreign Brands like Quink were present throughout India but the masses could not fathom the meaning of the word as it was in a foreign language. Also even if they understood the meaning, they would automatically consider it to be expensive as most foreign products would be. Thus there was already a negative sentiment towards such foreign brands. In their midst the name Sulekha would shine through as it already had a connect with the target audience who instantly knew that the brand was Indian and hence associated everything about India with the brand. Thus without spend a single rupee, the company managed to create a complete Brand Image. The Brand stood for low price, high quality, national integration, Indian (especially Bengali) entrepreneurial might etc.

Dark ink and Typical Fragrance

          The ink manufactured by Sulekha had a typical fragrance which was not hard to identify. Also the colour of blue was slightly darker than the normal blue colour. All these minute details ensured that the brand was easily distinguished from its competitors. Thus the Indian consumers could connect very easily with the brand as they knew exactly what they were looking for. The very fact that the ink was darker and smelt different was in fact a marketing ploy to attract the customer by catering to all his senses. Primarily good writing was assured by the quality of the ink. Then the dark colour ensured that the eyes of the customers could easily distinguish the ink and thus gave it a point of difference. Also, the fragrance attracted the customer’s nose. Thus there were multiple reasons for the customer to buy the product. This was one of the key reasons which led to the instant success of the brand.

 Indian Independence Struggle and Gandhiji

          What started off as a company, eventually culminated into a movement. Many entrepreneurs across the country were inspired by this domestic company and flowed in from all corners of the country to assist in its success. This led to the company acquiring the best talent from across the country. What this also meant was that owning a Sulekha ink bottle was not just for the purpose of writing but instead it meant a diffiance of the British rule. Anyone using a Sulekha Ink bottle was a freedom fighter. This sentiment swept the country like wild fire and thus as stated earlier; the word of the mouth did all the marketing that the company could ever ask for.

          The fact that the company was started at the behest of Mahatma Gandhi was well known throughout the country. Thus the Brand ambassador for the company indirectly became the Mahatma himself. Anything that the company did was for the betterment of the society and the interest of the Indian public. This was the message that resonated in every action of the company. This led to the belief that the company was not just selling ink bottles but a piece of Indian Independence one drop at a time. 

Classic Sulekha Advertisement that I grew up with.

Conclusion

          The company closed down in the 1980s because of financial problems and Union issues. This did not hamper the spirits of coming generation of owners who ensured that the company was started again in 2005. The brand was so strong that in spite of the fact that the company closed down, the brand lived on. Hence the owners decided to retain the brand Sulekha. But since the ball point pen had taken over the market, the ink pens became redundant. This made the company shift its focus from writing ink to other stationary. Currently the company sells only 3-4 % ink as part of its overall sales revenue.

          Even though the company sells very little of writing ink, the company has 11 different colours of inks which are unique to the brand Sulekha itself. The company also produces solar powered lamps. Although the company had huge brand awareness among the older generation, it is completely nascent among the youth. Thus the company would have to find its relevance in the current context and rise from the ashes like a phoenix if it is to find its long lost glory and place in the marketing annuls as one of India’s best brands.

Sources

• The fountain Pen Ink (Book) by Satish Chandra Das Gupta
• The company websitehttp://sulekhaink.co.in/
• Bengali.Sulekha.com(blog)
• The telegraph Calcutta http://www.telegraphindia.com/1050610/asp/frontpage/story_4850511.asp
• Business Standard ( http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/sulekha-writingcomeback-story/431089/

(The Blogger wishes to Thank Kanishka Sakrikar for her contribution while preparing this post)