Niine awarded as India's most admirable brand 2020

Niine, one of the most trusted sanitary napkins brands among women in India has been awarded as India’s Most Admirable Brand 2020 for offering premium hygiene and personal care products to consumers

Niine Hygiene and Personal Care took an off the beaten track by launching the premium, yet affordable, Made-in-India sanitary napkins in 2018. This category which has been dominated by MNCs, was seen as a huge opportunity by Niine, an Indian player to venture into this segment and provide unparalleled solutions for the Indian consumers.

Ever since, there has been no stopping for this challenger brand. It has also come into the limelight with its bold moves in advertising and cricket partnerships to promote its high quality sanitary napkins while also addressing the stigma around periods.

Niine has crossed international borders several times in its efforts to break menstrual taboos. Placing sanitary pad mats on the cricket field during West Indies and New Zealand cricket tournaments earlier this year, and its recent undertaking as the “principal sponsor” of the Rajasthan Royals franchise in the Indian Premier League (IPL) - became a talking point among all. Social Media flooded with appreciation posts for this unique collaboration. The IPL association truly magnified their #LetsTalkPeriods campaign to get both men and women, to talk about periods.

However, Niine is not limited to only sanitary napkins. While its focus is on woman hygiene, it is committed to a larger goal of overall health and hygiene as the company recently launched its range of Hand Hygiene products. As sanitization and personal hygiene have become a part of our basic needs today, Niine has provided the Rajasthan Royals team with hand hygiene kits to continue playing without compromising on health and safety.   

Although, Niine has undertaken some bold marketing initiatives, what is most noteworthy about the brand is that they have cherry picked their marketing campaigns so as to remain sustainable and focused on delivering quality, premium products at an affordable price.

The quality offered by Niine to consumers is superior to other brands positioned in the same price range. The company ensures this by striking the right balance between lean and streamlined operations and a sustainable approach to brand building by initiating few, but high impact marketing activities. The selective marketing spends ensures that the reach is maximum without causing a dent in the profitability of the company.

Sponsoring Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League was one such sixer that the brand scored in its kitty of unconventional, yet highly impactful marketing moves.

Sharat Khemka, who is the Co-founder at Niine Hygiene and Personal Care and is an ardent follower of cricket himself, believes that since it is the most popular sport in the country and the audience IPL attracts cuts across regional, economic and socio-cultural barriers in India. Using the reach of IPL to highlight the issue of menstruation and feminine hygiene certainly helped them raise the curtain on a topic still largely considered a taboo among both men and women.

Amar Tulsiyan, founder of Niine Hygiene and Personal Care who comes with decades of experience with him, is leading the team with a bulls eye goal of superior quality solutions and products. Hence, each of their products are formulated after intensive research and development. Amar strongly believes that business opportunities should positively impact and contribute to the local and national economy. It is because of this, that every decision at Niine is evaluated keeping in mind the quality of products offered to the consumers and building a brand that also makes a positive social impact in the society. This is used as a corner stone in his management philosophy and business decisions.

Time and again, Niine has undertaken a social marketing approach right from its inception and continues to do so as they foray into varied categories. The ‘Run4Niine’ Initiative was a prime example, where Bollywood star and India’s ‘Pad Man’ Akshay Kumar joined forces with Niine to organise a large scale event in the form of a marathon to get Indians to come out and raise awareness about menstrual hygiene.

Another one of its kind social marketing campaign initiated by Niine during IPL was #EveryRunCounts to further strengthen their commitment of making menstrual hygiene accessible to all. Regardless of a win or a loss in the match, for every run scored by the Rajasthan Royals team, Niine will provide menstrual hygiene to 9 girls. This campaign was initiated to encourage the players to score more, not just to win the match, but also to make a difference in the society.

Undoubtedly, Niine Hygiene and personal care is a one of a kind homegrown brand striking a perfect balance between social impact marketing activities, superior quality products at affordable price and lean operations.

The Brand Story acknowledges the unparalleled contribution made by Niine in redefining premium sanitation and personal hygiene. Mr. Abhay Kaushik, Editor in Chief and Director, The Brand Story said, “Menstrual female hygiene has been a pressing concern in India. With the remarkable social contribution of Niine, not only are the women getting sensitized about the importance of hygiene, but an increasing number of people are also waking up to support the cause of menstrual hygiene. The Brand Story is honoured to recognize a progressive social impact brand like Niine as India’s Most Admirable Brand 2020.”

Disclaimer: The views, suggestions and opinions expressed here are the sole responsibility of the experts. No Forbes India journalist was involved in the writing and production of this article.