Made By: Mahnoor Malik Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad Marketing Project

1. NIRALA SWEETS
MAHNOOR MALIK
MISHAL TARIQ

2. ABOUT NIRALA:
Nirala Sweets is a
confectionery chain based
in Lahore, Pakistan.
Industry: Bakers.
It was founded in 1948 and its
founder was Mr. Taj Din.
Its headquarter is present in
Lahore.
The brand has over 22 outlets
in Pakistan, 2 in the UAE.
The company sells
traditional mithai and its own
branded snacks, dairy
products and beverages.
The company is now defunct.
They took a loan from the
bank 1.5 billion but they
couldnt pay it back.

3. HISTORY:
• Nirala ( Uniqueness ) was started by Mr. Taj Din in
1948.
• Location: Flemming Road, Lahore.
• Speciality : Halwa Puri and Mithai.
• Secret recipe, best quality ingredients: Official
supplier of sweetmeat at state dinners at Governor
House from 1964.
• Didn’t choose to expand much at that time.

4. FAISAL FAROOQ’S PERIOD:
• In 1994, Faisal Farooq (Grandson of Taj Din) took
over the business.
• Faisal made many substantial decisions to rescue
the family business.
• Positioning Nirala Sweets clearly differentiated itself
from competitors and positioned itself as a
modern youthful, and sophisticated sweetmeat
supplier.
• Faisal applied 7P’s of marketing mix to raise the
standard of mithai business.

5. MARKETING STRATEGIES:
• PRODUCT:
Faisal did product and packaging research.
The size of the product was reduced from 40-45 g to 15-20 g.
Smaller products look appealing and they left craving for more.
He introduced FIRNI and KHEER in cups for the first time.
• PHYSICAL EVIDENCE:
For the first time, interior designers were hired for outlets’
makeover.
Salespersons were trained.
Their uniform was changed to give a more decent and neat look.

6. MARKETING STRATEGIES:
• PEOPLE:
Market research carried out by Faisal, confirmed the
target age group to be 35-40 years of age.
The youngsters were seemed to have moved on to
more western sophisticated confectionary items,
like cakes and chocolates.
Even for the older group, the sweetmeat
consumption had rapidly declined to a few
occasions, such as marriages.
Faisal adopted many strategies to capture the
attention of the youth.

7. MARKETING STRATEGIES:
• PRICE:
Faisal introduced customized packages for all occasions on 300% premium price.
Yet customers liked them by using word of mouth approach.
• PROMOTION:
Nirala used ‘word of mouth’ approach to launch customized products.
They also introduced online order placement service.
They didn’t go with TV ads due to low marketing budget.
They sponsored concerts and English plays to capture youth.

8. MARKETING STRATEGIES:
• PROCESS:
Tremendous efforts went into designing and reshaping the traditional mithai shops
and products into latest and upto date sweet outlets and products that match the
expectations of the modern customers.
• PLACE:
After all this success, Faisal focused on expansion.
By 2008, Nirala had 34 highly successful outlets in 9 cities of Pakistan and 2 in the
Middle East.
All this hardwork made the sales grow more than 10 times in the last eight years.

9. NIRALA’S DOWNFALL:
• The story of Nirala Sweets is akin to a
Shakespearean tragedy of sorts - where fame,
money and success simply disappeared overnight.

10. FAROOQ
AHMED’S
PERIOD:
Taj Din’s eldest son
Farooq Ahmad joined
him, and the mithai took
the whole city by storm.
Inspired by the famous
pastry shops of Paris,
Farooq Ahmad travelled
the world, developing
new techniques and
improvising recipes.
Soon enough, Nirala
under Farooq Ahmed
gained a reputation for
fine sweets,
entrepreneurship and
also great charity.
In the late 80s, Farooq
Ahmad was diagnosed
with Parkinson’s, and his
eldest son, young and
energetic Faisal Farooq
took over the reins at
just 20 years of age.

11. MAJOR
SETBACK:
When Farooq Ahmad’s health deteriorated, nervous shareholders
sold off their stakes and the company ultimately belonged solely
Farooq Ahmed.
Under the new, young leadership, Nirala thrived.
The downfall of the empire began with a bank loan taken to set
up a dairy factory.
Faisal Farooq mortgaged all his property, worth billions of rupees
at the time, like a good idea at the time, ended in disaster.

12. WRONG
DECISIONS:
“A big initiative at the wrong time triggered the downfall of the
confectionery chain.”
In different phases, the company borrowed more than Rs1.5 billion
billion at high-interest rates from the Bank of Punjab when the
dairy business was on the decline.
The failure of the mega project was a blow for Nirala.
It could not pay back the borrowed money and the interest kept
piling on.
At this time, the death of a young boy in a road accident added to
Faisal Farooq’s troubles.

13. END OF THE GREAT EMPIRE:
• The year 2014 was virtually the end of the great
empire, and the factory on Waris Road was
sealed for not paying outstanding taxes.
• Faisal Farooq’s name was put on the exit control
list (ECL).
• The man who used to keep the company of the
country’s top political and business elite became
an absconder.
• “The entire family stood divided due to the
stubbornness of Faisal Farooq. He adorned all
that is usually associated with spoilt rich brats. He
was totally different from his grandfather, father
and uncles.” Sohail Shakir.

14. CONCLUSION:
https://nation.com.pk/12-Dec-2016/a-bittersweet-rise-and-fall
Nirala sweets faced this
due to wrong decisions made
Faisal Farooq and his stubborn
nature.

15. THANKYOU