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A PROJECT REPORT ON
BLUE OCEAN STRATEGY FOR RURAL MARKETING PROFESSIONALS FOR HUL PRODUCTS

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment for the Award of the Diploma of Post Graduate Diploma in Management (2011-2013)

SUBMITTED TO
MS. PARUL PURI

SUBMITTED BYMANISH KUMAR JHA PGDM-PGD11049

DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT

INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES, NOIDA

A UGC Recognized Institute A-8B, Plot C, Sector-62, Noida

DECLARATION
I, MANISH KUMAR JHA, bearing Roll No PGD11049 Class PGDM 2nd year of the Institute of Management Studies, Noida hereby declare that the Project Report-PG407 entitled BLUE OCEAN STRATEGY FOR RURAL MARKETING PROFESSIONALS FOR HUL PRODUCTS is an original work and the same has not been submitted to any other Institute for the award of any other diploma. The suggestions as approved by the faculty were duly incorporated.

SIGNATURE OF FACULTY GUIDE-

SIGNATURE OF STUDENT-

MS. PARUL PURI

MANISH KUMAR JHA

DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT

INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES, NOIDA

A UGC Recognized Institute

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This study of BLUE OCEAN STRATEGY FOR RURAL MARKETING PROFESSIONALS FOR HUL PRODUCTS could not have been possible with my efforts only. I would like to express my deep gratitude to my faculty guide MS. PARUL PURI and DR. VANDANA MATHUR who gave me the guidance in various ways to make the project a reality. Above all, I would like to express my deep gratitude to my family for providing me moral support and help.

MANISH KUMAR JHA ROLL NO- PGD11049

CONTENTS:1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY INTRODUCTION LITREATURE REVIEW COMPANY PROFILE PRODUCTS MARKETING STRATEGY FAILED PRODUCTS DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM RESEARCH METHODOLOGY FINDINGS SUGGESTIONS CONCLUSION REFRENCES 5 6-14 15-18 19-27 28-34 35-37 39-41 42 43 44 45 46 47

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
My project title was BLUE OCEAN STRATEGY FOR RURAL MARKETING

PROFESSIONALS FOR HUL PRODUCTS In 1931, Unilever set up its first Indian subsidiary, Hindustan Vanaspati Manufacturing Company, followed by Lever Brothers India Limited (1933) and United Traders Limited (1935). These three companies merged to form HUL in November 1956; HUL offered 10% of its equity to the Indian public, being the first among the foreign subsidiaries to do so. Unilever now holds 52.10% equity in the company. The rest of the shareholding is distributed among about 360,675 individual shareholders and financial institutions.
My objective was To determine the market share of HUL in rural market.To know about the

products of HUL.To know the marketing strategies employed by HUL.To find out the Factor influencing demand of FMCG product.To know about distribution channel used by HUL My findings was implementing its strategy to grow includes focusing on the power brands' growth through consumer relevant information, cross category extensions, leveraging channel opportunities and increased focus on rural growth. Hindustan Lever in India has launched a hand-wash product, Surf Excel Quick Wash, with a low foaming formulation, reducing the amount of water needed for rinsing by up to two buckets per wash. HUL is the world's largest ice cream manufacturer, with successful Heart brand which includes Magnum, Cornetto, Carte d'Or and Solero, and Ben & Jerry's and Brayers in the US My conclusion was- With its long and luminous history HUL is Indias true pride. It is a company which the customers in rural as well as urban India relate to. This explains the deep penetration of HUL in Indian market. he future for HUL is demanding newer and high level innovations so as to cope up with increasing competition. However HUL is well equipped with all what is needed of this Indian Giant.
My limitation was Problem in collecting secondary data due to large no. of web site. It was very

difficult to get the complete information. Lack of time for collecting data.

INTRODUCTION
BLUE OCEAN STRATEGY

Blue ocean strategy is a set of tools and techniques which guide your thinking to enable you to develop a strategy which makes competition irrelevant and creates high profit growth. Blue Ocean Strategy is a series of managerial decisions that drive customer value up while driving costs down with a series of moves that create value innovation. The well-defined process looks at existing markets in a different way and identifies new competitive factors that add value and eliminate head-to-head competition. When you apply the Blue Ocean Strategy, you unlock new market demand and make the competition irrelevant. The cornerstone of Blue Ocean Strategy is 'Value Innovation'. A blue ocean is created when a company achieves value innovation that creates value simultaneously for both the buyer and the company. The innovation (in product, service, or delivery) must raise and create value for the market, while simultaneously reducing or eliminating features or services that are less valued by the current or future market. The authors criticize Michael Porter's idea that successful businesses are either low-cost providers or niche-players. Instead, they propose finding value that crosses conventional market segmentation and offering value and lower cost. Educator Charles W. L. Hill proposed this idea in 1988 and claimed that Porter's model was flawed because differentiation can be a means for firms to achieve low cost. He proposed that a combination of differentiation and low cost might be necessary for firms to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. Companies have long engaged in head-to-head competition in search of sustained, profitable growth. They have fought for competitive advantage, battled over market share, and struggled for differentiation. Yet in todays overcrowded industries, competing head-on results in nothing but bloody red oceans of rivals fighting over a shrinking profit pool. In a book that challenges everything you thought you knew about the requirements for strategic success, W. Chan Kim and Rene Mauborgne contend that while most companies compete within such red oceans, this strategy is increasingly unlikely to create profitable growth in the future. Based on a study of 150 strategic moves spanning more than a hundred years and thirty industries, Kim and Mauborgne argue that tomorrows leading companies will succeed not by battling competitors, but rather by creating blue oceans of uncontested market space ripe for growth. Such strategic movestermed value innovationscreate powerful leaps in value for both the firm and its customer, rendering rivals obsolete and capturing new demand. Blue Ocean Strategy provides a systematic approach to making the competition irrelevant.

Examining a wide range of strategic moves across a host of industries, Blue Ocean Strategy highlights the six principles that every company can use to successfully formulate and execute blue ocean strategies. The six principles show how to reconstruct market boundaries, focus on the big picture, reach beyond existing demand, get the strategic sequence right, overcome organizational hurdles, and build execution into strategy. In this game-changing book, Kim and Mauborgne present a proven analytical framework and the tools for successfully creating and capturing blue oceans. Upending traditional thinking about strategy, Blue Ocean Strategy charts a bold path to winning the future BLUE OCEAN STRATEGY VS RED OCEAN STRATEGY Kim and Mauborgne argue that while traditional competition-based strategies (red ocean strategies) are necessary, they are not sufficient to sustain high performance. Companies need to go beyond competing. To seize new profit and growth opportunities they also need to create blue oceans. The authors argue that competition based strategies assume that an industrys structural conditions are given and that firms are forced to compete within them, an assumption based on what academics call the structuralism view, or environmental determinism To sustain themselves in the marketplace, practitioners of red ocean strategy focus on building advantages over the competition, usually by assessing what competitors do and striving to do it better. Here, grabbing a bigger share of the market is seen as a zero-sum game in which one companys gain is achieved at another companys loss. Hence, competition, the supply side of the equation, becomes the defining variable of strategy. Here, cost and value are seen as trade-offs and a firm chooses a distinctive cost or differentiation position. Because the total profit level of the industry is also determined exogenously by structural factors, firms principally seek to capture and redistribute wealth instead of creating wealth. They focus on dividing up the red ocean, where growth is increasingly limited Blue ocean strategy, on the other hand, is based on the view that market boundaries and industry structure are not given and can be reconstructed by the actions and beliefs of industry players. This is what the authors call deconstructionists view. Assuming that structure and market boundaries exist only in managers minds, practitioners who hold this view do not let existing market structures limit their thinking. To them, extra demand is out there, largely untapped. The crux of the problem is how to create it. This, in turn, requires a shift of attention from supply to demand, from a focus on competing to a focus on value innovation that is, the creation of innovative value to unlock new demand. This is achieved via the simultaneous pursuit of differentiation and low-cost. As market structure is changed by breaking the value/cost tradeoff, so are the rules of the game. Competition in the old game is therefore rendered irrelevant. By expanding the demand side of the economy new wealth is created. Such a strategy therefore allows firms to largely play a nonzero-sum game, with high payoff possibilities.

ABOUT FMCG
Fast moving consumer goods are the goods purchased by the consumers for their own use and Purchased repeatedly. They buy these products on daily or weekly basis in small quantity. The Price of such products per unit is low. The consumption of such products is very high due to Requirement of every one and large in number of consumers. Indian population is a huge Population over 120 corers. A separate sector called FMCG sector is well established in India. India has always been a country with a big chunk of world population, be it the 1950s or the twenty first century. In that sense, the FMCG market potential has always been very big. However, from the 1950s to the 80s investments in the FMCG industries were very limited due to low purchasing power and the governments favoring of the small-scale Sector. The consumer markets in India are constantly evolving. The first phase of consumer market evolution in the 1980s and the 1990s was characterized by some major structural changes: changes in income distribution, increased product availability (in terms of both quality and quantity), increased competition, increased media penetration and improved advertising (impacting lifestyle). These raised the levels of consumer awareness and propensity to consume, etc. The late 1990s witnessed a surge in consumer finance products owing to steady financial sector reforms in the economy and innovative marketing. The consumer markets in India have entered the second phase of evolution with the turn of the century. The Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sector is the fourth largest sector in the economy with a total market size in excess of Rs 60,000 crore. This industry essentially comprises Consumer Non Durable (CND) products and caters to the everyday need of the population. Hindustan Lever Limited (HLL) was probably the only MNC Company that stuck around and had its manufacturing base in India. At the time, the focus of the organised players like HLL was largely urbane. There too, the consumers had limited choices. However, Nirmas entry Changed the whole Indian FMCG scene. The company focused on the value for money plank and made FMCG products like detergents very affordable even to the lower strata of the society. Nirma became a great success story and laid the roadmap for others to follow. MNCs like HLL, which were sitting pretty till then, woke up to new market realities and noticed the latent rural potential of India. The governments relaxation of norms also encouraged these companies to go out for economies of scale in order to make FMCG products more affordable. Consequently, today soaps and detergents have almost 90% penetration in India. Post liberalization not only saw higher number of domestic choices, but also imported products. The lowering of the trade barriers encouraged MNCs to come and invest in India to cater to 1bn Indians needs. Rising

standards of living urban areas coupled with the purchasing power of rural India saw companies introduce everything from a low-end detergent to a high-end sanitary napkin. Their strategy has become two-pronged in the last decade. One, invest in expanding the distribution reach far and wide across India to enable market expansion of FMCG products. Secondly, upgrade existing consumers to value added premium products and increase usage of existing product ranges. So you could see all companies be it HLL, Godrej Consumer, Marico, Henkel, Reckitt Benckiser and Colgate, trying to outdo each other in getting to the rural consumer first. Each of them has seen a significant expansion in the retail reach in mid-sized towns and villages. Some who could not do it on their own, have piggy backed on other FMCG majors distribution network (P&G-Marico). Consequently, companies that have taken to rural India like chalk to cheese have seen their sales and profits expanding. For example, currently 50% of all HLL sales come from rural India, and consequently, it is one the biggest beneficiaries of This. There are others, like Nestle, which have till date catered mostly to urban India but have still seen good growth in the last decade. The companys focus in the last decade has largely been on value added products for the upper strata of society. However, in the last couple of years, even these companies have looked to reach consumers at the slightly lower end. One of the biggest changes to hit the FMCG industry was the sachet bug. In the last 3 years, detergent companies, shampoo companies, hair oil companies, biscuit companies, chocolate companies and a host of others, have introduced products in smaller package sizes, at lower price points. This is the single big innovation to reach new users and expand market share for value added products in urban India, and for general FMCG products like detergents, soaps and oral care in rural India. Another interesting phenomenon to have hit the FMCG industry is the mushrooming of regional companies, which are posing a threat to bigger FMCG Companies like HLL. For example, the rise of Jyothi Laboratories, which has given sleepless nights to Reckitt Benckiser, the Ghari detergent, that has slowly but surely built itself to take on Nirma and HLL in detergents, and finally, the rise of Anchor in oral care, which has Become synonymous with cat, which walks away with spoils when two monkeys fight (HLL and Colgate)? There are numerous other examples of this. What does all this mean for the future of FMCG industry in India? Undoubtedly, all this is good for the consumers, who can now choose a variety of products, from a number of companies, at different price points. But for the players who cater to the Indian consumer, the future brings a lot more competition. In this environment, only the innovators will survive. Focus will be the key to profitability (ala HLL). From an investors point of view, Indian FMCG companies do offer long-term growth

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opportunities given the low penetration and usage in most product categories. To choose the best investment opportunities look at the Shapers (i.e. innovators) that have been constantly proactive to market needs and have built Strong, efficient and intelligent distribution channels. Management vision to growth is the key, as consumers going forward are likely to become even more sophisticated in their demand. The Rs 86,000-crore FMCG industry is expected to witness a lot of action in 2010. With the economy showing signs of revival, the industry is expected to register a more than 12% growth in 2010 as compared to the previous year. The industry will witness a spate of acquisitions & mergers in the 2010. There will be a renewed focus on rural consumers too, said an analyst based in Mumbai. The countrys FMCG industry registered a 12% growth in 2009 despite the economic downturn. The captains of the FMCG sector are optimistic about the industrys performance in the New Year. Godrej Group chairman Adi Godrej said, With 8% GDP growth and GST implementation, we feel it will be a great year for the FMCG sector in India. The focus area for the Godrej Group will be on FMCG business in 2010. Sharing similar sentiments, Amit Burman, vice-chairman of Dabur India said the industry is expected to register a 14% growth this year as India is getting out of the recessionary blues. Our focus would be on OTC healthcare and skincare brands to sustain our growth in this sector, he added. According to Wipro Consumer Care & Lighting CEO Vineet agarwal, the industry is expected to perform better in the new year as compared to the previous year. Even during the economic slowdown, the FMCG industry registered a 12% growth. When you see buoyancy in economy, the industry will further grow in 2010. Our core focus will continue to be on rural consumers, he said. Harsh Agarwal, director of Emami Ltd said Emami is looking at both organic and inorganic growth strategy in 2010. The industry is poised for a double digit growth as the overall growth rate of the country is growing, he said. Echoing similar views, Saugata Gupta, CEO, Consumer Products, Marico Ltd said the industry will register a 15 % growth in 2010 as compared to the previous year. I expect the topline growth of the industry to register 15-20 % this year, he added. Nikhil Vora, managing director, IIDFC SSKI Securities Ltd said the top line of the FMCG is likely to grow by 14.2% y-o-y in Q3FY2010, substantially driven by volume growth. Despite the rise in input costs, FMCG industry is likely to sustain its robust growth momentum aided by increased rural incomes, taxation benefits and gradual shift from the unorganized sector/regional players. With the presence of 12.2% of the world population in the villages of India, the Indian rural

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FMCG market is something no one can overlook. Increased focus on farm sector will boost rural incomes, hence providing better growth prospects to the FMCG companies. Better infrastructure facilities will improve their supply chain. FMCG sector is also likely to benefit from growing demand in the market. Because of the low per capita consumption for almost all the products in the country, FMCG companies have immense possibilities for growth. And if the companies are able to change the mindset of the consumers, i.e. if they are able to take the consumers to branded products and offer new generation products, they would be able to generate higher growth in the near future. It is expected that the rural income will rise in 2007, boosting purchasing power in the countryside. However, the demand in urban areas would be the key growth driver over the long term. Also, increase in the urban population, along with increase in income levels and the availability of new categories, would help the urban areas maintain their position in terms of consumption. At present, urban India accounts for 66% of total FMCG consumption, with rural India accounting for the remaining 34%. However, rural India accounts for more than 40% consumption in major FMCG categories such as personal care, fabric care, and hot beverages. In urban areas, home and personal care category, including skin care, household care and feminine hygiene, will keep growing at relatively attractive rates. Within the foods segment, it is estimated that processed foods, bakery, and dairy are long-term growth categories in both rural and urban areas. Indian FMCG industry is expected to grow at a base rate of at least 12% annually to become a Rs 4,000 billion industry in 2020, according to a new report by Booz & Company. The Report titled FMCG Roadmap to 2020 - The Game Changers was released at the CII FMCG Forum 2010 in New Delhi Thursday. The Report noted that the positive growth drivers mainly pertain to the robust GDP growth, opening up and increased income in the rural areas of the country, increased urbanization and evolving consumer lifestyle and buying behavior. The report further revealed that if some of the positive factors driven mainly by improved and supportive government policy to remove supply constraints play out favourably, the industry could even see a 17% growth over the next decade, leading to an overall industry size of Rs 6,200 Billion by 2020. The last decade has already seen the sector grow at 12% annually as result of which the sector has tripled in size. Releasing the report, Booz & Company Partner Abhishek Malhotra said, While on an aggregate basis the industry will continue to show strong growth, we will see huge variations at multiple levels product category (e.g. processed foods growing faster than basic staples), companies and geographies. Many Indian customer segments are reaching the tipping point at which consumption becomes broad based and takes off following the traditional S shaped curve seen across many markets.

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The sector is poised for rapid growth over the next 10 years and by the year 2020, FMCG industry is expected to be larger, more responsible and more tuned to its customers, he further added. The Report identifies 9 key mega trends across consumers, markets and environment that will have a significant impact in shaping how the industry will look like in year 2020.

(a) Increasing Premiumization Continued income growth coupled with increased willingness to spend will see consumers uptrading, creating demand for higher priced and increased functionality (real or perceived) products. The size of this segment will be large. (b) Evolving Categories Many consumers will move up the ladder and will shift from basic need to want based products. In addition evolving behaviour and emphasis on beauty, health & wellness will see increased requirements for customized and more relevant product offerings. (c) Value at BoP Significant majority of the population in the country, especially in the rural markets, will become a consumption source by moving beyond the survival mode. This segment will require tailored product at highly affordable prices which will come with the potential of very large volumes. (d) Increasing Globalization While many leading MNCs have operated in the country for years given the liberal policy environment, the next 10 years will see increased competition from Tier 2 and 3 global players. In addition, larger Indian companies will continue to seek opportunities internationally and also have an access to more global brands, products and operating practices. (e) Decentralization Despite the complexity of the Indian market (languages, cultures, distances) the market has mainly operated in a homogenous set-up. Increased scale and spending power will result in more fragmented and tailored business models (products, branding, operating structures).

(f) Growing Modern Trade Modern trade share will continue to increase and is estimated to account for nearly 30% by year 2020. This channel will complete existing traditional trade (~8 million stores which will continue to grow) and offer both a distribution channel through its cash & carry model as well as more avenues to interact with the consumer. (g) Focus on Sustainability

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Global climatic changes, increasing scarcity of many natural resources (e.g. water, oil) and consumer awareness (e.g. waste) are leading to increased concerns for the environment. The pressure on companies to be environmentally responsible is gradually increasing due to involvement of various stakeholders from government (through policy) to consumers (through brand choice) and NGOs (through awareness). (h) Technology as a Game Changer Increased and relevant functionality coupled with lower costs will enable technology deployment to drive significant benefits and allow companies to address the complex business environment. This will be seen both in terms of efficiencies in the back-end processes (e.g. supply chain, sales) as well as the front-end (e.g. consumer marketing). (i) Favourable Government Policy Many government actions in discussions as well as planned will help in creating a more suitable operating environment. This will be done both on the demand side by increased income and education as well as on the supply side by removing bottlenecks and encouraging investments in infrastructure. The confluence of many of these change drivers consumers, technology, government policy, and channel partners will have a multiplication impact and magnify both the amount as well as the pace of change. Winning in this new world will require enhancing current capabilities and building new ones to bridge gaps. In this new world FMCG companies will have 6 imperatives from a business strategy perspective: disaggregating the operating model, winning the talent wars, bringing sustainability into the strategic agenda, re-inventing marketing for i-consumers, re-engineering supply chains, partnering with modern trade. The report urges the need for other stakeholders government, retailers, NGOs and investors to play a key role and evolve in a similar fashion to support the growth of the industry while continuing to deliver on their core business and social mandates. LIST OF MAJOR FMCG COMPANIES IN INDIA

The Indian FMCG sector is the fourth largest in the economy and has a market size of US$13.1 billion. Well-established distribution networks, as well as intense competition between the organized and unorganized segments are the characteristics of this sector. FMCG in India has a strong and competitive MNC presence across the entire value chain. It has been predicted that the FMCG market will reach to US$ 33.4 billion in 2015 from US $ billion 11.6 in 2003. The middle class and the rural segments of the Indian population are the most promising market for FMCG, and give brand makers the opportunity to convert them to branded products. Most of the

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product categories like jams, toothpaste, skin care, shampoos, etc, in India, have low per capita consumption as well as low penetration level, but the potential for growth is huge. The Indian Economy is surging ahead by leaps and bounds, keeping pace with rapid urbanization, increased literacy levels, and rising per capita income. The big firms are growing bigger and small-time companies are catching up as well. According to the study conducted by AC Nielsen, 62 of the top 100 brands are owned by MNCs, and the balance by Indian companies. Fifteen companies own these 62 brands, and 27 of these are owned by Hindustan Lever. Pepsi is at number three followed by Thumps Up. Britannia takes the fifth place, Followed by Colgate (6), Nirma (7), Coca-Cola (8) and Parle (9). These are figures the soft drink and cigarette companies have always shied away from revealing. Personal care, cigarettes, and soft drinks are the three biggest categories in FMCG. Between them, they account for 35 of the top 100 brands. The companies mentioned in Exhibit I, are the leaders in their respective sectors. The personal care category has the largest number of brands, i.e., 21, inclusive of Lux, Lifebuoy, Fair and Lovely, Vicks, and Ponds. There are 11 HLL brands in the 21, aggregating Rs. 3,799 crore or 54% of the personal care category. Cigarettes account for 17% of the top 100 FMCG sales, and just below the personal care category. ITC alone accounts for 60% volume market share and 70% by value of all filter cigarettes in India.

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LITERATURE REVIEW
FMCG Industry Generally, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) (also known as repeat-purchase packaged goods) refer to consumer non-durable goods required for daily or frequent use (Paul 2006). The FMCG field is very large: Advertising investments in various categories of repeat-purchase goods are consistently extremely large (Jones and Slater 2002). Marketing according to Bradley (2003) is a philosophy that leads to the process by which organizations, groups, and individuals obtain what they need and want by identifying value, providing it, communicating it and delivering it to others.

Marketing according to Proctor (2000) is about satisfying wants and needs and in the course of doing so facilitating the achievement of an organizations objectives

Marketing Strategy
It integrates the activities in marketing as well as sales and advertising (Pinson 2008, p. 44). Targeting is the process of identifying the companys consumers to whom the marketing strategies will be directed. Targeting is considered as an important process The process of positioning is all about creating a favorable position for the company and its products or services in the market, particularly in the minds of the consumers. A companys position is composed of different factors that spring up from perceptions, impressions and feelings (Bradley, 2003).

Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning

FMCG companies are often viewed as leaders when it comes to segmentation. These companies seen to be able to effectively segment their markets.The FMCG sector is intensely competitive, as the sector continues to progress, companies need to look for ways of making money. Companies such as Unilever and Procter and Gamble are effective in segmenting markets into groups of customers with common needs and buying motives, and then developing solutions that appealed particularly strongly to those segments.

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A companys marketing strategy is influenced by the marketplace orientation that the company adopts (Kotler 2000)

Customer is always right, they say. This leads to a challenge of always finding out what the customer actually wants. However, one should also take into account how competitors act and how to communicate and coordinate the information flow between business functions. Combined, these dimensions contribute to market orientation of a company. Market orientation is an important part of contemporary marketing thought with significant amount of research from different perspectives available since the early 1990s.Consequently, several definitions for this concept have also been offered, making it carefully considered (Noble, Sinha and Kumar, 2002). Importance of market orientation has not been questioned in marketing literature; Kotler (2003) even argues that segmentation, targeting and positioning which all can be effectively performed in companies of high market orientation is the essence of strategic marketing. Narver and Slater (1990) argue a fundamental benefit of being market oriented to be the continuous superior performance for the business. Market orientation cannot be interpreted to exist in a vacuum from other activities and pressures in the business (Hooley , 2001). On contrary, it can be evidenced that facing recent changes in business environment, such as globalization, increased importance of services, information technology and relationships across company functions and firms, have led to a situation where most industries have to be more and more market-oriented (Walker, Mullins, Boyd, Larrch,2006). Further, without a doubt, market orientation that stresses the importance of using both customer and competitor information (Hunt and Morgan, 2001) should clearly be involved when formulating strategy.

Hunt and Morgan (1995) stress the importance of, in addition to current competitors and customers, also analyzing potential competitors and market niches. This, I think, is a good and necessary supplement to the definition of market orientation since myopic market perspective may lead to success only in relatively short term. Market orientation, defined by Hunt and Morgan (1995) is (1) systematic gathering of information on customers and competitors, both present and potential, (2) systematic analysis of the information for the purpose of developing market knowledge, and (3) systematic use of such a knowledge to guide strategy recognition, understanding, creation, selection, implementation and modification.

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Some researchers have ended up with somewhat different, but alike, definitions for market orientation than those described above. For example, Noble, Sinha and Kumar(2002) extend the definition of market orientation to include brand focus as one of its dimension. On the other hand, e.g. Ruekerts (1992) definition for market orientation lacks the competitor component, being the degree to which the business unit obtains and uses information from customers, develops a strategy which will meet customer needs, and implements that strategy by being responsive to customers needs and wants. Whatever the definition, market orientation clearly is intangible and cannot be purchased in the marketplace. It may well be also true that, as Hunt and Morgan (2001) argue, market orientation is socially complex in its structure, has components that are highly interconnected, and has mass efficiencies and effectives that grow in strength in time.

Rather closely related to market orientation framework, Treacy and Wiersema (1993) presented the idea of delivering value to customers in one of the following three ways to achieve market leadership: operational excellence, customer intimacy or product leadership. By operational excellence, they mean providing customers with reliable products or services at competitive prices and delivered with minimal difficulty or inconvenience.

Customer intimacy, the second value discipline, means segmenting and targeting markets precisely and then tailoring offerings to match exactly the demands of those niches. Product leadership, in turn, refers to offering customers leading-edge products and services that consistently enhance the customers use or application of the product, thereby making rivals goods obsolete. Treacy and Wiersema (1993) argue that companies, to achieve leading position in their industries, should not broaden their business focus but narrow it; while mastering one of the disciplines, it is sufficient to meet industry standards in others. Performance impact of market orientation can in this case be explained with commonly established argument according to which satisfied customers are more loyal customers than unsatisfied ones (Srivastava, Shervani and Fahey, 1998). Srivastava et al. (1998) also state that they extend their relationships with vendors to include other products and services and buy offerings in larger quantities, and are willing to pay higher prices and spread the good word to their circles of acquaintances. Further, due to probably several times lower costs of customer retention compared to new customer

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acquisition (e.g. Kotler, 2003), successful market orientation rationally increases financial performance of a firm.

The empirical research of Narver and Slater (1990) found out the U-shaped relationship between market orientation and business profitability in numerous industries. Thus, companies with highest market orientation seem to perform best while those least market oriented do also relatively well; here, as with generic competitive strategies of Porter (1980) and value delivering (Treacy and Wiersema, 1993), it does not pay to be stuck in the middle. Narver and Slater (1990) suggest this kind of relationship to be evident especially in basic industries and long-established technology-driven industries. To date, many authors have found the positive relationship between market orientation and business performance.

According to Day (1994), market-driven organizations have superior market sensing, customer linking, and channel bonding (i.e., outside-in marketing) capabilities. When studying companies in the UK, Hooley et al. (2005) empirically found positive relationship between market orientation and customer linking capabilities. Also conceptually, market orientation and outsidein market capabilities are neighboring phenomena, even partly interrelated. This fact leads us naturally to the next ingredients of strategic marketing, namely marketing assets and capabilities.

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HUL
In the summer of 1888, visitors to the Kolkata harbor noticed crates full of Sunlight soap bars, embossed with the words "Made in England by Lever Brothers". With it, began an era of marketing branded Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG).Soon after followed Lifebuoy in 1895 and other famous brands like Pears, Lux and Vim. Vanaspati was launched in 1918 and the famous Dalda brand came to the market in 1937 In 1931, Unilever set up its first Indian subsidiary, Hindustan Vanaspati Manufacturing Company, followed by Lever Brothers India Limited (1933) and United Traders Limited (1935). These three companies merged to form HUL in November 1956; HUL offered 10% of its equity to the Indian public, being the first among the foreign subsidiaries to do so. Unilever now holds 52.10% equity in the company. The rest of the shareholding is distributed among about 360,675 individual shareholders and financial institutions. The erstwhile Brooke Bond's presence in India dates back to 1900. By 1903, the company had launched Red Label tea in the country. In 1912, Brooke Bond & Co. India Limited was formed. Brooke Bond joined the Unilever fold in 1984 through an international acquisition. The erstwhile Lipton's links with India were forged in 1898. Unilever acquired Lipton in 1972 and in 1977 Lipton Tea (India) Limited was incorporated. Pond's (India) Limited had been present in India since 1947. It joined the Unilever fold through an international acquisition of Chesebrough Pond's USA in 1986. Since the very early years, HUL has vigorously responded to the stimulus of economic growth. The growth process has been accompanied by judicious diversification, always in line with Indian opinions and aspirations. The liberalization of the Indian economy, started in 1991, clearly marked an inflexion in HUL's and the Group's growth curve. Removal of the regulatory framework allowed the company to explore every single product and opportunity segment, without any constraints on production capacity. Simultaneously, deregulation permitted alliances, acquisitions and mergers. In one of the most visible and talked about events of India's corporate history, the erstwhile Tata Oil Mills Company (TOMCO) merged with HUL, effective from April 1, 1993. In 1996, HUL and yet

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another Tata company, Lakme Limited, formed a 50:50 joint venture, Lakme Unilever Limited, to market Lakme's market-leading cosmetics and other appropriate products of both the companies. Subsequently in 1998, Lakme Limited sold its brands to HUL and divested its 50% stake in the joint venture to the company. HUL formed a 50:50 joint venture with the US-based Kimberly Clark Corporation in 1994, Kimberly-Clark Lever Ltd, which markets Huggies Diapers and Kotex Sanitary Pads. HUL has also set up a subsidiary in Nepal, Unilever Nepal Limited (UNL), and its factory represents the largest manufacturing investment in the Himalayan kingdom. The UNL factory manufactures HUL's products like Soaps, Detergents and Personal Products both for the domestic market and exports to India. The 1990s also witnessed a string of crucial mergers, acquisitions and alliances on the Foods and Beverages front. In 1992, the erstwhile Brooke Bond acquired Kothari General Foods, with significant interests in Instant Coffee. In 1993, it acquired the Kissan business from the UB Group and the Dollops Icecream business from Cadbury India. As a measure of backward integration, Tea Estates and Doom Dooma, two plantation companies of Unilever, were merged with Brooke Bond. Then in 1994, Brooke Bond India and Lipton India merged to form Brooke Bond Lipton India Limited (BBLIL), enabling greater focus and ensuring synergy in the traditional Beverages business. 1994 witnessed BBLIL launching the Wall's range of Frozen Desserts. By the end of the year, the company entered into a strategic alliance with the Kwality Icecream Group families and in 1995 the Milkfood 100% Icecream marketing and distribution rights too were acquired. Finally, BBLIL merged with HUL, with effect from January 1, 1996. The internal restructuring culminated in the merger of Pond's (India) Limited (PIL) with HUL in 1998. The two companies had significant overlaps in Personal Products, Speciality Chemicals and Exports businesses, besides a common distribution system since 1993 for Personal Products. The two also had a common management pool and a technology base. The amalgamation was done to ensure for the Group, benefits from scale economies both in domestic and export markets and enable it to fund investments required for aggressively building new categories. In January 2000, in a historic step, the government decided to award 74 per cent equity in Modern Foods to HUL, thereby beginning the divestment of government equity in public sector undertakings (PSU) to private sector partners. HUL's entry into Bread is a strategic extension of

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the company's wheat business. In 2002, HUL acquired the government's remaining stake in Modern Foods. In 2003, HUL acquired the Cooked Shrimp and Pasteurised Crabmeat business of the Amalgam Group of Companies, a leader in value added Marine Products exports. HUL launched a slew of new business initiatives in the early part of 2000s. Project Shakti was started in 2001. It is a rural initiative that targets small villages populated by less than 5000 individuals. It is a unique win-win initiative that catalyses rural affluence even as it benefits business. Currently, there are over 45,000 Shakti entrepreneurs covering over 100,000 villages across 15 states and reaching to over 3 million homes. In 2002, HUL made its foray into Ayurvedic health & beauty centre category with the Ayush product range and Ayush Therapy Centres. Hindustan Unilever Network, Direct to home business was launched in 2003 and this was followed by the launch of Pureit water purifier in 2004. In 2007, the Company name was formally changed to Hindustan Unilever Limited after receiving the approval of share holders during the 74th AGM on 18 May 2007. Brooke Bond and Surf Excel breached the the Rs 1,000 crore sales mark the same year followed by Wheel which crossed the Rs.2,000 crore sales milestone in 2008. On 17th October 2008 , HUL completed 75 years of corporate existence in India. In January 2010, the HUL head office shifted from the landmark Lever House, at Backbay Reclamation, Mumbai to the new campus in Andheri (E), Mumbai. On 15th November, 2010, the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan was officially launched in India at New Delhi. In March, 2012 HULs state of the art Learning Centre was inaugurated at the Hindustan Unilever campus at Andheri, Mumbai. In April, 2012, the Customer Insight & Innovation Centre (CiiC) was inaugurated at the Hindustan Unilever campus at Andheri, Mumbai HUL works to create a better future every day and helps people feel good, look good and get more out of life with brands and services that are good for them and good for others.

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With over 35 brands spanning 20 distinct categories such as soaps, detergents, shampoos, skin care, toothpastes, deodorants, cosmetics, tea, coffee, packaged foods, ice cream, and water purifiers, the Company is a part of the everyday life of millions of consumers across India. Its portfolio includes leading household brands such as Lux, Lifebuoy, Surf Excel, Rin, Wheel, Fair & Lovely, Ponds, Vaseline, Lakm, Dove, Clinic Plus, Sunsilk, Pepsodent, Closeup, Axe, Brooke Bond, Bru, Knorr, Kissan, Kwality Walls and Pureit. The Company has over 16,000 employees and has an annual turnover of around Rs. 21,736 crores (financial year 2011 - 2012). HUL is a subsidiary of Unilever, one of the worlds leading suppliers of fast moving consumer goods with strong local roots in more than 100 countries across the globe with annual sales of about 46.5 billion in 2011. Unilever has about 52% shareholding in HUL.

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STEP TOWARD RETAIL INNOVATION FOR TAPPING RURAL MARKET

Prior to the late 1990s, HUL like any other company had traditional modes of reaching out to the rural consumer, i.e., through wholesalers and retailers. It used van campaigns to induce the village retailers to sell their products. Later HULs vans were replaced by vans belonging to redistribution Stockiest, who served a selected group of markets. Only 25% of the villages could be tapped this way. Thus, HUL realized that a vast section of the rural market is still untapped. So, in 1998 they conceptualized Project Streamline to increase the presence in the rural market and reach out 100,000 retail outlets by 1999. The project aimed at covering 50% of the rural population by 2003. HUL appointed Rural Distributors (RD). These RDs were attached to 15-20 sub-stockists. These sub-stockists, who were located in the villages, were expected to drive distribution in the neighbouring villages through unconventional modes of transport like tractors, camel carts, bullock carts, etc. This project helped HUL in extending its rural reach to about 37% in 1998 from 25% in 1995. HUL realized that consumption of personal products among rural consumers was very low. For instance, out of every ten people, only three were using toothpaste or talcum powder or shampoo, while six out of 10 were using washing powders. Even in a category like soaps, they found that frequency of usage was once per five bathing occasions. To increase the usage of there product in rural market, in 1998 the Personal Products Division of HUL took an initiated Project Bharat - a massive rural home-to-home exercise to address these issues. Company vans visited villages across the country to educate the customers and distributed samples of lowunit price packs of shampoos, toothpastes, talcum powder or cream among the rural people. The retailing activities were supported by product demonstration or video shows about product benefit and usage. In the first phase of the project, HUL targeted the villages having population five thousand and above, while the second phase targeted the villages with population in the range of 2,000 to 5,000. This project enabled HUL to cover 13 million households by the end of 1999. The idea of providing micro-credit to villagers began with HULs Project Bharat. Groups of villagers (15 to 20) below the poverty line were offered micro credit of Rs.750 by banks. HUL trained them to use this credit to buy the companys products and sell them at a profit.

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Phase I - Operation Streamline - Accessibility In 1998, HUL launched Operation Streamline to extend their distribution network throughout India. Operation Streamline is one of the major initiatives undertaken by HUL in recent times to penetrate the rural markets, i.e., to make their product accessible in rural market. In the case of Operation Streamline, the goods are distributed from the C&F Agents to the Re-distributors, who in turn pass the products to the Star Sellers. Being a cross-functional initiative, the Star Seller sells everything starting from detergents to personal care products in rural areas. Operation Streamline opened up a new distribution channel beyond the territories that were covered by HULs earlier, they appointed 7,500 new odd distributors. In less than two years, the company doubled its reach in rural India. By implementing Operation Streamline HULs distribution network able to cover 60 per cent of the villages with population greater than 2,000 and the villages having roads. Sell of some of the product shot up in a very short span of time, one of the greatest achievements was the penetration levels for its Fair & Lovely cream raise nearly three times in just three months of launch of project. Interestingly, the sell of various products appears to crack open the rural markets. But 300,000 villages are still out of reach of HUL, so to reach them it created a new super stockist and sub-stockist structure. The super-stockist in the bigger towns serve these sub-stockist, who are paid 1-2 per cent more margins that the retailers. This is to cover the sub-stockists costs of servicing retailers in his area. Since the distributor cannot cover these retailers regularly in rural areas, these sub-stockists play a very crucial role as a stock points for the rural retailers. Then, once distributors create the necessary demand in rural market, the sub stockists carries this process forward. Phase II Project Bharat - Awareness HUL implemented a major direct consumer programme called Project Bharat, which covered 2.2 crore homes in rural areas. The primary objective of this project is to create awareness of HULs personal care products. Each home was given a combo pack, at a special price of Rs.15, comprising a low unit-price pack of hair-care (Clinic shampoo), dental (Pepsodent toothpaste), skin-care (Fair & Lovely) and body-care (Ponds Dream flower talc) products along with leaflets to make the customer educated on different products of HUL. Close to 160 vans and around thousand promoters (sales staff of the distributors and other private operators) were pressed into this Operation. The cost of this project came up to be roughly Rs.13 crore. For

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demonstrating the products each van was equipped with a TV and VCR, had six promoters. The project helped eliminate barriers to trial, and strengthened salience of both particular categories and brands. Supported by audio-visual demonstrations, film songs and mythological serials interspersed with ads of Lever product, this campaign helped the company in further penetration of the rural areas. Phase III - Project Shakti - Action HUL brought innovation in rural retailing through Project Shakti. To develop sustainable market of their product in rural area they involved the rural poor. Distribution acquired further impetus through HULs Project Shakti which was based on the successful Grameen Bank Model of Bangladesh. The project was started in 2001 in 50 villages involving women belonging to micro credit Self-Help Groups (SHGs) in the Naklgonda district of Andhra Pradesh (AP). Rural women organised themselves into thrift and credit groups and began saving one rupee per day. By 2003 corpus fund had increased to Rs.1500cr, of which Rs.800cr had been saved by 58 lakh women. This group continues its operation funded by the saving of the members, bank loans and government assistance. Members may borrow from this group corpus twice in a year, at the interest rates fixed by the group. Though such loans can also be used to meet personal needs, the objective of the programme is to use the funds to generate more income.

For Project Shakti, the SHGs were covered by three Mutually Aided Cooperative Thift Societies (MACTS). Each MACTS had 14 to 15 SHGs under them. HUL along with a social service organisation, Marketing And Research Team (MART), assisted women in getting microcredit to set up an enterprise to distribute HULs range of products. To start an enterprise initially Shakti entrepreneurs take loan from SHGs. They take training for three month then they start selling HUL products in six to ten villages having population from 1000 to 2000. They receive the stock at their doorstep from the company. They then sell the products to village retailers and customers. To start they began with four to five brands of HUL like Lifebuoy, Wheel, Pepsodent, Clinic Plus and Annapurna salt. Later they keep on adding other brands like Lux, Nihar etc. Shakti entrepreneur normally earn Rs.1000 on the sales of Rs.10,000. By 2005, HUL had reached 12,000 villages in 100 districts and was able to reach 1 crore customer through 2800 Shakti entreprepeurs.

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A woman from SHGs selected as a Shakti entrepreneur receives stocks at her doorstep from the HUL rural distributor and sells direct to consumers as well as to retailers in the village. Each Shakti entrepreneur services 6-10 villages in the population strata of 1,000-2,000 people. A Shakti entrepreneur sets off with 4-5 chief brands from the HUL portfolio - Lifebuoy, Wheel, Pepsodent, Annapurna salt and Clinic Plus. These are the core brands that they layer it with whatever else is in demand like talcum powder or Vaseline during winters. The Shakti Model trains women from SHGs to distribute HUL products of daily consumption such as detergents, toilet soaps and shampoos - the latters penetration being only 30 per cent in rural areas. The women avail of micro-credit through banks. The established Shakti entrepreneurs are now selling Rs.10,000-Rs.15,000 worth of products a month and making a gross profit of Rs.700-Rs.1,000 a month. The company is creating demand for its products by having its Shakti entrepreneurs and educating consumers on aspects like health and hygiene. The Shakti brand endorsers are underprivileged rural women trained to manage businesses. Shakti project is a win-win initiative that creates livelihoods and a social initiative that improves the standard of life and catalyses affluence in rural India. What makes Shakti project uniquely scalable and sustainable and it contributes not only to HUL but also to the larger interests of the community. Phase IV - Product Innovation Acceptable and Affordable

To tap more and more rural consumers they develop Non-Soap Detergent Powder which was launched in the rural market in name of Wheel detergent in year 1988 to counter Nirma detergent. Within a decade Nirma and Wheel targeting the rural consumer started sharing equal market share of 38%.

To meet the challenge given by another company in early 1980s, i.e., CalvinKare whose early avatar is Chik Shampoo which created a revolution in shampoo market, HUL launched Clinic and Sunsilk shampoo in small sachets. The Low Unit Price (LUP) packs were successful in rural market to convert the consumer from soap to shampoo. 95% of the total sales of shampoo in rural area were through sachets till late 90s. In early 2000s, to increase the penetration of HUL products in rural area they introduced Surf Excel, Ponds talcum powder, Fair and Lovely, Pepsodent, Rexona Deo-sticks in LUP packs. All these products are successful in winning the mind of the rural consumers. HULs effort and

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Shakti entrepreneurs initiative together played an important role in making all these products successful in rural market. In May 2000, HUL launched Aim toothpaste to compete with Dabur toothpaste and was priced at Rs.3 per 20gm, Rs8 per 50gm and Rs.16 for 100 gm for the rural consumers. They were launched in plastic flow wraps rather than traditional cartons, so that they could be hanged alongside of the store. But within five month of its launch they decided to withdraw the product from the market and decided to put its effort to increase the penetration of their other two products, Pepsodent and Closeup.

To support the Shakti entrepreneur HUL engaged Ogilvy Outreach to enhance the awareness of their products in rural markets. HUL realized that 30 seconds advertisement in the Television may not able to create an impact in the mind of rural consumers, they have to be tapped by using unconventional media through colourful flyers, entertaining jingles, street plays, cinema vans etc. Phase V Replication The huge success of the Project Shakti has inspired the company to take it to the international level. Anglo-Dutch consumer goods major Unilever has begun replicating HULs rural microenterprise, led by women-entrepreneurs, Project Shakti in several international markets. The project has emerged as a successful low-cost business model and enhanced HULs direct rural reach in the so-called media-dark regions. Armed with micro-credit, rural women become direct-to-home distributors of Unilever brands in rural markets. The Fortune 500 transnational which sells foods and home and personal care brands in about 100 countries has stepped up focus on the project given that emerging markets now contribute around 44% to global revenues.

The effort is expected to help Unilever tap fresh growth avenues in emerging markets in the face of recessionary trends in the US and Europe. Also, given the saturation of urban markets, companies try to re-engineer their business models to derive growth from rural consumers.

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PRODUCTS

With 400 brands spanning 14 categories of home, personal care and foods products, no other company touches so many people's lives in so many different ways. Brand portfolio has made us leaders in every field in which we work. It ranges from muchloved world favorites including Lipton, Knorr, Dove and Omo, to trusted local brands such as Blue Band and Suave. From comforting soups to warm a winter's day, to sensuous soaps that make customers feel fabulous, and products help people get more out of life. HUL is constantly enhancing its brands to deliver more intense, rewarding product experiences. It invests nearly 1 billion every year in cutting-edge research and development, and has five laboratories around the world that explore new thinking and techniques to help develop products. Consumer research plays a vital role in its brands' development. They are constantly developing new products and developing tried and tested brands to meet changing tastes, lifestyles and expectations. And our strong roots in local markets also mean they can respond to consumers at a local level. By helping improve people's diets and daily lives, can help them keep healthier for longer, look good and give their children the best start in life. There is a big list of products of this company and explained below: (i) Health & personal care First launched in France in 1983, leading male grooming brand, Axe, now gives guys the edge in the mating game in over 60 countries Oral care brands Mentadent, Peposodent and Signal have teamed up with the world's Largest dental federation, the FDI, which represents over 750 000 dentists around the world Lux became the first mass-marketed soap when it launched in 1924. Today it achieves annual global sales of over 1 billion Domestos is a best-selling brand in nine of the 35 countries in which it's sold Recent breakthroughs at Rexona include Rexona Crystal, a deodorant that eliminates unsightly white deposits on dark garments Small & Mighty concentrated liquid fits into a smaller bottle, requiring half the packaging, water and lorries to transport it, making it kinder on the environment

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Hindustan Unilever in India has launched a hand-wash product, Surf Excel Quick Wash, with a low foaming formulation, reducing the amount of water needed for rinsing by up to two buckets per wash.

(ii) Foods Knorr is our biggest food brand with a strong presence in over 80 countries and a product range including soups, sauces, bouillons, noodles and complete meals Lipton's tea-based drinks include the international Lipton Iced Tea range, the Lipton range in North America and Lipton Yellow Label, the world's favourite tea brand Becel/Flora pro.activ products have been recognised as the most significant advancement in the dietary management of cholesterol in 40 years In the mid-1990s it led the industry with a programme to eliminate almost all trans fat from margarine World's largest ice cream manufacturer, thanks to the success of Heartbrand which includes Magnum, Cornetto, Carte d'Or and Solero, and Ben & Jerry's and Breyers in the US.

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Food Brands

Playful banter, a little mischief, serious conversation theres no time for young couples like the time spent sharing a cup of 3 Roses.

Lipton hasa range of vitality teasthat truly encompass the goodness of tea.

Indias favorite cup of tea, the great taste of Red Label brings people closer together and strengthens relationships.

Brooke Bond Taaza lifts me people unshackles the mind, allowing them to see and realize possibilities.

Brooke Bond Taj Mahal is an exclusive selection of teas for the discerning consumer.

Ek cup Bru aur moodbanjae

A good honest With Kissan, good Kissan Amaze Knorr helps families scoop of daily food is loved not Brainfood isspeci - make meal times shoved! pleasure. fically designed special, nutritious, for the mental tasty and healthy. development of kids.

Partnering with the mom in nurturing her dreams, Annapurna Atta is aimed at helping her provide wholesome tasty nutritionto her family.

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Home Care Brands

Sunlight isa color carebrand

Cif- the best cleaner tolet youshine.

The worlds largest fabric conditioner brand.

The sheer power of Domex bleach gives you the confidence you need, eradicating all knowngerms.

Created in1885, the Vim brand is still innovating and using the magic of natural ingredients to create unbeatable results over a hundred years later.

Active Wheel de "Mehnat se Aazadi" Freedom from painful & tiring laundry

Rin provides best in class whiteness which isdemonstrable.

Giving your kids the freedomto get dirty and experience life, safe in the knowledge that Surf Excel will remove those stains

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Personal Care Brands

Lux believes in passion for beauty. It continues to be a favorite with generations of users for a sensuous experience of luxury.

Holistic skin care experiences perfected over the ages to deliver healthy, beautiful skin

Breeze, with the goodness of glycerine gives soft, fragrant and smooth skin.

Awaken, and enliven your senses with a Liril bath.

Rexona gives you 24 hour protection from sweat and body odour and therefore the confidence to handle whatever the day has in store.

Dove stands for real beauty. All around the world, Dove is making complete therapy for your hair.

Pears the purest and most gentle way to skincare!

Lifebuoy is available in multiple variants in soaps and specialist formats such as liquid hand wash, catering to the entire family.

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Personal Care Brands

New Clear with Essential Oils, guarantees Zero dandruff and leaves your hair feeling fabulous.

Clinic Plus is Indias largest selling shampoo and has won the trust the millions of families across India.

Sunsilk encourages young women in India to live for today. Sunsilk helps you transform the beauty of your hair instantly because LIFE CAN'T WAIT!!

Dove stands for real beauty. All around the world, Dove is making complete therapy for your hair.

Freshness that brings you Closer

Pepsodent India is committed to improve theoverall Oral health of Indians.

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Personal Care Brands

Your skin is amazing. It deserves to be treated as such.

Rexona gives you 24 hour protection from sweat and body odour and therefore the confidence to handle whatever the dayhas in store.

Axe with Best Quality Fragrance

The new expansion Lakme is an ally to the of fairness cream for Indian Woman and men inspires her to express her unique beauty and sensuality. Thus, enabling her to realize the potency of her beauty.

Aviance enables women actualize their unique potential through expert customized beauty solutions.

LEVER Ayush aims to help a new generation of Indians rediscover everyday health and vitality through customized Ayurvedic solutions.

Get the expert to look after your skin

More than 30 years ago, a unique brand was born. Wrapped within a humble lavender tube, it went on to become the Worlds No.1 Fairness cream.

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PROJECT SHAKTI

Empowering womenfolk through a wired network for linkage activities or connecting the rural with urban world is the new mantra adopted by many FMCGs to sell their products as well as improve the lot of rural women. Indeed, a win-win partnership for both womenfolk and the company. This has been made possible due to the initiatives taken up by Hindustan Lever Ltd (HLL) for an exclusive project called Shakti through which women in a remote village can access happenings around the world. As part of this commitment, HLL is leveraging on Self-Help Groups (SHGs) as they become direct-to-home (DTH) dealers in line with other micro credit models to be implemented initially as a pilot project in the Nalgonda district of Andhra Pradesh, Shakti is expected to spread its roots across all the districts of Andhra Pradesh. It will be integrated with its Project Shakti program which is a linkage of women SHGs with private sector companies. There are about 300 Shakti dealers in the state with about 40 dealers in Nalgonda. Working on a cluster approach, the Shakti program operates through Shakti dealers who market HLL products and use their services for stocking their produce. Besides health education, there is also an option of e-learning to prepare home foods like pickles and curry powders among other things. i-Shakti will also help women to know about crop protection, weather forecasting, soil conditions, cropping patterns in different weather besides integrated pest management practices. The whole operation is primarily through SHGs who act as direct dealers in the rural markets of HLL. The Project Shakti programme is facilitated by the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) of Nalgonda district.

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From the time HLL's new distribution model, named Project Shakti, was piloted in Nalgonda district in 2001, it has been scaled up and extended to over 5,000 villages in 52 districts in AP, Karnataka, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh with around 1,000 women entrepreneurs in its fold. The vision is ambitious: to create by 2010 about 11,000 Shakti entrepreneurs covering one lakh villages and touching the lives of 100 million rural consumers. How it works Typically, a woman from a SHG selected as a Shakti entrepreneur receives stocks at her doorstep from the HLL rural distributor and sells direct to consumers as well as to retailers in the village. Each Shakti entrepreneur services 6-10 villages in the population strata of 1,000-2,000 people A Shakti entrepreneur sets off with 4-5 chief brands from the HLL portfolio - Lifebuoy, Wheel, Pepsodent, Annapurna salt and Clinic Plus. "These are the core brands, they we layer it with whatever else is in demand like talcum powder or Vaseline during winters. These brands apart, other brands which find favour with a rural audience are: Lux, Ponds, Nihar and 3 Roses tea. Typically, unit packs are small. All the brands are national and HLL is cool to the idea of creating a rural-specific brand as it will only dissipate the advertising media effort for the brands. To get started the Shakti woman borrows from her SHG and the company itself chooses only one person. With training and hand-holding by the company for the first three months, she begins her door-to-door journey selling her wares. The future of Shakti Having perfected the model in Nalgonda, in 2003 HLL plans to extend Shakti to a 100 districts in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and UP. There are other plans brewing. One is to allow other companies which do not compete with HLL to get onto the Shakti network to sell their products. The most powerful aspect about this model, is that it creates a win-win partnership between HLL and its consumers, some of whom will also draw on the organisation for their livelihood, and it builds a self-sutaining virtuous cycle of growth for all. The next stage of Project Shakti is even more ambitious. HLL is now in the process of piloting `I-Shakti', an IT-based rural information service that will provide solutions to key rural needs in the areas of agriculture, education, vocational training, health and hygiene. The project

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will be piloted in Nalgonda district again. Based on a palm pilot. Women in the rural areas are the catalyst of change and that is why its whole program keeps women in focus. Its the rural women who give Shakti its strength.

LIFEBUOY SWASTHYA CHETNA

Hindustan Lever Limited's Lifebuoy, recently announced the launch of Lifebuoy Swasthya Chetna, the first single largest rural health and hygiene educational program. Lifebuoy will make multiple repeat contacts in nearly 15,000 villages in 8 states across rural India. The campaign aims to educate children and the community about the threat of unseen germs and basic hygiene practices. Lifebuoy has already successfully conducted pilot studies in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Orissa and Bihar. This campaign teaches people about maintaining good health through practice of basic hygienic habits including the hand wash habit.
Lifebuoy is among HLL's power brands, which the company is focusing on, selected on the basis of their absolute size, brand strength, brand relevance, competitive advantage and potential for growth. The new Lifebuoy range now includes Lifebuoy Active Red (125 gm, 100 gm, and 60 gm) and Lifebuoy Active Orange (100 gm). Lifebuoy Active Orange offers the consumer a differentiated health perfume while offering the health benefit of Lifebuoy. At the upper end of the market, Lifebuoy offers specific health benefits through Lifebuoy International (Plus and Gold). Lifebuoy International Plus offers protection against germs which cause body odor, while Lifebuoy International Gold helps protect against germs which cause skin blemishes.

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HUL launched multi-brand rural activation programme: 30/08/2010 : Khushiyon ki Doli is a rural marketing initiative of HUL. It was launched this year in three states Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. During the year itself, over 14 million consumers would be contacted through this initiative in over 35,000 villages across these three states The main objective of the campaign is to reach out to media dark villages with HUL Brand messages and to engage with consumers deeply to rapidly change brand adoption metrics. The main aim is to change attitudes of the rural mass to inculcate good personal hygiene and through this create greater preference for the company brands by association to daily hygiene habits Through a multi-brand approach, Khushiyon ki Doli also helps to create a cost efficient rural activation module. It involves various personal care and home care brands of HUL including Wheel, Surf Excel, FAL, Sunsilk, Vim, Lifebuoy and Closeup. The module follows a 3-step process, starting with awareness, moving on to consumer engagement and finally retail contact.

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FAILED PRODUCT
LIRIL SOAP: If you are looking for a case of an iconic Brand that is going to be killed by poor marketing strategy, look no further, here is Liril for you. Launched in 1975, the year I was born, this is a brand that built a segment or should I say category for itself in the Indian market. The brand is also the testimony to the genius of India's Ad man Alyque Padamsee. This is what he says about the Liril Brand The name Liril had been registered by Hindustan Lever from a list sent to them by Unilever in London. Levers were very keen that the soap has striations, wiggly stripes of different colors running across the tablet. I recommended the tablet be blue because waterfall is blue with white striations. Hindustan Lever was very excited and produced 1,000 tablets for testing. At this point Derk Wooller, the Marketing Controller of Hindustan Lever's soaps Division, stepped in and suggested we add the freshness of lime to our story. He felt that though the waterfall had tremendous emotional appeal, Liril needed a rational ingredient to clinch the deal. I was not averse to this but suggested that we do an `As marketed' test: Blue Liril versus Green Liril with limes. I was wrong and Wooller was right. The rest is history. " Alyque Padamsee in his book A Double Life. The brand was a runaway success and the Liril girl became the talk of the town. The brand has been consistent with its communication and the effective use of brand imagery.

Waterfall with the unique jingle ensured that the freshness is experienced by the audience. Liril can be called as an experiential brand and the communication perfectly supported that. Liril did not change its positioning for 25 years although the models changed, the brand communication was consistent. Then some nut in the company or the agency thought that they should change

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the communication that worked so effectively. The rest as I say it " Liril became history". Liril has changed the imagery and the jingle in the name of freshness .The new jingle or the ad never had that freshness. That is why Liril had to change the Ads twice within a span of five years. Mind you Liril never changed its imagery or the Jingle for 25 years...

Reports say that Liril had to change because of its stagnant market share. I think there are reasons for declining market share which can be that the brand failed to understand the changing consumer expectations. There was a flurry of brand launches during the past 10 years and Liril was sleeping all the time may be resting on the laurels. It should have hold on its positioning of ' freshness " not by changing its communication but by communicating more, developing variants, bringing in flanking brands or variants thus owning the whole segment for itself and But it never happened , Liril tried to introduce the Icy mint variant very late and that too with a different jingle and imagery. We knew that the Old Liril had died. HLL could have used the same communication strategy. Then came the horrible experiment of Orange Liril with a stupid Jingle OOFYUMMA.... excuse me what the hell is that? The product failed. Then came the new campaign involving a couple and a new jingle " La-ira -ela", the ad was good but where is liril ? Like Onida, Liril has to come back with the old imagery and old jingle that made liril what it Is ( or WAS?) [It is a prediction].

2- MOTI SOAP: Moti was India's premium brand of soaps during the seventies. Now there is no trace of this brand. Moti originally was a brand of Tata Oil Mills Company (TOMCO). In 1993, TOMCO merged with HLL. Moti was a special soap which had certain differentiation. The first differentiation point was the Shape. Unlike other soaps which came in cake form, Moti was round soap. Moti is the vernacular term for Pearl . So the soap was also in the shape of pearl. Another uniqueness was the size of the soap. Moti was a big soap. Often one gets bored of the soap and it never quite finish fast. Moti came in popular fragrances like Gulab ( Rose) and Sandal. Moti was promoted as a premium soap . The soap was expensive and during the eighties, the soap was priced around Rs 25. Tomco also promoted this brand heavily. Most of the campaign had a signature brand imagery the soap surrounded by pearls. Those ads were in most of the magazines during the peak stage of this brand. Pearls formed an important role in

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the entire brand communication and pearl was an anchor which created an association with the brand in the consumer's mind. I was searching for an ad of Moti and thanks to Saumyadip's blog, I got a vintage ad of moti. Moti then moved to HLL following the merger. That marked the end of this brand. I am not sure why HLL decided to sideline Moti soap. The brand was never promoted and slowly the brand faded into oblivion. The reason for this brand's death may be because it did not fit into the brand portfolio of HLL. While Hamam ( another Tomco brand ) thrived, Moti was never in the picture. Then with the Power Brand strategy, brands like Moti never had a chance to survive. The brand had prospects if HLL had done some serious product development. In the branding perspective Moti had certain assets. The name and the imagery were wonderful assets for a marketer. Moti had both these assets. The problem was with the product. There was something missing in the soap which ultimately lead to the death of this brand. Another factor was at the segmentation side. Now also the market for a premium soap is abysmally low in India. Now also there is no successful premium brand of soaps in India ( Essenza de wills is trying hard ). So it was also a tough choice for HLL. The company may have felt that Moti did not have a future as a premium soap. And it may cannibalize some existing brands if the prices are rationalized. Moti may had to be repositioned if it had to survive . But HLL was not prepared to invest in a brand which had a minuscule 2% of the market. So the decision was to slowly kill the brand.

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DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM
Distribution systems focus to enable easy access to their brands, touch consumers with a three-way convergence - of product availability, brand communication, and higher levels of brand experience. The most obvious function of distribution system is to provide the logistics support to get the companys product to the end customer. The important role of this system is to maintain the information flow between company to consumer. HUL's products are distributed through a network of about 7,000 redistribution stockists covering about one million retail outlets. The general trade comprises grocery stores, chemists, wholesale, kiosks and general stores. Company provides tailor made services to each of its channel partners. HUL is using the point of purchase method for much higher level of direct contact, through in-store facilitators, sampling, education and experience.

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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES To determine the market share of HUL in rural market. To know about the products of HUL To know the marketing strategies employed by HUL To find out the Factor influencing demand of FMCG product To know about distribution channel used by HUL

RESEARCH DESIGN: Basically there are three of approaches 1- Exploratory Research.

It is loosely structured and the basic premise is to provide direction to subsequent, more
structured method of enquiry. Lays the foundation for the formulation of hypothesis (hypotheses). For e.g., literature survey, experience survey.

2- Descriptive research. The main goal of this type of research is to describe the data and characteristics about what is being studied. The annual census carried out by the Government of India is an example of this research. It is carried out with specific objective(s) and hence it results in definite conclusions. For e.g., consider TV as a product. The degree of use of the TV varies with respect to age, sex, income level and profession of the respondents as well as place & time of use. Hence, the degree of use of television to different types of respondents will be of importance to a researcher.

3- Experimental Research

It is characterized by much greater control over the research environment and in this
case some variables are manipulated to observe their effect on other variables.

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FINDINGS

HUL has a strong marketing strategy and distribution network is very good. Its implementing its strategy to grow includes focusing on the power brands' growth through consumer relevant information, cross category extensions, leveraging channel opportunities and increased focus on rural growth. Hindustan Lever in India has launched a hand-wash product, Surf Excel Quick Wash, with a low foaming formulation, reducing the amount of water needed for rinsing by up to two buckets per wash. HUL is the world's largest ice cream manufacturer, with successful Heart brand which includes Magnum, Cornetto, Carte d'Or and Solero, and Ben & Jerry's and Brayers in the US HUL is amongst the top five exporters of the country and also the biggest exporter of tea and castor oil. They continually developing new and improved products. Knorr is biggest food brand with a strong presence in over 80 countries and a product range including soups, sauces, bouillons, noodles and complete meals.

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SUGGESTIONS
HUL should start some another health program for rural people HUL should reduce their price of soap HUL should do more brand building to aware the rural people

HUL should motivate the rural people. HUL should introduce new medium package of product.

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CONCLUSION

With its long and luminous history HUL is Indias true pride. It is a company which the customers in rural as well as urban India relate to. This explains the deep penetration of HUL in Indian market. The future for HUL is demanding newer and high level innovations so as to cope up with increasing competition. However HUL is well equipped with all what is needed of this Indian Giant.

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REFRENCES
www.hul.co.in http://www.slideshare.net/papai96/personal-care-product-of-itc-ppt www.Scribd.com http://www.ipublishing.co.in/ajmrvol1no1/EIJMRS1040.pdf

http://www.scribd.com/doc/54828022/itc-and-hul