We shall now take up one company, HUL (Hindustan Uni Lever Ltd) formerly HLL and see how

the complex task of brand management is actually handled !his company is taken for this article
as HUL is considered as one of the most successful in "rand #anagement
HLL has a large brand portfolio consisting of nearly $$% bands &n every product line, it has built
a number of brands over a period of time 'uite a few brands have come to its fold from the
parent company &t has also ac(uired several ongoing brands from the market HLL also
vigorously pursues brand extension strategy )nd concurrently, HLL undertakes line pruning and
brand restructuring and consolidation, based on marketing compulsions HLL is also playing the
re*uvenation and re+launch game With great benefit the corporate+level endeavors at business
expansion and diversification are also throwing new challenges on the brand strategy front HLL
lends itself for a proper understanding of the complexity of the brand management task We shall
examine how HLL handles the complex demands in brand management
,uch an array of brands is the outcome of a conscious corporate strategy by HLL )s a corporate,
HLL wants to be a leader in every one of its businesses and the strategy is to fight on the strength
of the competitive advantage arising from the possession of strong brands &t is this strategy that
is getting reflected in the development of a multitude of strong brands &f we take the business of
bathing soaps, as an example, HLL has the ob*ective of being a national player (not a niche or a
regional marketer) and the leader therein HLL also wants about -% per cent of the corporate
income to come from this line
,o, HLL opted for the strategy of developing (uite a few strong brands in this line, and among
them they cover different market segments and price points .ove, Lux, Liril, /exona, 0ears and
Lifebuoy are the outcome of such a well planned brand strategy implemented over time Lifebuoy
is $%% years old and Liril $1 years old &n fact, HLL has about $% brands of toilet soaps each
having good volume of sale to its credit !he point is that decisions on brand portfolio are a
fundamental expression of the company2s ob*ectives and strategy governing a given business
HLL Locates 0ositioning 3pportunities4
HLL methodically goes about the task of developing a brand portfolio across a product category
&t first identifies the various positioning opportunities across benefits, target groups and price
points 5xisting brads are mapped across these positioning opportunities, and gaps for possible
new offers are explored
!he company then estimates the likely volumes for each of the possible opportunity and the
financial viability and sustainability of the propositions in the long term &f some of these gaps
look promising, HLL goes ahead with the plans
&t examines the existing set of brands with the company, the product technologies available, the
benefits that can be provided and other considerations that have a bearing on the company2s long
term interests in the business 6inally, if the company decides to go in for the new offer, a
decision has to be taken as to whether new brands should be created or extensions if existing
brands should be preferred or ongoing brands from the market ac(uired
HLL hires brands to capture new opportunities4
!owards the close of the $77%s, HLL found that the germicide segment of the soap market was
growing fast, with /8&2s .ettol antiseptic soap leading it HLL did not have suitable offer in its
stable to capture a share of this segment Lifebuoy was not strictly meeting the particular benefit
HLL knew that launching and developing a new brand would take a lot of time and resources, and
the company would miss the market if it chose this route HLL did not have the product formula
either to enter this segment &t was in this background that HLL decided to hire the ,avlon brand
from 9:9 ,avlon was a successful antiseptic lotion, a competitor to .ettol lotion 9ust as the
.ettol soap owed its origin to the success of the .ettol lotion, HLL assessed that a ,avlon
antiseptic soap could be successfully extended from the ,avlon lotion
&t entered into an agreement with 9:9 for the use of ,avlon brand name and the product formula,
and launched the ,avlon antiseptic soap HLL very deftly managed successfully new brand
launch and merged as a challenger to .ettol soap 9:9 secures a good royalty from HLL for
lending the brand &t is a potentially win+win arrangement for both companies