Marketing Analysis of Unilever

BUS 620: Marketing Management

Section 4

Submitted to:
Prof. Dr. Md. Mahmodul Hasan
Faculty of Business Administration
MBA – Program

Submitted by:
Group Name: Kocchoper Dim
Group Members:
Name ID
Md. Sadiq-Ul-Haque 1530286660
Yasmin Jahan 1521140660
Raihan Siddique 1521726060
Tamanna Tasnim 1531414060
Shatabdi Roy 1512969660

Date: 12 December 2015

 Letter of Transmittal

12 December 2015

Prof. Dr. Md. Mahmodul Hasan

Faculty of Business Administration
MBA – Program
North South University

Subject: Submission of Term Paper on “Marketing analysis on Unilever”

Dear Sir:

It is our sincere pleasure to submit the term paper on “Marketing analysis on

Unilever” as a requirement of successful completion of the course Bus620 Marketing
Management” which is prepared by the 5 members of the group “Kocchoper Dim”.

This report has been prepared by using various marketing analysis tools which
provided us the opportunity to apply and understand the practical implication of
knowledge and models learnt throughout the semester. It also has given us a glimpse
of our individual understanding and skills in various situations. You would be
pleased to know that we have given our utmost effort in the term paper and tried the
best of our capability to complete it. We hope you would find it up to the mark of
your expectation.

Sincerely yours,

Md. Sadiq-Ul-Haque Yasmin Jahan Raihan Siddique

Id: 1530286660 Id: 1521140660 Id: 1521726060

Tamanna Tasnim Shatabdi Roy

Id: 1531414060 Id: 1512969660
 Acknowledgement

At first we must show our gratitude to the almighty Allah for giving us enough
courage and strength to prepare the report in due time. Then we would like to extend
our sincere thanks and deepest gratitude to our honorable faculty ‘Prof. Dr. Md.
Mahmodul Hasan’ for providing us a wonderful opportunity to work in this term
paper. Without his excellent guidance and invaluable support throughout the
semester and for the preparation of the term paper it would not have been possible to
complete the term paper. The topic of the term paper was also wisely chosen by the
honorable faculty so that we get the firsthand experience of real life application of
different marketing models and analysis in one of the leading global fast moving
consumer goods company ‘Unilever’. It helped us to gain more knowledge of the
global FMCG market scenario for personal care, home care and food sections. It
enriched our understanding of different marketing challenges that corporate faces
and as we tried to provide various solutions for them it also nourished our analytical
and critical thinking process. We would also like to thank all the people who gave
their valuable opinion on the products, marketing campaign, advertisement etc. of
Unilever which helped us to reach the conclusion of the term paper including users
and prospective users of the company.
 Executive Summary

Unilever has ambitious plans for sustainable growth and an intense sense of social
purpose of adding vitality to life of the consumers with 3 tools- cost leverage with
efficiency, innovation in marketing and profitable volume growth. A major portion
of the sales of Unilever comes from the regional markets and Unilever is trying to
create a deeper root in those markets and double size its business. It strengths are
the strong brand portfolio in different segments, strong supply chain to low lead time
and cost, global brand recognition, excellent management and human resources. Its
major weaknesses are: less direct connection with consumers, slow sales growth in
emerging market, falling revenue and absence in the premium markets. From the
study some findings about major threats of Unilever are: strong completion from
local & MNCs, Complex organizational structure & tougher business climate. Having
these weaknesses and threats it also has some major opportunities to hold and
expand its business with the help of its strength these opportunities are: increasing
need for healthy products, developing markets are expected to grow & increase
demand for aging people product.

Unilever has almost 400 brands in many countries and regions of the world. All the
brands have different market segmentation based on their features and value
propositions. It takes into account all quality measures taken at all levels and
involving all company employees to ensure TQM. Unilever is a worldwide well-
known brand by everybody. All the brands of Unilever have separate branding
strategy but each has Unilever logo, design, ideology and message. In its logo it has
25 icons of representing each importance of Unilever’s all 400 brands. Marketing
budgeting and investment was highest in 2012In 2014 the investment was 12.07
billion USD and the turnover was 14.8%.As most of the Unilever target consumers
are from upper middle to low income status the price range of most products stays
under low to mid-price range.

For Unilever to become more successful are: focus e-commerce for Omni-channel
efficiency, increase focus on digital marketing and social media, should focus to
create separate brands to enter into the premium personal care products Eco friendly
product packaging, diversify its business to other segments.
 Table of Content

Content Page No

1.0 Definition of Marketing Management

1.1 Definition of Marketing Management (Theory 2000 – 2011) 1

1.2 Definition of Marketing Management (Theory 2012 – 2016 ±) 1

1.3 Marketing Management in Unilever 1

2.0 Vision-Mission-Business Plan-Corporate Strategy

2.1 Vision 1
2.2 Mission 2

2.3 Business Plan 2

2.4 Corporate Strategy 3

3.0 SWOT Analysis 4

4.0 PESTEL Analysis 5

5.0 Michael Porter’s Five Forces 6

6.0 Marketing Strategy 7

7.0 Marketing Concept 7-8

8.0 Market Segmentation 8

9.0 Marketing Mix (4+3 =7P) and the Customer 9-10

10.0 Value Chain Model 11

11.0 Total Quality Management 11-13

12.0 Brand & Branding 13
13.0 Box Analysis of brand Elements 14

14.0 Brand Dynamic Pyramid 15

15.0 The Five M’s of Advertisement 15-16

16.0 Mass Communications

16.1 Marketing Mediums 16-17
16.2 Events, Experiences and Sponsors 17
16.3 Public relation/ Government Lobbying 17-18
 16.4 Corporate Social Responsibility 18-19

17.0 Marketing Budget & Expenditure 19

18.0 Pricing Strategy of Unilever 19-20

19.0 Break-even analysis of Unilever 20-21

20.0 Recommendation
20.1 More focus on digital marketing and Social media 22

20.2 Ecommerce website for Omni-channel efficiency 22-23

20.3 Premium personal care products 23

20.4 Marketing change of Knorr to increase growth in South Asia 23-24

20.5 Eco friendly Product Packaging 24-25

21.0 Conclusion 25
22.0 Reference 26

Table of Diagrams

Content Page No

Diagram 1.1: Business Plan of Unilever 2

Diagram 1.2: Corporate Strategy of Unilever 3

Diagram 6.1: 3 Key Peelers of Marketing of Unilever 7

Diagram: 8.1: Market Segmentation of Unilever 8

Diagram 16.1: Marketing Medium of Unilever 17

Diagram 16.2: PR Agencies of Unilever 18

Diagram 17.1: Brand and Marketing Investment of Unilever 19

Diagram 19.1: Break-Even Point 21

Diagram 20.1: Top Social networks used by businesses 22

1.0 Definition of Marketing Management

1.1 Definition of Marketing Management (Theory 2000 – 2011)

Marketing management is the art and science of choosing target markets and getting,
keeping, and growing customers through creating, delivering, and communicating
superior customer value.

1.2 Definition of Marketing Management (Theory 2012 – 2016 ±)

Marketing management depends on the size of the business and the industry in
which the business operates. Effective marketing management will use a company's
resources to increase its customer base, improve customer opinions of the company's
products and services and increase the company's perceived value.

1.3 Marketing Management in Unilever

The scope of marketing management in Unilever is huge. Marketing management is

very critical to understanding, creating and building demand. The marketers are
responsible to identify where consumers are and where they are going so Unilever
can involve with them where they are witnessing and engaging with different brands.

At this moment Unilever’s yearly sales is excess of €1 billion with 400 brands globally
covering foods, home and personal care having long-standing social missions. With
major growth in developing and emerging markets, increasing consumer interest in
sustainability and the dawn of the digital revolution, the challenge for marketing
management is to identify trends, pattern in consumer behavior, and opportunities
to innovation to reach the consumers in real time and remain the brands stand out.
{Roy, S. Id: 1512969660}
2.0 Vision-Mission-Business Plan-Corporate Strategy

2.1 Vision

Unilever is a unique company, with a proud history and a bright future. They have
ambitious plans for sustainable growth and an intense sense of social purpose.
According to Unilever there vision is to-

│ Term Paper │Kocchoper Dim │ │ BUS 620.4 │ Marketing Management Page | 1

│
“Double the size of the business, while reducing environmental footprint and
increasing positive social impact and determination to build a sustainable business
for the long term.”

2.2 Mission

The aim of Unilever is to add vitality to life of the consumers. The heritage of
Unilever - good governance, product quality and long experience of working with
communities help them to achieve it. According to Unilever-

“Our vitality mission will focus our brands on meeting consumer needs arising from
the biggest issues around the world today – ageing populations, urbanization,
changing diets and lifestyles.”

2.3 Business Plan

The business plan of Unilever is to ensure sustainable living for everyone through its
brands, people and operations. Unilever has 3 tools for attaining sustainable living.
They are- cost leverage and efficiency, innovation and marketing investment and
profitable volume growth. Unilever wants to focus on R&D and innovation to create
new and improved products backed by marketing to create even stronger brands
which will drive the volume growth of sales. Following is the business plan of
Unilever.

Diagram 1.1: Business Plan of Unilever

│ Term Paper │Kocchoper Dim │ │ BUS 620.4 │ Marketing Management Page | 2

│
2.4 Corporate Strategy

A major portion of the sales of Unilever comes from the regional markets and
Unilever is trying to create a deeper root in those markets. Through its well-
established distribution network in both the traditional and modern retail outlets
and with a good ability to adapt successful global brand concepts to suit local
markets, Unilever is in a good position to be able to capitalize on the growth forecast
in these regions. The goal of Unilever is to double the size of its business with
personal and home care, food and refreshment sector by better sales through strong
brand preference so that it can achieve its sustainable living plan.

Diagram 1.2: Corporate Strategy of Unilever

{Tasnim, T. Id: 1531414060}

│ Term Paper │Kocchoper Dim │ │ BUS 620.4 │ Marketing Management Page | 3

│
3.0 SWOT Analysis

The Overall evolution of a company’s Strengths, Weakness, opportunities, Threats is

called SWOT analysis. It is the way of monitoring the external and internal
marketing environment.

STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES

1. Recognised global brand by all the

1. Less direct connection with
consumers
customers
2. Strong brand portfolio in different
2. Difficulty in managing almost 400
segments
brands
3. Strong supply chain to low lead time and
3. Absence in the premium markets
cost
4. Slow sales growth in emerging
4. Economies of scale decreasing cost
market
5. Huge investment in R&D
5. Fall in revenues
6. Excellent management and human
Resource

Opportunities Threats

1. Strong competition from local and

1. Increasing need for healthy products
creating demand
2. Developing markets are expected to grow
3. Personal Care segment may become more
customized
4. Product for aging population may see
increase in demand
MNCs
2. Competition in getting store space
increasing
3. Tougher Business Climate
4. Complex Organisational Structure
5. Niche brands gaining favour
6. Industry consolidation

{Siddique, R. Id: 1521726060}

│ Term Paper │Kocchoper Dim │ │ BUS 620.4 │ Marketing Management Page | 4

│
4.0 PESTEL Analysis
A PESTEL analysis is a framework or tool used by marketers to analyze and monitor
the macro-environmental (external marketing environment) factors that have an
impact on an organization.
Political
1. Comply with any restrictions imposed on
usage of user content
2. Disclose in Unilever application through a
privacy policy
3. New Tax or tariff imposed by local
governments
4. Political instability effect business
Social
1. Population growth increases demand
2. Improving health and well-being
3. low literacy of consumers in emerging
markets affects marketing campaigns
4. Change of perception of beauty and
nutrition
Environmental
1. Production of Unilever may cause
environmental damage
2. Climate change may have inverse impact
on tea production
3. Polluted water may increase demand for
Pureit
4. Failure to attain sustainable goals
│ Term Paper │Kocchoper Dim │ │ BUS 620.4 │ Marketing Management
│
Economics
1. Economic downturn or slowdown
decreasing sales
2. Inflation increasing COGS
3. Exchange rate fluctuation causes risk
of low profitability
4. Higher rate of interest for future debt
Technological
1. Technological advancement increasing
sales
2. Change in technology making current
technology obsolete
3. Upgrade to new technology requiring
money
4. Better cost efficiency
Legal
1. Not allowing the exclusive of certain
warranties, limitation of liability for
incidental damage.
2. To the maximum extent permitted by
applicable law
3. Tougher business rules
4. Trade Union causing inefficiency
{Jahan, Y. Id: 1521140660}
Page | 5
5.0 Michael Porter’s Five Forces

Porter five forces analysis is a framework that attempts to analyze the level of
competition within an industry and business strategy development.

SUPPIER’S POWER

1. Price increase by
suppliers
2. Creating false scarcity
3. Complexity in supply
chain
4. Increase in lead time

THREAT OF NEW THREAT OF

ENTRANTS SUBSTITUTES
1. Substitute product by
1. Increasing of switching
new entrants
possibility
2. Cost advantage by new
Rivalry 2. Price competition results
entrants
in decreasing price
3. Higher competition
3. Decreasing sales
4. Unilever losing core
4. Competition in mind
adventure
positioning
5. Lower switching cost

BUYER POWER DEGREE OF RIVALRY

1. Low exit barriers

1. Consumers preferring
2. More industry growth
better quality products
3. Different product
2. Customer more
offerings
knowledgeable now
4. Competition for store
3. Customer preferring
space
new buying method
5. Difficulty in creating
4. Brand loyalty needs
unique brand
more time to develop

{Haque, S. Id: 1530286660}

│ Term Paper │Kocchoper Dim │ │ BUS 620.4 │ Marketing Management Page | 6

│
6.0 Marketing Strategy

With 7000 marketers, brand partners around the world, collaborating on strategy
development is a mammoth undertaking for Unilever, not to mention executing
considering it’s the world’s second largest advertiser, with two billion people in 180
markets. Unilever follows 3 key peelers for its marketing strategy. They are-

Diagram 6.1: 3 Key Peelers of Marketing of Unilever

People First: “Putting people first,” is the first pillar. “Putting people at the heart of
everything Unilever does. Unilever doesn’t talk about shoppers or consumers; they
talk about real people with real lives, needs and dreams.

Indispensable brands: The goal of Unilever is to build brands that people cannot
live without. Brands of Unilever are with a clear purpose, with a clear point of view.

Magical experiences: Unlocking the emotion, sharing in those magical brand

experiences across the whole path to purchase, across the whole consumer journey is
the process by which Unilever builds brands.

7.0 Marketing Concept

Unilever is an organization built around a strong culture and employer brand. With
so many different products and so many different brands touching so many different
markets, it would be easy for each one to have their own distinct culture and
marketing, with little overlap in-between. And yet, that isn’t the case, as every brand
in Unilever is constructed around one key tenet: purpose. The marketing of Unilever

│ Term Paper │Kocchoper Dim │ │ BUS 620.4 │ Marketing Management Page | 7

│
is highly purpose driven rather than target driven. And the HR of Unilever plays a big
part of it. Unilever has a really simple philosophy: when you bring people and brands
together under the banner of purpose, ordinary people can achieve some
extraordinary things. That means making jobs less about the what and the how –
what the person will be doing, how much money they’ll make – and instead about the
why, as in why they are doing what they do each do.

8.0 Market Segmentation

Unilever has almost 400 brands in many countries and regions of the world. All the
brands have different market segmentation based on their features and value
propositions. The market segmentation can be done by 4 areas-

1. Geographic
2. Demographic
3. Psychographic
4. Behavioral

Diagram: 8.1: Market Segmentation of Unilever

{Roy, S. Id: 1512969660}

│ Term Paper │Kocchoper Dim │ │ BUS 620.4 │ Marketing Management Page | 8

│
9.0 Marketing Mix (4+3 =7P) and the Customer
Unilever has almost 400 brands in many countries and regions of the world. Some of
the Biggest brands are dove, Lux, Knorr, Surf excel, Rexona, Lipton etc. All the
brands have different market segmentation based on their features and value
propositions. The price varies depending on the type of products. Unilever uses
almost all the promotional tools available to marketers. The products of Unilever are
found over 150 countries. All the brands of Unilever have separate branding strategy
but each has Unilever logo, design, ideology and message. In its logo it has 25 icons
of representing each importance of Unilever’s all 400 brands. Unilever has over
170000 employees all over the world with large network of retailers and distributors.
Most Unilever products come in plastic pack or bottles. They can be purchased in
retail store, shopping mall, online etc.

7P of Unilever

│ Term Paper │Kocchoper Dim │ │ BUS 620.4 │ Marketing Management Page | 9

│
The clients or customers of Unilever can be divided into various categories in terms
of ages, income, what they want from Unilever. The customers of Unilever are of
different ages. The personal and home care segment has age group of 14-45, income
of medium to high. The food segment’s age group starts from 5 and preference for
tasty and healthy foods. The cost of the products of Unilever includes production,
packaging, marketing, distribution etc. cost which are also included into the pricing
of the products. Unilever uses various communication mediums and also explore and
considers new mediums though which communication with customers can be made.
The customers of unilever purchases products from retail stores, super shop, online
shops etc. and Unilever actively participate to get better store location than
competitors.

4C of Unilever

{Tasnim, T. Id: 1531414060}

│ Term Paper │Kocchoper Dim │ │ BUS 620.4 │ Marketing Management Page | 10

│
10.0 Value Chain Model

Value Chain is the process or activities by which a company adds value to an article,
including production, marketing, and the provision of after-sales service.

Facilities & Services

Talent Resourcing & Development

Regulatory & Compliance

Support Business Intelligence

Activity M
IT Integration A
R
G
Revenue Assurance & Fraud Mgt. I
N
Corporate Finance & Accounting Reporting

Communications & Corporate Responsibilities

Integrated Planning & Strategy

Regional Business Management

Enterprise M
Business
Project Brand & A
Partnering Central Warehouse Channel
Manageme Market Customer R
& MO Operations & Developme
nt Communi Experience G
Buying Distribution nt
Operations cations I
N

Primary Activity

{Siddique, R. Id: 1521726060}

11.0 Total Quality Management

Total Quality Management (TQM) is a management approach that seeks to improve

quality and performance so that the company can achieve long term success by
meeting or exceeding customer expectations. This can be achieved by improving
processes, products, services, and the culture in which they work by all the members
of the organization. Total Quality Management in the Unilever seems at the overall
quality measures used by a company including managing quality design and
development, quality control and maintenance, quality improvement, and quality

│ Term Paper │Kocchoper Dim │ │ BUS 620.4 │ Marketing Management Page | 11

│
assurance. It takes into account all quality measures taken at all levels and involving
all company employees.

Unilever uses the three words together as a phrase Total Quality Management has
the following meanings-

Total - involving the whole company,

Quality - with all its complexities has to be defined

Management - the structure of managing the process by following some

steps like Planning, Organizing, Controlling, Leading, Staffing.

In Unilever TQM requires a new process thinking mindset. They realize that
everything they do is part of a process. Their focus shifts from managing outcomes to
managing and improving processes; from what to do to how to do the processes
better. Quality performance expands to include how well each part of the process
works and the relationship of each part to the process. Also, process improvement
focuses on continuously achieving the greatest potential benefit for their customers.

Followings are the main factors which influences and ensures Total Quality
Management in Unilever.

1. Executive Management: Their Top management acts as the main driver

for TQM and creates an environment that ensures its success.

2. Training: Employees of Unilever receive regular training on the methods and

concepts of quality.

3. Customer Focus: Their improvements in quality that increase customer

satisfaction.

4. Decision Making: Their quality decisions are made based on

measurements.

5. Methodology and Tools: They use appropriate methodology and tools

ensure that non-conformances are identified, measured and responded to
consistently.

│ Term Paper │Kocchoper Dim │ │ BUS 620.4 │ Marketing Management Page | 12

│
 6. Continuous Improving: Unilever continuously works towards improving
manufacturing and quality procedures.

7. Company Culture: The culture of the Unilever aim at developing employees

ability to work together to improve quality.

8. Employee Involvement: Employees of Unilever are encouraged to be pro-

active in identifying and addressing quality related problems.

{Jahan, Y. Id: 1521140660}

12.0 Brand & Branding

A brand is a name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a

combination of them, intended to identify the goods or
services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate
them from those of competitors.

Unilever is a worldwide well-known brand by everybody. This

is because Unilever maintains a strict rules and use of its logo
and other symbols, patterns etc. All the brands of Unilever
has separate branding strategy but each has Unilever logo,
design, ideology and message.

Logo: Unilever is committed to making sustainable living commonplace and their

logo is a visual expression of that commitment. Each icon has a rich meaning at its
core, and represents some aspect of our effort to make sustainable living
commonplace. The big blue ‘U’ of our logo stands for Unilever. It has 25 icons, each
of which represents something important to Unilever. From a lock of hair
symbolizing our shampoo brands to a spoon, an ice cream, a jar, a tea leaf, a hand
and much more, the little icons all have a meaning.

Brands of Unilever

Unilever has around 400 brands operating in different parts of the world. All the
brands can be divided into four categories. They are-

Category Major Brands

│ Term Paper │Kocchoper Dim │ │ BUS 620.4 │ Marketing Management Page | 13

│
 Lux, Dove, Lifebuoy, Axe, Fair & Lovely, Rexona, Sunsilk,
Personal Care
Aviance etc.

Home Care Surf Excel, Comfort, Vim, Cif, Drive, Puro, Persil etc.

Food & Drinks Flora, Bule Band, Becel, Lipton, Magnum Knorr, Pure It etc.

{Haque, S. Id: 1530286660}

13.0 Box Analysis of brand Elements

1. Memorable 2. Meaningful
(Unilever) (Unilever)

3. Likable
4. Transferable
(Unilever)

5. Adaptable 6. Protectable

1. Memorable: How easily do consumers recall and recognize the brand element,
and when—at both purchase and consumption? Unilever is very well known and
recognized by everybody. Short names such as Dove, Lux, and Rexona are
memorable brand elements.

│ Term Paper │Kocchoper Dim │ │ BUS 620.4 │ Marketing Management Page | 14

│
2. Meaningful: Is the brand element credible? Does it suggest the corresponding
category and a product ingredient or the type of person who might use the brand?
Brands like Fair & Lovely, Pure it perfectly describes what the brand offers to the
customers. Thus they are meaningful.

3. Likability: How aesthetically appealing is the brand element? Unilever spends a

lot to make its brands likable and as the customers can feel the attachment of the
brand proposal and their needs they are very likable.
{Roy, S. Id: 1512969660}
14.0 Brand Dynamic Pyramid

Bonding: Bonding happens when a company is doing business at least for 20 years
and well received by the customers. Now there are many products of Unilever which
are new. But as a Brand Unilever itself has been around for such a long time and
constantly stay as a market leader so it is in the bonding section.
{Tasnim, T. Id: 1531414060}
15.0 The Five M’s of Advertisement

The following Five M of advertising is for a new

product launch proposal of Unilever in Bangladesh
which is of an ice cream brand “Ben & Jerry”. The ice-
cream industry of Bangladesh is already 2ooo million BDT a year. Which is also
expected to grow in future with a good rate? “Ben & Jerry” is a famous ice-cream
brand of Unilever which has a long success and loyal customer base. Its tagline is
“Ice-cream makes you happy” and its point of differentiation is real ingredients like
fruits in the ice-cream. The target is gain 20% market share by 1 year and 50%
market share by 3rd year. It will approximately take 80 million BDT marketing cost
including 40 million BDT for TVC and print media, 30 million for event sponsoring

│ Term Paper │Kocchoper Dim │ │ BUS 620.4 │ Marketing Management Page | 15

│
and 10 million for other costs. The effectiveness of advertisement can be measured by
various methods like Digital Ad Ratings, Consumer Neuroscience , Radio Airplay and
Online Streaming etc. by Neilsen.

16.0 Mass Communications {Siddique, R. Id: 1521726060}

16.1 Marketing Mediums

Marketing and promotion of Unilever takes place on a variety of mediums,

intermediaries or platforms. The traditional mediums include print, radio,
television, POSM, retailers, distributors etc. while the online mediums include
ecommerce, social media, search engine marketing etc. The focus of Unilever is
shifting from traditional medias to new phenomenon like social medias. As more and
more people are getting involved with social medias it provides a great opportunity to
engage people with the brands. The main focus of Unilever is to create a Omni-
channel marketing for the company where customer can engage with the company
from wherever they want to purchase from anywhere.

│ Term Paper │Kocchoper Dim │ │ BUS 620.4 │ Marketing Management Page | 16

│
 Diagram 16.1: Marketing Medium of Unilever

16.2 Events, Experiences and Sponsors

Unilever is involved with sponsoring a lot of events including sports, artistic

performances, community and social awareness raising programs. Many events are
created by Unilever as well. Generally different brands of Unilever are associated
with sponsoring particular events. Many times Unilever jointly promote an event
with other companies too. All the sponsorship of Unilever must match with its
sustainable development plan and core values.
{Jahan, Y. Id: 1521140660}

16.3 Public relation/ Government Lobbying

The public relation of Unilever is managed by various Public relation agencies.

GolinHarris, a large public relations firm operating for more than 50 years , has
taken over the PR functions of Unilever’s most brands across the world. It is
responsible for Lipton worldwide; Clear and Lux in China; Lux, Cornetto and
Magnum in Singapore. Halpern are the retained Global PR Agency for Dove
Men+Care Deo all key markets, including South America, Europe, Asia, North
America and ASIA. M-Booth and associates, Fenton etc. handle different brands of
Unilever in USA.

│ Term Paper │Kocchoper Dim │ │ BUS 620.4 │ Marketing Management Page | 17

│
 Diagram 16.2: PR Agencies of Unilever

Unilever Actively hires lobbyist too to lobby on various issues on agriculture,

chemical industry, consumer product safety and taxes. In the UK its main lobbing
groups are Confederation of British Industry (CBI), British Chamber of Commerce
(BCC) etc. In Europe its other lobbying groups are European Roundtable of
Industrialists, European Association for Bioindustries etc. Transatlantic Business
Dialogue arguably is one of the most far-reaching and influential international
corporate-state alliances of Unilever. Other than that Unilever also has alliance with
Bilderberg Group, International Chamber of Commerce etc.

16.4 Corporate Social Responsibility

Unilever is involved in various CSR activities to address various global challenges by

taking local approaches which they call a “Multi Local Multinational Approach.” The
CSR activities of Unilever is closely attached to their sustainable development as they
continue to work on sustainable agriculture, fisheries, water stewardship, and
reducing carbon footprint. Unilever Lifebuoy Campaign Reduces Diarrhoea from
36% to 5% in many villages of 14 countries. In 1996, Unilever joined with WWF to
find a solution to the global fish crisis. Unilever South Africa actively works to protect
lakes in Africa. Thus Unilever is always helping society which as a result boosts it
positive brand image.

│ Term Paper │Kocchoper Dim │ │ BUS 620.4 │ Marketing Management Page | 18

│
17.0 Marketing Budget & Expenditure {Haque, S. Id: 1530286660}

Unilever is one of the top five expenders on advertisements in the world. The
advertisement expenditure of Unilever is mostly dominated by the TV ad segment.
Then comes the print media expenditure. In 2012 the global advertising expenditure
of Unilever was increased by almost 20%. But at the same time Unilever focused on
reducing cost but reaching more consumers with the use of social medias, economy
of scale, more effective use of media etc. In 2015 the core operating margin rose by
0.4 percentage points despite maintaining brand and marketing investment at 14.8%
of turnover, as overheads were reduced by 0.6 percentage points.

Diagram 17.1: Brand and Marketing Investment of Unilever

{Roy, S. Id: 1512969660}

18.0 Pricing Strategy of Unilever

Most of the products of Unilever fall under low to mid-price range. One of the main
strategies of Unilever is to attract buyers by offering low price products like Fair &
Lovely in the emerging markets. In entering the emerging-country market Unilever

│ Term Paper │Kocchoper Dim │ │ BUS 620.4 │ Marketing Management Page | 19

│
prepare to compete on the basis of low prices. Unilever pursued this strategy because
consumers in emerging markets are often highly focused on price, which can give
low-cost local competitors the edge unless a company can find ways to attract buyers
with bargain prices as well as better products. But recently for well stablished brands
Unilever is increasing price by offering new values in the products especially for their
personal care brands.
{Tasnim, T. Id: 1531414060}

19.0 Break-even analysis of Unilever

The break-even level or break-even point (BEP) represents the sales amount—in
either unit or revenue terms—that is required to cover total costs. Total profit at the
break-even point is zero. Break-even is only possible if a firm’s prices are higher than
its variable costs per unit. The main purpose of break-even analysis is to determine
the minimum output that must be exceeded in order to make profit. For Unilever,
data of three years- 2012, 2013 and 2014 will be considered. Break-even point will be
calculated in terms of units.

Assumption,

Price per unit in 2014= $6.25

Variable cost per unit in 2014= $3.13

Fixed cost = $3000 million

So, Break even Volume in 2014 = fixed cost/ (price-variable cost)

= $3000 million/($6.25-$3.13)

= 3347 million units

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Total Fixed cost 30000 30000 30000 30000 30000

Total Variable cost 10017 12123 14340 12270 10460

Total cost 20034 24246 28680 24540 20920

│ Term Paper │Kocchoper Dim │ │ BUS 620.4 │ Marketing Management Page | 20

│
Variable per unit 2.50 2.63 2.75 3.00 3.13

Price per unit 5.00 5.25 5.50 6.00 6.25

Break Even Sales Unit 4007 4618 5215 4090 3347

***Values are in million

Diagram 19.1: Break-Even Point

It can be seen that to reach break-even point Unilever had to reach 3347 million
units to sell which equals to the $20920 million in sales revenue. As Unilever
reached over 5000 million USD in revenue in 2014 it got passed its breakeven point
in 2014 and stood in the revenue zone. {Siddique, R. Id: 1521726060}

20.0 Recommendation

Followings are the recommendation on different issues where Unilever can either
improve or takes new initiatives to grow further.

│ Term Paper │Kocchoper Dim │ │ BUS 620.4 │ Marketing Management Page | 21

│
20.1 More focus on digital marketing and Social media

With the change of technology it is important that

Unilever adapt with different new digital medias for
their marketing approach. The CMO of Unilever
Keith Weed himself admitted that lesser people are
following the traditional medias now a days and it is
getting for difficult to reach customers through
traditional medias. It is very important that Unilever
focuses more and more on new digital medias like
mobile, social networks, blog etc. What Unilever
needs to do is to engage people in various activities
with separate brands of Unilever through social
networks. Unilever should create different events which will encourage people to
participate in them. The themes of the events must match with the core brand values
of a particular brand. Unilever did great promotion of World hand wash day in social
media and gained positive feedback. In Bihar, a region in India with the lowest
access to media and yet has high mobile phone penetration. It created a radio station
that gave people 15 minutes of free entertainment along with ads for Unilever brands
when they missed call a number. The service proved popular with more than 8
million unique visitors in six months and the ads were heard more than 50 million
times. Unilever should have country wise verified pages for all its brands and operate
them separately.

Diagram 20.1: Top Social networks used by businesses

20.2 Ecommerce website for Omni-channel efficiency

To foster the Omni-channel marketing and distribution strategy for Unilever should
open country specific ecommerce sites for its brands. In the ecommerce site

│ Term Paper │Kocchoper Dim │ │ BUS 620.4 │ Marketing Management Page | 22

│
customers will be able to order any item and they will have the option to choose a
place where they want to purchase the product. In that case Unilever will be able to
manage their distribution channel more efficiently. This will be more effective for
higher end products as higher end products are not always available to any local
stores where other Unilever products may be found. This ecommerce ordering
process will be able to drive sales growth for these products and reduce holding time.

{Jahan, Y. Id: 1521140660}

20.3 Premium personal care products

There is a vacuum for premium personal care products of

Unilever. Many countries including emerging markets are
facing increasing demand for premium personal care
products for specific needs. Unilever should create separate
brands to enter into the personal care products. They should
market it separately and make it available in high end stores
only. The packaging should also reflect the quality of the
products are being sold.

20.4 Marketing change of Knorr to increase growth in South Asia

The food section is very important for Unilever to grow. And South Asia is a big
market for Knorr including India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan etc. But the sales
of Knorr in this region are not as expected for Unilever. In the same region Nestle has
achieved great success with their brand “Maggi”. On the first few months Knorr had a

│ Term Paper │Kocchoper Dim │ │ BUS 620.4 │ Marketing Management Page | 23

│
good sales but that was
due to Maggi’s supply
chain problems. Once
Maggi solved their
problems, Knorr’s sales
begin to decline. Most
people found Knorr
soups’ taste to be bland
and tasteless especially
people of Bangladesh likes spicy or Thai flavors more and Knorr is European savory
biased which did not suit the sub-continent people’s taste. Also there was lack of
awareness for the idea of real chicken and vegetable which did not get set in
consumer minds that strongly. Eventually they have introduced the Thai flavor but it
was quite late and Maggi has already returned. Even with their advertisement in
Bangladesh Knorr was not successful much. Knorr tried to attract the mother section
by focusing on real ingredients and children section by make funny advertisement.
But following things Knorr can do to increase sales.

 Knorr should hire Bangladeshi well known nutrition expert or cooking expert
to act in the ad which would be more accepted by the mothers in Bangladesh.
 Knorr has associated itself with “Kung Fu Panda” and promotes “Kung Fu
panda” cartoon in TV. Knorr can introduce special kung Fu Panda designed
noodles packets and offer stickers with small packets or small toys with the
family size packets of Knorr. This will attract the children a lot.
 Knorr should introduce new foods like “Knorr Momo” or “Knorr Spaghetti” in
the countries where these are absent from competitor brands.

20.5 Eco friendly Product Packaging

One important goal of Unilever sustainable living goal is to reduce the carbon foot
print and doing more ecofriendly business. To achieve the goal or foster the idea
Unilever can introduce ecofriendly product packaging for their products which will
not be indestructible like plastic and harmful for the environment. It will also create
positive image of Unilever among general public.

│ Term Paper │Kocchoper Dim │ │ BUS 620.4 │ Marketing Management Page | 24

│
 Eco Friendly Packaging

{Haque, S. Id: 1530286660}

21.0 Conclusion

Unilever is one of the greatest brands which is occupying and stands gallant position
through the whole world. Unilever Bangladesh Limited (UBL) is very well-known to
us like the common people but there are some pros and cons those we come to know
through this analysis. From the overall study over the renowned Unilever we’ve got
an idea about its strengths, weakness as ion a word SWOT and the PESTEL. They
maintain a value chain which has a unique role behind the successful. They also
maintain successful campaign. Based on the analysis done above we can reach the
decision that Activation campaigns do have an impact on the purchase behavior of
the consumers. These campaigns not only create help to create awareness amongst
the specified target group but also helps to pass on a newly or modified positioning
statement. To maintain a more successful brand value there must be an excellent
coordination and integration between the brand managers in the marketing team.
Actually all the member of this family maintains a friendly relationship in a friendly
environment.

│ Term Paper │Kocchoper Dim │ │ BUS 620.4 │ Marketing Management Page | 25

│
22.0 Reference

1. Kotler, P. & Keller, K.L. (2015) . Marketing Management: A South Asian

Perspective (14th ed.) Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall
2. Our history. Retrieved on December 5, 2015 from
http://www.unilever.com.bd/aboutus/introductiontounileverbangladesh/
3. Our brands. Retrieved December 5, 2015, from http://www.unilever.com.bd/our-
brands/index.aspx
4. Our mission. Retrived on December 5, 2015, from
http://www.unilever.com.bd/aboutus/missionstatement/
5. Rana J. (2012). Rural Consumer Behavior : A Case of Premium FMCG Brands,
International Journal of Engineering and Social Science, Volume2, Issue4 , 1-10.
6. Clark, T. (1990). International marketing and national character: A review and
proposal for an integrative theory. Journal of marketing, 54, 66-79.
7. Sultana, Sumnum. How strong brand building is leveraged through efficient
operation in the market. Retrieved on December 5, 2015, 2013 from
http://dspace.bracu.ac.bd/bitstream/handle/10361/718/INTERNSHIP%20REP
ORT%20on%20unilever.pdf?sequence=1
8. Amin, Shehzad. Brand Activation Model. Retrieved on December 5, 2015, 2013
fromhttp://www.macromanagementsystems.net/DSA%20Brand%20Activation%
20Model%20%20How%20to%20measure%20your%20activation%20performan
ce.pf
9. Malhotra N. K. (2008). Marketing Research: An Applied Orientation. New Jersey,
USA: Prentice-Hall
10. Marketing Mix. (n.d.).Retrieved December 6,2015, from
http://universityessays.tripod.com/marketing_mix.html
11. Keller K. L. (2008). Strategic Brand Management: Building, Measuring and
Managing Brand Equity. USA: Pearson Education Inc.
12. Analyzing The Market of Lux. (n.d.). In Scribd. Retrieved December 7, 2015, from
http://www.scribd.com/doc/244 7872 3/Sh-An

│ Term Paper │Kocchoper Dim │ │ BUS 620.4 │ Marketing Management Page | 26

│