CHAPTER NO.

INTRODUCTION & RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.

1.1 INTRODUCTION:

Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) is India's largest Fast Moving Consumer Goods company with a
heritage of over 80 years in India. On any given day, nine out of ten Indian households use our products to
feel good, look good and get more out of life – giving us a unique opportunity to build a brighter future.

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.

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, Pond’s, Vaseline, Lakmé, Dove,
Clinic Plus, Sunsilk, Pepsodent, Closeup, Axe, Brooke Bond, Bru, Knorr, Kissan, Kwality Wall’s and Pureit.

The Company has about 18,000 employees and has sales of INR 37660 crores (financial year 2018-
19). HUL is a subsidiary of Unilever, one of the world’s leading suppliers of Food, Home Care, Personal
Care and Refreshment products with sales in over 190 countries and an annual sales turnover of €51 billion
in 2018. Unilever has over 67% shareholding in HUL.

1.2 HISTORY OF HINDUSTAN UNILEVER LIMITED (HUL):

Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) is Indias largest fast-moving consumer goods company. HUL
operates in seven business segments. Soaps and detergents includes soaps, detergent bars, detergent powders
and scourers. Personal products include products in the

categories of oral care, skin care (excluding soaps), hair care, talcum powder and color cosmetics.
Beverages include tea and coffee. Foods include staples (atta, salt and bread) and culinary products (tomato-
based products, fruit-based products and soups). Ice creams include ice creams and frozen desserts. Others
include chemicals and water business. HULs product portfolio includes leading household brands such as
Lux, Lifebuoy, Surf Excel, Rin, Wheel, Fair & Lovely, Ponds, Vaseline, Lakme, Dove, Clinic Plus, Sunsilk,
Pepsodent, Closeup, Axe, Brooke Bond, Bru, Knorr, Kissan, Kwality Walls and Pureit. HUL is a subsidiary

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of Unilever, one of the world’s leading suppliers of Food, Home Care, Personal Care and Refreshment
products with sales in over 190 countries and an annual sales turnover of ?52.7 billion in 2016.Hindustan
Unilever Ltd was incorporated in the year 1933 as Lever Brothers India Ltd. In 1956, Hindustan Vanaspati
Mfg. Co. Ltd. and United Traders Ltd merged with the company and the name was changed from Lever
Brothers Ltd to Hindustan Lever Ltd. The company acquired Lipton in 1972, and in 1977 Lipton Tea (India)
Ltd was incorporated. Brooke Bond joined the Unilever fold in 1984 through an international acquisition.
Ponds (India) Ltd joined the Unilever fold through an international acquisition of Chesbrough Ponds USA in
1986.The liberalization of the Indian economy, started in 1991, clearly marked an inflexion in the companys
and the Groups growth curve.

The removal of the regulatory framework allowed the company toexplore every single product and
opportunity segment, without any constraints on production capacity. Simultaneously, deregulation
permitted alliances, acquisitions and mergers. The erstwhile Tata Oil Mills Company (TOMCO) merged
with the company with effect from April 1, 1993. In the year 1996, the company and Lakme Ltd formed a
50:50 joint venture company namely, Lakme Unilever Ltd, to market Lakmes market-leading cosmetics and
other appropriate products of both the companies. Subsequently in 1998, Lakme Ltd sold its brands to the
company and divested its 50% stake in the joint venture to the company. In the year 1994, the company and
US-based Kimberly Clark Corporation formed a 50:50 joint venture company namely, Kimberly-Clark
Lever Ltd, which markets Huggies Diapers and Kotex Sanitary Pads. The company also set up a subsidiary
in Nepal, Unilever Nepal Limited (UNL), and its factory represents the largest manufacturing investment in
the Himalayan kingdom. In the year 1992, the erstwhile Brooke Bond acquired Kothari General Foods, with
significant interests in Instant Coffee.

In the year 1993, it acquired the Kissan business from the UB Group and the Dollops Ice-cream
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 the year 1994, Brooke Bond
India and Lipton India merged to form Brooke Bond Lipton India Ltd (BBLIL), enabling greater focus and
ensuring synergy in the traditional Beverages business. Finally, BBLIL merged with the company with
effect from January 1, 1996. The internal restructuring culminated in the merger of Ponds (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. In January 2000, the government decided to award 74 per
cent equity in Modern Foods to the company, thereby beginning the divestment of government equity in
public sector undertakings (PSU) to private sector partners. The companys entry into bread is a strategic
extension of the companys wheat business.

In 2002, the company acquired the governments remaining stake in Modern Foods. In the year 2002,
the company made its foray into Ayurvedic health & beauty centre category with the Ayush product range
and Ayush Therapy Centres. In the year 2003, the company acquired the Cooked Shrimp and Pasteurised
Crabmeat business of the Amalgam Group of Companies, a leader in value added Marine Products exports.
Also, the company launched Hindustan Unilever Network, Direct to home business. In the year 2004, the
company launched Pureit water purifier. In the year 2005, Lever India Exports Ltd, Lipton India Exports
Ltd, Merry weather Food Products Ltd, Toc Disinfectants Ltd and International Fisheries Ltd were
amalgamated with the company. In February 2006, Vasishti Detergents Ltd (VDL) merged with the
company. In September 2006, Modern Foods Industries (India) Ltd and Modern Foods & Nutrition
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Industries Ltd was merged with itself. In October 2006, the company divested its 51% controlling stake in
Unilever India Shared Services Ltd, now known as Capgemini Business Services (India) Limited (CGSL) to
Cap Gemini SA.In March 2007, Sangam Direct, a non-store home delivery retail business, operated by
Unilever India Exports Ltd (UIEL), a fully owned subsidiary was transferred to Wadhavan Foods Retail Pvt
Ltd (WFRPL) on a slump sale business. Also, the company carried out demerger of its operational facilities
in Shamnagar, Jamnagar and Janmam and formed three independent companies, namely Shamnagar Estates
Pvt. Ltd, Jamnagar Properties Pvt Ltd and Hindustan Kwality Walls Foods Pvt Ltd. In June 2007, the
company changed its name from Hindustan Lever Ltd to Hindustan Unilever Ltd.

In the year 2008, the company announced its collaboration with the Indian Dental Association (IDA)
in conjunction with World Dental Federation (FDI) through its Pepsodent, leading oral care brand to help
improve the oral health and hygiene standards in India. In April 2008, the company demergered and
transferred certain immoveable properties to Brooke Bond Real Estates Pvt Ltd. In January 2010, the
company inaugurated the new corporate office of the company. In April 2010, the company approved the
scheme of amalgamation of Bon Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hindustan Unilever Ltd., with the
company.

The appointed date for the abovementioned scheme was April 01, 2009 and the scheme shall be
effective from April 28, 2010. Consequent to the amalgamation, Bon Ltd ceased to be a subsidiary of the
company. During the year 2010-11, Kissan forayed into new market segment in three big categories. It
launched Kissan Fruit & Soya, a delicious blend fruit juice and soya milk, which enjoys a differentiated
proposition in this market. The brand also entered into the Indian (non-sweet) spreads market with the
launch of Kissan Creamy Spread across key towns.

In Bakery division, the company launched two new products, namely Chapi and Cream Rolls.
During the year, the company divested 43.31% stake in Hindustan Field Services Pvt Ltd in favour of
Smollan Group (the jv partner). Thus, Hindustan Field Services Pvt. Ltd. ceased to be a subsidiary company.
Lakme Lever Pvt Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of HUL, expanded the network of Lakme Beauty Salons
during the year with the opening of 11 company owned and managed salons, along with 18 franchisee
salons. In December 2011, the company demerged the FMCG exports business including specific exports
related manufacturing units of the company into its wholly owned subsidiary Unilever India Exports Ltd
(UIEL). The scheme became effective from January 1, 2012.In 2012, the company enters into agreement
with Unilever to market Brylcreem in India. During the year under review, the company and entities of
Piramal Realty (Ajay Piramal Group) signed an agreement for assignment of HULs leasehold rights of the
land and building named Gulita situated at Worli Sea Face, Mumbai, for a transaction value of Rs. 452.5
Crores (Rupees Four Hundred and Fifty-Two Crores and Fifty lakhs only). On 22 January 2013, the Board
of Directors of HUL approved a proposal to sign a new agreement with its parent company Unilever for the
provision of technology, trade mark license and other services effective 1 February 2013.

The new agreement envisages that the existing royalty cost of 1.4% of turnover payable by HUL to
Unilever will increase, in a phased manner, to a royalty cost of 3.15% of turnover no later than the financial
year ending 31 March 2018, i.e. a total estimated increase of 1.75% of turnover. The increase in royalty cost,
in the period from 1 February 2013 to 31 March 2014 is estimated to be 0.5% of turnover, and thereafter in a
range of 0.3% to 0.7% of turnover in each financial year, leading up to a total estimated royalty cost increase
of 1.75% of turnover compared to existing arrangements, no later than the financial year ending 31 March
2018. In 2014, Unilever announces a partnership with Internet.org, a Facebook-led alliance of partners, to
understand better how internet access can be increased to reach millions more people across rural India. The
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 company also launches Prabhat initiative for community development in villages around its factories during
the year under review. The company also enters into partnership with MTV to endorse its brands during the
year under review.In 2015, the company launched The Unilever Foundry. During the year under review, the
company was recognized as the most innovative marketer on mobile, at the Mobile Marketing Association
(MMA).

The company also revives Ayush with e-launch during the year. The company also launched Swachh
Aadat, Swachh Bharat programme in India during the year under review. On 8 September 2015, HUL
announced that it has signed an agreement for the sale and transfer of its bread and bakery business under the
brand Modern to Nimman Foods Private Limited, an investee company of the Everstone Group, for an
undisclosed consideration.

The transaction includes sale and transfer of the Modern brand and business on a going concern
basis. On 17 December 2015, HUL announced that it had signed an agreement with Mosons Group to
acquire its flagship Indulekha premium Ayurvedic hair oil brand. The deal envisages the acquisition of the
trademarks Indulekha and Vayodha, intellectual property, design and knowhow, for a consideration of Rs
330 crore, payable upon closing of the transaction and a deferred consideration of 10% on the domestic
turnover of the brands each year, payable annually for a 5 year period commencing FY 2018.The Board of
Directors of HUL at its meeting held on 15 January 2016 considered and approved a Scheme of
Arrangement between the company and its shareholders for pay-out of the entire balance of Rs 2187.33
crore standing to the credit of the General Reserves in Balance Sheet.

The Scheme of Arrangement envisages the transfer of the entire balance of Rs 2187.33 crore
standing to the credit of the General Reserves to the Profit and Loss Account and its subsequent pay-out to
the company’s shareholders. On 17 March 2016, Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) announced that it has
signed an agreement for the sale of its Rice Exports business carried out primarily under the brands Gold
Seal Indus Valley and Rozana, to LT Foods Middle East DMCC, a group company of LT Foods Limited
(owner of Daawat). The deal envisages transfer of the brands and inventory for a consideration of Rs 25
crore, subject to adjustments on closing. HULs new personal products factory in Doom Dooma, Assam was
formally inaugurated 6 September 2017.

The new factory, that will manufacture products for leading HUL brands, such as Fair & Lovely,
Ponds, Vaseline, Sunsilk, Clinic Plus, TRESemme & Dove, commenced commercial production on 15
March 2017. HUL, along with its partners has invested Rs 1000 crores in the project. On 29 September
2017, HUL announced that it had signed an agreement for divestment of its entire 50% shareholding in
Kimberly-Clark Lever Private Limited (KCL) in favour of its joint venture partner Kimberly-Clark
Corporation (KCC), USA. KCL sells infant care diapers as its primary product category under the brand
Huggies. It also sells feminine care products under the brand Kotex.

1.3 SUMMARY:

Name Age Since Current Position

Sanjiv Mehta 58 2018 Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer, Managing Director

Srinivas Pathak 47 2017 Chief Financial Officer, Executive Director - Finance & IT, Director

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Devopam Bajpai 53 2017 Compliance Officer, Executive Director - Legal & Corporate Affairs,
Company Secretary and Director

Pradeep Banerjee 60 2010 Executive Director - Supply Chain, Director

Srinandan Sundaram 2016 Executive Director - Sales and Customer Development

B. Biddappa 47 2013 Executive Director - Human Resources

Sandeep Kohli 2016 Executive Director, Beauty & Personal Care

Priya Nair 2014 Executive Director - Home Care

Sudhir Sitapati 2016 Executive Director - Foods & Refreshments

Om Bhatt 68 2011 Non-Executive Independent Director

Sanjiv Misra 71 2013 Non-Executive Independent Director

Kalpana Morparia 70 2014 Non-Executive Independent Director

Aditya Narayan 67 2001 Non-Executive Independent Director

Leo Puri 58 2018 Non-Executive Independent Director

1.4 BIOGRAPHIES

Name Description

Sanjiv Mehta Mr. Sanjiv Mehta is a Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer, Managing
Director of the Company. He previously served as Executive Officer, Managing
Director, Executive Director of Hindustan Unilever Limited. He is also Executive
Vice President for Unilever in South Asia and a member of Unilever’s Global Market
Executive. Mr. Mehta joined Unilever in October 1992. He has led several Unilever
businesses across South Asia, South East Asia and Middle East. He was appointed
Chairman and Managing Director of Unilever Bangladesh in 2002. In 2007, he was
appointed as Chairman and CEO of Unilever Philippines. In 2008, he took up
responsibility as the Chairman of Unilever North Africa and Middle East (NAME),
leading a multi country organisation spanning 20 countries in the region. During his
tenure as the head of various Unilever Companies, the business achieved significant
success accelerating both growth and profitability. Importantly, he has been
instrumental in building leadership talent and substantially strengthening
organisational capabilities. Before joining Unilever, Mr. Mehta worked for Union
Carbide India. He is a Commerce graduate and a Chartered Accountant. He has also
completed Advanced Management Program from Harvard Business School.

Srinivas Pathak Mr. Srinivas Pathak is Chief Financial Officer, Executive Director - Finance & IT,
Director of the Company effective December 1st, 2017. He a qualified Chartered

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 Accountant and Cost and Works Accountant, joined the Company in 1999 after a brief
3-year stint with an external organisation. He has worked in various roles in the
Company including Commercial Manager Chiplun Factory, Head of Treasury,
followed by leadership roles such as General Manager Finance for Foods &
Refreshments and Head, Investor Relations for the Company. He was then seconded to
Unilever as the Global Finance VP for Deodorants, followed by VP Finance Supply
Chain Americas and most recently as VP Business Finance Service

Devopam Bajpai Mr. Devopam Bajpai is Compliance Officer, Executive Director - Legal & Corporate
Affairs, Company Secretary and Director of the Company. He was a Compliance
Officer, Executive Director - Legal & Corporate Affairs, Company Secretary of
Hindustan Unilever Limited. He is currently Senior Director - Legal & Compliance
with ICICI Venture, is a qualified legal professional and a Company Secretary. Mr.
Bajpai has 22 years of experience in different organizations including Marico Ltd.,
Indian Hotels Company Ltd. and Maruti Udyog Ltd.

Pradeep Banerjee Mr. Pradeep Banerjee is a Executive Director - Supply Chain, Director of Hindustan
Unilever Limited., since March 01, 2010. He joined the Company as a Management
Trainee in 1980. He has held a series of assignments in Supply Chain, Research &
Development and Categories. Mr. Banerjee became the Vice President - Technical
(Home and Personal Care) in 2003 and later moved to UK in 2005 as Vice President -
Global Supply Chain for Personal Care Category. He served as the Vice President for
Global Procurement in Singapore. Mr. Banerjee is currently the Chairman of Unilever
Nepal Limited. Mr. Banerjee was appointed as Executive Director - Supply Chain of
the Company in March, 2010. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering
(Chemical) from IIT Delhi

Srinandan Sundaram

B. Biddappa Mr. B. P. Biddappa is a Executive Director - Human Resources of Hindustan Unilever

Limited. He joined in 1992. He has held global positions for Unilever - with Unilever
Maghreb (Casablanca), Unilever Bangladesh as HR Director and then in Unilever
Asia, Singapore as Vice President, Human Resources for the Supply Chain in Asia,
Africa and Russia. Over the last 20+ years Biddappa has worked in a variety of roles
starting off in a factory in Orai (UP), then working in supervisory development,
Corporate Learning and R&D. He has held global positions for Unilever - with
Unilever Maghreb (Casablanca), Unilever Bangladesh as HR Director and then in
Unilever Asia, Singapore as Vice President, Human Resources for the Supply Chain in
Asia, Africa and Russia. Biddappa was appointed as the Executive Director-HR for
HUL with effect from February 1, 2013. Mr. Biddappa also leads HR for Unilever
South Asia as Vice President, HR for South Asia. Biddappa has a Bachelor’s Degree
in Economics from Delhi University and an MBA in HR from XLRI, Jamshedpur.

Sandeep Kohli Mr. Sandeep Kohli is Executive Director, Beauty & Personal Care of the Company.
He currently Vice President, Myanmar Cambodia & Laos started his career as a
Management Trainee in Hindustan Unilever Ltd in 1993 after completing an MMS
from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute, Mumbai. Earlier to this, he had graduated with an MSc
(Hons) in Maths and a BE (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering from BITS Pilani in
1991. He worked across the HPC and Foods businesses in HUL. In 2004, he moved to

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 Philippines as the Head of Marketing, Foods. In 2007-08, he became the Global Brand
Director, Savoury based in UK, after which, he joined the South East Asia and
Australasia Leadership Team as Vice President, Marketing Operations. In this role he
successfully built programs across marketing, customer development, media and CMI.

Om Bhatt Mr. Om Prakash Bhatt is a Non-Executive Independent Director of Hindustan

Unilever Limited. He is former Chairman of SBI (State Bank of India). In the 36 years
that Mr. Bhatt served at SBI, he worked on several important national and
international assignments. Mr. Bhatt led SBI through challenging times by capitalising
on the bank’s strengths. Under his leadership, SBI rose on the Global List rankings of
Fortune 500. Mr. Bhatt was nominated ‘Banker of the Year’ by Business Standard and
CNN – IBN Indian of the Year for Business in 2007. Mr. Bhatt holds a Graduate
degree in Physics and a Post Graduate degree in English literature (Gold Medal). He
was appointed as an Independent Director on the Board of the Company in December,
2011. He is a Member of the Audit Committee and Nomination and Remuneration
Committee of the Company and is the Chairman of the Stakeholders’ Relationship
Committee and Corporate Social Responsibility Committee of the Company.

Sanjiv Misra Dr. Sanjiv Misra is Non-Executive Independent Director of Hindustan Unilever
Limited. He is a retired Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officer and a former
member of the 13th Finance Commission, a constitutional position with the rank of a
Minister of State. Prior to joining the Finance Commission, Dr. Misra has served in a
wide range of key positions in the Federal and State Governments, including as
Managing Director of the Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation and stints at
senior levels in the Government of India in the Cabinet Office, the Ministry of
Petroleum, the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and the Ministry of Finance. He
served as Secretary in the Ministry of Finance till his superannuation. Dr. Misra has
represented India in various international conferences, seminars and negotiations. Till
recently, Dr. Misra was a Member of the Advisory Council of the Asian Development
Bank Institute, Tokyo. He was also a member of the Committee on Fiscal
Consolidation (Kelkar Committee) set up by the Finance Minister in August 2012 to
chart out a road map for fiscal consolidation for the Indian economy. He graduated in
Economics from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi. He has a Master’s degree in Economics
from the Delhi School of Economics, a Master’s degree in Public Administration from
John F Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, USA and a Ph. D. from
the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. In recognition of exceptional academic
strengths and leadership qualities, Dr. Misra was designated as Lucius N Littauer
Fellow of 1987 at Harvard University. Dr. Misra was appointed as an Independent
Director on the Board of the Company in April 2013.

Kalpana Morparia Ms. Kalpana Morparia is Non-Executive Independent Director of the Company. She is
Chief Executive Officer of J. P. Morgan, India. Ms. Morparia leads each of the firm’s
lines of business – Corporate & Investment Banking and Asset Management. She also
has the responsibility for Service Groups operating in India, including Global
Research, Finance, Technology and Operations. Internationally, Ms. Morparia is a

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 member of JP Morgan’s Asia Pacific Management Committee. Prior to joining JP
Morgan India, Ms. Morparia served as Vice Chair on the Boards of ICICI Group
Companies. She was a Joint Managing Director of ICICI Group from 2001 to 2007.
She had been with the ICICI Group since 1975. A graduate in law from Bombay
University, Ms. Morparia has served on several Committees constituted by the
Government of India. She has been recognized by several International and National
media for her role as one of the leading women professionals. She is also a Member of
the Governing Board of Bharti Foundation. Ms. Morparia was appointed as an
Independent Director on the Board of the Company with effect from 9th October,
2014. She is also Member of the Audit Committee and Corporate Social
Responsibility of the Company.

Aditya Narayan Mr. Aditya Narayan is Non-Executive Independent Director of Hindustan Unilever
Limited. He began his career as a Management Trainee with ICI India Limited (now
Akzo Nobel India Limited) in 1973. He grew through diverse functions and businesses
including a role as a Corporate Planning Manager at ICI Group HQ in London. He
served as the Managing Director of ICI India during 1996-2003 and then as its Non-
Executive Chairman over 2003-2010. He also served as the President and CEO of
BHP Billiton India during 2005-2009. Mr. Narayan is a B. Tech. from IIT Kanpur and
also has formal qualifications in Law. He was a Fellow in Interdisciplinary Sciences at
the University of Rochester, USA. He was a Commonwealth Scholar at the
Manchester Business School in 1991 and a Fellow at the Aspen Institute, Colorado,
USA in 1998. Mr. Narayan joined the Board of the Company as an Independent
Director in 2001. He is the Chairman of the Audit Committee and a Member of the
Nomination and Remuneration Committee and Corporate Social Responsibility
Committee of the Company.

Leo Puri Mr. Leo Puri is Non-Executive Independent Director of the Company. was the
Managing Director of UTI Asset Management Company Limited from August, 2013
to August, 2018. In his career of more than 30 years, Mr. Puri has previously worked
as Director with Mckinsey & Company and as Managing Director with Warburg
Pincus. Mr. Puri has worked in UK, USA and Asia and since 1994, he has been based
in India. At Mckinsey, he has advised leading financial institutions, conglomerates,
and investment institutions in strategy and operational issues. He has contributed to
the development of knowledge and public policy through advice to regulators and
government officials. At Warburg Pincus, he was responsible for leading and
managing investments across industries in India. He also contributed to the financial
services investments in the international portfolio as a member of the global
partnership. Mr. Puri has a Master’s degree in P.P.E. from University of Oxford and a
Master’s degree in Law from University of Cambridge. Mr. Puri has held Non-
Executive Board position at Infosys, Bennett Coleman & Co., Max New York Life
and Max Bupa Health Insurance.

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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:
1.5 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:
1. To know about various brands of Hindustan Unilever Limited & their survival in the Godrej Consumer
Products market.
2.To study the competition held in the soap market for Hindustan Unilever Limited.
3.To know about the customer perception while purchasing the bath soap products.
4.To determine the demand of customers.
5.To know about the performances of popular brands of different companies in the market.

1.6 HYPOTHESIS:

H0- “Customers are positive towards HUL.”

H1- “Customers are not positive towards HUL.”

1.7 NEED OF THE STUDY:

The term Consumer Behaviours refers to the behaviour that consumers display in the searching for
purchasing, using, evaluating and disposing of product and services that they expect, will satisfy their needs.
Consumer is highly complex individual, subject to variety of psychological needs and bind behaviour. Needs
and priority of different consumer segment differ effectively.
This project has been undertaken to understand the consumer behaviour towards different bathing soap
which r of different brands of HUL. There is a wide range of use of bathing soap to take bath everywhere.
The main aim of study was to understand what consumer prefers i.e. Quality, Quantity, Inspiration Factor or
Promotional Activities of HUL.

1.8. MAJOR COMPETITORS OF HUL SOAPS:

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1. Godrej Consumer Products
2. Wipro
3. Nirma
4. ITC
1.Godrej Consumer Products:

GCPL, India’s second largest soap maker after Hindustan Unilever Limited, has nearly 9.47%market
share. It is the second largest soap maker after HUL, Godrej Consumer Products (GCPL) is a major player in
Indian FMCG market with leadership in personal, hair, household and fabric care segments. The company is
one among the largest marketer of toilet soaps in the country with leading brands such as CINTHOL, FAIR
GLOW & NIKHAR. Fair Glow brand, India’s first fairness soap has created a marketing history as one of
the most successful innovation. It is also the preferred supplier for contract manufacturing for toilet soaps,
some of which r the most well-known brands of the country.

2. WIPRO:

In Indian market Wipro is a leader in providing It solutions and services for the corporate segment in
India. Wipro also has a profitable presence in niche market segments of infrastructure engineering, and
consumer products & lighting. Wipro has made a large acquisition in Consumer Care businesses. The
presence of Wipro in toilet soap industry can be seen through their brands such as SANTOOR and
CHANDRIKA. With industry leading organic growth rates and the acquisitions, consumer Care business has
reached a revenue run rate in access of $ 100 million per quarter.

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3.NIRMA:

Incorporated as a private limited company, Nirma was converted into a deemed company and then to
a public limited one in November 93. Nirma has a leadership presence in Detergents, Soaps and Personal
Care Products. To have a greater control on the quality and price of its raw materials, Nirma undertook
backward integration into manufacture of Industrial Products like Soda Ash, Linear Alkyl Benzene (LAB),
Alfa Olefin Sulphonates (AOS), Fatty Acid, Glycerine and Sulphuric Acid. During 1996-97, Nilnita
Chemicals, Nirma Detergents, Nirma Soaps and Detergents, and Shiva Soaps and Detergents were
amalgamated with the company. The company created Nirma Conumer Care Ltd. – wholly owned
subsidiary on 22nd Aug, ’97, which is the sole licensee of the brand name ‘Nirma’ within India. Nirma
enjoys a share of 6.74%in soaps.

5. ITC:

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 ITC, the country’s largest cigarette maker, entered the segment last year has made a strong headway
in strong time. According to AC Nielsen, its share has grown to 1.75% in just five months despite the fact
that many of its brands such as Superia, Fiama Bi Wills and Vivel are currently sold in only six states.

1.9 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM:

Consumer choices and decision-making process is a complex phenomenon in nature. Making a

decision to buy a product or service involves many courses of action. There are lot of factors influencing the
consumer preferences to select a particular product. The literature on brand preference studies reveals that
for the selection of nondurable products, especially bath soaps, the consumer has been unable to spend time
to evaluate and choose the desired one based on their need.
The marketing strategies followed by the manufacturer and marketer as well as pre-conceived idea
of the buyer also plays a vital role in selection of a particular brand and consumer satisfaction. Only a
limited number of attempts have been made to study the factors influencing brand preference especially
among brands in bath soaps. Based on these basic questions, the researcher has developed an interest to
study the factors contributing to brand preference of bath soap brands of HUL (Hindustan Unilever Limited)
and its effects on the level of consumer self-confidence, propensity to provide market information, brand
awareness, brand image and brand loyalty.

1.10 RESEARCH DESIGN:

Research design is a conceptual structure within which research is conducted.it constitutes the
blueprint of collection, measurement and analysis of data. Research design is needed because it facilitates
the smooth sailing of various research operations, thereby making research as efficient as possible yielding
maximum information with minimum time, effort and money. Research design stands for advance planning
of methods to be used for collecting relevant data and techniques to be used in analysis

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1.11 COLLECTION OF DATA:
The data has been collected from primary and secondary sources

PRIMARY DATA:

A survey was conducted through structured questionnaire the study was done among the customers
who r using bath soaps and conducted personal interview for collecting the required information it is original
data, first hand and for specific purpose of the research process,
1.Questionnaire
2.One to One Interview

SECONDARY DATA:

The main aim of the project is to analyse the consumer preference towards different soaps brands of
Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL). Therefore, it is necessary to get considerable information about the
competing brands. For this I have gone through a lot of secondary data. A lot of issues of Business Today,
Economic Times were
Consulted. Books, Magazine, Internet, Newspapers, Journals, Company
Information both internal and external by company magazines, data related to the project.
1.Books, Magazine, Newspaper, Company Profile
2.Internet

1.12 SAMPLING:
Sampling Unit:
Consumers using the bath soaps.

Sampling plan:
The selection of the samples is done by Simple Random Sampling Method.

Sample Size:
Sample size was limited to 100 people (customers).

1.13 SCOPE OF THE STUDY:

13
 The geographical scope of the study was restricted due to time and resource constraints. The study
being exploratory in nature, the sample size was restricted to 100 customers. In this study only, bath soap
segments and the customers of the bath soaps are considered.

1.14LIMITATION OF THE STUDY:

1.Biasness of the respondents may affect the results of the study.
2. Time constraints.

CHAPTER 2

REVIEW OF LITERATURE.

Discovering the Consumer: Market Research, Product Innovation, and the Creation of Brand Loyalty
in Britain and United States in the Interwar Years.

This paper discusses the use of the market and consumer research at Lever/Unilever and its
advertising agency in Britain and the United States, J. Wlter Thompson (JWT), in the 1920s and 1930s
helped Lever reposition its international soap brands.

Some of the Literatures related to the study are mentioned below:

14
 Hindustan Unilever Limited is the Indian arm of the Anglo-Dutch company – Unilever. Both
Unilever and HUL have established themselves well in the Fast moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) category.
In India the company offers many household brands like, Dove, Lifebuoy, Lipton, Lux, Pepsodent, Ponds,
Rexona, Sunsilk, Surf, Vaseline etc. Some of its efforts were rewarded when four of HUL brands found
place in the ‘Top 10 brands’ list for the year 2008 published in The Economic Times.

Unilever was a result of the merger between the Dutch margarine company, Margarine Unie, and the
British soap-maker, Lever Brothers, way back in 1930. For 70 years, Unilever was the undisputed market
leader but now faces tough competition from Proctor & Gamble and Colgate-Palmolive.

HUL is also known for its strong distribution network in India. In order to further strengthen its
distribution in the rural areas and to empower the local women, HUL launched a Project Shakti in 2000 in a
district in Andhra Pradesh. The ides behind this project was to create women entrepreneurs and provide them
with micro-credit and training in enterprise management, which would enable them to create self-help
groups and become direct-to-home distributors of HUL products. Today Project Shakti is present across
80,000 villages in 15 states and is helping many underprivileged women earn their livelihood.

As the per-capita income of India is increasing along with the Indian population. So, the future for the
FMCG Companies is bright. To analysis the past performance & the future demand of HUL, FMCG
products we have considered following points of the following writer:
 We have listed the different FMCG product lines of HUL.
 We have done competitor’s analysis in which the market share of top FMCG companies are analysed
& the market share of HUL’s different categories product are analysed with comparison to its
competitors.
 Then performance analysis is made by taking 10-year financial data from 1998-2007. The profit &
sales growth is analysed. We have done SWOT analysis to know the threat & opportunities of HUL
in present market.
 The future opportunities for FMCG products are taken into consideration by analysing the increased
per capita income & increased disposable income to forecast the future demand of HUL.
Ashni Biyani, Managing Director of Future Consumer Ltd, in the year 2019 stated HUL is hoping to score
on the green front with an environmentally friendly product.

While HUL declined to comment, Future Group said its liquid detergent brand Voom; s positioning
is “caring for fabric and fashion”, something that’s new in a segment that thrives on stain removal. “we feel
existing laundry makers will follow this narrative but our pricing and fashion push will be far more
competitive.”

The two brands from HUL and Future Group have some common features. They are being marketed
as liquid detergents that are largely aimed at urban, modern trade consumers. Both are targeting millennials
through fashion – HUL’s launch will be at Lakme Fashion Week next month while Future Consumer’s
brands is being sold across its fashion stores such as FBB, Brand Factory and Central.

15
 Abneesh Roy, Executive Vice President, Edelweiss Securities said The similarities stop there,
analysis,” Globally, liquid format accounts for a larger chunk of the laundry sales and consumers are also
gradually moving to more clean, less harsh and environment friendly products,” HUL’s new product merges
both these trends and the launch is triggered by premiumisation and sustainability strategy, and not to copy
competition.”

Wierenga B, Soethoudt H (2009) Sales promotions and channel coordination. Journal of the
Academy of Marketing Science, “Consumer sales promotion arises from the decision taken by two
marketing parties, the manufacturer and the retailer. Generally, these parties try to safeguard their own
interest during decision making to maximise their personal profits. This selfish interest sometimes reduces
the effectiveness of the whole channel on an average.

According to Srivastava D (2010), Marketing to Rural India: A Changing Paradigm. Sri Krishna
International Research & Educational Consortium 1:77-86. “A furious growth in rural markets has been
encountered in India which on the counter part often suffers ignorance by the marketers. 53% of Fast-
Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) and 59% of consumer durables have market in the rural belts.

According to Ali MA, Thumiki VRR, Khan N (2012) “Factors Influencing Purchase of FMCG by
Rural Consumers in South India: An Empirical Study. International journal of Business Research and
Development 1:48-57. Stated, “That rural marketers should draft avant-grade promotional policies for rural
markets that can convey messages in simple and unified form to the rural consumers. FMCG with long lastic
characteristics depicting bigger size and/or hardness of the products are often recommended by the rural
customers. Hence, these lines should be taken into consideration while promoting FMCG. As rural
customers prefers quality FMCG, therefore quality holds an important place in the pretext of rural purchase
and intake of FMCG. Many researchers and experts like, Harish Bijoor, Rama Bijapurkar and Prahalad have
emphasized on this folly. Hence, going forward it is advisable not to deteriorate or lower down the quality of
FMCG products. Cheaper rates must be offered to the market but not at the cost of quality.

Pareek A, Satyam (2013), “Indian Rural Market: An Impulse to FMCG sector. IOSR journal of
Business and Management 8: 21-27.” Stated “To reach the rural audience strong modes of communication
must be used. In late 50s and 60s radio were among one of the known media touching the lives of the most
of the people followed by TVs and Cinemas. But with time these places have been taken other
communication devices like mobile, internet etc. thus to understand the dynamics of market there is a need
to rethink, reinvent and reinvest in rural population and market.”

According to Bjorn Frank, Enkawa T, Schvaneveldt SJ (2014), “How do the success factors driving
repurchase intent differ between male and female customer? Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science
42:171-185.” Stated that “it is reported that repurchase tendency of the customers ultimately results in
revenue generation of corporate business and therefore, the managers must know and investigate into what
are the success factors which paves path for repurchase. Moreover, the differences in the repurchase
behaviour of men and women should also be taken care of to get the optimum economical results. This
theory also states that the repurchase behaviour of females is more strongly affected by brand image and
customer satisfaction than for males.

16
 Chaudhary VS (2015), “Opportunities and Challenges of Rural Marketing in India. Indianmba.com.”
analysed that the size of the population is not only the solo factor that due to which marketers are attracted
towards rural market. Rural markets have immerse potential for expansion and growth of market. Looking
down the line and seeing the trend of rural consumption in India since the last 20 years it has been growing
annually at a compounding rate of around 4% which in the next two decades is estimated to grow by over
5%. By 2025 these digits are likely to treble on a rapid pace.

CHAPTER NO. 3
CORPORATE PROFILE OF HINDUSTAN UNLILEVER LIMITED

Type Public

Traded as BSE: 500696

NSE: HINDUNILVR
BSE SENSEX Constituent

Industry Consumer goods

Predecessor Hindustan Vanaspati Manufacturing Company (1931– 1956)

Lever Brothers India Limited (1933–1956)
United Traders Limited (1935–1956);
Hindustan Lever Limited (1956-2007)

Founded 1933; 86 years ago

Headquarters Mumbai, Maharashtra,

17
 India

Key people Sanjiv Mehta (CEO)[1]

Products Foods, cleaning agents personal care products and water purifiers.

Revenue ₹34,487 crore (US$5.0 billion) (2016-17)[2]

Operating income ₹6,047 crore (US$870 million)(2016-17)

Net income ₹4,490 crore (US$650 million) (2016-17)

Number of employees 18,000 (2014)

Parent Unilever

Website www.hul.co.in

18
 Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) is a British-Dutch manufacturing company headquartered
in Mumbai, India. Its products include foods, beverages, cleaning agents, personal care products, water
purifiers and consumer goods.
HUL was established in 1933 as Lever Brothers and following merger of constituent groups in 1956
was renamed as Hindustan Lever Limited. The company was renamed in June 2007 as "Hindustan Unilever
Limited".
As of 2019 Hindustan Unilever portfolio had 35 product brands in 20 categories and employs 18,000
employees with sales of Rs. 34,619 crores in 2017-18.
In December 2018, HUL announced its acquisition of Smith Kline’s India business for $3.8 billion in
an all equity merger deal with 1:4.39 ratio. However, the integration of 3800 employees of GSK remained
uncertain as HUL stated there was no clause for retention of employees in the deal. In January 2019, HUL
said that it expects to complete the merger with Glaxo Smith Kline Consumer Healthcare (GSKCH India)
this year.
3.1 Management Structure
Hindustan Unilever Limited is India's largest Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) company. It is present
in Home & Personal Care and Foods & Beverages categories. HUL and Group companies have about 15,000
employees, including 1200 managers.

The fundamental principle determining the organisation structure is to infuse speed and flexibility in
decision-making and implementation, with empowered managers across the company’s nationwide
operations.

Board
The Board of Directors as repositories of the corporate powers act as a guardian to the Company as also the
protectors of shareholder’s interest.

This Apex body comprises of a Non- Executive Chairman, four whole time Directors and five independents
Non – Executive Directors. The Board of the Company represents the optimum mix of professionalism,
knowledge and experience.

HUL is employer of choice: Nielsen

Apart from being the employer of choice, the survey said that HUL retained the 'Dream Employer' status for
the fourth consecutive year

The Nielsen Campus Track-B School Survey has said that Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) is the most
preferred employer for B-School students who will graduate in 2013, across functions. Apart from being the
employer of choice, the survey said that HUL retained the 'Dream Employer' status for the fourth
consecutive year.

According to the survey, the most critical factors that drive the choice of an employer claimed by the
students are 'Degree of independence at work', 'Compensation', and 'Good growth prospects'. As per the
survey, FMCG is the overwhelming favourite for not only the marketing students, but the Class of 2013
rated Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) as their most preferred industry.

19
"HUL believes that a strong and robust employer brand goes a long way in helping achieve the company’s
business ambition. HUL’s strong employer value proposition is rooted in its unique positioning as a
'Leadership Factory' which gives big jobs very early on in a person’s career, and rich cross functional
exposure," said the FMCG firm in a statement.

The Nielsen B-School Campus Track represents the views of a large sample of students of the Class that will
graduate in 2013 from the top 35 Business Schools in India. This is the 13th year of the Nielsen Campus
Track B-school study.

“Unilever, the Anglo Dutch company with a portfolio of well-known brands within nutrition, hygiene, and
personal care. They appointed Wolff Olin’s to help create a new brand for the company, clearly expressing
it’s vitality mission.”

20
“The logo consists of twenty-five icons intricately woven together to form a U, replacing the old logo
that had been used since 1970. Working with creative director Lee Coomber, we used a fluid creative
process whereby we thought about how and what Unilever does, whilst drawing icons and the U
simultaneously.”
— Miles Newly

21
3.2 UNILEVER SIGNS EXPLAINED AS UNDER:

22
23
3.3 HUL Product Line

24
BRANDS:

HOME AND PERSONAL CARE

PERSONAL WASH
Lux
Lifebuoy
Liril
Hamam

LAUNDRY
Surf Excel
Rin
Wheel

HAIR CARE
Sunsilk
Clinic Plus

DEODRANTS
Axe
Rexona

AYURVEDIC PERSONAL AND HEALTHCARE

Ayush
25
Breeze
Dove
Pears
Rexona

SKIN CARE
Fair & Lovely
Pond’s
Vaseline
Aviance

ORAL CARE
Pepsodent
Close Up

COLOUR COSMETIC
Lakme

FOODS:

TEA
Brooke Bond
Lipton

FOODS
Kissan
Annapurna
Knoor

COFFEE
Brooke Bond Bru

ICE CREAM
Kwality Wall

26
 HINDUSTAN UNILEVER (HUL), India’s most valuable pure-play consumer company, appears to
be yielding ground in some personal care categories, with both local and overseas challengers seeking to
breach the leader’s challengers seeking to breach the leader’s bailiwick in an expanding market that’s
leaning increasingly towards herbal products.

In the past two years ended September, the maker of Lux and Dove soaps saw its share decline 290
basis points (bps) to 41%in skin-cleansing or soaps, the largest segment within personal care, according to
Nielsen data sourced from industry officials. By that gauge, the fall was 320 bps in oral care, while in the
hand-and-body-care category, HUL saw its share decline to 29.8% in September, compared with 34/2% two
years ago. HUL did not comment on specific market share trends, but highlighted the apparent disconnect
between its growth patterns and the Nielsen statistics.

“It is pertinent to clarify that Nielsen data may not provide the correct picture and there is a huge
disparity between our actual growth numbers and the HUL spokesperson. The face-care segment saw a 100-
bps decline at 44.9%. Hair care was the only business where it gained 200 bps, with a share of 51%.

For its part, Nielsen said its estimates on FMCG sales are deprived using an elaborate extrapolation
mechanism, involving the largest panel across more than 100 markets where it tracks sales of the various
product categories.
HUL is also hoping to score on the green front with an environmentally friendly product.
While HUL declined to comment, Future Group said its liquid detergent brand Voom’s positioning is

27
“caring for fabric and fashion”, something that’s new in a segment that thrives on stain removal. “We feel
existing laundry makers will follow this narrative but our pricing and fashion push will be far more
competitive,” said Ashni Biyani, managing director of Future Consumer Ltd, the group’s consumer goods
arm that introduced the product last week.

The two brands from HUL and Future Group have some common features. They are being marketed as
liquid detergents that are largely aimed at urban, modern trade consumers. Both are targeting millennials
through fashion — HUL’s launch will be at Lakme Fashion Week next month while Future Consumer’s
brand is being sold across its fashion stores such as FBB, Brand Factory and Central.

The similarities stop there, analysts said.

“Globally, liquid format accounts for a larger chunk of ..

HUL’s product will be priced at about Rs 350, more than double Future’s Voom, which has a tag of Rs 150
for a litre pack. At Rs 225, P&G’s premium liquid detergent brand Ariel is also priced lower.

28
3.4 SWOT ANALYSIS OF HINDUSTAN UNILEVER LIMITED (HUL) :

STRENGTHS :

 Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) is India’s largest Fast-Moving Consumer Goods company, touching
the lives of two out of three Indians with over 20 distinct categories in Home & Personal Care Products
and Foods & Beverages.
 Due to its long presence in India – has deep penetration – 20 consumer product categories, over 15,000
employees, including over 1,300 managers, is to “add vitality to life.”
 Low cost of production due to economic of scale. That means higher profits and/or more competitors.
Better market penetration.
 HUL is also one of the country’s largest exporters; it has been recognised as a Golden Super Star
Trading House by the Government of India.

WEAKNESS :

 Strong competitors and availability of substitute products.

 Low exports levels.
 High price of some products.
 High advertising cost.

OPPORTUNITIES :

 Increasing per capita national income resulting in higher disposable income.

 Growing middle class and growing urban population.
 Increasing gifts cultures.
 Increasing departmental stores concept – impulse @ at cash counters.
 Globalization.

THREATS :

 HUL’s tea business has declined marginally, reason is that, cost pressure is likely due to rising crude and
freight costs.
 Tax and regulatory structure.
 Mimic of brands.
 Removal of import restrictions resulting in replacing of domestic brands.
 Temporary slowdown in economy can have an impact on FMCG in Industry.

A SUPPLY LINK THAT LINKS TO TOMMOROW

BY. D. SUNDARAM, VICE CHAIRMAN & CFO
HINDUSTAN UNILEVER LIMITED (HUL)

29
 The challenge for the Company is to ensure that we respond to these demands in a holistic manner
and not just in the manner of making things available because supplying products is not good enough
anymore. We have to not just manufacture but we need to have world class quality, then make sure that the
product gets to the consumer at the precise points where the consumer wants it and ensure that all this is
achieved at the lowest imaginable cost. This is imperative given the competitive landscape that is available
to us today. Earlier, we may have had the key advantages of scale, money and talent. We retain these but our
competitors too have these tools today.
Two Big Changes:
Hence, fantastic execution across the entire supply chain which stretches right from the time you buy
to the time you deliver to the customer has to be achieved in an integrated manner. That is the new supply
chain, and it is a big change we see today. So from manufacturing as a technical function, as a process of
making things so that people would buy them, we have moved to now making things available to the
consumer at the right points with great quality at the right cost. The game has changed from in-department
efficiency to getting together as a company and using the entirety to write a success story. Individual,
isolated efficiencies mean nothing; it is the stringing together of the pearls that makes the difference. We, the
supply chain, are no more a mere conveyor belt but an integral part of the business. The Company is no
more just
compartmentalised operations, like manufacturing, logistics, distribution, or buying. All of it is a part
of the business chain which delivers to the consumer. That is the second big change.
A Consumer Lens:
These two big changes have led to many smaller changes. For an example, the capabilities that we
are building in our people are different from what they were in the past. The capabilities of customer service
are not limited to productivity, or about manufacturing capacity utilisation, but about customer service. We
are building the capabilities of looking at quality from a consumer lens and not from a manufacturing lens.
All of these are new capabilities; they need to be built. The actions may be similar, but the way we look at
those actions, and how we interpret them, have to change. And if our people are not going to develop new
capabilities, then we will remain stuck in the world of yesterday while the market will move on to the new
tomorrow
The Pace of Change:
Looking forward, the pace of change is going to increase because the trade structure in the country is
changing. The demands and requirements from our customers and consumers are changing at a dramatic
pace. There are explosions within the market; some will require us to handle customisation and quality levels
which were not seen until now. We also need to guard against a challenge that is less thought about and
hardly researched: arrogance. It may not sit in any one specific function or department, but arrogance lurks
around the corner, particularly in the flush of success and in the aftermath of steady double-digit growth.
And lastly, “doing well by doing good” is a recent articulation of what has been an age-old philosophy at
HUL. We deeply feel for the needs and aspirations of the Indian consumer and the Indian citizen, and we
would like to work to help meet these. This has been the bedrock of our success. The country is undergoing
a dramatic transformation. Over the next five to six years, almost 60% to 70% of incremental growth will
come from LSM 5+ (Living Standards Measure) consumers, which are our higher socio-economic category
consumers. This is very different from today where more than 85% of the “Home and Personal Care”
markets are in the LSM 1-4 zone. So, it is going to be a fundamental reshaping of markets in the next five to
seven years. As a result of this, categories which traditionally accounted for almost three-fourths of our
markets (like soaps, detergents, and toothpaste) will in the next five years account for only about 30% to
40% of incremental growth. On the other hand, a whole host of personal care categories and services will
account for a bulk of incremental growth. This increase will be nothing short of dramatic. What this will

30
mean is that five years from now our traditional categories will still be large but there will be a new set of
markets which will become larger and larger. So, both sets of LSM (1-4 and 5+) will be equally important in
the future.
The Channel and the Market
On the channel side – independent self-service stores, modern trade, organised retail – will account
for almost half of the incremental growth of urban India. So, the channel composition will change. General
trade will continue to be large but modern trade will get increasingly larger. That marks a significant change.
The rise of urban cities and the pattern of economic development across states will mean that a few key
states will account for disproportionate growth. In addition, there will be a new wave of consumers coming
in for increased consumption from rural India.
So, in totality you have a consumer shift taking place, a channel shift taking place, a market shift
taking place, and a category shift taking place. How does HUL respond? HUL should be at the centre of the
reshaping of the environment that is now underway. Even today, we cannot say we are at the centre; we are
still in many ways playing an older game. So, the question is the manner in which we are reshaping
ourselves across the entire business, be it marketing, supply chain, customer management or people.
The Trinity
There are three things that are critical. One is consumers who love our brands and would continue to
buy our brands day-after-day because we are in the business of everyday needs of everyday people. Second
is our people who are hungry to leverage this dramatic change. And the third is our partners – our
distributors, agencies, banking partners, Shakti entrepreneurs, and host of other alliances we will need in the
eco-system. They should be rooting for us, admiring us, working with us in order to exploit this opportunity.
This trinity – consumers who love our brands, employees who are more fulfilled than anybody else, and
partners who are rooting for and with us will determine our success. If this trinity is fired up, and we have
the imagination to dream big and to execute it faster and better than anybody else, then we have the recipe
for big success. That is the intangible spirit that must go through the Company as we turn 75.

3.5 CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY: AN INITIATIVE OF HINDUSTAN

UNILEVER LIMITED (HUL).

31
INTRODUCTION:
Corporate responsibility is integral to Hindustan Unilever Limited’s (HUL’s) vision: ‘To earn the
love and respect of India by making a real difference to every Indian…”. In India, multi-national companies
(MNCs) have been increasingly involving themselves in serving and creating products for the rural
consumer (Kalyani and Madhav,2004) HUL’s Corporate Responsibility (CR) philosophy is embedded in its
corporate purpose and vitality mission. The company firmly believes that it has commitment to all its
stakeholders - consumers, employees and the community in which it operates. The vitality mission of the
company aims to improve quality of life through their products and their interventions in the community.

CR Governance:
HUL has established a CR Governing Council spearheaded by a Management Committee (MC) and
is responsible for the corporate reputation and CR strategy of the company. One of our other key initiatives
is built around our commitment of reducing our carbon footprint. We have embraced Unilever's ambitious
target of 25% reduction in CO2 from energy in manufacturing operations per tonne of production by 2012,
against a baseline of 2004.

CSR POLICIES:
The commitment of the company to environment, quality and energy conservation can be understood
by the initiatives it has taken.

CSR – COMMUNITY SERVICES:

The community-oriented projects addressed various issues like employment, industrial development
and support to agriculture. In addition, HUL has a wide range of CSR activities that encompass health,
welfare and rehabilitation
Employment:
32
 Hindustan Unilever recognised the importance of the national objective of providing employment
and have integrated it in their business strategies.
Industrialisation:
At Hindustan Unilever their corporate purpose is to meet the everyday needs of people everywhere
which is well matched with the national objective of spreading the benefits of industrialisation. The process
of industrial development also brings about a change in the quality of life for the local community
Adding value to Agriculture:
The linkages between the company and the agricultural sector are many. The company is dependent
on the agricultural sector for much of its raw material in its Foods & Beverages operations and also in its
Home & Personal Care business.

Happy homes -special education & rehabilitation:

Under the Happy Homes initiative, HUL supports special education and rehabilitation of children
with challenges.

Asha Daan: Home in Mumbai for abandoned:

The initiative began in 1976, when HUL supported Mother Teresa and the Missionaries of Charity to
set up Asha Daan, a home in Mumbai for abandoned, challenged children, the HIV-positive and the
destitute.
At any point of time, about 370 inmates comprising of boys, girls, men and women are housed at the
Home. Food, clothing and medicines required by inmates are taken care of by the donations received from
the locals of Mumbai city. The needs of the abandoned/challenged children are met through special classes
of basic skills, physiotherapy, etc. being taken care of by the Sisters of the Home. Wherever necessary,
corrective surgery is also arranged for in the city hospitals by the Home.
Until November 2008, 15,933 individuals were benefited from Ashadaan.

Ankur: Special education of challenged children:

In 1993, HUL's Doom Dooma Tea Plantation Division set up Ankur, a centre for special education of
challenged children. Since 2006, HUL Personal Products Factory, Doom Dooma took over the reign from
the Tea Divisions. The centre takes care of children with challenges, aged between 5 and 15 years. Ankur
provides educational, vocational and recreational activities to over 50 children with a range of challenges.
Since inception it has covered more than 80 children. Ankur received the Lawrie Group’s World aware
Award for Social Progress in 1999 from Her Royal Highness in London.

Kappa gam: Shelter for challenged children:

Encouraged by Ankur's success, Kappagam ("shelter"), the second centre for special education of
challenged children, was set up in 1998 on HUL Plantations in South India. The focus of Kappa gam is the
same as that of Ankur. The centre has 17 children, who are taught self-help skills and useful vocational
activities. So far it covers about 28 children

Anbagam: Day care centre:

33
 Yet another day care centre, Anbagam ("shelter of love"), has been started in 2003 also in the South
India Plantations. It takes care of 11 children. Besides medical care and meals, they too are being taught
skills such that they can become self-reliant and elementary studies. Over 16,000 individuals have benefited
from the Happy Homes initiatives since inception.

Water Conservation and Harvesting

Water scarcity is one of the biggest crises facing India. Water management has been a focus area for HUL,
and has been made one of the key performance indicators of all HUL factories.

Sanjivni – Free Mobile Medical Facility:

True to its meaning “Sanjivani” (a Hindi word meaning rejuvenation in English) has brought back a smile on
the faces of thousands of villagers who were deprived of basic health facilities in remote areas of Assam in India. HUL
started Sanjivani –2003 near its Doom Dooma factory in Assam. The aim was to provide free mobile medical facility
to the interior villagers in Assam. The mobile medical vans camp for six hours in a village every day and treat nearly
100 patients. The factory has tie-up with the village headman for setting up the camp in a central area of the village.
And the camp items are left back in the village at the end of the day.

Relief and Rehabilitation:

The relief and rehabilitation activities undertaken by HUL at three places are given here. Yashodadham: After
the devastating earthquake in 2001, HUL reconstructed a village in the Bhachau Taluka of Gujarat's Kachchh district
in December 2002. The village, which has been named Yashodadham, was dedicated to the 1100 residents of Nani
Chirai village, which was completely wrecked by the earthquake. Tondiarpet: HUL contributed more than Rs. 10
crores towards relief and rehabilitation of Tsunami affected families by way of relief material and land besides the
construction of facilities. Bihar: After the floods in Bihar in 2008, HUL contributed 10, 000 kits worth Rs. 60 lakhs as
first instalment of relief material for the immediate relief of the flood-affected families of Araria District in Bihar. The
kit contained essential items such as utensils, clothes, blankets and other useful material.

CAUSE BRANDING:
Hindustan Lever's core belief is that bringing social responsibility to the heart of their business
requires putting brands at the forefront of this effort. Banga observed thus: “It is because the brands are at
the heart of our business. It is through our brands that we engage with and build relationships with our
consumers and communities. Organisations are initiating innovative model of social responsibility
campaigns in the rural areas, which also exhibit the potencies and the values that a brand illustrates.
Corporate world needs these campaigns which create valuable word of mouth publicity for the brand in rural
India, which the short ten second commercial advertisements are not in a position to do( Mohapatra,
Moharana and Behara, 2009). To help drive social change, the company decided to incorporate a social and
environmental agenda into its innovation and development strategies.

Lifebuoy Swastya Chetna (LBSC)- Health and Hygiene:

Being India’s leading personal wash health brand, Lifebuoy saw a role for itself in propagating the
message of hygiene and health in villages. Lifebuoy Swastya Chetna (LBSC) is a rural health and hygiene
initiative which was started in 2002 The programme involves meeting the local Panchayat bodies, especially
the Anganwaadi workers and takes their help in its implementation at the village level. The programme was
working closely with government bodies such as NRHM and also UNICEF (2008) for Initiatives on Hand
washing programs.

Fair & Lovely (FAL) Foundation -- Women’s Empowerment:

34
 The Fair & Lovely (FAL) Foundation aims at economic empowerment of women across India by
providing information, resources and support in the areas of education, career and enterprise. A series of
projects drawn up to achieve the vision comprise the following:
 Fair & Lovely Scholarships awarded scholarships to over 600 deserving girls since 2003. Recently HUL
has taken special interest to extend the scheme of awarding scholarships to children of SHAKTI AMMA
candidates who are part of HUL social initiative in rural India.
 Fair & Lovely Career Fairs To date, over 6,00,000 students have been benefited from Career Fairs
conducted in cities all over India o Fair & Lovely Shikhar This is aimed to explore the inspiring stories
of women achievers who have overcome all obstacles with their strong will and positive attitude and
“changed their destinies”.
 Fair & Lovely Project Suvarna Project Suvarna is an identification and training activity aimed at
harnessing available talent in selected events in women athletes in the age groups of under 12, 14, under
16 and under 18.
 Fair & Lovely Project Swayam is an initiative in the area of education and enterprise for women by
Fair & Lovely Foundation in association with Vanasthali Rural Development Centre (VRDC). Under
this project women were trained to become Pre-school teachers.

Surf Excel-Water Conservation:

Hindustan Lever's vision is to innovate continuously in technologies to reduce water consumption
and to conserve water in their manufacturing operations. Vikas Shrotriya (2008) observed that rural markets
are heterogeneous in nature dependent However, saturation in urban markets, improvement in infrastructural
facilities (road, telecom and internet) as well as raising incomes from non- farm activities have made rural
markets attractive. The challenge is in providing access and gaining acceptance.

RURAL ORIENTATION:
The company is a pioneer in rural marketing and it has experimented in many ways to increase its
rural reach. Rama Krishnan (2006) presented a SMILE (Sustainable Model In Lighting Everywhere) model
for business approach and partnerships. The critical success factors include: a right channel reach, the
reliability of product, partnerships with NGOs and MFIs and good after sales service.

Rural divisions:
Earlier each business division of HUL dealt with Rural market on an individual basis. Now with
creation of rural market division, company deals with rural markets as a single organization. Debashis
Sengupta (2006) postulated that corporate social responsibility leads to rural market development. He listed
10 areas of social concern and three cases: Uttam Bhandan Scheme of Chambal Fertilisers and Chemicals
Limited, eChoupal of ITC and Project Shakti of HUL.

On the Job training for Rural Markets:

The company expects executive recruits to spend atleast 8 weeks in villages of India to get a gut
level experience of India’s bottom of the pyramid markets. Siva Sankar Tripathi and Sadhana K. De (2007)
in their paper appreciated the BOP concept of C.K. Prahalad and 12 forms of innovations, and discussed the
experiments of Cavin Kare, HLL, ITC and Amul.

35
Distribution oriented projects:
Siva Datta Gouda.H (2008) explained how corporates adjusted their marketing strategies in Rural
Markets. Small–pack–lower–pricing (Rs. 2 Lifebuoy soap and Rs. 5 Coke 200 ml.), new distribution
initiatives (ITC’s e-Choupal, HUL–Shakti, Godrej Agrovet’s ‘Godrej Aadhar’, IOC’s Kisan Kendras, MP
Government’s ‘Rural Shopping Malls’), and below the line communication through haats, melas and mandis
are some of the initiatives examined. The well recognised distribution programmes of HUL are: Project
Bharat, Project Streamline, and Project Shakti

Project Bharat:
In 1998, HUL’s personal products unit-initiated Project Bharat, the first and largest rural home-to-
home operation to have ever been prepared by any company
The objective is penetration in 2,35, 000 villages with less than 2k population and increasing HUL’s reach in
rural India from 43% to 75%.

Project Streamline (Super Stockist Channel):

HUL has mounted an initiative, Project Streamline, (Figure 1) to further increase its rural reach with
the help of rural sub-stockists.
Ranjan Yadav (2006) showed how information technology can be utilised to promote products and services
& explained the IT initiatives of EID Parry (www.indariline.com), Amul’s Disk Dairy information system
Kiosk, and ITC e-Choupal.

IT for inclusive development:

Purba Basu (2008) considered taking IT to rural India and recommended the formation of a ‘National
Alliance for ICT for poverty eradication’ for launching ‘every village a knowledge centre movement’ which
should include the private sector, cooperatives, NGOs, R&D institutions, women’s associations, mass media
and appropriate government agencies.
IT developments gave rise to two major opportunities: new demand at the lower end of the market
spectrum, and a dramatic shift in the nature of demand at the upper end. A round table discussion on
“Rethinking the BOP: New models for the new millennium” (IIM-Bangalore, 2008) highlighted HLL’s
Shakti models like Project Shakti, I-Shakti, M-Shakti and Shakti–kuls.

I – Shakti:
I-Shakti kiosks have been set up in 8 villages in Andhra Pradesh, and have been functional since
August 2003. During the launch of these kiosks, important village members like the Sarpanch, school
teacher and doctor are invited to help reinforce relationships with the villagers. The kiosks remain open from
9 a.m. to 7 p.m., six days of the week.
Through i-Shakti kiosks, ICICI Bank and HUL provide a new delivery channel for rural India, which offers
a multitude of products and services to the rural customer.

PROJECT SHAKTI – A NEW PARADIGM:

Navya Chaudhary (2007) discussed the distribution innovations like ITC e-Choupal and HUL-project
Shakti in detail. She recommended integration of profit motive with social motive and empowerment of rural
consumers
The project with social orientation and innovative approach conceived by HUL was Project Shakti.
36
 John Mano Raj and Selva Raj (2007) traced the social changes in rural market by adopting
innovative marketing strategies. Godrej Consumer Products Limited (GCPL) launched Rs.5 soaps, Cavin
Kare made live demonstration of hair and dye, and HUL embarked on Project Shakti.
It dramatically shifts the paradigm in rural distribution and communication, touching very large
number of rural Indians in a compelling manner.

Xavier, Raja and Usha Nandhini (2008) studied the impact of HUL’s Project Shakti on Shakti
Ammas in Tamil Nadu based on three constructs - social empowerment, entrepreneurial development and
economic empowerment

Project Shakti creates a win-win partnership for consumers, rural women and Hindustan Lever.

Rangan and Arjan (2005) examined HUL project Shakti as a win-win initiative aimed at triggering micro
enterprising that creates livelihoods for the rural community

Project Shakti provides micro-enterprise (Figure 2) opportunities for women from Self-help Groups, making
them direct-to-home distributors of Hindustan Lever.

A member of a Self-Help Group (SHG) in each of the 50 chosen villages was appointed a Shakti
entrepreneur. As Shakti brand endorsers – known as Shakti Ammas – they borrowed money from their
respective SHGs and with that capital purchased HUL products for sale in their villages

Project Shakti has played a significant role in aiding economic development in rural India. The
Shakti brand endorsers earn on an average close to Rs. 750 per month and in some cases, their earnings even
touch as much as Rs. 2,500 per month.

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3.6 HINDUSTAN UNILEVER LIMITED (HUL) MARKETING STRATEGY:

4 Ps
Marketing Mix of HUL (Hindustan Unilever) analyses the brand/company which covers 4Ps
(Product, Price, Place, Promotion) and explains the HUL (Hindustan Unilever) marketing strategy. The
article elaborates the pricing, advertising & distribution strategies used by the company.
Let us start the HUL (Hindustan Unilever) Marketing Mix:
 Product:
The product strategy and mix in HUL (Hindustan Unilever) marketing strategy can be explained as
follows:
Hindustan Unilever (HUL) is one of the leading FMCG companies in India. Its parent company is the
globally known Unilever. The HUL product portfolio has been mostly into 4 categories that are food and
drinks, home care, personal care and water purifiers.
The entire product range across categories in the HUL marketing mix is discussed as follows. In the food
and drinks segment HUL has Kwality Wall’s, Cornetto and Magnum in the ice creams category. In the tea
category HUL has Lipton and under the brand name Brooke Bond it has Taaza, 3 Roses, Red Label and Taj
Mahal. In the coffee category Hindustan Unilever has the brand BRU. Under the brand name Annapurna, it
sells Salt and Atta. It also sells its instant food making products and spices under the brand Knorr with
noodles, soup, snacking and spices. It also Kissan which is in the jam, squashes and ketchup segments.
In the home care category HUL have detergents under which we have the famous Surf Excel, Rin,
Comfort, Wheel, and Sunlight. Also, they have Cif and Domex in the home cleaning segment and
dishwashing segment we have Vim and Cif.
In the personal care Hindustan Unilever have Clear, Tresemme, Clinic Plus and Sunsilk for specifically
in the shampoo segment. But there are also Dove, Lux and Pears which provide various cosmetic product for
homes. The Vaseline is in skin care category. The Lifebuoy is in the hand wash and toilet soap segment.
HUL also has Axe which has various grooming products and Brylcreem styling products for men. The Fair
& Lovely, Ponds, Lakme and Breeze are specific product targeted at the women for beauty and skin care.
There are also products offered by HUL which are for professional beauty care such as TONI & GUY,

38
aviance and TIGI in the toothpaste segment we have Pepsodent and Close up. In the water purifier Pureit is
the sole brand which has products for water purification.

 Price:
Below is the pricing strategy in HUL (Hindustan Unilever) marketing strategy:
Hindustan Unilever (HUL) is one of the leading companies, offering many products and hence a wide
price range. Since HUL is a market leader in almost all the segment it is present in it keeps a very
competitive price for all the products as the competition is quite stiff in the segments and as the customer in
segment are looking for value for money products. As the company tries to reach the maximum number of
customers in all income segment HUL produces products with different packages and hence very different
prices although the quality remains the same. Hindustan Unilever also has various professional product for
which it follows premium pricing strategy for example TONI & GUY is very premium priced as compared
to Lakmé. When HUL comes up with new products it comes up with bundling strategy where in it packs a
small sample to the main product although the product is either in the same category or with the same brand
name. This gives an insight of how HUL prices’ its products in its marketing mix.
 Place:
Following is the distribution strategy of HUL (Hindustan Unilever):
HUL has a very wide outreach into many deep pockets of the country. Hindustan Unilever has 6.4
million outlets across the country out of which 2 million are the retail outlets. HUL also has 30 factories
across the country which are further connected to more than 2700 stockists which again then reach the retail
outlets which are the convenience stores and the super markets. This shows the strong place & distribution
marketing mix strategy of HUL. To reach the rural sector HUL has various rural distributors which then
forward to the rural sub stockists to the rural retailers. With the coming up of Carry and Forward agencies it
has been able to reach many deep pockets of the country with a significant cost reduction.
 Promotion:
The promotional and advertising strategy in the HUL (Hindustan Unilever) marketing strategy is as follows:

Hindustan Unilever (HUL) has been heavily investing in the brand promotions as it needs them
mostly for brand recall and many a times for introducing new brands. Therefore, Hindustan Unilever
39
primarily uses aggressive promotion and advertising its marketing mix. The advertisements of HUL brands
are in the form of television commercials, newspaper ads or any other magazines and as well as with the
online presence as well. Most of the times these campaigns are targeted by telling stories to build relations
rather than to sell them directly. HUL also has tied up with many celebrities such as Shahrukh Khan,
Kareena Kapoor, Kajol, Varun Dhawan as well as with the professional hair stylist Jawed Habib. Hindustan
Unilever also participates in tons of CSR activities such as the famous project Shakti to empower rural
women, Sanjivani a mobile service camp, water conservation projects and many more. HUL also time and
again organizes various campaigns to create awareness among the viewers and improve health and well-
being. Hence, this concludes the HUL marketing mix.

3.7 PESTEL ANALYSIS OF HINDUSTAN UNILEVER LIMITED (HUL):

40
 Unilever is a transnational consumer company with products available in over 190 countries with over
400 brands, including Dove, Magnum, Sunsilk, Rexona and many others. In 2012, it was deemed the world’s
largest consumer goods corporation.

As a firm with strong international ties, it means they must abide by many laws. They have consumers
all over the world and must develop products to meet their orders — even if said demands are waning.

This PESTLE analysis examines complications the company faces and the many external factors Unilever
must abide by.

 POLITICAL FACTORS:

Unilever is subject to the regulatory restrictions and guidelines pronounced by the European Commission
and the Food and Drug Administration in the United States of America. If they were unable to comply, the
company would face legal issues — civil and criminal — and risk fines. It could go so far that those in charge
could be imprisoned.
The firm is also liable to all local and regional laws (within Europe) and any global rules set in each country
the company’s products are distributed in. These countries include India, South Africa, Russia, China, and
several others.
41
Restrictions regarding imports, exports, or trade laws could hinder the success of Unilever going forward.

 ECONOMIC FACTORS: COMPETITION IS READY

The state of the economy means consumers are less likely to buy expensive products. Cheaper, quality goods
are in demand. Companies are rising to compete against Unilever in the EU, particularly in locations like
France.

Consumers directly affect the products Unilever supplies. If the products aren’t in demand, Unilever’s cash
flow and profits will be negatively affected. Luckily, since Unilever is in various markets if one suffers,
another one may prosper.

Unfortunately, that means they’re at the mercy of inflation and consumer whimps.

 SOCIAL FACTORS: HEAVY EMPHASIS ON IMAGE:

With so many brands, Unilever has decided to focus on developing a strong reputation. They emphasize issues
related to social and environmental factors.
Considering many of Unilever’s products focus on personal care and well-being, the company expresses a
strong desire to help people feel and look good, while also living the life they deserve. Even their marketing,
particularly with Dove, focuses on helping women feel their best from the inside out.

 TECHNOLOGICAL FACTORS: AUTOMATION IS KEY:

Unilever is consistently producing new products and selling them online in their respective brand’s locations.
The company emphasizes developing its digital marketing and selling methods.

Unilever also has a higher level of automation, especially compared to its competitors; allowing to supply
products to store locations quickly. Otherwise, they may see negative cash flow, profit, or a hit to their
reputation that they’ve spent so much time and funds on.

 ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS: A FRIEND TO THE EARTH:

Unilever promotes sustainable and renewable resources. Their products are designed to be safe for consumers
in every location they distribute. The materials are eco-friendly, from packaging to design.
They want to be seen as an environmentally friendly organization and have worked for nearly the last decade
to do so.

 LEGAL FACTORS: IT NEVER ENDS:

As a consumer goods company, Unilever is subjected to many laws and legalities. They own over 400 brands
in food, health, personal care and several other industries.

Each brand and location of stores are subject to follow regarding safety of employees, and taxes —
international and regional.

42
The problems that Hindustan Unilever Limited currently facing is increasing input costs and operations costs
due to rise in raw material costs, increasing imitative and spurious products, and stiff competition from other
FMCG players.

There is slowdown in the global economy and the problem that started in the financial sector
extended rapidly to other sectors affecting not only the US but the global economy. Most of India’s domestic
sectors are also affected including country’s exports performance and FMCG sectors.

There is an unprecedented volatility in raw materials price contributed largely by increasing crude oil
prices. Unprecedented volatility in raw materials price associated with uncertainties in the commodities
movement needs a desperate careful management in the FMCG companies. Although some companies
managed to do well categories like detergents met decreasing sales.

Hindustan Unilever Limited has a large brand portfolio consisting number of brands. It will be
difficult to manage such extended brand portfolio by any company but it is the nature of FMCG industry and
company. The current global scenario with swinging raw material prices and intense competition faced by
the company needs a careful management.

3.8 BCG MATRIX OF HINDUSTAN UNILEVER LIMITED (HUL):

The BCG matrix depends on the item life cycle hypothesis that can be utilized to figure out what
needs ought to be given in the item arrangement of a specialty unit. As indicated by this method,
organizations or items are delegated low or superior workers relying on their market development rate and
relative piece of the overall industry. The fundamental thought behind it is that the greater the piece of the
pie an item has or the quicker the item’s market develops the better it is for the organization.

BCG Matrix of Hindustan Unilever:

Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) is India’s biggest quick moving purchaser products organization.
The Anglo-Dutch organization Unilever claims a 52% lion’s share stake. HUL was framed in 1933 as Lever
Brothers India Limited and appeared in 1956 as Hindustan Lever Limited through a merger of Lever
Brothers, Hindustan Vanaspati Mfg. Co. Ltd. furthermore, United Traders Ltd. It is headquartered in
Mumbai, India and has employee strength of more than 15,000 representatives and contributes to indirect
livelihood of more than 52,000 individuals. (ArtiVaish, 2014) The organization was renamed in June 2007
as “Hindustan Unilever Limited”. The organization meets each day requirements for sustenance, cleanliness,
and individual care, with brands that individuals feel great, look great and get more out of life.
HUL have a to a great degree wide market introduction with more than 35 brands traversing
crosswise over 20 particular classifications, for example, cleansers, cleansers, shampoos, healthy skin,
43
toothpastes, antiperspirants, beautifying agents, tea, espresso, bundled sustenance, dessert, and water
purifiers. HUL’s brands – like Lifebuoy, Lux, Surf Excel, Rin, Wheel, Fair and Lovely, Sunsilk, Clinic,
Close-up, Pepsodent, Lakme, Brooke Bond, Kissan, Knorr, Annapurna, Kwality-Walls – are commonly
recognized names the nation over and traverse numerous classifications – cleansers, cleansers, individual
items, tea, espresso, marked staples, dessert and culinary items. They are fabricated in more than 35
manufacturing plants, a few of them in reverse territories of the nation. The operations include over 2,000
suppliers and partners. HUL’s conveyance organizes covers 6.3 million retail outlets counting direct reach to
more than 1 million. (Purshottam, 2012) The BCG analysis of HUL is given below.

Stars:

Star is a specialty unit that has a substantial piece of the overall industry in a quickly developing industry.
Stars produce a lot of money on account of their solid relative piece of the overall industry, additionally
expend a lot of money in view of their high development rate; consequently, the money in every bearing
roughly nets out. On the off chance that a star can keep up its substantial piece of the overall industry, it will
end up being a cash cow when the market development rate decays.
HUL stars are
1. AXE Deodorant
2. Fair & Lovely
3. Lakme Anti-Ageing
4. Vim
5. Wheel
6. Surf Excel
7. Lifebuoy
8. Lux
9. Kwality Walls
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10. Kissan Jam
11. Knor Soup
All these products are contributing maximum to the market share. Taking AXE Deodorant as an example is
contributing almost 25% in the market share. (Sandhu, 2013) Same is the case with the other stars of HUL as
well.

Cash Cows:

Cash Cow – a specialty unit that has a vast piece of the pie in develop, moderate developing industry. As
pioneers in a develop showcase, cash cows display an arrival on resources that is more prominent than the
market development rate, and along these lines create more money than they expend. Such specialty units
ought to be “drained”, separating the benefits and contributing as merger money as could reasonably be
expected.
The cash cows of HUL are:
1. Clinic Plus
2. Sunsilk
3. Vaseline
4. Red Label
Sunsilk made the biggest group for Indian young ladies which are – www.sunsilkgangofgirls.com. Sunsilk
inventively thinks of a whole item scope of Soft and Smooth, Thick and Long, Damaged Repair, Hair Fall
Solution, Stunning Black Shine and Hostile to Dandruff. Similar steps are taken for the other cash cows as
well. (documents.mx, 2014)

Question Marks:

Question Mark (or Problem Child) – a specialty unit that has a little piece of the pie in a high development
showcase. Question marks are becoming quickly and, in this way, devour huge measures of money, but
since they have low pieces of the pie, they don’t produce much money. The outcome is huge net money
utilization. A question mark (otherwise called an “issue kid”) can possibly pick up piece of the pie and turn
into a star, and in the end a money dairy animals when the market development moderates.
The HUL question marks are
1. Close Up
2. Pepsodent
3. Annapurna
4. Fair & Lovely Menz Active
5. Domex
6. Rin
7. Breeze
8. Taj Mahal Tea Bags
9. Kissan Ketchup
10. Knor Meal Maker
Since they are the new participants or strugglers in the market for real share where the market is changing at
a high pace, endeavours are being made to ensure that the pick up on their piece of the pie. Pepsodent went
into a noteworthy change of its Germ check and Whitening toothpaste by thinking of the Sensitive and Gum
care scope of toothpastes. (ArtiVaish, 2014) Knor soups thinking of the whole scope of soups running from
tomato blend vegetable, Chinese to chicken soups.

45
Dogs:

Dogs – a specialty unit that has a little piece of the overall industry in a develop industry. A dog may not
require significant money since they have low piece of the pie and a low development rate and in this
manner neither create nor expend a lot of money, and they are money traps as a result of the cash tied up in a
business that has minimal potential and the capital that could better be conveyed somewhere else.
The dogs of HUL are
1. Taaza
2. Brooke Bond Sehatmand
3. Bru
Brooke Bond Sehatmand ought to be sold off in light of the fact that the client tastes and wholesome
necessities have changed from tasting vitamin B improved tea to hostile to oxidants improved tea. With the
advancement of green tea, the request by wellbeing cognizant people is a greater amount of against oxidants
rather vitamin b, as natural products give an abundant wellspring of vitamins. (papers. ssrn, 2014)
So this is the financial analysis of HUL on the basis of BCG matrix.

3.9 CHALLENGES OF HINDUSTAN UNILEVER LIMITED (HUL)

 Major issues or problems:

The problem that the company is facing for long time is the increasing imitative products. The popularity of
the HUL’s brand and the reach it possess drives the local manufactures to imitate the products leading some
to produce even the fake products. The fake products are seen highly in rural markets. This greatly affects
the brand equity of the HUL.

The company is facing increasing input costs due to increase in price of the raw materials. There is a
potential impact on the company due to rising inflation, freight costs and raw materials.

Hindustan Unilever Limited is facing tough competition than years before from ITC, Procter & Gamble,
Colgate-Palmolive, Nestle and Godrej. ITC is competing toughly with HUL through various brands that are
market leaders. The competition is further intensified by several new entrants. This intensified competition
already witnessed by HUL’s losing market share in certain segments and also increase in operation costs.

HUL goes all out to make staff future-ready

The country’s biggest consumer goods company, is offering its employees a range of exposure opportunities,
from immersive experiences with other companies to exposure to new-age technologies and work culture, so
as to make them future-ready.

Under this initiative, HUL employees get to work with other companies, including start-ups, to gain
exposure to business problems faced by other industries; to be part of some critical projects led by company
managing director Sanjiv Mehta; to work w ..
The driver for this is that it will take the business forward; keep it ahead of the curve.”

46
 A lot of the people involved are young managers including those straight out of campus.

The company currently has 70-80 such experiments running, each with different teams, under the initiative
built up over the last 18 months.

Under external immersions, HUL talent gets to work in a host of companies, from start-ups such as robotics
firm Grey Orange and grocery delivery firm Milkba ..

3.10 STRATEGY FORMULATION:

 Strategic alternatives:

The strategic alternatives for HUL to address the issues of increasing input costs and operations costs due to
rise in raw material costs, increasing imitative and spurious products, and stiff competition from other
FMCG players are,

Leverage and Proliferation of brand portfolio

Competitive pricing

Cost efficient initiatives

Leverage and proliferation of brand portfolio:

HUL has gained reputation of meeting customer needs through various products in different segments.
HUL has strong supply chain and distribution network meeting customer needs. This gives competitive
advantage for HUL over its competitors. The proliferation of brand portfolio will protect customers
especially in rural markets from purchasing spurious products. HUL’s product of different brand in same
category will back the revenue generating brand from imitative products.

i. Competitive pricing:

Hindustan Unilever Limited facing stiff competition from organized as well as unorganized players in the
industry. This is an industry where buyers have numerous choice of brand to shift one brand to another brand
if not affordable. Rising inflation in the country makes the companies to increase the price of their product.
Competitive pricing will get the local manufactures and organized players on their feet.

ii. Cost efficient initiatives:

Increase in the raw material price and uncertainties in the commodity movement rises the operation costs of
the company. The company is in desperate need to do some initiatives like cutting down the advertisement
cost and also to cut down the cost in its operation rather than worrying about the increase in raw material
price.
47
  Alternative Evaluation:

Leverage and proliferation of brand portfolio:

Leveraging and proliferation of brand portfolio by introducing new brands will help the company to compete
with the spurious products and competitors brands by providing the customers a variety of brand in the same
category. This will prevent the customers from shifting to imitative products and competitor brands thereby
retaining the customers. Hindustan Unilever Limited has a competitive advantage of robust supply chain and
distribution network. This will help the new brand in reaching the customers effectively. The disadvantage is
that the company will have various brands in the same category which may make difficult to manage them.

1. Competitive pricing:

This strategy of competitive or decreasing the price of company’s product will not to efficient. The
company is dealing with increase in input and operation costs. Reducing the price of the products will
decrease the profit margin. Moreover it will start the price war in the industry which is not good for the
company as well as to the industry. Most of the HUL’s market leader brands are being closely chased by its
competitors with only slight difference in the market share and lot of local products. Also, in many
categories in oral, skin care segments the competitors are having market leader brands with strong foothold.
Initiating the price war will have a drastic impact on all the segments also will not increase the profit margin.

2. Cost efficient initiatives:

The cost efficient initiative like reducing cost over advertisement and reducing the operation cost will
help the company to gain competitive advantage in its operations. However FMCG industry requires
consistent advertisements and promotional effects to stay in the minds of customers. Cutting down the
expense on advertisement will let the competitor to gain advantage over HUL in reaching the customers
mind. Also the organization cannot do much about the increasing raw material cost where they have a choice
of only optimizing the procurement procedures.

 Alternative choice:

Leverage and proliferation of brand portfolio is the optimal choice to address the problems that the
company is facing. HUL has a competitive advantage of possessing many strong brands with robust supply
chain and distribution network. They have a strong resource that they can allocate to proliferate the brand
that can cover different market segments at different price points. This will prevent the price wars as it will
give consumers a wide choice of brands that can cover different market segments at different price points
and simultaneously retain the customers from shifting to competitor’s brands. This will give wide choice to
customers and back the revenue generating brands from its competitors. This is an industry which is difficult
to retain the customers. So it is risky to go head on head with the competitors with revenue generating
brands. Proliferation of brand will increase the volume growth and profit margin.

 3.11 STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION:

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HUL will not require any culture or structural changes in the organization to implement the strategy. The
organization with its robust supply chain and distribution network will help the brand to reach the customers
like other brands.

1. Immediate action plan:

The company has to first differentiate the strong performing and revenue generating brands from the non-
performing brands. It is important to determine brand relevance and assessing the key competitors in the
category.

2. Short term action plan:

The company has to decide the segments in which they have proliferate the brand portfolio. A research has
to be conducted to analyze the performance of existing brand and that of the competitor’s brand.

3. Long term action plan:

After determining the category they need a well designed performing monitoring system to analyze the
performance of brands before and after the introduction of new brand.

3.12 CONTRIVERSIES OF HINDUSTAN UNILEVER LIMITED (HUL)

Hindustan Unilever (HUL), India’s bellwether advertiser, and possibly one of the country’s largest
spenders of advertising dollars, has been in the midst of controversies all of last week. First it was the father-
son Kumbh Mela ad for Brooke Bond Red Label tea that kicked up a veritable storm in a tea-cup; and now it
is the new Surf Excel ad where a young Hindu girl, dressed in a white t-shirt, chooses to get stained in Holi
colours in order to protect her young Muslim friend who has to go to the nearby mosque to pray.

HUL has got violently trolled in the past few days. #BoycottHindustanUnilever and
#BoycottSurfExcel have been trending right on top on Twitter. Of course there have been pockets of support
too, especially for the Surf Excel one, but most of the kinder words have really come from brand ‘experts’
and creative guys who have genuinely appreciated the brand’s efforts to put out advertising that is
‘progressive’, ‘positive’, ‘inclusive’ and ‘secular’. But to the junta at large, the universe of HUL’s
consumers, both Red Label and Surf Excel’s new advertising films are kind of a betrayal and belittlement,
not easy to comprehend, understand or relate to. Much has already been written on both the ads in recent
days. So there is no point in me trying to repeat that. In this piece today, my attempt really would be to look
for issues and motives … reasons why a mature, mass advertiser with such a humungous consumer base like
Hindustan Lever would want to court controversies, and that too without a compelling reason or
provocation. Lever has far too much at stake to want to so seriously rock the boat on consumer loyalty and
eventually of course market share.

Let us first examine what are the issues agitating the twitterati, and whether they are really valid.

1. In the Kumbh ad, the issues at the core of the controversy are:

Hindustan Unilever's new ad for Brooke Bond Red Label that shows a son trying to abandon his elderly
father in the Kumbh Mela has received flak from netizens.

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 - The Kumbh is a Hindu congregation… yes, the world’s largest. But for HUL to suggest in its tweet
that, “Kumbh Mela is a place where old people get abandoned, isn't it sad that we do not care for our
elders? Red Label encourages us to hold the hands of those who made us who we are,” and ask viewers
to watch the video which is “an eye opener to a harsh reality” is seen by many to be a deliberate affront
to Hindu values and Hindu culture. Actually, the resentment is centred at one level at the fact that the
narrative is pivoted on the Kumbh, hence Hindu, but also that the attempt to ‘lose’ the father deliberately
in the milling crowd is portayed as if all Hindu children take their parents to the holy-dip just to get rid of
them. Sure, there may have been actual past instances of such shameful incidents but to tom-tom them as
the norm of the Kumbh and Hindu value-system is seen to be unfair, insensitive and needlessly
judgmental.

- There is really no connect between the entire Kumbh narrative and the product/brand. The product
window in the end where the son finds the father sitting next to a tea vendor and the bit about the father
having ordered two cups of tea as he was confident that the son would return, is actually a narrative of
convenience. Had to be there, hence is there. The entire story is being seen as a pontification on how
Hindu offspring have no love or concern for their parents and want to off-load these inconvenient elders.
That may not have been the message being sent out, but that is what is being almost universally
received.

2. The Surf Excel theme is more explicitly a Hindu-Muslim harmony ad being seen exactly as the
opposite:

- The colours of Holi being called ‘daags’ is being seen as offensive.

- The Hindu girl taking all the hits of the Holi colours to make sure her Muslim friend can get to his
namaz in impeccable whites is seen to be an attempt to portray that the Muslim prayer is sacrosanct. Also
that Namaz is more important than Holi.

- The biggest objection of course is that the entire ‘sacrifice’ is being made by the Hindu girl. Why
could the narrative not have been reversed, ask many? Also, the ire of many is focused on the entire
narrative looking like a ‘love-jehad’.

I am really not sure how many of these objections are valid. I would generally tend to agree with the
criticism of the Kumbh ad that it generalises the deliberate ‘losing’ of parents based on an extrapolation
of data that is not really universal. On Surf Excel, I would be more forgiving. It is a reasonable portrayal
of the brand’s philosophy, Agar kuch achha karne mein daag lag jaaye toh daag achhe hain (Stains that
come as a part of a good deed are good stains).

Back now to our discussion on motivations.

1. There is a pro-active attempt at HUL to make brands more contemporary and real. Real in the sense,
embedded in the lives, hopes, aspirations and realities of consumers. You see that happening in the
murti-maker story of Red Label. You see that happening again with Red Label in the old lady with
Alzheimer story where the nice neighbour gets mistaken by her for her son who lives overseas. Yes,
there is a distinct effort at connecting at more levels with consumers than just merely transactional. Well,
to be fair, some attempts go well, some don’t.
2. There is perhaps a belief at the new-age HUL that controversy is not bad for brands. Twitter tsunamis
rise and abate equally quickly. Trending, even negative trending, is transient. #BoycottSurfExcel was
50
 trending up, up, and up all day till the Chief Election Commissioner held a press conference to announce
the election schedule, and bingo Surf Excel just vanished from the top trends. So, HUL know that
Twitter is a one-day or two-day backlash at best (or worst), no more. The company, perhaps as a
strategy, is learning to ignore this blip of negativity.
3. Controversy actually makes the brand famous, forces consumers to sit up and take notice. Close-Up as a
brand has been in active decline, both in market share and mind-space. From a time in the late 1990s and
early 2000s when it was giving Colgate a run for its money, today it is no longer a brand in the forefront
of consumer consciousness. Last year, the CloseUp#FreeToLove controversy on the Hindu-Muslim live-
in couple and the same-sex lovers ignited a controversy that pushed the Lever brand into the shining
limelight once again. Good thinking, smart strategy most would say.
4. There seems also a belief at HUL that those who tweet are perhaps not those who buy. So, twitter
controversies are just a side-show. The likes of Baba Ramdev fanning the controversy are actually not
bad optics. The mass of consumers stay unaffected and untouched by the negativity. This may not
necessarily be true. But who am I to question the beliefs of a multinational that knows it all.
5. HUL seem to think that Hindu-Muslim themes most ignite controversy. And that as long as Muslim
sentiments are not provoked, right wing Hindu reactions can be ignored or papered over. In these times
of Hindutva aggression this may not altogether be a safe assumption. But then HUL surely knows what it
is doing
6. There is a visible trend in evidence on ‘story-telling’ that ‘involves’ consumers. That is a big change
from the USP driven advertising of the past. HUL is trying hard to ‘engage’ with its constituencies.
Sometimes the scripts may tend to meander and ‘provoke’ but obviously the powers-that-be at Lever feel
that is okay. Provocation is just a more extreme form of engagement.
7. There is also a visible attempt to appear more ‘cerebral’. Old Lever advertising was based on simple
formulae of brand problem, brand promise, brand window and brand logo. The new norm seems to be to
make more compelling (and intelligent) communication. Some may see it as succumbing to peer-
pressure. I don’t know.
8. There is surely an eye out for advertising awards at Lever. Once the controversy abates, all of this will
become the stuff case-studies and management school presentations are made of. Also, these are the kind
of ads that win awards at Cannes (Goa is a bonus) for being ‘inclusive’, ‘insightful’ and ‘bold’. ‘Secular’
too. I don’t have to say much more on that. In the good old days of advertising (read that to mean pre-
social media, pre-Twitter) most brand managers would avoid the current adventurism of HUL. They
would do more of what Tata Tea does with its Jaago Re theme. Or the kind of stuff Pidilite did with its
Kumbh Mela ‘Inseparable’ vests. ‘Causevertising’ with purpose, without controversy.

3.13 AWARDS & RECOGNITION OF HUL:

WINNING WITH BRANDS AND INNOVATION:

 HUL’s purpose-driven brand Surf excel bagged a Gold at the ‘WARC Prize for Asian Strategy 2017’ for the
Ramadan campaign ‘Madad Ek Ibadat’

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 HUL’s brand, Surf excel’s Ramadan 2017 campaign, ‘Neki Ek Ibadat’ won a Gold at the Indian Effies 2018,
in the ‘Consumer Product’ category
 HUL’s local jewel, Hamam bagged a Silver at Effies 2018 for the #GoSafeOutside campaign
 HUL’s Brooke Bond Red Label bagged a Silver at Effies 2018 for the brand’s journey of #SwadApnepanka
 HUL’s Brooke Bond Red Label recognised at the Abby Awards for the purpose-driven web-series ‘Breaking
Barriers’
 HUL’s purpose-driven brands Lux, Lifebuoy, Rin, Clinic Plus, Fair & Lovely, Dove, Closeup, Pepsodent,
Vim, Surf excel, Pond’s, Sunsilk, Vaseline, Wheel and Taj Mahal tea featured in the Economic Times Brand
Equity’s list of India’s Most Trusted brands 2017
 HUL won two Gold and two Silver medals and bagged the title of ‘Advertiser of the Year’ at the Prime
Time Awards 2017. In this year’s edition, our ‘RIN KBC’ campaign won Gold under two categories i.e.
‘Best use of entertainment Channel’ and ‘Best branded content on TV’. The ‘LUX Golden Rose Awards’
bagged a Silver under the ‘Best integrated TV campaign’ and ‘Best use of entertainment Channel’
categories.

WINNING AT MARKET PLACE:

 HUL adjudged the Most Innovative Company in India, in Forbes’ list of The World’s Most Innovative
Companies, 2017.
 HUL bagged ‘Exemplary Leadership Award in Cold Chain Industry’ at the 3rd edition of the Cold Chain
Industry Awards.
 HUL recognised as the winner in the FMCG sector at the Dun & Bradstreet Corporate Awards 2017. We
won this award for the fourth consecutive year.

WINNING THROUGH CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT:

 HUL’s beverage factory in Kolkata received the prestigious CII National Food Safety Award 2017 for
outstanding achievements in food safety.
 HUL’s Puducherry Home & Personal Care (HPC) factory secured the second place at the Southern Region
Environment, Health & Safety (EHS) Excellence Awards 2017 in the ‘Manufacturing - Others’ category
organised by Confederation of India Industry (CII).
 HUL’s Amli Factory was felicitated with the Platinum Award in the large-scale manufacturing category, at
the 6th FICCI Quality Systems Excellence Awards for Industry.
 HUL’s five factories won an award in the area of Safety and Environment from National Safety Council.
 HUL won an award for excellence in Energy Conservation and Management from Maharashtra Energy
Development Agency (MEDA), Confederation of Indian Industry, Green Tech.

WINNING WITH PROPLE:

HUL reained the ‘No.1 Employer of Choice’ title amongst key business schools for the seventh year in a
row.
 HUL emerged as the Aon Best Employer of 2018.
 HUL emerged winner at the Business Today’s Best Companies to Work for awards in the Manufacturing
sector.
 HUL CEO Sanjiv Mehta declared the winner in the ‘CA Business Leader’ category at the 11th ICAI (The
Institute of Chartered Accountants of India) Awards 2017.
 The Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) conferred the Certificate of Recognition to HUL for
Excellence in Corporate Governance at its 17th National Awards.
 HUL’s Puducherry HPC factory conferred with the FAME Excellence Award 2017 for excellence in
promoting safety, health & environment practices and initiatives towards employees and stakeholders.
 HUL honoured with the National Award for ‘Excellence in Employee Relations’ at the EFI Summit
organised by the Employers’ Federation of India (EFI).

3.15 MANAGERIAL IMPLICATION OF THE STUDY:

52
 The collected data says that, the rural consumers are more price conscious, but with this, they are looking
for good quality products too. So now company should design their marketing strategy where they can offer
quality product with reasonable price.
 Company should keep in mind the rural consumer behavior of less brand loyalty towards F.M.C.G.
products, so company should offer their product in such a way to the rural consumer, so that rural consumer
would like to buy the product again and again and company should by the time get the advantage of brand
loyalty.
 In the rural area, there is a presence of spurious products, and due to variation in literacy and product
awareness level, this spurious product has got benefits of getting place in to the regular market. So, company
has to take action against this and make the rural people aware about the brand and brand should create some
uniqueness in their product, so one can easily recognized the real brand compare to the spurious product.
 Rural market is untapped market and has huge potential, this fact is known to every company / brand in to
the market. So, they are also putting their hard efforts 248 to get the success in the untapped market. Though
H.U.L. is having high market share in some of the product category but their competitors are not so far from
them, while in some category there are local brands that had got the number one position. So, to maintain the
market share and to capture the new market company has to bring some changes in their existing policies
time to time.
 Company should design their distribution system in such a way that, the product remains available all time
in to the rural areas. Because the rural customer prefers the products which are easily available.
 Company should try to offer small packaging for the products wherever it is possible, because the rural
customers prefer medium size products while making purchase decision.
 Rural consumer prefers price discounts on the product as the best promotional scheme as per collected
data, so company should design their promotional schemes accordingly to get more acceptances by the rural
customers.

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 Lifebuoy was introduced by Lever Brothers in 1895 in England. Originally a carbolic soap
containing phenol, different varieties were later introduced without the medicinal carbolic smell, such as the
coral-coloured Lifebuoy during the late 1950s and Lifebuoy Minty Refresher in 1966. Lifebuoy was one of

54
the most popular soaps in the United States from approximately 1923 to the mid- ‘50s, when perfumed soaps
took over the market. It was the best-selling medicated/health soap in North America until roughly 1951.
It was well known for its red and yellow packaging, red colour and octagonal shape, as well as its
carbolic aroma. Sometime in 1951 or 1952, due to declining sales, Lever Bros. experimented with adding
perfumes to the soap, and made the changes permanent in 1954.
Earlier experiments in 1936, 1938, 1939 and 1940 also added an artificial scent to the soap, but
generally lasted only one batch. Sales, however, continued to decline until 2006, when Lifebuoy was
officially completely pulled from the American market. Lifebuoy's popularity reached its peak between 1932
and 1948.
After World War Two, when more materials were available and rationing was over, other more
appealing soaps began to take hold of the market. Its popularity waned steadily through the 1950s. In the
mid/late 1960s it saw a popularity surge which would last through 1973. This was, in part, caused by the
introduction and success of Lifebuoy White in the American market. After this decline, the Lifebuoy brand
was seen less and less in the American market.
It was pulled from American shelves starting in 2003 and was completely phased out of the
American market by 2006. Sometime in 2008 or 2009, Unilever released Lifebuoy Classic, a modern soap
with retro packaging and a medicated scent intended to be similar to that of the 1950s product. It saw
novelty success but was never embraced as a staple product in the American home. It is now primarily
manufactured as a gift intended to be reminiscent of A Christmas Story and is currently sold in the official A
Christmas Story website gift shop.
Although Lifebuoy is no longer produced in the US and UK, it is still being mass-produced
by Unilever in Cyprus for the UK, EU, US and Brazilian markets, in Trinidad and Tobago for the Caribbean
market, and in India for the Asian market. Unilever in Cyprus and Trinidad and Tobago is manufacturing the
Red Lifebuoy Soap with a carbolic fragrance, but as of 1976 it no longer contains phenol. The Lifebuoy soap
manufactured in India and Indonesia for other markets including South and South East Asia has been
updated to use red and other colours with ‘mode.

55
Product type Personal care

Owner Unilever

Country United Kingdom

Introduced 1955; 64 years ago

Dove Men+Care
Related brands
Baby Dove

Website www.dove.com

Dove is a personal care brand owned by Unilever originating in the United Kingdom. Dove products
are manufactured
in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Egypt, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Ireland, Japan, Me
xico, Netherlands, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, South Africa, South Korea, Thailand, Turkey and
the United States.
The products are sold in more than 150 countries and are offered for both women, men and
babies. Dove's logo is a silhouette profile of the brand's namesake bird. Vincent Lamberti was granted the
original patents related to the manufacturing of Dove in the 1950s, while he worked for the Lever brothers

56
57
PRODUCT LINE:

Products include: antiperspirants/deodorants, body washes, beauty bars, lotions/moisturizers, hair

care, and facial care products. Dove is primarily made from synthetic surfactants, vegetable oils (such as
palm kernel) and salts of animal fats (tallow). In some countries, Dove is derived from tallow, and for this
reason it is not considered vegan, unlike vegetable oil based soaps.
Unilever launched a men's toiletries range in January 2010, branded "Dove Men + Care". In 2012, Steve Bell
of Macon, Georgia won the Dove Men Care Hair "King of the Castle Home Upgrade" contest, receiving a
home upgrade and consultation with Jonathan Scott of Property Brothers.

DOVE CAMPAIGN FOR BEAUTY:

In September 2004, Dove began its Campaign for Real Beauty, followed by the creation of the Dove
Self-Esteem Fund in 2006, by Geyner Andres Gaona and Amy. The campaign has been criticized as
hypocritical in light of the highly sexualized images of women presented in the advertising of Axe, which,
like Dove, is produced by Unilever.

AD CONTREVERSY:
In May 2011, Dove prompted criticism and accusations of racism after publishing an ad for their body wash
showing three women with different skin tones side by side in front of a "before and after" image of cracked
and smooth skin, with a black woman below the "before" and a white woman below the "after".
In October 2017, a three-second video for Dove body lotion posted on their page on Facebook in the United
States prompted criticism and accusations of racism. The video clip showed a black woman removing her T-
shirt to reveal a white woman, who then lifts her own T-shirt to reveal an Asian woman. The full thirty
second television advert version included seven women of different races and ages.
The ad sparked criticism, leading Dove to remove the ad, saying it “deeply regret(ed) the offence it
caused.” Dove further stated that the "video was intended to convey that Dove body wash is for every
woman and be a celebration of diversity..." The black woman in the advert, Lola Ogun Yemi, said the advert
had been misinterpreted and defended Dove.

58
Product type soap

Owner Unilever

Country United Kingdom

Introduced 1925; 94 years ago

Markets Worldwide

Website houseoflux.com

LUX is a global brand developed by Unilever. The range of products includes beauty soaps, shower gels,
bath additives, hair shampoos and conditioners. Lux started as "Sunlight Flakes" laundry soap in 1899.
As of 2009, Lux revenue was estimated at €1 billion, with market shares spread out to more than 100
countries around the globe.
Today, Lux is the market leader in countries like Bangladesh, Brazil, India, Pakistan, South
Africa and Thailand.
Developed by Unilever, Lux (soap) is now headquartered in Singapore. It celebrated its 90th anniversary in
2018.

59
60
 History:
The brand was founded by the firm Lever Brothers, now known as Unilever, in 1899. The name
changed from "Sunlight Flakes" to "Lux" in 1900, a Latin word for "light" and suggestive of "luxury.”

61
 Lux toilet soap was launched in the United States in 1925 and in the United Kingdom in 1928.
Subsequently, Lux soap has been marketed in several forms, including handwash, shower gel and cream
bath soap.

Lux's early advertising campaigns aimed to educate users about its credentials as a laundry product
and appeared in magazines such as Ladies Home Journal. By the early 1920s, it was a hugely successful
brand and in 1924, the Lever Brothers conducted a contest that led them to a very interesting finding: women
were using Lux as toilet soap.

Introduced in the United States in 1924, Lux became the world's first mass market toilet soap with
the tagline, Made as fine as French Soap. In the first two years of its launch, Lux concentrated on building
its beauty soap credentials. Advertisements offered consumers "a beauty soap made in the French method" at
an affordable price, with the promise of smooth skin.
Made with fine-texture, rich in fragrance, and manufactured using a method created in France, the
first Lux toilet soap was sold for 10 cents a bar.

In early 2000, the focus shifted from specific skin benefits to a stronger emotional space. The brand
provided the link between the aspirational role models and real life with the campaign, Lux brings out the
star in you. The benefit was now more than just beauty itself; it expanded to be about the confidence that
comes from beautiful skin.
In 2005, Lux encouraged women to celebrate and indulge their femininity with the Play with
Beauty philosophy, with stars like Aishwarya Rai. The brand also encouraged consumers to take a
more active stance on beauty.
Since 2008, building off the brand's root strengths, focus has shifted away from femininity to more emphasis
on beauty as it relates to consumers' fantasies and aspirations. Lux espouses that beauty is a female instinct
that shouldn't be denied, and showcases the pleasure that every woman enjoys from using her beauty. This
modern philosophy is encapsulated in a simple phrase: Declare your beauty.
Lux products are manufactured at 71 locations with more than 2000 suppliers and associates
providing the raw materials. It has key markets in countries like Brazil, Pakistan, China, Bangladesh, and
South Africa, and is a market leader for soap bars in India, Pakistan, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh,
Thailand, and Vietnam.

Today, in efforts of building brands with purpose, Lux pushes the boundary by inspiring women to
rise above societal judgments and be express themselves unapologetically. Lux communications now
revolve around showcasing the different sides of women expressing their femininity.
In Indonesia, Lux partnered with brand ambassador Maudy Ayunda to launch a purpose driven award
show "Lux Sound of Women" that celebrates female musicians who inspire and create an impact in the
community.
In India, Lux celebrates women with an annual "Golden Rose Awards" which joins together the
female cinematic legends in Bollywood.
In 2018, Virgil Van Dijk claimed that his legs have never felt better.

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63
64
65
Hamam is a brand of soap made in India and marketed by the Indian unit of Unilever. The brand was
previously owned by Tata Sons. The name comes from the Arabic/Persian word hammam, which refers to a
public-bathing establishment in the Middle Eastern countries. It was once a leading bath soap brand in India.
A 100-gm bar costs 30 ₹.
MAKING:
Hamam soap has neem, tulsi, and aloe vera, which will protect the skin from rashes, pimples, and body odor.

66
About:
67
 Hamam soap was established in 1931 as a mild soap that could be used by families. Hamam used
natural ingredients in its products long before using all-natural ingredients was a trend. It was, at one time,
the only Indian-made natural soap. It is said to be pure and safe on the skin.

Between 2009 and 2011, Hamam launched Hamam Nalangumavu soap. It has been withdrawn from the
market due to regular Hamam's strong presence and lower sales numbers in the Nalangumavu variants.
VARIATIONS:
Hamam soap is sold in three different variations:

 Sampoorna Snaan
 Hamam Scrub Bath
 AbhyangaSnaan

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Pears transparent soap is a brand of soap first produced and sold in 1807 by Andrew Pears, at a factory just
off Oxford Street in London, England. It was the world's first mass-market translucent soap. Under the
stewardship of Thomas J. Barratt, A. & F. Pears initiated a number of innovations in sales and marketing. A.
& F. Pears was acquired by Lever Brothers, now Unilever, in 1917, and products under the Pears brand are
currently sold in India, Sri Lanka and Nigeria

HISTORY:
Andrew Pears, the son of a farmer, was born about 1770 in Cornwall and moved from his
native Mevagissey to London around 1787. He completed his apprenticeship in 1789, established a barber's
shop in Gerrard Street in Soho and began to produce cosmetic products.
At that time, Soho was a high-end residential area, and Pears' clientele included many wealthy
socialites who took pride in their appearance. The fashion among the wealthy of the period was to have
pristine white complexions; tanned faces were associated with those who laboured outdoors. Pears found
that his powders and creams were frequently being used to cover up damage caused by the harshness of the
soaps and other beauty products that were in general use at the time, many of which
contained arsenic or lead.
Pears began to experiment with soap purification and eventually managed to produce a gentle soap
based on glycerine and other natural products. The clarity of the soap gave it a novel transparent appearance,
which provided a marketing advantage. To add to the appeal, Pears gave the soap an aroma reminiscent of
an English garden.
During the nineteenth century, Pears built a large market for its soap in the United States.

69
 In 1835, when his grandson, Francis Pears, joined the business, the firm was renamed A & F Pears.
After three years, Andrew retired and left Francis in charge. At The Great Exhibition of 1851, A & F Pears
was awarded the prize medal for soap. Production moved to Isleworth in 1862. 23-year-old Thomas J.
Barratt, sometimes referred to as the father of modern advertising, was appointed bookkeeper in 1864. The
next year, Francis' son, Andrew, joined A. & F. Pears as joint proprietor, and ran the Isleworth factory. That
same year, Thomas married Mary Pears, Francis's eldest daughter, and was appointed to run the
administration in London.
Thomas Barratt's remarkable achievements are recorded in his own article, and under "Marketing", below.
Following Barratt's death in April 1914, Lever Brothers took a major shareholding in A & F Pears. The
takeover process was completed in 1920 and marketing and other secondary functions moved to Port
Sunlight in north-west England, but production continued at Isleworth.
In the mid to late 1950s, each batch of soap, about 12 a day, was tested to ensure the absence of
excess alkali or free fatty acid. Production moved to Port Sunlight in the 1960s, when Unilever, successor to
Lever Brothers, set up a cosmetic development laboratory on the Isleworth site. A major fire at the site
completely destroyed the original factory.
Pears soap is now made in India by Hindustan Unilever, a company in which Unilever now has a 67 percent
share.
MANUFACTURE:

Pears soap was made using a process entirely different from that for other soaps. A mixture
of tallow and other fats was saponified by an alkali Clearly, this is currently caustic soda (sodium
hydroxide), since the ingredients list shows sodium salts of fatty acids, but a chemist reports that in the
1960s, caustic potash (potassium hydroxide) was used. It has not been possible to determine what was used
in the early days of the product, as the writings of Francis Pears mention only alkali in industrial methylated
spirits.
After saponification was completed, the resulting glycerol was left in the batch. Batches were made
not in huge pans, but in small kettle-like vessels. As soon as the translucent amber liquid had cooled enough
to solidify, it was extruded into opaque oval bars that were cut into bath- or toilet-weight tablets, ready for
beginning their long spell in the drying rooms (ovens). The hot liquid soap fresh from the vessel had a total
fatty matter (TFM) of 45% compared with the TFMs of 70–80% usual in soaps made by the conventional
method. The TFM increased considerably as the alcohol content fell during drying. The concave shape of the
soap is formed by shrinkage while the soap is drying, and is not due to deliberate moulding.
The entire Pears plant was a small almost self-contained annexe at the rear of the administration
block. It was run by a handful of staff, who not only had experience of the specialised process, but had
developed immunity to the effects of breathing the alcohol-laden atmosphere in the building. Bars of soap
produced in the factory come in two sizes: 75 g and 125 g. Nowadays the soap comes in three colours: the
classic amber, green, and mint (blue colour). Each variety has a unique aroma. The soap now comes in two
new sizes: 69 g and 119 g.
Recent changes to quality of the ingredients used in the manufacturing process (see "Changes to the
Formula" below) have resulted in the bar having a noticeably different shape (flatter rather than concave),
and a difference in the scent of the classic transparent amber bar. It used to have a characteristically mild,
spicy fragrance, but is now very strong. In the UK, the change has been noticed since 2009, with the scent
being almost like coal tar. There has also been a reduction in its moisturizing properties.

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MARKETING:
The first of the famous Pears soap marketing campaigns used Giovanni Focardi's most well-known
statue, You dirty boy!, exhibited at the Exposition Universelle de Paris in 1878. The statue was so popular
that Pears purchased the rights to produce copies as advertisements for its soap products. The statues were
in terracotta, plaster and metal, and were used in shop counter displays.
From the late 19th century, Pears soap became famous for its marketing, masterminded by Barratt.
Its campaign using John Everett Millais' painting Bubbles continued over many decades. As with many other
brands at the time, at the beginning of the 20th century, Pears also used its product as a sign of the prevailing
European concept of the "civilizing mission" of empire and trade, in which the soap stood for progress.
In the late 19th century, to publicise its products, Pears distributed coins countermarked with "Pears
Soap". They were 10-centime French coins, imported by Pears. About the same size and shape as the
British penny of the time, the French coins were generally accepted as pennies in Britain.
Lillie Langtry became the first woman to endorse a commercial product, when her famous ivory
complexion gained her a contract to advertise Pears soap. Her fee was related to her weight, so it was said
that she was paid "pound for pound".
Between 1891 and 1925, Pears issued its now-famous annuals, which are highly collectible. From the
early 20th century, Pears was famous for the annual "Miss Pears" competition, in which parents entered their
children into the high-profile hunt for a young brand ambassador to be used on packaging and in consumer
promotions. Many Miss Pears subsequently entered acting or modelling.
Pears' Cyclopaedia is a one volume encyclopaedia, continuously published in the United Kingdom since
December 1897.
Beginning with 2003, a British company called Cert Brands took charge of the marketing and distribution of
Pears soaps.

Pears brand logo

Product type Soap, Face wash

Owner Unilever

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Produced by Hindustan Unilever

Country London, United Kingdom

Introduced 1789

Related brands Lifebuoy, Lux, Dove

Markets India, Sri Lanka, Nigeria

Previous owners A. & F. Pears Ltd. (1917)

Registered as a trademark in List

Website All brands | Unilever

With the goodness of glycerin & natural oils, Pears is trusted for being gentle, and is recommended by
doctors and pediatricians worldwide.It keeps your skin soft and smiling with innocence. It is so pure that you
can actually see through it!

Pears Pure & Gentle: Pears is the gentle way to keep your skin looking innocent and beautiful. It is enriched
with pure glycerin and natural oils that gently moisturize skin to keep it smooth while its mild fragrance and
soft lather ensure that your skin gets the pampering it deserves.

Pears Germshield: Now you do not have to depend on harsh treatments to keep germs away. Pears
Germshield is the perfect way to shield your family from germs, and you, from worry. Enriched with Mint
Extract, it is clinically proven to fight germs without being harsh on skin or without upsetting the delicate
oil-water balance, leaving skin feeling soft and supple. So that your family lives life exactly the way they
would like to – pure, simple and without worries.

Pears Oil Clear: Pears Oil Clear is the gentle way to remove excess oil and get your skin to its pristine,
wonderful best. Its special ‘oil-clear’ formula contains Lemon Flower Extracts known to have natural
astringent properties. It helps to clean away the excess oil from your skin while glycerin ensures your skin
stays gently cared for. Say goodbye to oily skin troubles with the goodness of Pears.

Upon comparing the formulation of both the products, I find there is a difference in formulation used by
HUL compared to its peer product available outside India.

The following ingredients are not used by HUL:

Benzyl Benzoate
Benzyl Salicylate
72
Cinnamal
Eugenol
Limonene
Linalool

Product type Antiperspirant deodorant

Owner Unilever

Country Australia

Introduced 1969; 50 years ago

 Sure
Related brands
 (UK & Ireland)
 Degree

 (US & Canada)

 Rexena

 (Japan & South Korea)

 Shield

 (South Africa)

Markets Worldwide

73
 Previous owners Helene Curtis (Degree in the US
& Canada)

Tagline It won't let you down

Website www.rexona.com

Rexona was launched in the year 1947 as a natural skin care soap that gives silky, glowing skin. Rexona’s
irresistibly silky soft skin and lingering aromatic fragrance proposition has been an ally to the Indian women
to keep those compliments flowing in from their loved ones.

The Indian woman uses products that deliver beauty through skin care but needs the assurance of natural
ingredients. She believes that her natural look is her best beauty accessory. She takes the effort to look good
and wants to keep the romance alive in her life. This is where Rexona plays a key role in making women
look and feel beautiful through the use of natural ingredients.

Rexona comes with the natural goodness of Coconut and Olive oils, which moisturize the skin and leave it
silky smooth. Coconut oil has been an inherent ingredient in the soap for more than two decades and has
become synonymous with Rexona brand. Olive oil was introduced in the soap in 2009.

History
It was developed in 1908 by an Australian pharmacist, Samuel Fuller Sheffer and his wife, Alice. The
products are available in varying forms including as aerosols, pumps, roll-ons, sticks and creams. In 2015
the brand launched a new range of fragrances with a new canister design, at the same time changing the
formula. This has resulted in wide spread consumer backlash with many product review websites and forums
giving very poor reviews and airing complaints that the new formula simply doesn't have the deodorant
effect of the old formula.

India
In India, it was launched in 1947 as a rival to Hammam, then a Tata product, then Hindustan Unilever. As
Hindustan Unilever already uses Rexona as a soap brand, the Sure brand was used instead for deodorants, as
it is in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

74
 CHAPTER NO. 4

ANALYSIS OF FACTORS INFLUENCING THE CUSTOMERS PREFERENCES

TOWARDS SOAPS OF HINDUSTAN UNILEVER LIMITED (HUL)
1. DEMOGRAPHIC SAMPLES :
Following are the questions that are considered in cultural factors
1. AGE GROUP

AGE GROUP NO. OF RESPONDENTS

0 – 20 33

20 - 30 58

30 - 40 8

40 - 80 2

Fig 1.1 AGE GROUP

8% 1%

33%

58%

0 - 20 20 - 30 30 - 40 40 - 80

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS :

Most of the respondents lie in the age group of

20 – 30 i.e. 58.

Further 0 – 20 years i.e. 33,

30 – 40 years i.e. 8 and

from 40 – 80 years group is 2.

2.FAMILY MEMBERS
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 NO. OF FAMILY MEMBERS NO. OF RESPONDENTS
SINGLE 5
2 5
3 8
4 35
5 OR MORE 45

Fig 1.2 FAMILY MEMBERS

5%
5%
8%

46%

36%

SINGLE 2 3 4 5 OR MORE

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS :

From the above sample size there is 46% people in the family with more than 5 people and 36% people in
the family are 4, 8% people in the family are 3, whereas 5% people in the family single as well as 2.

76
 3. OCCUPATION :

OCCUPATION NO. OF RESPONDENTS

STUDENT 46

SELF EMPLOYED 20

GOVERNMENT SERVICES 1

EXECUTIVE 15

OTHERS 17

Fig 1.3 OCCUPATION

17

46
15

1
20

STUDENT SELF EMPLOYED GOVERNMENT SERVICE EXECUTIVE OTHERS

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS:
From total sample size of 100,
46% are student,
20% are self employed,
1% is from government service,
15% are executive, where as
17% are from others.

77
 2. USAGE OF SOAPS

USAGE OF SOAPS NO. OF RESPONDENTS

YES 99

NO 1

Fig 2.USAGE OF SOAPS

YES NO

INTERPRETATION :
From the above pie chart it is clear that 99% respondents are user of soaps 1% are not using soap products
with whom I had asked the question.

78
 3.BRANDS THAT PEOPLE USE
BRANDS NO. OF SAMPLES
LUX 18
LIFEBUOY 10
PEARS 20
BREEZE 1
DOVE 10
CINTHOL 17
SANTOOR 3
OTHERS 19

FIG 3.BRANDS THAT PEOPLE USE

OTHERS LUX

SANTOOR
LIFEBUOY

CINTHOL

PEARS

DOVE
BREEZE

INTERPRETATION :

It is found that most of the people like to use Pears i.e. 20% , then the demand of others i.e. 19%, lux is 18%,
Cinthol is 17%, Lifebuoy and Dove is 10% Santoor is 3%, whereas breeze is 1%.

79
4. Since how long are you using these bath soap products?

MONTHS/YEARS NO. OF RESPONDENTS

1 MONTH 10

6 MONTH 12

1 YEAR 25

2 OR MORE YEARS 54

FIG 4.MONTH/YEARS
1 MONTH

6 MONTH

2 OR MORE YEAR

1 YEAR

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS :
The statistical analysis for how long the bath soaps are being used are,
1 month 10%;
6 month 12%;
1 year 25%;
2 or more years 54%.
INTERPRETATION :
The study shows that the soap products used by the customers, are than 2 years. This shows that the
customers are satisfied with HUL soap brands.

5. What attracts you to buy HUL soaps?

80
 ATTRIBUTES NO. OF SAMPLES

FRAGRANCE 33

QUALITY 49

PACKAGING 3

PRICE 10

OTHERS 5

Fig 5.ATTRIBUTES
5%
10%
3% 33%

49%

FRAGRANCE QUALITY PACKAGING PRICE OTHERS

STATISTICAL ANANLYSIS:
The attributes that affects the no. of samples are
Fragrance is 33%;
Quality is 49%;
Packaging is 3%;
Price is 10%;
Others is 5%.
INTERPRETATION:
When it comes to why a customer opts for a brand, which attributes attracts him the most.? The opinion is
divided into lot of factors, lot of customers prefer for more than one attribute. But two main attributes are
QUALITY-49%, FRAGRANCE-33%.

6. How are you influenced to buy Soap Brands Of HUL?

81
 FIG 6.SOURCES OF INFORMATION

WORD TO WORD
ADVERTISING
TELEVISION

TRENDS AND
SOCIAL MEDIA
CELEBRITY FACE

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS :
The statistical data for sources of information are;
Television 46%;
Celebrity Face 6%;
Trends and Social Media 13%;
Word to Word Advertising 35%.
INTERPRETATION :
How a consumer came to know about a brand is very important for the makers of the product, because this
helps them to know what the consumers feel about their product and also helps them to reach them in a
better way. It is clear that TELEVISION is the most important source of information for consumers: then
comes WORD TO WORD ADVERTISING.

7.WHICH CONFIGURATION WOULD YOU DECIDE ON BUYING SOAPS OF HUL

CONFIGURATION NO. OF SAMPLES
INTERMIDIARIES 75
STANDARD 5
LATEST/ADVANCE 20
82
 FIG 7.CONFIGURATION

LATEST/ADVANCE

STANDARD

INTERMIDIARIES

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS:

The analysis for configuration on buying soaps are;

Intermediaries 75%

Standard 5%

Latest / Advance 20%

INTERPRETATION:

As per the data collected and through interviews the most consumers prefer the intermediaries to buy the
soaps of HUL.

83
8. ARE YOU SATISFIED WITH THE PRICES OF THE HUL SOAP BRANDS?

Fig 8.SATISFACTION WITH THE PRICES OF HUL

SOAPS.
5%
21%
41%

33%

100% 75% 50% 25%

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS :
The statistical analysis for the consumers who are satisfied with prices of HUL soap brands are;
100% are 41%;
75% are 33%;
50% are 21%;
25% are 5%.

INTERPRETATION :
According, to the analysis the customers are 100% satisfied with the prices of HUL Soap Brands.

9. HOW WOULD YOU RATE AN APPROACH TO QUALITY MANAGEMENT OF

HUL SOAPS TO ENSURE COMPLETE CUSTOMER SATISFACTION ?
HUL’S APPROACH TOWARDS NO. OF SAMPLES
QUALITY MANAGEMENT FOR
CUSTOMERS SATISFACTION.

EXCELLENT 35

84
 GOOD 49

SATISFACTORY 15

POOR 1

Fig 9.HUL'S APPROACH TOWARDS QUALITY

MANAGEMENT FOR CUSTOMERS
SATISFACTION.

15% 1%
35%
EXCELLENT
GOOD
SATISFACTORY
49%
POOR

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS :
HUL’s approach towards quality management to ensure customer satisfaction are,
Excellent 35%’
Good 49%,
Satisfactory 15%,
Poor 1%.
INTERPRETATION :
Customer satisfaction is very much important for the makers as “CUSTOMERS ARE THE KING” for this I
have asked the customers to rate the quality management of HUL soap brands whether it satisfies them or
not and according to 49% customers the quality management is GOOD of HUL soap.

10. OVERALL WHAT WOULD BE THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR IN

CHOOSING HUL SOAP BRANDS ?

FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE NO. OF SAMPLES

CUSTOMERS TO BUY HUL
BRANDS.

PRICE 30

FEATURES 36

BRANDS 24

85
 OTHERS 10

Fig 10.FACTORS THAT INFLUENCES

CUSTOMERS TO BUY HUL BRANDS.

10%
30%
24% PRICE
FEATURES
BRANDS
36% OTHERS

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS :
The factors that influence the customers to buy HUL products from the above figures are’
Price 30%;
Features 36%;
Brands 24%;
Others 10%.
INTERPRETATION:
It is important for this research to know that what are the factors that influence the consumers to buy HUL
soap brands with the sample size. FEATURES of the product influences the customers to buy the soaps of
HUL.
11. DO YOU WANT TO SWITCH OVER TO ANOTHER BRAND ?

SWITCH OVER TO NO. OF SAMPLES

ANOTHER BRAND

YES 14

NO 86

86
 FIG 11. SWITCH OVER TO ANOTHER BRAND

YES

NO

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS :
Statistical analysis for switch over to another brand are,
YES – 14%
NO – 86%.

INTERPRETATION :
From the above samples of 100 people who don’t want to switch over to any other brand is 86%. This shows
that people are satisfied with the products of HUL.

12. WHAT WOULD BE THE REASONS FOR YOUR SWITCH OVER TO ANOTHER BRAND
RATHER THAN HUL SOAPS ?

REASONS FOR SWICHOVER NO. OF SAMPLES

LACK OF CHANGES IN EXISTING 18

BRAND

RISE IN PRICE 27

NON-AVAILABILITY 28

OTHERS 27

87
 Fig 12. REASON FOR SWITCH OVER TO
ANOTHER BRAND

18% LACK OF CHANGES IN EXISTING

27% BRAND
RISE IN PRICE
27%
NON AVAILABILITY
28%

OTHERS

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS :
The statistical analysis for the reasons of customers to switch over to another brand rather then HUL are,
Lack of changes in existing brand 18%;
Rise in price 27%;
Non availability 28%;
Others 27%.
INTERPRETATION :
According to the research they are unsatisfied with the NON-AVAILABILITY of the existing brand that’s
why they are switching over to another brand and 27% each switch over because of RISE IN PRICES and
OTHERS that could be PACKAGING OR FEATURES OR PROMOTION etc.
13. FLUCTUATIONS IN PRICES OF HUL SOAPS WILL AFFECT YOUR BUYING
BEAHAVIOUR?

FLUCTUATIONS IN PRICES NO. OF SAMPLES

YES 60

NO 40

88
 FIG 13. FLUCTUATIONS IN PRICES OF HUL
SOAPS WILL AFFECT CONSUMERS BUYING
BEHAVIOUR

NO

YES

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS :
The statistical analysis for fluctuations in prices of HUL soaps will affect consumer buying behaviour are,
YES 60%
NO 40%
INTERPRETATION :
As per the collected data consumers will be affected when there is changes or fluctuations in prices of the
soaps

4.2 TESTING OF HYPOTHESIS.

HYPOTHESIS:

H0- “Customers are positive towards HUL Products.”

H1- “Customers are not positive towards HUL Products.”

DO YOU WANT TO SWITCH OVER TO ANOTHER BRAND ?

89
 SWITCH OVER TO ANOTHER BRAND
YES

NO

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS :
Statistical analysis for switch over to another brand are,
YES – 14%
NO – 86%.
HOW WOULD YOU RATE AN APPROACH TO QUALITY MANAGEMENT OF
HUL SOAPS TO ENSURE COMPLETE CUSTOMER SATISFACTION ?

HUL'S APPROACH TOWARDS QUALITY

MANAGEMENT FOR CUSTOMERS SATISFACTION.

15%1% EXCELLENT
35%
GOOD
49% SATISFACTORY
POOR

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS :
HUL’s approach towards quality management to ensure customer satisfaction are,
Excellent 35%’
Good 49%,
Satisfactory 15%,
Poor 1%.
From the above figures 49% are saying Good and 35% are saying Excellent for the quality of the products of
HUL and
86% people are saying NO to Switch Over to another brand .

Hence, Ho is accepted and

H1 is rejected.

90
 CHAPTER NO. 5
FINDINGS, RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS.

91
 5.1 FINDINGS OF THE STUDY.
The findings of these study are as follows:

1. The Indian Soap market is ruled by three major giants; Hindustan Unilever Limited, Godrej and Wipro.

2. HUL is one of the largest FMCG producing company in India, with more than 35 brands spanning 20
distinct categories of different FMCG goods.

3. The company has about 18,000 employees and the sales are of INR 37,660 in the financial year (2018-19)

4. It is a leading indicator of consumer repurchase intentions and loyalty.

5. Customers are loyal towards the products of HUL.

6.HUL with its brands like Pears lux etc. have dominated the Indian lather industry since the last few
decades.

7. More than 54% people are using the soap brands of HUL for more than 2 years.

8. The main attributes that makes the consumer to buy the products of HUL is its quality and fragrance.

9. Television is one the most important source of information for the consumers to get to know about the
new product in the market.

10. More than 41% customers are satisfied with the prices of soaps of HUL.

11. The features of the product is the main factor that influencs the consumers to buy it.

12. Non availability of product will lead the consumers to buy products of different brands.

5.2 RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE STUDY.

On the basis of my study I want to suggest that

1. HUL should make more efforts in their products as only 54% people are loyal towards the products of
HUL.

2. HUL should make efforts to improve their packaging of the product as well should lower the prices of the
products.

3. As in todays world people social media is trending therefor HUL can now make efforts to promote their
products through these social media as it will help them to be known in the youth.

4. HUL can make lower class people friendly products by lowering the prices of the product so that their
products can reach to the lower income people also.

5. Brand loyalty is very important for the company so the company has to make certain arrangements so that
customers will not prefer any other brand product if they are unavailable.

6. HUL should make efforts to promote their product as it helps people to get to know about the product.

92
 5.3 CONCLUSION

The main objective of these project is to get full knowledge about the products of HUL, and what
they are doing to get customer loyalty, to maintain their position in the market. This is also to find out the
preferences of customers and their market their market knowledge and their product information.
Information about the preferences of their product and their rivals of HUL and all the other options they
have in the market. What are the techniques they are adopting to know the customer preferences towards
their soaps and their changing needs of the customers. HUL is also taking efforts to help people through their
various Corporate Social Responsibility by giving them educations, employment etc.
After studying the customers perception towards different soap brands of HUL it is concluded that
every system has its strengths and weakness. The study found that the consumers are loyal towards the soaps
of HUL . 86% people don’t want to switchover to another soaps brands. The study has shown that quality
and aroma are keys to customers use of HUL soaps which leads to higher satisfaction.
To conclude customers will appreciate innovation in packaging and quality of soaps.

REFERENCES
A. Bibliography:
1. Books: Philip Kotler, Kevin Lane Keller. Marketing Management. 13th edition

93
 B. Webliography:
1. www.hul.com
2. www.fmcg.com
3. www.economictimes.com
4. www.marketwatch.com

APPENDIX
Questionnaire
Q1. What is your age group?
o 0-20
o 20-30
o 30-40
o 40-80

94
Q2. How many family members are in your family?
o Single
o 2
o 3
o 4
o 5 or more
Q3. What is your occupation?
o Student
o Self Employed
o Government Service
o Executive
o Others
Q4. Do you use bath soap products?
o Yes
o No
Q5. Which brand of soaps do you use?
o Lux
o Lifebuoy
o Pears
o Breeze
o Dove
o Cinthol
o Santoor
o Others

Q6. Since how long are you using these bath soap products?
o 1 month
o 6 month
o 1 year
o 2 or more year
Q7. What attracts you to buy HUL soaps?
o Fragrance
o Quality
o Packaging
o Price
95
 o Others
Q8. How are you influenced to buy soaps of HUL?
o Television
o Celebrity Face
o Trends and Social Media
o Word to Word Advertising
Q9. Which configuration would you decide to buy soaps of HUL?
o Intermediaries
o Standard
o Latest/Advance
Q10. Are you satisfied with the prices of HUL?
o 100%
o 75%
o 50%
o 25%
Q11. How would you approach the quality management of HUL soaps to ensur complete customer
satisfaction?
o Excellent
o Good
o Satisfactory
o Poor

Q12. Overall what would be the most important factor in choosing HUL soaps.
o Price
o Features
o Brands
o Others
Q13. Do you want to switchover to another brand?
o Yes
o No
Q14. What would be your reason for switchover to another brand rather than HUL?
o Lack of changes in existing brand
o Rise in price
o Non-availability

96
 o Others
Q15. Fluctuations in prices of HUL would affect your buying behaviour?
o Yes
o No

97