CASE STUDY

Submitted To

Mr. Syed Habib Anwar Pasha

Senior Lecturer
Rural Marketing (MKT-406)
Faculty of Business Administration

Submitted By

Jahidul karim ID No:071200092

Mostafizur Rahman ID No:071200048
Nazmul Hossain ID No:071200149
Mostafizur Khan ID No:062200001

Submission Date: 28th April 2010

SELLING BEAUTY BELOW THE LINE

A CASE STUDY ON UNILEVER BANGLADESH

.

Summary:

Unilever was created in 1930 by the merger of British soap maker Lever Brothers
and Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie, a logical merger as palm oil was a
major raw material for both margarines and soaps and could be imported more
efficiently in larger quantities. Over the last four decades, Unilever Bangladesh has
been constantly bringing new and world-class products for the Bangladeshi people to
remove the daily drudgery of life.  Over 90% of the country’s households use one or
more of their products. To improve the market share Unilever Bangladesh give
special focus to the rural market. But to do this they have faced lots of problem. To
overcome those problem they have take different activation program. As a result of
increased brand awareness, there have been considerable shifts in consumer
preferences from loose (non-brand) to brand products. Rural consumers are
increasingly opting for popular brands which have wide exposure as a result of
extensive advertising campaigns And by this they are successful I the rural area.
Unilever product is most popular in the rural market.
Question 1:
Why Unilever Bangladesh decide to go to rural?

Answer:

More than 70% of Bangladeshi population lives in the rural areas. In other words,
Bangladesh is a very big rural market. The growth of economy during the last 15
years was significant. Unilever Bangladesh is a leading Household and personal care
producer in Bangladesh and they operate last forty years here with a huge
manufacturing facility. So, to capture large number of consumer from the rural
market they have decided to go for rural.

Question 2: What were the obstacles that Unilever Bangladesh faced when they
decided to go for rural?
Answer:

Rural means there is a lot of problem such as infrastructure, communication,

banking, power, illiteracy etc. So, Unilever Bangladesh has also faced some of the
problems when they decided to go for rural. These problem ares-
 Traditional media(Newspaper, TV, Radio) was not quite effective
 Some part of the market is totally media dark
 Large number of competitive brand in the rural market
 Sustaining brand were highly active with different types of consumer and
trade promotions

Question 3: What is your opinion about the market prioritization strategy of

Unilever Bangladesh? Can you suggest any alternative method?

Answer:

Question 4: How did the rural activation programs enhance the brand
communication among the consumer and the traders?

Answer:

In case of LUX the main objective of their activation program is to maximize switch
from competitive brands, combat the wrapper competition of the competitor brands
and make the brand values come alive.
In the activation LUX has arranged different types of campaign for the consumer as
well as for trader. The response of the activation program was huge. It was a truly
integrated communication among the consumer and trader with the LUX.
Most of the consumer involved in the activation program through discussion or
through participation in the quiz competition. In the project area consumer noticed
the LUX ad. Through TV, poster, board and advertisement outside shops.

The activation program enhanced the motivation of traders. As the forms of the
competition were distributed through the retailers’ outlet, the visibility of LUX
increased there. The visit of the LUX Shundori in the retail shop helped a lot to build
a good relationship with the trader. By this a strong brand association was
established with the trader.

Question 5: Do you think this activation campaign was effective? Explain the logic
behind your answer?

Answer:
Yes. I think this activation program was effective because of the following matters-

 The response of the activation program was huge

 It was a truly integrated communication among the consumer and trader
 It recreated the brand image of LUX
 LUX positioned it as premium brand among the other brand
 It increases the brand preferences of LUX
 The user ship of LUX increased
 It motivates the traders
 The visibility of LUX was increased
 It builds good relationship with the channel
 A strong brand association was established