Internship

Report
August, 2020

Prepared By:
Harsh Bharat Shah
PGDM (GEN) - 2019-2021 - 028
ISME School of Management
and Entrepreneurship
 Acknowledgement

At the very outset, I would like to thank my parents and sister who convinced me and made
sure I joined ISME School of Management and Entrepreneurship (‘ISME’) because of whom
I was able to do get an amazing oppourtunity like this.

I would like to express my gratitude towards Dr. Indu Shahani who made sure I got an
oppurtunity as such to work in one of the best FMCG companies the world has ever seen. Mrs.
Shikha Singh, who made sure that I was ready for the job and the interview process. Mr. Anshul
Gupta who guided me on how to face the interview, and all the esteemed facutly at ISME who
guided me, pushed me and helped even during the internship when I had doubts and concerns
on some topics.

I would further further like to thank my team and Hindustan Unilever Limited (‘HUL’), Mr.
Prashanth Venkatest, Ms. Prerna Gursahani, Mrs. Kanupriya Rawal, Mr. Sandeep Sheth and
Mr. Raviraj Durwas who have guided me and helped me in accomplishing the goals set out for
me and for making me feel a part of the HUL family even though my stint only lasted for a
period of two months.

Lastly, I would like to thank God for making capable enough to be where I am today.

1
Certificate of Completion

2
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Executive Summary ................................................................................................................................ 5

Section I: Organization overview .......................................................................................................... 6
Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 7
History of Hindustan Unilever Limited .............................................................................................. 8
Hindustan Unilever Limited Leaders ................................................................................................ 10
Products and Brands ......................................................................................................................... 11
Business Volume & Performance ..................................................................................................... 14
Organization Hierarchy ..................................................................................................................... 15
Other company details ...................................................................................................................... 15
Section II: ULIP - (Unilever Leadership Internship Program) ............................................................. 16
Profile................................................................................................................................................ 17
Roles and Responsibilities ................................................................................................................ 17
Critical observations ......................................................................................................................... 18
Recommendations ............................................................................................................................. 18
Section III: Project 1 – Reassessing livelihood in light of covid-19 ..................................................... 19
Objective ........................................................................................................................................... 20
Scope ................................................................................................................................................. 20
People that we affected by COVID-19 and the Lockdown............................................................... 20
Road Map .......................................................................................................................................... 21
Methodology ..................................................................................................................................... 21
Secondary Research ...................................................................................................................... 21
Primary Research .......................................................................................................................... 22
Observations and Insights ................................................................................................................. 22
Personas ............................................................................................................................................ 22
Interventions ..................................................................................................................................... 24
Government of India Interventions ............................................................................................... 24
Intervention by various NGOs ...................................................................................................... 26
Interventions suggested by me ...................................................................................................... 26
Pilot Project....................................................................................................................................... 27
Constraints and limitations of the project ......................................................................................... 27
Other issues identified....................................................................................................................... 28
Status of the project .......................................................................................................................... 28
Section IV – Project 2 – RE-Looking Waste Segregation Post COVID-19 ......................................... 29
Objective ........................................................................................................................................... 30

3
 Scope ................................................................................................................................................. 31
Methodology ..................................................................................................................................... 31
Phase I – Understanding New Barriers and Triggers .................................................................... 31
Google Survey .............................................................................................................................. 32
Creative / Concept creation ........................................................................................................... 36
Phase II – Concept testing............................................................................................................. 37
Consumer Journey ............................................................................................................................ 40
Pilot Project....................................................................................................................................... 40
Partners ............................................................................................................................................. 41
Media plan ........................................................................................................................................ 41
Contraints and limitations ................................................................................................................. 42
Status of the Project .......................................................................................................................... 42
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................ 43
Attachments .......................................................................................................................................... 44
In-House HUL Initiatives ................................................................................................................. 45
Google Survey Form ......................................................................................................................... 46

4
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This internship report contains all my experiences, data analysis and different intervention
ideas for the projects that I worked on in my 2 months stint of internship as a Sales and
Marketing intern under the Unilver Leadership Internship Program (‘ULIP’) working on the
brand ‘Unilever’

I have provided details of my roles and responsibilites as an intern and what are the key
deliverables by me for each project, crticial issues recognized and recommendations made
thereyby during the period of my internship.

I have included brief description of the company, what it does, how it was started, the products
manufactured and sold by the company, the leaders, and the organization hierarchy, the volume
and financial results for 2019-2020.

This report has details of 2 projects worked on. Regarding the 1st project, in this report I have
incorporated detailed plans of action, problems recognised and different approaches to solve
issues and other intervention plans along with constraints of livelihoods in light of COVID-19.

Regarding the 2nd project, you will find media plans and digitial communications plans to drive
consumer behaviour change. The barriers faced by the consumer with reference to waste
segregation and to find appropriate call to action and triggers for consumers to nudge them into
segregating their waste into wet, dry and biohazard before desposing it so that it becomes part
of the Circular Economy of plastic and does not end up in oceans and landfills mixed with wet
waste.

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 SECTION I:
ORGANIZATION OVERVIEW

6
INTRODUCTION
Fast Moving Consumer Goods (‘FMCG’) is one of the largest sectors India. Each and every
person uses it, whether it is a man or a woman, boy or girl, old or young, no one can live without
using an FMCG product. From toothpastes to tea to detergents to jams, all these goods fall
under FMCG.

An FMCG industry has a strong supply chain. From sourcing the raw material, manufacturing
the goods to delivering them to the consumer, all this is done by the company.

The communication by the FMCG company to its direct consumer is extraordinarily strong and
keeps the audience engaged at all times in order so that the consumer does not forget it. Since
FMCG has low consumer involvement, which means a consumer does not waste time and
energy researching such a product before buying it. For example - we would not conduct an
extensive research before buying a toothpaste, we end up buying them off the shelf as compared
to buying a TV. Hence the communication must be powerful and persistence. They show ads
in TVs, newspapers, social media and even run promotional offers so that the consumers do
not forget and maintain brand loyalty.

In the recent years, the penetration of FMCG has increased, they reach to even the remotest
villages also and their growth has only increased. It is expected that the growth rate of the
industry will be 20-25% on a year-on-year basis1

FMCG do not only provide day to day products to the consumers, but also try to increase their
standard of living, income level and preserve the environment through their Corporate Social
Responsibility (‘CSR’) practices.

HUL is the largest FMCG company in the world and India with more than 40 brands under its
umbrella. HUL books 11% growth on a year-on-year basis. 9 out 10 Indians use an HUL
product on a daily basis

Since HUL uses a lot of plastic products, they have invested in technology to replace the use
of virgin plastic and make their packaging more sustainable. They aim to use 100% recyclable
plastic packaging by 2025.

1
https://www.ibef.org/industry/fmcg.aspx#:~:text=Revenue%20of%20FMCG%20sector%20reached,to%20the
%20overall%20FMCG%20spending.

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HISTORY OF HINDUSTAN UNILEVER LIMITED
In the summer of 1888, visitors to the Kolkata harbour noticed crates full of Sunlight soap bars,
embossed with the words "Made in England by Lever Brothers". With it, began an era of
marketing branded Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG).

In 1931, Unilever set up its first Indian subsidiary, Hindustan Vanaspati Manufacturing
Company, followed by Lever Brothers India Limited (1933) and United Traders Limited
(1935). These three companies merged to form HUL in November 1956; HUL offered 10% of
its equity to the Indian public, being the first among the foreign subsidiaries to do so. Unilever
now holds 67.25% equity in the company. The rest of the shareholding is distributed among
about three lakh individual shareholders and financial institutions.

The erstwhile Brooke Bond's presence in India dates back to 1900. By 1903, the company had
launched Red Label tea in the country.

Pond's (India) Limited had been present in India since 1947. It joined the Unilever fold through
an international acquisition of Chesebrough Pond's USA in 1986.

Simultaneously, deregulation permitted alliances, acquisitions and mergers. In one of the most
visible and talked about events of India's corporate history, the erstwhile Tata Oil Mills
Company (TOMCO) merged with HUL, effective from April 1, 1993. In 1996, HUL and yet
another Tata company, Lakme Limited, formed a 50:50 joint venture, Lakme Unilever Limited,
to market Lakme's market-leading cosmetics and other appropriate products of both the
companies. Subsequently in 1998, Lakme Limited sold its brands to HUL and divested its 50%
stake in the joint venture to the company.

In January 2000, in a historic step, the government decided to award 74 per cent equity in
Modern Foods to HUL, thereby beginning the divestment of government equity in public sector
undertakings (PSU) to private sector partners. HUL's entry into Bread is a strategic extension

8
of the company's wheat business. In 2002, HUL acquired the government's remaining stake in
Modern Foods.

HUL launched a slew of new business initiatives in the early part of 2000’s. Project Shakti was
started in 2001. It is a rural initiative that targets small villages populated by less than 5000
individuals. It is a unique win-win initiative that catalyses rural affluence even as it benefits
business. Currently, there are over 1,20,000 Shakti entrepreneurs covering over 100,000
villages across 15 states and reaching to over 3 million homes.

In 2007, the Company name was formally changed to Hindustan Unilever Limited after
receiving the approval of shareholders during the 74th AGM on 18 May 2007. Brooke Bond
and Surf Excel breached the the Rs 1,000 crore sales mark the same year followed by Wheel
which crossed the Rs.2,000 crore sales milestone in 2008.

On 15th November, 2010, the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan was officially launched in India
at New Delhi.

In 2013, HUL launched ‘Prabhat’ (Dawn) - a Unilever Sustainable Living Plan (USLP) linked
program to engage with and contribute to the development of local communities around its
manufacturing sites. Also, Unilever’s first aerosol plant in Asia was inaugurated in Khamgaon,
Maharashtra in 2013.

In 2014, The ‘Winning in Many Indias’ operating framework, piloted in 2013, launched
nationally. Sales offices expanded from four to seven with the launch of offices in Lucknow,
Indore and Bangalore in addition to the existing sales offices in Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and
Chennai.

In 2016, HUL unveiled ‘Suvidha’ a first-of-its-kind urban water, hygiene and sanitation
community centre in Azad Nagar, Ghatkopar, one of the largest slums in Mumbai.

In 2018, HUL signed an agreement with Vijaykant Dairy and Food Products Limited (VDFPL)
and its group company to acquire its ice cream and frozen desserts business consisting of its
flagship brand ‘Adityaa Milk’ and front-end distribution network across geographies.

In 2020, Merger of GSK Consumer Healthcare with HUL. Iconic health food drink brands –
Horlicks and Boost enter the foods & refreshment portfolio of HUL, making it the largest F&R
business in India.

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HINDUSTAN UNILEVER LIMITED LEADERS

Mr. Sajiv Mehta Mr. Srinivas Phatak

Chairman & Managing Director Executive Director, Finance & IT&
Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Willem Uijen Ms. Priya Nair

Executive Director, Supply Chain Executive Director – Beauty and
personal care (BPC), Hindustan
Unilever& Vice President – BPC, South
Asia

Mr. Sudhir Sitapati Mrs. Prabha Narasimhan

Executive Director, Food & Refreshment Executive Director – Home Care,
Hindustan Unilever & Vice President –
Home Care, Unilever, South Asia

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PRODUCTS AND BRANDS

11
12
13
BUSINESS VOLUME & PERFORMANCE

Source: HUL Annual Report – 2019-2020

Source: HUL Annual Report – 2019-2020

Source: HUL Annual Report – 2019-2020

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ORGANIZATION HIERARCHY

OTHER COMPANY DETAILS

Head office – Andheri, Mumbai

No. of offices: 15

No. of Factories: 31

No. of Suppliers: >1,150

No. of Distributors: >4,500

No. of employees: 21,000

Reach > 8 million outlets in India

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 SECTION II: ULIP - (UNILEVER
LEADERSHIP INTERNSHIP PROGRAM)

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PROFILE
The internship profile entailed in working under the Brand ‘Unilever’ as a Sales and Marketing
Intern.

Due to the current situation and pandemic caused due to COVID-19, we were made to Work-
From-Home as an on-ground stint was not possible as it posed a serious health risk.

It was a 2-month long stint from 4th May, 2020 to 30th June, 2020. Officially we had to work 5
days a week, but as the internship was only for a short period of time, I would work over the
weekends also making it a 7-day work week unofficially. There was no set time of working,
but work was expected to be delivered at the assigned deadline. I was the only intern in the
department I was working in. my team consisted of 6 members who were very helpful and
made the journey feel like I was part of the organization since a long time.

During the internship I was giving the opportunity to learn from many senior officials of the
company when they held webinars and educational online sessions. They gave me a better
understand on how HUL works and how we can market better.

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

During the period of the internship I had to undertake the following:

Consumer surveys: Make calls and talk to consumers to understand what their thoughts were
on the project we were working on, what they felt were their barriers and triggers. Sent out
google forms (attached in the following pages) to collect empirical data to back-up the
observations and insights attained.

Interventions: Had to come up with plans and ideas on how to implement the current plan of
action and how can the current project be scaled-up to the rest of the country. I had to do
secondary research and read reports to come up with the most viable intervention that can be
implemented

Media Plans: For the plan, I had to come up with the most optimal media and digital plan in
order to have a greater outreach and a deeper consumer behaviour change impact

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Assistance: Besides the above mentioned roles, I had to provide my assistance in any way
possible to the other team members to learn about the different projects that were being
undertaken and how the same were being handled and implemented. This gave a sense of
understanding on how much work goes into making and implementing a plan.

CRITICAL OBSERVATIONS
During my internship stint, I observed some issues, that if looked into will improve the
efficiency and performance delivery of the department and the company:

1. Time Management: On my first day, after the orientation videos, I expected to receive a
call from my Tutor (senior official to whom I was reporting, in HUL your direct reporting
senior is called a ‘Tutor’) regarding the work I was going to carry out and give me details
of the department I will be working in, but I did not receive a call from him till the 3 rd
day of my internship, in spite of me following with him. Due to this reason I lost 2 days
of my internship without receiving work.
2. Email Responding: For any of the work that I would send across to my Tutor, I had to
wait a minimum of 2-3 days before getting any update on the same. There were times
where the emails would not get any response, which meant I did not know how I faired
in the work I sent across.

RECOMMENDATIONS
Keeping the above observations in mind, below are the recommendations that I think would
improve the efficiency of the intern and thereby of the department:

1. Before inducting the intern, the tutor should have in mind what work he expects the
intern to do and the same should be sent to the intern on the first day of the internship
so he / she may have a base to start doing some work
2. If the tutor is unable to respond to emails due to long work schedule, the tutor should a
lot a specific time period wherein the tutor and intern are on call and the emails can be
read and can be responded to in one go so as to be more efficient.

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SECTION III: PROJECT 1 – REASSESSING
LIVELIHOOD IN LIGHT OF COVID-19

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OBJECTIVE
The objective of this project was to assess the problems and issues faced by the working-class
heroes of India who have lost their livelihood and source of income due to COVID-19 and to
find appropriate interventions that can be implemented by HUL under their Unilever
Sustainability Living Plan (‘USLP’) banner to help re-build these lives, hence the project was
named as - ‘Re-assessing Livelihood in Light of COVID-19’.

SCOPE
To find out what the state is of the lower income group of India and how can we make sure
they receive new sources of income to get back to their lives.

In India getting employment is not easy as we have such a huge population. In the current
environment, a country which has a population of 135 crores, 27.1%2 of them found themselves
out of a job and a sources of income due to the pandemic as even business have been affected
and do not have sales or orders to pay for the employee cost and as a means for the business to
survive, the owners chose to layoff these people, especially those working in the informal and
unorganized sector.

PEOPLE THAT WE AFFECTED BY COVID-19 AND THE

LOCKDOWN
• Migrant workers (Formal / Informal)

• Farmers

• Micro & Small entrepreneurs

• Fishermen

2
https://www.cmie.com/kommon/bin/sr.php?kall=warticle&dt=2020-05-
05%2008:22:21&msec=776&ver=pf&cht_w=600&cht_h=330

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ROAD MAP
Step Particulars
1 Define the problem
2 Understand the problem in-depth
3 Understand the Pains of the consumer via primary research i.e. direct calls
Understand the Pains of the consumer via secondary research i.e. talking to industry experts,
4 reading reports and articles
Seek possible solutions to interventions to mitigate the livelihood concerns of consumers
5 and also enhance them in some cases
Understand the cost to implement the project, the possible problems that may arise and legal
6 issues if any
Post assessment, align the intervention ideas with the company so as to ensure best possible
7 outcome by the company for the people/consumers
Use internal partners and external partners to implement possible interventions via a pilot
8 program
9 See the outcome and success of the pilot program and adjust accordingly to get better results
10 Apply successful pilot program to the other cities/states
11 Understand how long will this extraordinary situation will last

METHODOLOGY
To understand the plight of the people, I conducted a primary and secondary research to get an
in-depth understanding to the issues, the skillsets possessed and how can we use this
information to solve their problems.

SECONDARY RESEARCH
Before I could conduct my primary research by talking to the people themselves, I had to first
understand the problem and what the government, other people and NGOs are saying. I read
multiple reports from various organizations such as CIME, UNDP, McKinsey, Aajeevika
bureau and others to understand the problem. This report gave me a better understanding that
the people had not only lost their livelihoods, they had also lost their houses and had to money
to even pay the rent. Many people who choose to go back to their villages had to do so by
taking alternative means of transport as buses and trains were halted by the government. Many
choose to go in foot and due to the heat and exertion, many lost their lives.

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PRIMARY RESEARCH
After conducting my secondary research, I conducted my primary research by talking to 5
people from Meerut, Uttar Pradesh and 5 people from Nashik, Maharashtra via phone calls.
Below are the categories of people I spoke to:

• Gender – Male & Female

• Occupation – Housewives, college students, working women and men
• Age – 18-48 years old
• LSM3 – 3-4

OBSERVATIONS AND INSIGHTS

Based on the primary research I was able to come up with the following insights

Providing food is the Do not know about

Missing linkage between
solution that people government schemes
factories who need Eating to survive since
should not be seeking, completely and therefore
workers and workers low ration
providing a means of not able to take
who need jobs
livelihood is required advantage of the same

Lockdown has given Job opportunities in

No money to pay ones state has
people time to get
electricity bills or even Hunger to learn new
do a mobile phone things has increased
acquainted on how to use increased as migrant
their phones to use workers have gone
recharge
WhatsApp and YouTube back

Personal and Home

sanitation has become
paramount importance

PERSONAS
Based on the insights and conversations I was able to create personas so as to categorize the
people into different buckets:

The Hustler
Archetype – Explorer

3
LSM – Living Standard Measurement. Unilever divides its consumer into different levels of income groups on
basis of multiple factors such as education level, income, types of appliances used such as a TV, Refrigerator, etc.
Lowest LSM being 1 and highest LSM being 17

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 • They want to explore new avenues of getting a job, doesn’t
matter what it is

• Progressive thinking, do not mind if everyone in the family

is working

• Have the hunger to learn new skills to give them an edge in

the market

• They already possess skills that they do not know where to

apply

“I do not mind doing anything, including becoming a vegetable

vendor, as long it brings food on the table”

The ‘Chalta Hai’

Archetype – Outlaw

• They do not want to upskill themselves

• They feel like the world will offer them jobs as per their
current set of skill

• They miss spending money on themselves and feel bad that

the money is not there anymore for that

The ‘Work-From-Home Mommies

Archetype – Caretakers

• They want to help their husbands by working to get extra

source of income

• They also want to take care of the children and the household

• They want to learn new skills and willing to work in a group

“I want to work to ensure that my family is fed, I do not want my

husband to take the entire burden of this lockdown”

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INTERVENTIONS
Before I could come with interventions and ideas that HUL could use to help people get
livelihoods, I had to first understand the initiatives taken by the Government of India to help
the people, below are the interventions taken by the Government of India:

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA INTERVENTIONS

Introduction of an Economy Stimulus Package which helps the working-class hero in the
following manner:

• For Small business

Collateral free loan of Rs 3 lakh crores for MSMEs to enable 45 lakh units to restart
work and save jobs

• For Employees

Liquidity relief of Rs 2,500 crore EPF support to all EPF establishments - benefitting
more than 72 lakh employees.

Statutory EPF contribution for all organizations and their employees covered by EPFO to be
reduced to 10% from 12% earlier.

• Free food for migrants

5 Kgs of wheat or rice per person and one kg channa per family per month for next two
months to be provided and it will reach through the state governments. This will entail
Rs 3,500 crore and is likely to benefit around 8 crore migrants.

• One Nation, One Ration Card

National Portability Ration Cards can be used in any ration shops that will be applicable
across the country

• Rental accommodation

Under PM Awas Yojaana, scheme for rental housing for migrant workers. Under the
scheme incentives will be offered to private manufacturing units and industrial units to
develop affordable housing

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• The government is extending Rs. 30,000 crore additional capital emergency funds
through NABARD for post-harvest Rabi and Kharif related activities for small and
marginal farmers.

• Under the PM Kisan Credit Card, Rs 2 lakh crore of concessional credit to boost
farming activities and it will benefit 2.5 crore farmers. Those in animal husbandry and
fisheries will also be included.

• Govt will launch Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana for development of marine
and inland fisheries. Rs 20,000 crore will be spent to fill the gaps in value chains. This
will lead to an additional fish production of 70 lakh tons in next five years and provide
employment to 55 lakh people.

• MGNREGS: Additional funding of Rs 40,000 crore to the scheme over and above the
Budgetary Estimate

• National Rural Livelihoods Mission - About 2 crore masks have been produced by
around 78,000 SHG members; More than 5000 PPE kits manufactured by SHGs in
various states; Around 900 SHG enterprises in 9 States have produced more than 1 lakh
litres of hand sanitiser, Some SHGs have also produced liquid soaps to guarantee hand
hygiene

• Employee State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) Benefits – Proposal to increase

unemployment benefits of up to 50% of the last drawn salary for three months as against
25% of the salary available under the Atal Beema Vyakti Kalyan Yojana (ABVKY)
currently.

• Special trains and buses to make travel possible for those trying to go back to their
villages during the lockdown

• Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) relief package, amounting to Rs. 1.7
trillion (US$ 22 billion) to cover 0.8 billion poor people or two-thirds of India’s
population.

• PM Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme, an instalment of Rs. 2,000 will be

transferred to the bank accounts of 87 million farmers

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INTERVENTION BY VARIOUS NGOS
• New Skill development by LabourNet (Sanitization of ambulances and cars)

• Mental health awareness and launching helplines via NGOs like The Banyan, Neptune
Foundation

• Community kitchen by BMC for migrant labourers

• Provision of Sanitation, drinking water and PPE kits.

INTERVENTIONS SUGGESTED BY ME
Skill Development, following skills were suggested to be developed and implemented in
association with In-house HUL livelihood intervention programs and outside NGOs.

• Stitching
▪ Short Term Goal – Teaching them how to stitch to make masks, cloth bags and
uniforms and develop Self-Help Groups to fight COVID-19
▪ Long Term Goal – to make them efficient in stitching so for getting them jobs
in textile industries, Small scale pharma companies making masks and uniforms
for healthcare workers
▪ Industry Target – Sale via GeM or via online aggregators such a PharmEasy
▪ HUL initiative – Prabhat Teaching Centre, Fair & Lovely Career Foundation
for placements
• Contactless Delivery
▪ Short Term Goal – Teaching them how to use Google Maps and other related
apps. Also, teach them to Package goods and give basic learning of Logistics
▪ Long Term Goal – To make them efficient in contactless delivery to allow them
to work with HUL, Amazon, Flipkart and other such aggregators that require
delivery
▪ Industry Target – Online and offline delivery
▪ HUL initiative – Shakti Ammas, Prabhat
• Cottage Industry
▪ Short Term Goal – To teach them skill embroidery, arts, handicraft works
▪ Long Term Goal – To add another source of livelihood to their current source
of income
▪ Industry Target – GeM (Government e-Marketplace)

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 • Daily Help – Electricians, Plumbers, Cementing, painting, grinding
▪ Short Term Goal – Give training in the mentioned skills to allow them to tackle
basic housing issues faced by people
▪ Long Term Goal – will give them an opportunity to get into a new industry
when things start to normalize
▪ Industry Target – Villages, UrbanClap, Small scale entrepreneurs
• Sanitization
▪ Short Term Goal – Teaching them how to clean and disinfect household and
offices
▪ Long Term Goal – To make them efficient sanitizing hospitals, houses,
corporate premises, cars, public transport
▪ HUL initiative – Domex Toilet Academy

PILOT PROJECT
• Uttar Pradesh

• It being the most populous state in India, the unemployment rate pre COVID-19 double
(10%) as compared to the previous years

• The number as increased post-COVID-19 as migrant workers have moved back to their
hometown in UP and Bihar

• Therefore, having a pilot project in UP is the most ideal

• Places around the Prabhat factory (Etah, Orai, Unnao)

CONSTRAINTS AND LIMITATIONS OF THE PROJECT

The project will be difficult to implement for the following reasons:

1. Finding the right partner: Getting the right NGO on board is a tricky job as we do not
know how they function, what is their Model and what is their penetration rate.
2. Using the correct resources: HUL has many livelihoods programs already in place,
trying to find the right match for the intervention is also tricky.

27
 3. Connectivity issues: If we to provide skill development via online means, the speed of
the internet and network infrastructure is not good enough and also people may not
have the funds to recharge their internet
4. Cost-to-benefit ratio: The success rate / reach that HUL plans to reach versus the
amount of funds being invested will not be to fruition.
5. Lack of proper information: Once such a plan is initiated, people may not know about
such an initiative as the either do not have access to such information or they have not
been informed by the right people and hence may lead to failure of this intervention

OTHER ISSUES IDENTIFIED

• Global Supply chain shock

• Global Supply-Demand shock

• Social Crisis (Employment)

• Economic Shock

• Health Shock

• Staying conditions of the people

STATUS OF THE PROJECT

The project is currently under consideration with the management. As on date no action has
been taken on the project, but the same is in the pipelines.

28
SECTION IV – PROJECT 2 – RE-LOOKING
WASTE SEGREGATION POST COVID-19

29
OBJECTIVE
Plastic waste has become a pandemic all around the world. It has not only affected the
environment, but also human beings. What we humans do not realise is that when we pollute
the environment with plastic waste, we end up pollution our own bodies. When we discard
plastic in the oceans, the fishes eat then plastic and become microplastics which are not
biodegradable and eventually it is us, human who catch the same fish and eat it.

When we burn plastic, we end up polluting the air and eventually breathe the same air which
is harmful for out lungs and body.

Since a while, HUL has been making changing to its business model to as to reduce plastic
waste as much as possible. They have set their goal to use 100% recycled plastic packaging by
2025 and reduce the usage of virgin plastic.

Therefore, HUL has been working towards promoting a Circular Economy for plastic amongst
its suppliers and consumers.

HUL is also a stern believer of “We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it
from our children”

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SCOPE
Creating digital communication plan via YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp to
drive consumer behaviour change towards plastic waste segregation in association with on-
ground partners such as Xynteo and UNDP.

• Identify what are the consumer triggers & barriers that will get consumers to segregate
waste post extensive consumer work

• Identify the steps that are needed in the formation of a circular economy in the two
wards in Mumbai.

• Create a Cost Per Reach based media plan for the two wards

• Brief creative agency and design 2 – 3 digital creatives

• Identify End to End – consumer journey for consumers to manage their waste (and how
to get Xynteo and UNDP involved)

• Come up with best practices / innovative ideas to start this movement in these two wards

• Identify KOFs who can talk about our message from Mumbai perspective.

METHODOLOGY
To understand the barriers and triggers phone calls and google surveys were conducted with
the consumers.

PHASE I – UNDERSTANDING NEW BARRIERS AND TRIGGERS

The way the people think, feel and behave due to COVID-19 has drastically changed as
compared to before and hence have to consider the same in our communication plans

Prior to COVID-19, there were some deep-rooted barriers in the minds of the consumers such
as:

• “I want to segregate but the waste picker mixes it when he collects it”
• “Segregating is time-consuming!”
• “Even if I do it, will it even make a difference”
• “It’s not my job! The waste problem has to be solved by the government!”

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 • “I am disposing my garbage correctly”
• “How does not segregating impact my life?”

Above are the consumer testimonials when surveyed in the month of December prior to the
pandemic (Survey conducted by a senior team member and received data points from her).

Once we knew the old barriers and triggers, we conducted phone calls to consumers from
Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai. During the phone call we asked them the following questions

• How are you doing?

• How has the habit changed due to the lockdown?
• What are the new activities that you and your family members have been carrying out?
• How have you been spending time at home?
• What are your concerns when it comes to the health of your family members?
• Does a wet milk packet be considered wet waste or dry waste?
• Do you segregate waste?
• Who picks up your waste?

From the above questionnaire we were able to identify that for a consumer what ‘feels’ wet is
wet waste and what ‘feels’ dry is dry waste.

We were also able to identify a common denominator that acted as a trigger for consumers
during this pandemic which was:

“I’M EXTREMELY WORRIED ABOUT THE HEALTH AND WELL BEING OF

MYSELF & MY FAMILY AND AM WILLING TO TAKE EXTRA STEPS TO ENSURE
THAT WE ARE SAFE”

GOOGLE SURVEY
An anonymous google survey was also conducted pan-India to understand what they felt and
what their views were when it came to waste segregation was (Survey Form has been attached
in the Attachment Section)

Below are is the detailed analysis received from conducted the said Google Survey:

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 Break-up of 78 Respondents

35 Female
43 Male

Then survey received responses of 78 respondents of which 35 were Female and 43 were male.

14 13

12 11
Number of Respondents

10
10

8 7 7
6
6 5 5
4
4 3

2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

0
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 40 44 49 51
Age

We received responses from the age group of 18 to 51 years old. The highest number of
respondents (13) being of the age of 21 years old.

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 Profession

1% Employed
23%
Self Employed
8%
Student
68%
Unemployed

From the 78 respondents 23% of them either had their own business or were professionals.
68% of the respondents were either looking for a job or had lost them due to the Pandemic (this
also shows the effect of COVID-19 on employment rate)

Do you segregate waste?

Dry waste
No Yes 45%
28% 72% Wet Waste
27%

From the above pie chart we can clearly see that 72% of the respondents are responsible Indians
who segregate their waste, but what is important to see in this chart is that of the 72% of the
people, 27% of the people felt that “Wet Milk packet” should be disposed of as wet waste since
it feels wet. Which shows that even the ones segregating their waste, do not do so properly. A
wet milk packet may feel wet, but it is in fact dry waste it is made from plastic and plastic is
dry waste and non-biodegradable. This shows all the more importance of having a
communication plan to educate consumers on how to segregate waste its importance.

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The remaining 28% of the people who do not segregate the waste feel that even if they
segregate the waste, the Garbage Collecting authority mixes the waste and therefore see no
point or benefit in segregating the same.

Sanitization of masks and gloves before disposing

Do not know
1%
1%
I dont go out
31%
53% No I do not as the garbage
collectors already masks and
gloves
14% Reusable Masks

Yes I do as i do not want to

infect the others

We also asked the respondents if they sanitize their masks and gloves before disposing to see
their empathy levels towards other human being and we found out that 53% of the people
sanitize their masks and gloves before disposing it, this shows the heightened level of
EMPATHY in people.

In the Google survey we finally ask the respondents what changes they had on the outlook of
waste in light of COVID-19 and found that 28 of the respondents said that COVID-19 has NOT
affected their outlook and Remaining 50 said:

• We must keep our environment cleaner

• Waste should be reduced

• Waste management / segregation has started in their households

• Sanitization of everything and use of PPE kits has become very important

This Google Survey proved to be very helpful to understand the empathy level of the consumer
and what they feel about waste.

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Keeping the Phone calls and Google Survey conducted we came up digital communication /
creatives that nudge the consumer into taking some action.

CREATIVE / CONCEPT CREATION

Since we realised that family’s health was of the utmost priority for the consumers, we created
concepts on those basis.

The concepts created are shown below:

Concept 1 Concept 2

Concept 3

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Concept 4

PHASE II – CONCEPT TESTING

Once the creatives were made on the basis of the barriers and triggered understood by the
consumers. We had to test the above creatives to get a reaction from the consumers and whether
the same will help in drive behaviour change.

A consumer survey was conducted via phone calls where the creatives were sent via WhatsApp
and quick reactions and ranking of each creative was recorded.

Reactions of the concepts:

Concept 1 – Reaction

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Concept 2 - Reaction

Concept 3 – Reaction

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 Concept 4 – Reaction

From the all the concepts the creative that ranked the highest and resonated most by the
consumer was Concept 4 and was chosen as a base for creating further communications and
the same was sent to a Media Agency who would create professional creatives which are
visually more appealing and better.

Another insight that I picked up from the consumer was the images matter more than the text.
The consumers were giving reactions more on the basis of the images in the creatives rather
than images. Which goes to show that consumers do not have the time and attention span to
read and would like creatives on the go.

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CONSUMER JOURNEY
Once the creatives were selected, I created a plan on how the consumer journey will take place
and what the calls to actions the consumers would expect:

PILOT PROJECT
The pilot project is expected to take place in Mumbai, specifically D, K-East, H-West R-North
wards.

The reason we have chosen to select the mentioned ward is that HUL has partners which are
doing on-ground activities regarding waste segregation in the mentioned wards. Since HUL
has a great communication infrastructure and reach, HUL will drive the consumer behaviour
change communication.

Once the pilot project is successful, the plan is to drive the Digital Campaign Pan-India.

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PARTNERS

MEDIA PLAN
We choose to use the following mediums for reach and frequency

- FaceBook, Instagram
- YouTube
- WhatsApp
- Microsite
- Posters in Societies
- Pamphlets in the societies

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CONTRAINTS AND LIMITATIONS
Since we are driving behaviour change, following are the constrains and limitations for the
project:

• Ignoring: People do not like seeing advertisements on their social media and due to this
reason, people may choose to ignore it and will not pay heed to the project
• On-ground and online communication gap: once the campaign goes live, there is a
possibility that the people have started to segregate, but the on-ground operations are
not efficient enough
• Incentive: Consumers may not find any incentives in making the changes to their habits
as changing one’s habit is always tough and requires will to do it.

STATUS OF THE PROJECT

The project is underway. All the above goals have been achieved. Currently the Microsite is
under construction and the Media agency is making the creatives. Once the micro site and the
creatives are ready, the digital campaign will go live in Mumbai.

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 CONCLUSION

Working with HUL, India’s largest FMCG company and the subsidiary of Unilever, one of the
world’s top Multinational company has been a dream come true. Not in my wildest dreams did
I ever think that I would be where I am today and working with such a fine organization.

Even though I was there only for a short period of 2 months for my stint, it felt so much more
long. The amount of experience and knowledge I gained in the past 2 months will help me
throughout my professional journey.

I had the opportunity to work out different types of project, to creating an on-ground
intervention plan for livelihoods to creating a digital communication plan for waste
segregation.

I was not only guided by my team members, but I was given the autonomy of reaching out to
anyone in the organization for help. I was pushed to talk to different people in the organization
to get their thoughts and learn about different thinking processes people have. even though
there was a hierarchy in the organization, it did not feel like it as everyone was open to talk to
anyone, it did not matter if you were an intern or a senior manager, everyone spoke to you with
the same respect. Even though everyone had different thoughts, but their aim was the same, to
make HUL a more sustainable company while giving back to the society.

Working in HUL has not only taught me how to think out of the box and be structured at the
same time, it also taught how important people are to the organization. They made sure that
each and everyone working in the organization felt like a family member and made them feel
like HUL was their own company. It is due to this philosophy the HUL has been flourishing.
They keep employees and consumers at the heart of the organization. It has been a fabulous
journey for me in the past 2 months

This projects in this report contains my thought process and plans on how one can implement
different plans and try to overcome the obstacles that they may face while doing a project as
such.

Marketing is a combination of Logic + Magic

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ATTACHMENTS

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 IN-HOUSE HUL INITIATIVES
• Lamp Lighter – Managing long-term health conditions of the employees

• Line Manager Mental Health (LMMH) – Addressing workplace stress (India, first
Unilever to implement such a program)

• ‘Back to work’ programme for women returning after a career break

• Fair & Lovely Career Foundation - Career guidance and skill based job opportunities.
Beneficiaries – 7,30,000 women

• Project Shakti – Women entrepreneurship

• Rin Shine Academy – Career readiness skills (English Speaking, Office dressing,
interview skills)

• Small Holder Famers

• Kwality Walls Vending Operations – Self- sufficient micro-entrepreneurship

• Prabhat Program

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GOOGLE SURVEY FORM

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