UNILEVER

PROLOGUE
In recent years, the competition between Vietnamese goods and foreign
goods has taken place very fiercely, especially products originating from
multinational companies currently present and dominating the world.
Vietnam market. Unilever Vietnam is also one of the big giants in the
consumer goods market, every year the Group provides a large number of
essential items for daily life of Vietnamese consumers such as: /S, Sunsilk
shampoo, Omo washing powder, Clear…
However, in the context of companies constantly having to operate in a
fiercely competitive environment. Competitors often come up with policies
to attract customers to their side. Besides, the products and the needs of
customers are increasingly diverse and richer, and consumers are faced with
many different choices of brands. So if you want to succeed, businesses
cannot work on inspiration and are indifferent to the needs of customers and
competitors, but must build a competitive strategy to capture market share
suitable for each stage of development. Through the analysis of strengths -
weaknesses, opportunities - threats, matrices (CPM, EFE, IFE) of the Group.
From there, come up with a business strategy for Unilever Group.
UNILEVER GROUP OVERVIEW
Unilever is a British and Dutch global corporation. Currently, the CEO of
the business is Alan Jope (appointed in January 2019).
Products in a range of more than 400 brands serve the lives of people
worldwide. Seven out of 10 households worldwide own at least one Unilever
product and many of the world's top home furnishing brands, including
Lipton, Knorr, Dove, Aix, Hermann and Omo . With over millions of dollars
in revenue for each brand, Unilever is proving to be one of the most
successful corporations in the world in the consumer healthcare business.
As a multinational corporation, expanding its business and placing many
branches around the world to dominate the global market is one of
Unilever's goals.
GROUP ASSIGNMENT QUESTION
1. Identify the firm's existing vision, mission, objective, and strategy (
Nhân )
● Vision:
Making sustainable living popular or more specifically is the parallel
development between business and social activities in terms of reducing
harm to the environment. Not only serving society, Unilever also wants to
bring useful values to the community.
● Mission: “To add vitality to life”
The meaning of this mission is that Unilever wants to bring a better life to
people through its products. This mission has become increasingly evident in
every Unilever product to date, as all of its products share the same goal of
bringing health, beauty and comfort to people. As proof of this, Unilever's
famous brands are very diverse, from washing powder, shampoo, toothpaste
to teas such as Omo, Dove, Close-up, Lipton,...
● Development strategy:
Unilever's development strategy is built on the Sustainable Development
Plan to achieve the ultimate goal of creating a sustainable life for people
around the world. Specifically, Unilever has invested in a long-term
development strategy for the entire category and brand in order to bring
beneficial growth to all stakeholders, thereby being able to "realize" its
vision. view of the corporation itself.
2. Develop vision and mission statements for the organization
3. Identify the organization's external opportunities and threats (Yến)

Opportunities
Unilever must take advantage of growth opportunities in consumer goods
markets around the world. The following opportunities are significant in
Unilever’s external environment:

1. Emerging Market

Unilever can use its position and reputation to become a successful brand,
helping international consumers to access its branded products widely.
Recently, the company has moved into emerging markets, especially in
Africa and the Asia Pacific, has also helped improve its results. The
company has also been able to use its brands to gain a better foothold in
these emerging markets. Potential for a future of brand expansion around the
world, growing Unilever’s business by increasing revenues from the sale of
its current products in new market segments.

2. Product innovation for health

Product innovation can increase Unilever’s product attractiveness by

addressing the needs of increasingly health-conscious consumers. Similarly,
the company has an opportunity to make its business more sustainable and
environmentally friendly to attract and retain environmentally conscious
consumers

2. Product and Geographic diversification

Unilever is not only diversifies in its brands and product range. The firm
also is geographically diversified. It has a global presence. Create the
potential for them to launch more breakthrough new product categories,
discover many new markets to achieve high revenue.

4. Mature and strong brand

Unilever has a large stable of brands it has built up over many years. Many
Unilever brands were born, creating great success, bringing high sales and
profits. They are all brands in the top famous brands for example cleaning
with Sunlight, Cif or shampoo like Dove, Sunsilk, Clear,....

Threats
A variety of external factors can limit or reduce Unilever’s business
performance.
1.Tough competitive rivalry
Unilever faces tough competition, from local companies as well as foreign
companies because each market is a source of revenue for businesses.
Leading to competition for survival to find a foothold, to stay strong is a
fierce battle between companies.. Competitors threaten to reduce the
company’s market share and corresponding financial performance. The
continuous launch of innovative products and price competition is the only
way to combat this threat.
2. Product imitation
Product imitation is also a major threat against Unilever. Since they are
everyday consumer goods, it is not difficult to imitate them, local firms can
develop products highly similar to Unilever’s. This problem is extremely
easy to affect Unilever products as well as sales.
3. Increasing popularity of retailers’ house brands
Unilever's business relies on most retailers, the role of retailers is too large to
create risks from them too. Because retailers impose a threat by selling their
own brands. These brands are known as house brands, store brands or
generic brands. Competing with local brands, whether small or large, has an
impact, is a worry for Unilever

4. Construct a Competitive Profile Matrix ( CPM )

Critical Success Weig Unilever P&G Johnson &

Factor ht Johnsons
Rat Sco Rat Sc Rat Sc
ing re ing or ing or
e e

R&D 0.16 4 0.6 3 0. 3 0.

4 48 48

Financial Profit 0.19 4 0.7 4 0. 3 0.

6 76 57

Price 0.2 3 0.6 3 0. 2 0.

Competitiveness 6 4

Market share 0.24 3 0.9 4 0. 2 0.

6 72 48

Product Quality 0.21 3 0.6 4 0. 3 0.

3 84 63

Total Share 1 3.5 3. 2.

 9 4 56

Dựa vào bảng trên, ma trận hồ sơ cạnh tranh cho thấy mặc dù Unilever chiếm lợi
thế về R&D và thị phần hơn P&G và Johnson & Johnsons, nhưng Unilever và
P&G vẫn là 2 công ty mạnh nhất trong ngành với điểm mạnh tương đối về lợi
nhuận tài chính, khả năng cạnh tranh về giá cả. Johnson & Johnsons là công ty yếu
nhất trong số họ, không có bất kỳ điểm mạnh tương đối nào so với các đối thủ của
nó.
Dựa trên điểm yếu mạnh của công ty, lợi thế cạnh tranh của cty mà đưa ra
những tiêu chí này
5. Construct an External Factor Evaluation ( EFE) Matrix
EFE Matrix
Key External Factors Weigh Rating Weighte
t s d Score
OPPORTUNITIES
1 Hygiene Consciousness 0.2 4 0.8
.
2 Increasing Population 0.15 3 0.45
.
3 Innovation (R&D) 0.10 2 0.2
.
4 Product Diversification 0.10 4 0.4
.
5 Explore New Markets 0.05 4 0.2
.
THREATS
1 Product smuggling 0.15 1 0.15
.
2 Increase demand for 0.05 3 0.15
. Antibacterial Soaps
3 Counterfeit Products 0.10 3 0.3
.
4 International Trends 0.05 3 0.15
.
5 Local Competition 0.05 4 0.2
.
Total Weighted Score 1.00 3.10
Total weighted score of the EFE matrix of UNILEVER is 3.10 shows that
they have an average response.
6. Identify the organization's internal strengths and weaknesses
Strengths

1. Strong brands identity and Broad product mix

Unilever is indeed a huge multinational company with operations in more

than 190 countries in the world. Almost all consumers in the globe know and
use products of Unilever. It owns many big brands including Dove, Omo,
Sunsilk, etc.The company has a solid holding in the consumer goods market
like cleaning, personal care, food, nutrition and health care, which gives
many advantages over its competitors.

2. Economies of scale

Financial structure with low risk supports production efficiency necessary

for competitive pricing strategies to be competitive. Unilever is a large
organization, with solid financial capacity. They have a well-diversified
product portfolio, giving it the câpcity to expand in many directions. The
company has strong global capabilities, helping to create large-scale
production facilities across the globe.

3. Wide Distribution

Unilever has the strongest brands in the consumer goods industry. Unilever's
products are available around the world because of its dense distribution
network. From grocery stores, large and small local supermarkets all over
the world have their appearances.

4. R&D

Thanks to good R&D capabilities, Unilever successfully expands to many

markets, making products become an indispensable part of that market.
Their products meet the criteria of customers, create a good impression and
have the potential to be loyal and long-term commitment. This strength
enables the company to penetrate markets and effectively compete against
other firms.

Weaknesseses

Despite its strong market position, Unilever has weaknesses that limit its
potential growth, becoming their worrisome threat to the local markets.

1. Substitute products

Unilever's biggest weakness is that it operates in a highly competitive

market where other global giants such as P&G and Nestle along with a
host of local companies challenge for dominance. Because of that
diverse and fierce competition, Unilever's products can be replaced by
competitors at any time.

2. Lack of sales distribution channels

Although the product is distributed everywhere, Unilever is still limited

in its official product distribution channel. The business is mainly
dependent on local grocers, retailers, and supermarkets. Although the
distribution network is dense, but limited in the official distribution
channels of its products to customers will make it difficult for Unilever
to gain an advantage against the competition of local brands.

3. Dependence on retailers.

Because of their extensive retail network around the world, their business
relies heavily on these retailers. The change of retailers will have a huge
impact on Unilever, for example, they are biased to sell customers products
from local companies.

Contract and Internal Factor Evaluation ( IFE) Matrix

IFE Matrix
Key Internal Factors Weig Ratin Weighted
ht gs Score
STRENGTHS
1 Largest producer 0.1 4 0.4
.
2 Advance Technology 0.05 4 0.2
.
3 SupplyChain Management 0.05 3 0.15
.
4 Financial Backing 0.2 4 0.8
.
5 Experience Top Management 0.2 3 0.6
.
WEAKNESSES
1 Tall Organization Structure 0.1 2 0.2
.
2 High Operating Expenses 0.05 2 0.1
.
3 High Cost of Production 0.05 2 0.1
.
4 Long term strategies 0.1 2 0.2
.
5 Emphasize on only few 0.1 1 0.1
. products
TOTAL 1.00 2.85

The score 2.85 shows that company has solid internal position, its strengths
are overcoming the

7. Prepare a SWOT Matrix, (BCG ) Matrix, internal-external ( IE)

matrix, ( QSPM) appropriate, give advantages and disadvantages of
alternative strategies(QA)
8. Recommend specific strategies and long-term objectives. Show how
much your recommendation will cost clearly itemize these costs for
each projected year

Unilever’s Generic Strategy (Porter’s Model)

Unilever uses broad differentiation as its generic strategy for competitive
advantage. The main focus of this generic strategy is its emphasis on
features or characteristics that make the company’s products stand out
against competitors.

For example, Unilever produces personal care products like Dove

Cream Bars to satisfy consumers’ need for soaps that are not harsh or
drying

Despite their relatively high selling prices, such Unilever products are
competitive because they stand out from a majority of soaps that focus
more on cleaning than moisturizing. In this strategy, the company
attracts customers to specially designed products. Thus, such a generic
strategy aligns with Unilever’s vision statement and mission statement,
which aim to support global sustainability and to increase vitality in
consumers’ lives, respectively. On the other hand, a financial objective
linked to the generic strategy is to grow Unilever’s revenues in
developing countries, which offer high growth opportunities. The
combination of these strategic objectives leads to competitive advantage
reflected through products and a strong financial performance in the
consumer goods market.

Unilever’s Intensive Strategies (Intensive Growth

Strategies)
Market Penetration (Primary Strategy). In this intensive strategy, the
company increases its sales volume to improve revenues and
corresponding business growth.

For example, in the home care market, Unilever aggressively sells its
products in current markets, such as the United States and Canada.
Such aggressive efforts increase the company’s ability to capture
customers away from competing home care firms. Unilever successfully
applies this intensive strategy by using the generic strategy of differentiation
to make its products more competitive and attractive than others. A strategic
objective linked to this intensive strategy is to grow the business through
aggressively marketing Unilever products in the global consumer goods
market.

Product Development (Secondary Strategy). Product development

functions as a secondary intensive strategy that Unilever uses for
business growth. The company applies this intensive growth strategy by
introducing new products that address consumers’ needs.

For example, entirely new or new versions of Unilever’s personal care

products are released over time to maintain or increase the company’s
market share.

Diversification (Supporting Strategy). Unilever uses diversification as

a supporting intensive growth strategy. This intensive strategy focuses
on establishing new businesses to grow the company

Market Development (Supporting Strategy) In this intensive strategy,

the company grows by entering new markets or market segments.

For example, Unilever can grow by marketing its current products as a

new solution to unaddressed needs in certain market segments, such
as infant care needs.

Unilever’s strategies for competition in global markets

The main important strategy used by Unilever to compete for the market
share in the industry is the global strategy. The strategy involves
marketing of brands in local environments and maintaining the supply of
similar products in these regions. The company also applies this
strategy to produce new brands for marketing in different regions all
over the world. This strategy is of benefit to the company since it
improves the uniformity in the marketing operations at the same time
building the product’s brand equity.

Unilever employs the cross- market strategy to succeed in getting

customers from their competitors. This is done by providing their
products in the market at a subsidized price which is normally lower
than that of other competing

Product

Raw materials

Unilever’s raw materials, including third-party manufactured product,

account for 49% of our value chain emissions. More and more
customers care about the environment. The customer mindset is that
they will keep purchasing the product if the company takes responsibility
for social health, especially about the environment.

Inorganic chemicals, such as soda ash (a laundry product ingredient)

Organic chemicals including surfactants (which improve detergent

performance

Agricultural commodities, such as palm oil and dairy

Packaging materials (plastics, paper & board, metals, glass)

Meeting everyday needs for nutrition, hygiene, and personal care

Packaging materials

Packaging materials (for example, plastics, paper & board, metals,

glass

comprise 12% of our GHG value chain emissions footprint. Paper &
board,

metals and glass are widely recycled around the world, and we seek to

reduce emissions through packaging design and supplier engagement.

Our

emissions reduction targets have driven a shift to plastic materials which

typically have a lower GHG footprint. However, issues of recyclability

and

plastic pollution in nature are a growing societal concern, and we have

set

ambitious targets in the areas of plastic reduction, reuse and recycling.

Logistics and distribution

Our logistics and distribution footprint accounts for approximately 15%

of

Unilever’s GHG footprint. It covers transport from suppliers to

manufacturing

units, manufacturing units to distribution centers (DCs) and from DCs

to customers so that reducing distance traveled and improving truck

utilization, reducing the total number of trucks used
COST FOR EACH SECTION

COST RATE

Raw materials 2 usd increase for 20% increase

each product

Packaging 1 usd increase for 10% increase

materials each product

Logistics and Producing the 10% decrease

distribution product at the
factory and
cooperate with
other sales
company so that
can decrease the
cost of fuels and
delivery fees

Marketing Using many media 20% increase

tools to reach to
customer

( advertising, KOLs,
Facebook,
Instagram )

Event Organize many 5%

competitions for
social ( designing
package, art
gallery, marathon
vvv, testing new
product, etc)
4 P MARKETING MIX
PRODUCT
For Unilever's marketing
strategy for products, the group
owns a variety of different
products in the Vietnamese
market and always focuses on
improving the quality of its
products.
Instance Food and beverage
Organic food or have organic
ingredients
Diet ice cream, drink, chocolate
Personal care product
Making product line suitable
with different age and style,
especially with some special
product for sensitive skin
Laundry products and
household items
Pay attention on quality of the
product and produce more
convenient product for
customer and less chemical
that can affect to customer
health
Package : launching
environmental friendly package
like paper, instead of plastic
cup
PRICE
Using dynamic pricing
strategy
Base on the demand of the
market that launching the
pricing strategy
For example the covid 19, the
price of product should at stable
leading the customers having
the demand to purchase
Launching a better price than
the competitors while the quality
still good
Depend on the environment
that the company decide the
price strategy
For instance, the competitors
products is low the company
should discount for customer
increase the rate purchasing
from customers
The company also distributes
the production, packaging in
others cheap area
 PLACE
When analyzing Unilever's
marketing strategy on the
distribution system (Place), this
brand has focused
expanding its distribution
system to be able to reach
more customers.
Establish store near the rural
area, big cities or near the
apartment, or supermarket
Cooperate with distribution
agents of Vietnamese
enterprises perfectly without
facing any difficulties in terms
of personnel and complete
distribution system.
PROMOTION
For Unilever's Marketing
strategy on promotion mix
(Promotion), Unilever has
on focused on deploying
advertising campaigns for its
products on media such as
newspapers, TV,... and
technical means. number.
TV advertisement
Advertising on digital media
Organize a contest: "Gen Z
Design, Design the future" with
the main target audience is for
young people to spread
meaningful messages to the
community.
Participants can share their
designs on social networks to
spread the message more
widely and then contribute to
the charity agency which
increase their reputation while
doing well with the csr in terms
of the social
Promotion strategy
Product discounts
Give away coupons
Free gift in many forms:
exchange this product's shell to
get another product, give a trial
sample to customers, ...
Promotions to draw or scratch
to win valuable gifts
9. Present a timetable or agenda for action(Nhi)
ACTIVITIES
PLAN

Market analysis Segmentation, place , habit of

customers

Business Plan Making the plan base on the

research

Price Definition Price suitable with the market

Projections Evaluating the plan

Market Requirement Selecting the main awareness

Brand, Solution, Message Run the campaign to increase the

customer awareness

Customer Profile Collecting customer profile to

activate marketing campaign

Competitor Profile Making the advance

Beta Customer Advocates Storing customers information

Lead gen Finding more foreign customers,

creating trend

Analytics

Brief Analysis

Distribution channels Activating the sale strategy and

distribute to sale place
Quỳnh Anh
SWOT
Strengths
Global reach:
Unilever is present in more than 190 countries and it is unlikely to find a
single consumer who does not use the brand's products. According to the
financial report for 2020, Unilever is proud to be one of the largest
companies globally with strengths in expertise and manufacturing
capabilities in the field of consumer goods. This makes it more recognizable
to the public and helps promote it. So it can do its global thinking with local
execution. This means it can pursue its popularity goals and still win the
hearts of consumers. Unilever products are used daily by about 2.5 billion
people, which is almost a third of the global population.
Strong brand portfolio:
Unilever is the only company with an extremely diverse portfolio of brands
and products because it owns more than 400 brands. The top 13 brands
accounted for more than 1 billion euros in revenue as of 2016. More than
half of Unilever's growth came from well-known brands such as Ax /Lynx
ice cream, Dove, Omo, Heartbrand, Hellmann's, Knorr ,Lipton ,Lux,
Magnum, Marmite, Rexona/Degree, Sunsilk, Surf, Glow and Lovely, etc.,
brands with strong environmental and social impact.
Brand Identity
Unilever is one of the brands that bring many deep impressions to users. At
Unilever, consumers can find all the products that suit their needs. It is the
satisfaction in terms of quality as well as product variety that makes
Unilever always the first choice of consumers.
R&D
Unilever is also in an extremely strong financial position to invest heavily in
research and development (R&D) of new products. Unilever always strives
to research and come up with innovative products, in line with the changing
requirements of customers, helping this brand become one of the most loved
companies by consumers worldwide. world.
Wide distribution channel
As a retailer of consumer products, Unilever is able to develop its
distribution channels to every geographical corner around the world. It also
has a huge distribution chain with more than 25 million stores. At the end of
2020, Unilever's eB2B platform grew 32.8% in the number of stores
ordering from them..
Flexible pricing
With a large product portfolio, Unilever has the right to apply pricing
policies flexibly, from time to time, depending on the willingness of
customers to pay the cost of products of all classes of customers. This helps
Unilever never lose market share to competitors who are "thirsty" for market
share, ready to devalue to win customers.
Good Returns on Capital Expenditure
Unilever is relatively successful at execution of new projects and generated
good returns on capital expenditure by building new revenue streams.
Reliable suppliers
The company has a strong base of trusted raw material suppliers that allow it
to overcome supply chain bottlenecks.
Weakness
Imitable Products
Unilever's consumer products are easily imitated or replaced by similar
brands.
Channel capabilities:
In a normal year, Unilever would be able to reach nearly one in every three
people in the world. So, brand value and promotional activities wouldn’t
have been a problem. But in these pandemic situations, social distancing and
quarantine are the new norms. So, people are shopping mostly online. So, in
2020, the online sales have gone up about 61 percent. But Unilever lacks
severely in its online representation. And so, as it is underrepresented, online
sales accounted for only 9% of its total revenue comes from online sales.
This is a huge drawback.
Dependence on retailers
Like other manufacturers of consumer goods, Unilever is dependent on a
network of retailers to distribute its products. Therefore, the buyer's
behavior, the buyer's decision is heavily influenced by the advice of
retailers.
Substitute products
Unilever provides consumer products, so its products are easy to replace.
Especially in African and Asian markets, in localities, consumers tend to use
natural, traditional, cheap products.
Opportunities
Growing demand for healthier products.
With more and more consumers switching to healthier products, this is
another avenue Unilever should consider.
Emerging markets
The process of globalization, the penetration of global media has led to the
promotion of western lifestyle in Asia. This means Unilever can use its
position to become a successful brand, giving locals access to internationally
branded items. On the other hand, China and India, emerging markets that
are trying to imitate consumerism in the West, will become potential
"promising lands" for multinational corporations like Unilever.
The improvement of technology.
New technology offers Unilever the opportunity to implement a
differentiated pricing strategy in new markets. This enables the company to
retain loyal customers with excellent service and attract new customers
through other value-based offerings.
Product Innovation
Unilever can also innovate their old products. Many of the products have a
traditional process of making. But innovating them will help to tailor the
products suitable for the modern people’s needs. This will make the people
more interested in the company. The end result will be a higher sales rate, if
marketed and advertised correctly.
New environmental policies
New opportunities create a level playing field for all players in the industry.
This is a great opportunity for Unilever to demonstrate its leadership in new
technology and gain market share in new product categories.
Threats
Increasing popularity of private label brands
Large retail stores are tending to build their own brands instead of depending
on many suppliers. Unilever depends on these retailers to generate profits so
this is a big threat for the company in the near term.
Intense competition
Unilever's competitors such as Nestle or P&G are still continuously
researching and launching new products at competitive prices. It is this that
makes Unilever constantly race on the way to conquer the world market.
Criticism of environmental safety
Although Unilever has been paying great attention to environmental and
social aspects. However, the increasing awareness of global consumers has
turned into spearheads and attacks on every strategic move that the company
makes. So in any case, Unilever must ensure to maintain its focus on
environmental awareness and turn it into a safe fulcrum but also a lever for
the company's development.
Growing strengths of local distributors.
In some markets, the strength of local distributors is threatened as
competitors pay higher margins to local distributors.
Product Imitation
Counterfeiting is always a risk for companies like Unilever. Because it costs
millions of dollars to develop your own, and if someone decides to copy it, it
puts you in the risk zone.
SUGGEST STRATEGIES BASE ON SWOT MATRIX
SO Strategies
● S (1,2,3) và O (2)
Market Development
Mở rộng thương hiệu ở các vị trí tốt khắp mọi nơi, phát triển nhận diện
thương hiệu kèm theo các hoạt động thu hút khách hàng trên các thị trường
mới nổi.
● S (4,7,8) và O (1,3,4,5)
Product Development
Phát triển các sản phẩm mới, hiện đại, đa dạng và độc đáo. Loại bỏ các sản
phẩm trong giai đoạn bão hòa và nghiên cứu sản phẩm mới hoặc sản phẩm
theo xu hướng tiêu dùng hiện tại.
ST Strategies
● S (3,4,6,8) và T (1,2,4,5)
Diversification
Phát triển các dòng sản phẩm đáp ứng xu hướng tiêu dùng ngày nay, có tính
đặc sắc riêng của từng product line của doanh nghiệp, có nguồn cung chất
lượng để đảm bảo đầu ra sản phẩm và tiết kiệm chi phí.
● S (3,5,7) và T (1,2,3)
Market Penetration
Triển khai hình thức kinh doanh mới như kinh doanh online và phân phối
bằng mạng lưới của Unilever, kèm theo nhiều ưu đãi thu hút khách để có thể
nâng tầm thương hiệu, tạo lợi thế cạnh tranh so với các đối thủ có mặt trên
thị trường.
WO Strategies
● W (2,3) và O (3,4)
Focus - Best Value
Tập trung cải tiến sản phẩm tạo giá trị cho Khách hàng so với các mặt hàng
đạo nhái và mặt hàng thay thế.
● W (1) và T (1,3)
Forward Integration
Mua lại hoặc kiểm soát nhà phân phối và nhà bán lẻ để không bị phụ thuộc
quá nhiều, cũng như đảm bảo chi phí ổn định.