“AN OVERVIEW OF UNILEVER BANGLADESH”

An assignment for ‘BRAND MANAGEMENT’

Lecturer:Mst. Shabiha Islam Mishu
Program:EMBA
Student name: Ummay Habiba
ID : 200104007
UNILEVER BANGLADESH LIMITED

The History :
Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. is one of the world’s most successful fast
moving consumer goods manufacturing companies with local
manufacturing facilities, reporting to regional business groups for
innovation and business results.

Lever Brothers Bangladesh Ltd. as a subsidiary of Unilever is leading the

home care, personal care and food product market of Bangladesh. On
25th February 1964 the eastern plant of Lever Brothers Pakistan Ltd. was
inaugurated at Kalurghat, Chittagong with a soap production capacity of
approximately 485 metric tons. It was a private limited company with
55% share held by Unilever and the rest by the Government of Pakistan.
After independence the eastern plant was declared abandoned. But on
5th July 1973 it was registered under the name of Lever Brothers
Bangladesh Ltd. as a joint venture company of Unilever PLC and the Govt.
of Bangladesh with a share arrangement of 60.75% to Unilever and
39.25% to the Bangladesh Govt.
 Marketing Mix :
Tools for Business Professionals The marketing mix is a business
tool used in marketing and by marketing professionals. The
marketing mix is often crucial when determining a product or
brand's offering, and is often synonymous with the four Ps:
Product, Price, Place and Promotion;

Type of business:
Fast Moving Consumer Goods Company with local manufacturing
facilities, reporting to regional business groups for innovation and
business results.

Operations: Home and Personal Care, Foods, Water Purifier.

Constitution: Unilever – 60.75% shares, Government of

Bangladesh – 39.25%

Product Categories: Household Care, Fabric Cleaning, Skin

Cleansing, Skin Care, Oral Care, Hair Care, Personal Grooming, Tea
based Beverages.
Unilever today:

Unilever brands are trusted everywhere and, by listening to

the people who buy them, they’ve grown into one of the
world’s most successful consumer goods companies. In fact,
150 million times a day, someone somewhere chooses a
Unilever product. UBL is the market leader in 7 of the 8
categories it operates in, with 20 brands spanning across
Home Care, Personal Care and Foods.

UBL have a portfolio of brands that are popular across the

globe – as well as regional products and local varieties of
famous-name goods. This diversity comes from two of their
key strengths:

• Strong roots in local markets and first-hand knowledge

of the local culture.
• World class business expertise applied internationally to
serve consumers everywhere.
BRAND ELEMEANTS :

NAME :
William Hesketh Lever founded Lever Brothers in 1885. Lever established soap
factories around the world. In 1917, he began to diversify into foods, acquiring
fish, ice cream and canned foods businesses. In the Thirties, Unilever introduced
improved technology to the business. The business grew and new ventures were
launched in Latin America. The entrepreneurial spirit of the founders and their
caring approach to their employees and their communities remain at the heart
of Unilever’s business today.

LOGO : Unilever Logo Design and History:

In 2005, Unilever decided to change their logo to represent their new theme of
vitality. The new logo was also planned to coincide with the 75th anniversary of
the company. The new logo tells the story of Unilever and vitality. It brings
together 24 different icons representing Unilever and its brands, the idea of
vitality and the benefits Unilever brings to consumers.
 Marketing Mix :
Tools for Business Professionals The marketing mix is a business tool
used in marketing and by marketing professionals. The marketing mix
is often crucial when determining a product or brand's offering, and
is often synonymous with the four Ps: Product, Price, Place and
Promotion;

Type of business:
Fast Moving Consumer Goods Company with local manufacturing
facilities, reporting to regional business groups for innovation and
business results.

Operations: Home and Personal Care, Foods, Water Purifier.

Constitution: Unilever – 60.75% shares, Government of Bangladesh –

39.25%

Product Categories: Household Care, Fabric Cleaning, Skin Cleansing,

Skin Care, Oral Care, Hair Care, Personal Grooming, Tea based
Beverages.
Price :

In service marketing Affordability of Consumer Product Quantity

Price Lux 150 gm 40 tk Vim 325 gm 30 tk Wheel 500 gm 37 tk Surf
Excel 500 gm 99 tk Pepsodent 200 gm 90 tk Close up 200 gm 100 tk
They also maintain these for pricing:
• Product price low and obtain maximum profit on spare parts
• Use different prices and different price lists for different markets.
• Set price at 10% below market leader.
• Reduce price of product to maximize sales (to allow increased
production and reduce unit production cost).

Different pricing strategies adopted by Unilever:

• Optional-features strategy
• Product-line pricing
• Cost-plus pricing
• Competitive pricing
• Distribution pricing.
MISSION :
Unilever’s mission is to add Vitality to life; to meet everyday
needs for nutrition; hygiene and personal care with brands that
help people feel good, look good and get more out of life.

Unilever recognizes growing consumer needs for-

• A healthy lifestyle,
• more variety,
• quality,
• taste and
• enjoyment,
• time, as an increasingly precious commodity,
• helping people to feel good,
• look good and
• get more out of life will enable us to meet these needs
AND
• expand our business.
CORPORATE VISION :

To make cleanliness a commonplace; to lessen work for women; to

foster health and contribute to personal attractiveness, in order that
life may be more enjoyable and rewarding for the people who use
the products.

Sustainable Living:

One of the key aspects of UBL’s vision is to make sustainable living a

commonplace. They are developing new business practices that grow
both the company and the communities. They are meeting people’s
ever-increasing desire for more sustainable products and creating a
brighter future for everyone. The Unilever Sustainable Living Plan will
help the company to double the size of the business while reducing
the environmental footprint and increasing the positive social impact.
And the company is working in partnerships where they can help
change things on a global scale: deforestation and climate change;
water, sanitation and hygiene; and sustainable agriculture and
smallholder farmers.
A SWOT ANALYSIS :

A SWOT analysis its external environment. Strategies based on business

strengths and market opportunities can boost Unilever’s performance in
the long term.

Unilever’s Strengths (Internal Strategic Factors)

Unilever’s organizational and business strengths are identified in this
section of the SWOT analysis. Strengths are internal strategic factors
based on the company’s conditions, such as human resources, production
processes, organizational structure and investments. The following
strengths are significant in Unilever’s consumer goods business:

• Strong brands
• Broad product mix
• Economies of scale
• Strong global market presence
Unilever has some of the strongest brands in the consumer goods
industry. This strength enables the company to penetrate markets and
effectively compete against other firms. The broad product mix shows the
extent of Unilever’s business growth. For example, the company
has increased its product portfolio through years of mergers and
acquisitions, leading to organizational growth and corresponding increases
in revenues. On the other hand, economies of scale support production
efficiency necessary for competitive pricing strategies, as shown in
Unilever’s marketing mix. Through years of international expansion, the
company has also increased its market presence, which is a strength that
reinforces brand popularity. The internal strategic factors in this section of
Unilever’s SWOT analysis show strengths that the company can use to
sustain global growth and success in the consumer goods market.

Unilever’s Weaknesses (Internal Strategic Factors)

Despite its strong market position, Unilever has weaknesses that limit its
potential growth. This section of the SWOT analysis presents the internal
strategic factors that impose barriers to organizational and business
development. Unilever must address the following weaknesses:

• Imitable products
• Limited business diversification
• Dependence on retailers
One of Unilever’s weaknesses is the imitable nature of its products. For
example, even though the company heavily invests in its product
development processes, other firms can imitate Dove and Rexona products.
Also, in spite of its broad product mix, Unilever is weak
because of limited diversification in businesses outside the consumer goods industry.
Moreover, the company lacks direct strong influence on consumers, considering that
retailers are the ones who directly affect buyers. Thus, based on the internal strategic
factors in this section of the SWOT analysis of Unilever, the weaknesses emphasize
the importance of diversification, innovation, and enhanced marketing efforts.

Opportunities for Unilever (External Strategic Factors)

Unilever must take advantage of growth opportunities in consumer goods markets
around the world. This section of the SWOT analysis determines such opportunities or
external strategic factors that can facilitate business development. The following
opportunities are significant in Unilever’s external environment:

• Business diversification
• Product innovation for health
• Business enhancement for environmental conservation
• Market development
Unilever has opportunities to diversify by entering businesses outside the consumer
goods industry. Diversification reduces market-based risks and improves business
resilience. On the other hand, 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. In addition, market development can grow Unilever’s business
by increasing revenues from the sale of its current products in new market
segments. For example, the company can market its Lipton products as
health drinks for consumers with special diets. The external strategic factors
in this section of Unilever’s SWOT analysis point to major opportunities to
grow the business despite its weaknesses.

Threats Facing Unilever (External Strategic Factors)

A variety of external factors can limit or reduce Unilever’s business
performance. The SWOT Analysis model considers these external factors as
threats that the company must strategically tackle. The following are the
threats relevant to Unilever’s consumer goods business:

• Tough competitive rivalry

• Product imitation
• Increasing popularity of retailers’ house brands
Unilever faces tough competition, which is a threat based on the strengths
of other firms in the industry. Competitors threaten to reduce the
company’s market share and corresponding financial performance. Product
imitation is also a major threat against Unilever. For example, local firms can
develop products highly similar to Unilever’s. Also, retailers impose a threat
by selling their own brands. These brands are
known as house brands, store brands or generic brands. For example, Costco uses
Kirkland Signature as a house brand, and Walmart has its own house brands that
directly compete against Unilever’s products. Based on the external strategic
factors in this section of the SWOT analysis of Unilever, strategies must focus on
improving the company’s competitive advantage.

Unilever’s SWOT Analysis – Recommendations

This SWOT analysis of Unilever highlights a number of internal and external

strategic factors that managers must include in strategy development. For
example, the weaknesses of limited business diversification and imitable nature
of products are significant because they influence business stability and
performance. In this regard, a recommendation is to diversify Unilever’s business
through acquisition of related firms not in the consumer goods industry. Also,
Unilever needs to consider product innovation as an opportunity to boost
business performance. It is recommended that the company must use its
strengths, such as economies of scale, for product innovation to address
competition and the threat of imitation.
Conclusion

Today's market is characterized by highly

competitive organizations which are all for
consumer's loyalty. Firms are faced with the
challenge to maintain their own competitive
edge to be able to survive and be successful.
Unilever was built on the theory of touching
consumer lives with brands that make life a
little better every day in Bangladesh. They
continue to connect with consumers by
offering affordable products and packaging
specially designed to meet consumer needs.
UBL must maintain an innovative approach by
introducing new products and re-facing
existing product lines to compete and satisfy
consumer demands, to allow them to remain
profitable for the next one hundred-seventy
three years.

THE END