INTRODUCTION

UNILEVERAN INTRODUCTION AND HISTORYBY:APURBA BANERJEEINTRODUCTION

Unileveris a British- Dutch multinational consumer goods company.Headquaters: Rotterdam,Netherlands and London,United Kingdom.CEO-Paul PolmanChairman-Michael TreshchowThe Products it deals in includes Food, Beverages, Cleaning agents and Personal Care.It is one of the oldest multinational companies, whose products are available in around 190 countries. Owns over 400 brands , but focusses on only 13 brands with sales over 1 billion Euros.These 13 brands include Lux,Dove,Axe,Knorr etc.

Revenue(2014) : 48.4 billion EurosOut of this the maximum contribution was from Personal Care segment-18billion euros.No.of Employees(2015):1,72,000Few of the Subsidiaries are:Unilever BangladeshUnilever NepalUnilever AustraliaHindustan Unilever(67% holding)Unilever PhillippinesUnilever PakistanUnilever IndonesiaUnilever North AmericaIt is a dual listed company consisting of:Unilever N.V based in RotterdamUnilevr PLC based in London

HISTORY AND BACKGROUND

The history of Unilever dates back to the 1800s when in 1890s ,Wiilliam Hesketh Lever, founder of LEVER BROTHERS ,wrote down his idea for Sunlight Soap which was his revolutionary new product that helped popularize cleanliness and hygiene in Victorian England. Broadly, the history of Unilever can be divided into 8 time periods which are as follows:1885-1900:In early 1870s ,Jurgens and Van den Burgh,the two family businesses of butter merchants in Netherlands became interested in a new product made from beef fat and milk known as MARGARINE.They realised it could be mass produced as an affordable substitute for butter.

In mid 1880s in England , a successful wholesale family grocery business run by William Hesketh Lever started producing a new type of household soap SUNLIGHT SOAP which helped in cleaning more easily than traditional soap.1872-Jugens and Van den Burgh opened their first factories in Netherlands to produce Margarine.1884-Lever and company started producing sunlight soap1890-Lever and co. becomes a limited company which was called as Lever Brothers Ltd.1900-1910s-Competition and a sudden sharp rise in the cost of raw materials forced many businessess to set up associations in order to promote themselves and to protect themselves against the supplier monopolies.With the supplies of oil and fats struggling to meet the demand created by the fast growing margarine and soap businesses , the two businesses started focussing on securing stable sources of raw materials.1909- Lever Brothers develops palm oil plantation in the Soloman Islands . At the same time Jurgens and Van den Burgh set up a joint palm planting venture in Africa.1910-1920-The demand for margarine continued to escalate and the two businessess increased their interests in the production of raw materials.This was the time when the First World War situation was developing ,which was bound to make a huge impact on these businessess , Firstly- By increasing the demand for soap and margarine(vital wartime supplies) and Secondly- Through intervention of British and German goverments,which effectively placed the oil and fats industry under government control.1914- In the year that war breaks out, companies controlled by Lever Brothers made about 1,35,000 tonnes of soap a year.While in Netherlands, Jurgens and Van den Burgh had both acquired a number of smaller businesses and each also controlled 7 margarine factories in Germany.1917-Jurgens and Van den Burgh botnestablish factories in England ,with one in Purfleet,Essex,still manufacturing margarine toady.Lever Brothers also expanded into the Margarine market with the launch of Planters,thus expanding its business in South Africa.

1920-1930-During this decade the margarine market suffers declining demand as butter becomes more affordable.1922- Lever Brothers buys WALLS,a popular sausage company which began to produce ice creams to sell in the summer .1923- The collapse of German economy created even harsher trading conditions for the Margarine business.1927- Jurgens and Van den Burgh who had already teamed up with two European businesses,CENTRA and SCHICHT, joined forces to create MARGARINE UNIE- The Margarine Union.1929- On september 2, Lever Brothers and Margarine Unie signed an agreement to create UNILEVER.1930-1940s-1930- On january 1,1930, Unilever was officially established.Procter & Gamble enters the UK market with the acquistion of Thomas Hedley Ltd.of Newcastle and becomes one of the largest rivals of Unilever.Businesses grew and new ventures were launched in Africa and Latin America.Unilever was unable to invest its capital into Europe because of the Nazi occupation during this time.So,acquired new businesses in U.S and U.K.1943-T.J Lipton was acquired.1944- Pepsodent was acquired.1950s-1960s-1954- Sunsilk was first launched in the U.K.1957-Dove was first launched in the U.S.1961-U.S based Good Humor ice cream business was acquired.A stagnant market for yellow fats and increasing competition in detergents and soaps from P&G forced Unilever to diversify.1971-Acquired the British- based Lipton Ltd.from Allied suppliers.1978-National Starch was acquired for $487 million , making it the largest ever foreign-acquisition of a U.S company at that point.

1970s-1980s-In 1982 ,Unilever management decided to reposition itself from an unwidely conglomerate to a more concentrated FMCG company.1984-Acquired Brooke Bond for 390 million ,companys first successful hostile takeover.1986-Acquired Chesebrough Ponds ,thus strenghtenening its position in the world skin care markets.

1990s-1993-Acquired Breyers from Phillip Morris,which made the company largest ice cream manufacturer in the U.S.1996- Unilever merged Elida Gibbs and Lever Brothers in its U.K operations.Also purchased Helene Curtis,an American cosmetics firm for $770 million, thus significantly expanded its presence in the U.S shampoo and deodorant market.

2000-In April,2000,Unilever bought Ben &Jerrys and Slim Fast for 1.63 billion pounds.Later that year ,the company acquired Best Foods for 13.4 billion pounds.The Best Food acquisition increased Unilevers scale in foods in America and added brands such as Knorr and Hellmanns to its portfolio.In july 2013,Unilever increased its stake in its Indian unit ,Hindustan Unilever to 67% for around 2.4 billion euros.On 22 decemeber,2014,Unilever announced the purchase of Camay and Zest brand from P&G.The brands had a turnover of $225 million in the last fiscal year. Today ,Unilever has become one of the worlds most consumed brand in food ,personal and home care products . Unilever still has two major competitors namely-P&G and Nestle. It is one of the companies which strongly believe in multi-national,multi-local approach and therefore has factories in every continent except Antarctica.Unilever (operations and business model)

Siddhart SangerOperationsProducts sold in more than 190 countries and are used by 2 billion consumers every day. Their business is organized across three geographies: the Americas; Europe; and markets comprising Asia, Australasia, Africa, Middle East, Turkey, Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. Four main divisions-1. Personal Care2. Foods3. Refreshments4. Homecare ProductsPersonal Care is Unilevers largest category. It includes five of Unilevers 13 1 billion brands: global names such as Dove, Rexona, Axe, Lux and Sunsilk. Sales of 17.7 billion ($19.72 billion) in 2014. Accounted for 41% of operating profit in 2014. The strategic role of the category is to generate continued excellent returns, delivering competitive growth while expanding gross margins to release further investment for future growth. Foods is a 12.4 billion ($13.8 billion) category, home to Unilevers largest brand, Knorr, and several 1 billion-plus brands including Hellmanns and Family Goodness (Rama/Blue Band). The category accounts for 25% of Group turnover and 45% of operating profit and its strategic role is to accelerate growth while maintaining above average cash and profit.Refreshment generated 9.2 billion ($10.2 billion) in sales. It includes ice cream brands such as Walls, Magnum, Cornetto and Ben & Jerrys, and tea brands Lipton, Brooke Bond and PG tips. Lipton, Magnum and Heartbrand (Walls) are all 1 billion brands. The category accounts 7% of operating profit, and its strategic role is to contribute to growth and improve profitability. Home Care is a 9.2 billion category with nearly 80% of sales coming from emerging markets. Its products cover fabric cleaning, with 1 billion brands such as Omo and Surf, as well as fabric conditioners such as Comfort.The category has averaged 8.1% in terms of growth per annum over the last four years.Unilever Brands

Business Model

Core Purpose- Making Sustainable Living Commonplace.Unilever believes this as the best long term solution to keep the company expanding. To keep meeting changing consumer preferences in a changing market environment.Key Inputs- Brands, Operations and People.Combination of the three inputs and filtering them through Unilever Sustainable Living Plan(USLP).Identification of social and consumer needs to grow brands, market them and manufacture and distribute them. Operations are the essential supply chain functions and assets of raw material supply, factories, logistics, go-to-market expertise and marketing. Invest of financial capital to support all these assets and activities.How they draw profits- Profitable volume growth, cost leverage + efficiency, innovation + marketing investmentUnilever aims for a virtuous circle of growth. Profitable volume growth is driven by investment in innovation and brands to deliver products. Further investment in the business. This investment funds R&D and innovation to create new and improved products backed by marketing to create even stronger brands. This drives profitable volume growth and the virtuous circle continues.Thank You

Source: https://www.unilever.com/Images/ARA-2014-Strategic-Report_tcm244-421153.pdfUNILEVER MARKETING PLANAditya Statement of the Marketing Goal

The liveliness and validity of life is very critical to the company being its primary objective. The company aims at attainment of peoples satisfaction of looking good and feeling pleased. This is made possible by the providence of hygienic products, nutritional brands along with the heath care. The companys each and every step is taken in accordance with long term value, profit attainment, companys growth, and balancing a healthy relationship with partners Marketing Objective Of Company

The marketing objectives of the company include;

Marking up 10% profit rate each year in sustainable way by valuing the and employees while maintaining the customers loyalty.

By increasing the sales percentage by increasing the manufacturing rate of core brands.

Spending the noticeable part of budget on advertisements and marketing of core brands that are around 200.

Introduction of adaptive products in local markets through innovation in research and development.Target Market SegmentsThe target segment for the company is health and beauty conscious people including both male and female groups as the company positioned itself at health and beauty care products. Almost in all parts of the world, the Unilever products are shelved and are paid huge attention by the customers visiting the stores for routine items like grocery. Unilever Marketing MixProduct

The top most brand of Unilever is dove.

The Unilever is completely categorized in two brands that are in home and personal care and food and beverages.

Unilever is a globally largest manufacturing brand of ice cream with annual sales of $5 billion and working with the sign of heart brand

In food and beverages it includes Soya based drinks, syrups and deserts, spreads, cooking oil and margarine etc. Laundry detergents, shower gels, hair products, deodorants and dish washer etc.Price

The prices of the products are not specific; they gradually keep on changing and are different for different products.

While deciding the price for any article, the competitors strategies are kept before, by the company.

Place

Unilever is paying its services in almost 100 countries and further they are planning in 50 countries.

The company contains 3 business segments which are involved in planning for future success.Promotion

The company is promoting its product through advertisement by electronic media and print media. Beside this conventional promotion the company offers the schemed like premium packs, sales etc to attract the majority of the customers.Main strategies

Market Penetration

Market penetration strategy of the company runs along its extension more towards North America, Asia and Europe by extending its product line. The market augmentation could be done by stimulating the market with product innovation and thus market penetration.

Market DevelopmentUnilever is extending the practicality of its market development strategy by stimulating the product innovation and research and development sector for the new product development. As the market development for any company becomes more integrated with the companys expansion, acquisitions and partnerships, therefore Unilever is also focusing on all these respects. Diversification Strategy

The company diversification strategy is being focused more preferably for the North America and the emerging economies of Asia including China. The company is presently serving worldwide with 100 countries and is on the way to add up 50 more countries in the queue.

BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS OFUNILEVER Ruchir KhannaSWOT analysis for Unilever

Unilever is a company that serves in almost all the continents and over 190 countries of the world. It has a wide variety of products serving the people of all ages. Based on its core competencies and strategic outlook its strengths are;

StrengthsOperates in nearly 190 country(global presence)Offers diversified product range and have strong brand imageResearch and Development initiatives are heavily fundedFlexible pricing and expertise in distribution channelsEconomies of scale due to large scale operations( Have manufacturing facilities at 270 location around the globe ) Weakness Internal attributes of the organization that are harmful to achieving the objective. Unilever has the following weaknessesHigh product price due to high R&D cost(approx. $1.25 billion/year) and qualityComplex organizational structure No direct contact with customer

Opportunity Following are the opportunities:-Increasing Health conscious products demandChanging life styles(People are always ready to buy new products)Emerging new markets( Untapped markets like Russia , Afghanistan etc)Increase production volumes and availabilityMove operations to undeveloped countries( Cheap labor , low operation cost)

Threats External conditions which could do damage to the business's performance. Following are the threats :-Economic downturnGlobal competition ( P&G , NESTLE)New local products Legal effects ( tax laws , ban on product harmful to environment etc)

ConclusionUnilever has been in the business of consumer fulfillment for many decades and hence, we are confident that it can tide over the present gloomy conditions in the FMCG segment. Having said that, we conclude the analysis with a cautionary note of not taking the threat from the local FMCG companies lightly as they understand the region better and can provide product substitute at low price.Unilever - Porter's 5 Forces AnalysisBeing a global company, Unilever has very strong competition not only from other strong multinational companies like P&G, Kraft and Nestle but also from other regional retailers. Porters 5 forces model is one of the most recognized frameworks for the analysis of competitive environment of an organisation. Porters five forces model determine the competitive intensity and therefore attractiveness of the market where Unilever is operating . This model describes the attributes of an attractive industry and thus suggests when opportunities will be greater, and threats less, in these of industries.This model is based on five important elements of an organization and uses both internal as well as external competences and threats faced by a business organization. These five elements including;

Conclusions and RecommendationsUnilever is operating in a highly competitive and volatile environment. Legal requirements, technical changes and change in the habits of the customers have created problems for the businesses. Because of that companies like Unilever have to be updated and continuous R&D is solution to many of the problems. An attractive business is one with higher margins and low competitions. So the environment where Unilever operates is with higher level of competition and low level of profit margins. In this situation best strategy is to keep customers satisfied and loyal, continuous R&D, cost control and be responsive to the competitors.CSRMir Zain AjazCorporate Social ResponsibiltiyWorking to create a better future every day, we help people feel good, look good and get more out of life with brands and services that are good for them and good for othersOur ambition is to double the size of our business, whilst reducing our overall environmental impact (including sourcing, consumer use and disposal). We are also committed to doing what we can to improve health, nutrition and hygiene, with a target to help more than a billion people take action to improve their health and well-being, as well as sourcing all our agricultural raw materials sustainably by 2020. All of these goals are itemised in around 50 time-based commitments in our Unilever Sustainable Living Plan.

Unilever Sustainable Living PlanTwo billion times a day, somebody, somewhere, uses a Unilever brand. Our products make small but important differences to the quality of peoples everyday lives.Our vision is to create a better future in which billions of people can increase their quality of life without increasing their environmental footprint. However, our plan isnt just the right thing to do for people and the environment. Its also right for Unilever: the business case for integrating sustainability into our brands is clear and persuasive.

Unilever set out theUnilever Sustainable Living Plan, committing to a ten year journey towards sustainable growth. What makes the Plan different is that it applies right across the value chain. The Plan takes responsibility not just for Unilevers own direct operations but for suppliers, distributors and for how consumers use its brands.The Plan has three big goals to reach by 2020:Help more than 1 billion people improve their health and well-beingHalve the environmental footprint of our productsSource 100% of agricultural raw materials sustainably and enhance the livelihoods of millions of peopleBy the end of 2013, Unilever reports that:48% of agricultural raw materials are now from sustainable sources, up from 14% in 2010.It helped 303 million people improve their health and wellbeing through Lifebuoy, Signal, Pureit and Dove brands, up from 52 million in 2010.The majority of Unilever foods and beverages meet nationally recognised nutritional standards and 31% of foods and beverages meet the highest nutritional standards, based on globally recognised dietary guidelines.It helped and trained over 570,000 smallholder farmers and increased the number of Shakti women micro-entrepreneurs in India that it employs from 48,000 in 2012 to 65,000 in 2013.

In its own factories, Unilever reports excellent progress in 2013:Reducing CO2 emissions from energy by 32% per tonne of production since 2008, the equivalent of taking 200,000 cars off the road.Reducing water abstracted by 29% per tonne of production, or the equivalent of 2 litres of water for every person on the planet.Cutting waste by two thirds per tonne of production, or 97,000 fewer tonnes of waste disposed of in 2013 than in 2008.Achieving zero non hazardous waste to landfill in three quarters of Unilever sites (170), up from 35 sites in 2010.Brands that havedone most to embrace sustainable living are enjoying some of our fastest growth:Dove, Lifebuoy, Domestos and Pureit have all grown double digit on average over the past 3 years.Costs savings:Avoided costs of 350million since 2008 in reducing raw materials and implementing eco-efficiency measures in factories on energy, water and waste.Implemented new packaging technique which injects gas into plastic bottles creating bubbles in pack walls, cutting plastic by up to 15%. This is now available on Dove Body Wash with plans for further rollout across the portfolio. This technique has the potential to save 27,000 tonnes plastic once fully rolled out.

Innovation and consumer behaviour change from our brands:Sure, Dove, Vaseline compressed deodorants UK launch: around 25% CO2savings per can, and 40% of the female deodorants we sell in UK are now compressed.Lifebuoy Colour Changing hand wash: helps encourage children to wash their hands with soap for long enough by changing colour after 10 seconds - the time it takes to be protected from germs.Becel and Flora pro.activ It Takes a Village challenge: developed to help people with raised cholesterol move to a healthy diet/lifestyle. The challenge has been launched in villages across 6 countries, where 500 people have taken part and 89% have successfully lowered their cholesterol.

In the area of social compliance, Unilever also confirmed that the Sustainable Living Plan has been expanded with a more substantive Enhancing Livelihoods programme focusing on:fairness in the workplaceopportunities for womendeveloping inclusive business

Improving health and well-being

Unilever's unique portfolio of food, home and personal care products can make a difference to the health and well-being of people everywhere.

Promoting handwashingImproving oral healthImproving self-esteemProviding safe drinking water

Nutrition

Our aim is to make great-tasting food which makes a positive contribution to a healthy diet. We will continually work to improve the taste and nutritional quality of our products.Reformulation and developing new productsCommunication and labelingEncouraging behavior changeAddressing under-nutrition