Unilever marketing mix

UNILEVER

Unilever is a leading global FMCG manufacturer operating  food, healthcare, personalcare and homecare brands. Its brand portfolio includes generic brands: Lynx, Dove, Surf, Ben & Jerry’s, Peperami, PG Tips, Flora and Pot Noodle.

PLACE STRATEGY

The accessability and availabty are the forefront values for Unilever.On any given day 2 billion consumers use their products and they want to reach many more, by developing innovative products that address different consumer needs at different sales points. To do this they use their global scale to help deliver sustainable, profitable growth by seeking to add value at every step in the value chain by enhancing product quality and customer service, and rolling out innovations faster across all markets

PRODUCT STRATEGY

·         Unilever is committed to building trust through responsible practices and through transparent communication – both directly to consumers and indirectly through other key stakeholders and thought-leaders.

·         Their responsibility to ensure that the products are safe and that they provide clear information on their use and any risks.

·         They fully support diversity and depth in their products and will be transparent in terms of ingredients, nutrition values and the health and beauty properties of their products.

·         They will use a combination of channels, which includes product labels, websites, careline phone numbers and/or consumer leaflets to communicate openly with their consumers.

PROMOTION STRATEGY

As a leading global consumer goods company, they promote the benefits of their products and services using many different channels of brand communication.

Marketing and advertising can be a powerful force for behaviour change. They help inform people about the benefits of their  innovations. For example:

·         Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty challenges current stereotypes about beauty.

·         Omo/Persil's 'Dirt is good' campaign promotes getting dirty as a natural and positive part of growing up for children – all part of their learning and development.

·         Flora/Becel emphasises the nutritional benefits of eating margarine instead of butter.

·         Comfort One Rinse’s campaign explains to consumers that they only need one bucket of water for rinsing their clothes rather than three, helping them to save water.

PRICE STRATEGY

Uniliver keeps  its focus on satisfying the customer needs and preferences to achieve economics of scale and profit above average. Based on this cost and return analysis that determine the price, make customers to purchase a particular product. This strategy works well when the product or service is standardize, have generic qualities, In order to become a cost leader a business should keep an eye on the price strategy followed by its competitors and its continuous efforts to keep its prices low relative to its competitors.

Unılever target market

"Europe and the U.S. will be, for the next 10 years, low-growth territories, I'm afraid. So, soon we will have 75 percent of our turnover in emerging markets ... 70-75 percent by the end of decade," Chief Executive Paul Polman said in an interview.

"This is also where the 2 billion more people will be born in the next 40 years, and obviously where most of the world growth is going to be."

Polman also said as part of the company's plan to divide Unilever into eight mega regions, Unilever Turkey will be responsible for North Africa, Middle East, Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, increasing Turkey's responsibility from 12 to 36 countries.

Turkey is a very important part of Unilever's plan to boost the share of emerging markets in its turnover, Polman said.

The country is attracting international investors' interest, with one of the highest economic growth rates globally. Gross domestic product (GDP) grew 11 percent in the first quarter.

Unilever is building its eighth factory in the province of Konya in central Turkey, Polman said, with an ice-cream section projected to cost around $100 million. The company easily invests 100 million lira a year  in Turkey, Polman said.

UNILEVER PRODUCT LINE

An organisation's product mix has following four dimensions :-

1.             Width,

2.             Length,

3.             Depth, and

4.             Consistency.

Width

The width of an organisation's product mix pertains to the number of product lines that the organisation is offering. For example, Hindustan Uni Lever offers wide width of its home care, personal care and beverage products. Width of HUL product mix includes Personal wash, Laundry, Skin care, Hair care, Oral care, Deodorants, Tea, and Coffee.

Length

The length of an organisation's product mix pertains to the total number of products or items in the product mix. As in the given diagram of Hindustan Uni Lever product mix, there are 23 products, hence, the length of product mix is 23. 

Depth

The depth of an organisation's product mix pertains to the total number of variants of each product offered in the line. Variants includes size, colour, flavors, and other distinguishing characteristics. For example, Close-up, brand of HUL is available in three formations and in three sizes. Hence, the depth of Close-up brand is 3*3 = 9.

Consistency
The consistency of an organisation's product mix refers to how closely related the various product lines are in use, production, distribution, or in any other manner.

                                     BCG Matrix (Boston consulting Group):

The Boston consulting group a leading management consulting firm develops and popularized the growth share matrix as shown in figure.

BCG MATRIX of Unilever Pvt. Ltd:

According to the Unilever Pvt. Ltd, the relative market share and market growth rates of different products of  unilever are given below:-

Name	Relative Market Share	Market Growth Rate
Brooke bond supreme	41%	45.03%
Knorr noodle	51%	29%
Lux	21%	29.15%
Surf Excel	23%	27.37%
Lifebuoy shampoo	15%	85.03%
Rexona deodorant	2%	8%

BCG MATRIX Figure:

Market growth rate	High low	Star ·       Broke bond supreme                                                  ·       Knorr noodles	??? ·       Lifebuoy shampoo
		Cash Cow ·       Surf excel ·       Lux	Dog ·       Rexona deodorant

                                                High                                                             low  

                                                                               Relative Market Share

Conclusions:

There are the conclusions for Unilever Pvt. Ltd products, how they are lying in the BCG matrix is given below:

1.    Surf Excel & Lux :

The market share value of Surf excel and Lux are high and relative market growth rate of Surf excel and Lux are  low, that is why Surf excel and Lux are lying in BCG Matrix at Cash cow point.

2.    Broke bond supreme & Knorr noodles:

The market share value of Broke bond supreme and Knoor noodles are high and relative market growth rate of Broke bond supreme and Knoor noodles are high, that is why Broke bond supreme and Knoor noodles are lying in BCG Matrix at Star point.

3.    Lifebuoy Shampoo:

The market share value of Lifebuoy Shampoo is low and relative market growth rate of Lifebuoy Shampoo is high, that is why Lifebuoy Shampoo is lying in BCG Matrix at??? Point. At this point, Company makes their investment on this product to get the point of CASH COW and STAR in BCG matrix.

4.    Rexona deodorant:

The market share value of Rexona deodorant is low and relative market growth rate of Rexona deodorant is low, that is why Rexona deodorant is lying in BCG Matrix at Dog point.