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The mission that inspires HUL's more than 15,000 employees, including over
1,400 managers, is to “add vitality to life". The company meets everyday needs for
nutrition, hygiene, and personal care, with brands that help people feel good, look
good and get more out of life. It is a mission HUL shares with its parent company,
Unilever, which holds about 52 % of the equity.
Heritage
HUL’s heritage dates back to 1888, when the first Unilever product, Sunlight, was
introduced in India. Local manufacturing began in the 1930s with the
establishment of subsidiary companies. They merged in 1956 to form Hindustan
Lever Limited (The company was renamed Hindustan Unilever Limited on June
25, 2007). The company created history when it offered equity to Indian
shareholders, becoming the first foreign subsidiary company to do so. Today, the
company has more than three lakh resident shareholders.
HUL’s brands -- like Lifebuoy, Lux, Surf Excel, Rin, Wheel, Fair & Lovely,
Sunsilk, Clinic, Close-up, Pepsodent, Lakme, Brooke Bond, Kissan, Knorr,
Annapurna, Kwality-Walls - are household names across the country and span
many categories - soaps, detergents, personal products, tea, coffee, branded staples,
ice cream and culinary products. They are manufactured in over 35 factories,
several of them in backward areas of the country. The operations involve over
2,000 suppliers and associates. HUL's distribution network covers 6.3 million retail
outlets including direct reach to over 1 million.
HUL has traditionally been a company, which incorporates latest technology in all
its operations. The Hindustan Lever Research Centre (now Hindustan Unilever
Research Centre) was set up in 1958
HUL believes that an organisation’s worth is also in the service it renders to the
community. HUL focuses on hygiene, nutrition, enhancement of livelihoods,
reduction of greenhouse gases and water footprint.It is also involved in education
and rehabilitation of special or underprivileged children, care for the destitute and
HIV-positive, and rural development. HUL has also responded in case of national
calamities / adversities and contributes through various welfare measures, most
recent being the relief and rehabilitation of the people affected by the Tsunami
disaster, in India.
HUL’s Project Shakti is a rural initiative that targets small villages populated by
less than 5000 individuals. Through Shakti, HUL is creating micro-enterprise
opportunities for rural women, thereby improving their livelihood and the standard
of living in rural communities. Shakti also provides health and hygiene education
through the Shakti Vani programme.The program now covers 15 states in India and
has over 45,000 women entrepreneurs in its fold, reaching out to 100,000 villages
and directly reaching to over three million rural consumers.
HUL also runs a rural health programme, Lifebuoy Swasthya Chetana. The
programme endeavours to induce adoption of hygienic practices among rural
Indians and aims to bring down the incidence of diarrhoea. It has already touched
120 million people in approximately 50, 676 villages across India.
If Hindustan Unilever straddles the Indian corporate world, it is because of being
single-minded in identifying itself with Indian aspirations and needs in every walk
of life.
Founded 1933
Website www.hul.co.in
History of HUL
In the summer of 1888, visitors to the Kolkata harbour noticed crates full of
Soon after followed Lifebuoy in 1895 and other famous brands like Pears, Lux and
Vim. Vanaspati was launched in 1918 and the famous Dalda brand came to the
market in 1937.
The erstwhile Brooke Bond's presence in India dates back to 1900. By 1903, the
company had launched Red Label tea in the country. In 1912, Brooke Bond & Co.
India Limited was formed. Brooke Bond joined the Unilever fold in 1984 through
an international acquisition. The erstwhile Lipton's links with India were forged in
1898. Unilever acquired Lipton in 1972 and in 1977 Lipton Tea (India) Limited
was incorporated.
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.
Since the very early years, HUL has vigorously responded to the stimulus of
economic growth. The growth process has been accompanied by judicious
diversification, always in line with Indian opinions and aspirations. The
HUL formed a 50-50 joint venture with the US-based Kimberly Clark Corporation
in 1994, Kimberly-Clark Lever Ltd, which markets Huggies Diapers and Kotex
Sanitary Pads. HUL has also set up a subsidiary in Nepal, Unilever Nepal Limited
(UNL), and its factory represents the largest manufacturing investment in the
Himalayan kingdom. The UNL factory manufactures HUL's products like Soaps,
Detergents and Personal Products both for the domestic market and exports to
India.
The 1990s also witnessed a string of crucial mergers, acquisitions and alliances on
the Foods and Beverages front. In 1992, the erstwhile Brooke Bond acquired
Kothari General Foods, with significant interests in Instant Coffee. In 1993, it
acquired the Kissan business from the UB Group and the Dollops Ice-cream
business from Cadbury India.
Finally, BBLIL merged with HUL, with effect from January 1, 1996. The internal
restructuring culminated in the merger of Pond's (India) Limited (PIL) with HUL
in 1998. The two companies had significant overlaps in Personal Products,
Speciality Chemicals and Exports businesses, besides a common distribution
system since 1993 for Personal Products. The two also had a common management
pool and a technology base. The amalgamation was done to ensure for the Group,
benefits from scale economies both in domestic and export markets and enable it
to fund investments required for aggressively building new categories.
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 of the company's wheat business. In 2002, HUL
acquired the government's remaining stake in Modern Foods.
In 2003, HUL acquired the Cooked Shrimp and Pasteurised Crabmeat business of
the Amalgam Group of Companies, a leader in value added Marine Products
exports.
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
45,000 Shakti entrepreneurs covering over 100,000 villages across 15 states and
reaching to over 3 million homes.
In 2002 In 2002, HUL made its foray into Ayurvedic health & beauty centre
category with the Ayush product range and Ayush Therapy Centr es. Hindustan
Unilever Network, Direct to home business was launched in 2003 and this was
followed by the launch of ‘Pure-it’ water purifier in 2004.
In 2007, the Company name was formally changed to Hindustan Unilever Limited
after receiving the approval of share holders 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.
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Hindustan Unilever Limited is the Indian arm of the Anglo-Dutch company –
Unilever. Both Unilever and HUL have established themselves well in the Fast
Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) category. In India, the company offers many
households brands like, Dove, Lifebuoy, Lipton, Lux, Pepsodent, Ponds, Rexona,
Sunsilk, Surf, Vaseline etc. Some of its efforts were also rewarded when four of
HUL brands found place in the ‘Top 10 brands’ list for the year 2008 published in
The Economic Times.
Unilever was a result of the merger between the Dutch margarine company,
Margarine Unie, and the British soap-maker, Lever Brothers, way back in 1930.
For 70 years, Unilever was the undisputed market leader but now faces tough
competition from Proctor & Gamble and Colgate-Palmolive.
HUL is also known for its strong distribution network in India. In order to further
strengthen its distribution in the rural areas and to empower the local women, HUL
launched a Project Shakti in 2000 in a district in Andhra Pradesh. The idea behind
this project was to create women entrepreneurs and provide them with micro-credit
and training in enterprise management, which would enable them to create self-
help groups and become direct-to-home distributors of HUL products. Today
Project Shakti is present across 80,000 villages in 15 states and is helping many
underprivileged women earn their livelihood.
As the per-capita income of India is increasing along with the Indian population.
So, the future for the FMCG Companies is bright. To analysis the past performance
& the future demand of HUL, FMCG products we have considered following
points:
OBJECTIVE OF STUDY
The main objective of this project is to find, what are the steps Hindustan
Unilever Ltd. is adapting to be market leader and to differentiate itself from its
competitors.
What is the steps company is utilizing to find current trend in the market.
To find the market share of the HUL brands and its competitive brands.
To determine the key areas of strength and weakness for HUL brands To
develop a promotion plan for brand communication of the HUL
RESEARCH METHODLOGY
There is large no. of FMCG companies in the market, to find the defining strategies
used, the methodology used is interview and survey method.
For this research study, primary data as well as secondary data was collected
Primary Data has been collected through personal contact. For this purpose both
questionnaireand one-on-one interview was considered with the consumers, shop
owners and distributors & suppliers of the company.
Secondary data has collected from magazines, newspaper, company literature and
websites.
Data analysis:
Analyzing codes to each question were awarded. thereafter which aws written and
than analysed
MAJOR FINDINGS
Major competitors
1. Dabur
2. Jhandu
3. Johnson &Johnson
4. Cavin Care
7. ITC
8. Gillette
1. Informal investigation
• Visit to the shop owners, talked to the distributors and to the consumers in the
locality and surrounding areas.
3. Situational Analysis
• Major Competitors
ITC
Dabur
Cavin Care
Amul
SAMPLING TECHNIQUE
RESEARCH INSTRUMENT
• The first set is to find out about the needs and preferences of the customers and
what they want from in the product and also the level of knowledge about different
products in the market.
• Second set is all about what are the steps company are taking to get about the
information about he changing preferences in the taste and needs of the customers
and what company is doing to sustain their market position as well as to tap new
market.
DATA ANALYSIS
For the analysis of data collected through survey work, a series of steps were
followed which are given in a chronological order
•Each questionnaire was punched into ms-excel sheet thus forming a data base
(punching)
•Further the data was analyzed by using diagrams, graphs, charts etc.
•The graphic rating scale and ranking method was used to measure the response
and attitude of the customer.
Finally, an effort was made to extract meaningful information from analyzed data,
which acted as a base for the recommendations
Due to limitation of time only few people were selected for the study. So the
sample of consumers was not enough to generalize the findings of the study.
The main source of data for the study was primary data with the help of
self- administered questionnaires. Hence, the chances of unbiased
information are less.
A clear direction
The four pillars of our vision set out the long term direction for the company –
where we want to go and how we are going to get there:
• 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 others.
• We will inspire people to take small everyday actions that can add up to a big
difference for the world.
• We will develop new ways of doing business that will allow us to double the size
of our company while reducing our environmental impact. We've always believed
in the power of our brands to improve the quality of people’s lives and in doing the
right thing. As our business grows, so do our responsibilities. We recognise that
global challenges such as climate change concern us all. Considering the wider
impact of our actions is embedded in our values and is a fundamental part of who
we are.
Positive impact
We aim to make a positive impact in many ways: through our brands, our
commercial operations and relationships, through voluntary contributions, and
through the various other ways in which we engage with society.
Continuous commitment
We're also committed to continuously improving the way we manage our
environmental impacts and are working towards our longer-term goal of
developing a sustainable business.
After having fought a bitter price battle for market share with its rivals, Hindustan
Unilever Ltd (HUL), Indian subsidiary of the Anglo- Dutch consumer goods
company Unilever Plc, is now working on a new growth strategy for its laundry
business.
“Price cut or hike is not a long-term growth strategy. Pricing, in fact, is now
passe,” insists Sudhanshu Vats, category head, home care. “Our strategy for
growth, now is focused on product innovation, new consumer and retail trends and
aggressive marketing and promotions,” he said.
This comes even as Unilever is scouting for a potential buyer for its laundry
business in the US.
HUL says it is quite upbeat about the segment and says the laundry segment is one
of its “key growth areas. “We have done key innovations across the product
portfolio and it is working for us,” says Vats. “We successfully migrated from Rin
Supreme to Surf Excel and Wheel Smart Srimati—which was rolled out in 2006—
is also on the right track.”
HUL’s market share in the laundry segment grew to around 37.8% in the quarter
ended June from 35.5% in the same period last year, according the market research
firm ACNielsen. However, this time, the increase was not at the expense of price
war with its multinational rival Procter & Gamble Co. P&G also gained 0.5
percentage points, up to a 7.6% share. Nirma Ltd, the Ahmedabad- based
manufacturer, however, saw its market share dip by 1.7% percentage points to
13.5%.
Wheel, a value brand that, according to Vats contributes around 50% of HUL’s
laundry segment revenues, increased its market share by 2 percentage points in the
same period, with a total share of about 18%.
According to ACNielsen, the laundry industry in India was worth Rs7,908 crore in
2006 and rose 8.4% over 2005. HUL doesn’t report its laundry revenues separately
but puts them under the soaps and detergent category.
In 2006, HUL’s soaps and detergents segment contributed around Rs5,596 crore to
the company’s total sales of Rs12,103 crore. “Laundry has been an attractive
segment in the past and is likely to keep growing in the near future. The recent
price war between companies led to erosion in their profitability but now, the
industry is stabilizing,” says Unmesh Sharma, an analyst at Macquarie Securities
here.
2)SUSTAINABILITY STRATEGY
We have a long-standing set of values and principles that guides our behaviour.
These values underpin our approach to sustainability.
We have always been a business driven by a strong set of values. Today those
values are as important as ever. We now know that the well-being of society and
the environment is critical to our ability to grow.
Today, India is battling multiple issues like water scarcity, poverty, and problems
arising out of low awareness of health, hygiene, and nutrition. If these issues are
not addressed soon, they will create insurmountable barriers to business growth.
We believe that helping society prosper and ensuring a sustainable future for the
planet goes hand in hand with our goal of ensuring growth that is competitive,
profitable, and sustainable for our organisation.
Our contributions have to be substantial and sustainable, which is why we are not
just banking on our philanthropic programmes, but are transforming our core
business practices as well. Even the seemingly small innovations in our brands and
business processes can lead to a big difference in society as we touch the lives of
two out of every three Indians.*
For example, if one household uses Surf Excel detergent, it can conserve two
buckets of water per wash. A million Indian households using Surf Excel can save
enough water for meeting the basic hygiene needs of many Indians. Thus, small
individual actions multiplied with our large consumer base will make a big
difference in combating the issues society faces.
Listening to others and learning from our stakeholders informs our decision-
making, strengthens our relationships and helps us succeed as a business.
These areas have been arrived at using the output from our stakeholder
engagement process and areas which we are poised to address through our
business.
- ‘Invest for your markets – don't do social work, it isn't your ballgame.’
- ‘Please make money out of it. When you make money out of it, things are going
to change.’
4)Governance
We aim to have strong governance structures in place to manage our social and
environmental responsibilities carefully and thoughtfully.
Each of the nine cells (in the daigram shown in Sustainability strategy section) is
owned by an MC member. For the execution of the strategy there is a team of 12
Sustainability Governing Council (SGC) members based on their respective
functions.
The role of the SGC is formalised, with a clear mandate and terms of reference
outlining its mission, purpose, membership, meeting schedule, and reporting
systems.
External commentary
We shared our sustainability strategy with leading external experts from diverse
backgrounds. Below you can read their comments on our sustainability strategy.
‘We are happy with the focus on linking the business processes with corporate
responsibility. Social impact has to be central to business processes, which is
brought about by HUL's strategy. Corporate responsibility via business strategies is
the way forward.’
‘The tying up of your strategic threads is excellent. Ensure that you carry it
through action!’
5)COMPETATIVE STRATEGY
The middle-aged Briton strolling the aisles and checking out the products doesn’t
attract much notice from other shoppers in Mumbai’s Hypercity, the India
hypermarket chain. That’s how Douglas Baillie likes it. Baillie, the managing
director of Hindustan Unilever, India’s premier consumer-products company, wants
to see how his products are stocked, what consumers are buying, and how shoppers
are reacting to competitive brands. It’s primary market research at its most
elemental, and it’s best done incognito.
This is quite a change for Hindustan Unilever, whose executives used to have
emissaries make obeisance at Lever house in downtown Mumbai. “I can’t imagine
any head from Lever House ever visiting other company offices like this,” says an
amazed Damodar Mall, chief executive of innovation and incubation at Pantaloon
Retail, India’s largest retailer and a former manager at Hindustan Unilever.
6)OTHER STRATEGY
SWOT ANALYSIS
STRENGTHS
The company derives 44.3% of its revenues from soaps and detergents,
26.6% from personal care products, 10.5% from beverages, and the rest from
foods, ice creams, exports, and other products.
Low cost of production due to economic of scale. That means higher profits
and / or more competitioners. Better market penetration.
HUL is also one of the country's largest exporters; it has been recognised as
a Golden Super Star Trading House by the Government of India.
Weakness
Opportunities
Increasing per capita national income resulting in higher disposable income.
Globalization.
Threats
HUL's tea business has declined marginally, reason is that, cost pressure is
likely due to rising crude and freight costs.
Mimic of brands.
PEST ANALYSIS
P:
since the budget range is decontrolled, no political effects are envisaged.
E:
increasing per capita income resulting in higher Disposable income
S:
Per capita consumption expected to increase – fashion
T:
Will have to reinforce technology to international levels Once India is a
“fully free” economy
MAJOR FINDINGS
The rapid opening up of the economy resulted in many new avenues of expenditure
for the consumer’s growing income.A sharp drop in interest rates from 18% to 8%
led to explosive demand for consumer durables like white goods, two-wheelers and
automobiles. After all, one could drive out of a car showroom in a Maruti 800 with
a down payment of only Rs. 2000. The home ownership market grew exponentially
as the average age of a home loan borrower dropped from 50 in 1999 to 30 in
2004. Mobile phone ownership and usage exploded due to its amazing lifestyle and
convenience benefits as well as lower prices. Entertainment, Leisure and Travel
sectors also boomed.
The lure of new avenues of expenditure in products and services led to consumers
restricting their expanse on FMCG. It is not that they bathed less often or brushed
their teeth less often or indeed washed their clothes less often. But they did
downtrade to lower priced substitutes from higher quality brands. For example, a
consumer buying six tablets of Lux in a month went to buying three of Lux and
three cheaper brands. Or a consumer buying Surf Excel for her clothes mixed it
with a cheaper powder. As a result of this shift in spending patterns, the FMCG
market declined in value in the last four years creating a major challenge for
growth.
Focused on FMCG In 2000, 75% of our sales came from FMCG businesses. The
rest came from several non-FMCG businesses which were not profitable, and did
not offer prospects for long-term leadership. Besides, they were a drain on the core
FMCG business, both in terms of resource and focus.
Today they are a focused on FMCG company with our branded business
accounting for over 90% of sales, consisting of 35 brands across 20 categories.
These will be their main engines of growth, with higher levels of resource
concentration, be it technology, people talent or media spend.
Building blocks of a strong Foods business
Penetration levels in several of the categories and consumption levels in all of the
categories is low by any comparison.Across the world, they are seeing a strong
correlation between income levels and the size of FMCG markets.Over the next 10
years, per capita income in India is likely to touch China’s current levels. At those
levels, the FMCG market will be over Rs.100,000 crores from a current value of
Rs.40,000 crores. This is an opportunity that they have to seize.
Their main challenge was to reverse the downtrading in the categories and re-
establish the relevance of their brands in the mind of the consumer. In 2000, they
had 110 brands, many undifferentiated and lacking scale. They chose to focus on
35 power brands covering all consumer appeal and price segments. They are
already seeing the benefits. Six brands – Brooke Bond, Lifebuoy, Lux, Fair &
Lovely, Rin and Wheel – have emerged as mega brands in the last five years, each
with sales of more than Rs.500 crores.
Better Value
The first step was to ensure that they offer world class quality and real
differentiation backed by technology to give them the advantage over low priced
competition. They have invested over Rs.400 crores, or 5% of sales, in the last
three years to upgrade the brands. In several cases they reduced prices to make the
brands more affordable. Better quality and more affordable prices have increased
the value to the consumer. They have also launched several low unit size and price
packs for single use to make the brands more accessible to all income groups. For
example, they are the first to introduce a branded toothpaste in a tube at Rs.5 and a
branded quality shampoo in a bottle at Rs.5.
Perhaps the most significant change has been to move the brands beyond merely
making functional claims to playing a bigger and deeper role in the lives of
consumers. They had to move from selling a soap or a detergent to something far
more important and central to the consumer’s life. How often have we heard
someone say, “A soap is a soap is a soap!” Or indeed, “All detergents clean clothes
as well”.
In the case ofLifebuoy, it was only when they associated it with the promise of
health and protection against disease that it claimed a larger space in the
consumer’s mind. It moved from being a mere soap to a health essential. Today
Lifebuoy, their oldest brand, has grown at over 15% for the last three years.
Similarly, in the laundry market, Surf Excel went well beyond the benefit of ‘great
clean’ by saving two buckets of water with every wash. Imagine the importance of
that benefit to consumers in cities, who often get running water for only a couple
of hours a day. Surf Excel is one of their fastest growing brands today.
Both Lifebuoy and Surf Excel have succeeded because they are relevant to two
key concerns of the Indian housewife: family health and the scarcity of water.
Their recent reorganization leverages the talent pool from across 16 global
technology centres, of which four are in India.In all, they have over 4,000 high
quality minds across Unilever working relentlessly to provide new benefits that
make a real difference to the consumers.
Hindustan Lever has historically had a strong bond with its customers. They have
strengthened this and reinvented the way they manage their distribution channels
and their customers. The sales structure has been transformed to leverage scale and
build expertise in servicing Modern Trade and Rural Markets. They have also de-
layered their sales force to improve the response times and service levels.
In the pursuit of growth, they have also begun to nurture some acorns for the
future. These are both new businesses and new ways of engaging with consumers.
Their entry into Water Purifiers, through Pureit, shows great promise. Pureit
delivers 100% protection against all water-borne diseases. It provides water which
is as safe as boiled water, without needing electricity or continuous tap water
supply. At 17 paise per litre, it is extremely affordable for the common man. They
have launched it in Tamil Nadu and are fine-tuning all aspects of the business
system before a phased national launch.
In urban India, Hindustan Lever Network (HLN) is their direct selling initiative
selling a special range of products. It already reaches 1,400 towns with over 3 lakh
consultants. Besides reach, HLN enables direct interaction with consumers and
customises solutions for them to give them a complete brand experience.
Our People & Organisation
They have restructured the company, integrating eight Profit Centres into two
Divisions – Home and Personal Care (HPC) and Foods. The result is a simpler and
leaner organisation, less hierarchical with fewer levels and greater empowerment.
This has eliminated complexity and speeded up decision making. Today the
company is far more youthful in attitude and spirit. There is greater openness and
transparency.
To ensure that Hindustan Lever remains competitive in the long-term, they have
made significant investments in product quality, pricing and marketing. As
mentioned earlier, the investment in product quality alone has been in excess of Rs.
400 crores, or 5% of our sales.
In addition there has been the cost of defending their market position. Recently an
international competitor attacked their laundry business led by a price reduction of
as much as 50%. They acted with speed and determination leveraging all their past
experience in India and internationally. They have been able to fully protect their
market leadership and share, albeit sacrificing short-term profit. They made this
necessary trade-off as market share is the best means of sustaining future profit.
Over time, their stronger market positions will surely lead to greater long-term
profit.
• Bathing soaps : Lux, Lifebuoy, Liril, Hamam, Breeze, Dove, Pears and Rexona
• Ayurvedic: Ayush
• Coffee : Bru
Pricing
Make no mistake. Second P of marketing is not another name for blindly lowering
prices and relying on this strategy alone to increase sales dramatically.
The strategy used by Hindustan Unilever Ltd(HUL) is for matching the value that
customer pays to buy the product with the expectation they have about what the
production is worth to them.
Hindustan Unilever Ltd(HUL) has launched various products which cater to all
customer segments. So every customer segment has different price expectation
from the product. Therefore maximizing the returns involves identifying right price
level for each segment, and then progressively moving through them.
Physical Distribution –
“Place” BRAND ISN’T THE ONLY ANY MORE.Marketers and finance manager
need a new term to evaluate their business:
Distribution Equity. It takes much more time and effort to build, but once built,
distribution equity is much together to erode.
You can set up a state-of –the-art manufacturing facility, hire the hottest strategies
on the block, swamp prime television with best Ads, but the end of it all, you
would be know of selling your products. The cardinal task before the Indian market
is managing is to shoe-horn its product on retail shelves. Buyers are paying for
distribution equity not brand equity and market shares.
Why does the company need distribution equity more anything in India? With
technology and competitive pressure slash in it is becoming increasing difficult for
marketers to retain a unique product differentiation for ling period. In a product
and price parity situation, the brand that sells more is the one that reaches the
highest number of customers.
India – The operations involve over 2,000 suppliers and associates. HUL's
distribution network, comprising about 4,000 redistribution stockists, covering 6.3
million retail outlets reaching the entire urban population, and about 250 million
rural consumers.television has already primed and population for consumption, and
the marketer who can get to the to the consumer ahead of competition will give a
hard – to – overtake lead.
But getting their means managing wildly different terrains-climate, language,
value system, life style, transport and communication network. And your brand
equity isn’t going to help when it comes to tackling these issues. Own distribution
network consist of clearing and forwarding (C&F) agents & distribution stockiest.
This network of distribution can either contact wholesalers and which in turn
retailers or the distributors can contact to the retailers directly. Once the stock
product reaches retailers, the prospective customers can have access to the product.
Hindustan Unilever Ltd(HUL) distributes the product in the manner stated above.
Take home segment – this describes product that are normally purchased
in supermarkets, taken home consumed at a later stage.
Surf Excel was introduced in 1959. It is apioneer in the Indian detergent powder
market, Surf Excel has constantly upgraded itself over the years, to answer the
constantly changing washing needs of the Indian homemaker. Today Surf Excel
offers outstanding stain removal ability on a wide range of stains. Surf Excel quick
wash is powered with a path-breaking technology- it reduces water consumption
and time taken for rinsing by 50%. It is a significant benefit, given the acute water
scarcity in most of India.
VIM BAR
Created in 1885, the Vim brand is still innovating and using the magic of natural
ingredients to create unbeatable results over a hundred years later.
Key Facts
Vim was the original hand dishwashing brand: so we invented the whole
category!
Vim is sold in four continents, is the leading hand dishwashing brand in
twenty countries, and is available to more than 2 billion people around the world.
Vim began life as a soap (both in England, and in Thailand, where King
Rama V asked Unilever to supply his household with soap), but is now available as
a complete range of hand dishwashing – including bars, powders and liquids.
Cif- The World’s leading cream cleaner which gives you the power to deal with the
toughest dirt is now in India.
Key Facts
Cif is the number 1 cream cleaner in the World.
Food brands
HUL is one of India’s leading food companies. Our passion for understanding what
people want and need from their food - and what they love about it - makes our
brands a popular choice
In the year 1962, Brooke Bond India creates the branded roast and
ground coffee segment launching Deluxe Green Label. 1968 gave
birth to the first instant coffee chicory mix under the brand name
Bru.
Key Facts
Number 1 Coffee brand in India
Enjoys a rich heritage, came into existence in 1962 under the brand name
Deluxe Green Label
Unilever is the world's biggest ice cream manufacturer, operating under the
Heartbrand.
Heartbrand products are sold in more than 40 countries worldwide and has
an annual turnover of €5 billion
TAJ MAHAL
Taj Mahal is the most premium brand of tea in the Indian market.
It was the first brand to launch tea bags and is the only tea brand in India to
Launched first in the US in 1957; is one of the leading brands of Unilever globally.
Lakme was the first major beauty brand in India and takes pride in being the expert
on Indian Beauty for over 50 years.
It is complete beauty brand spanning colour cosmetics, skin care & hair
styling products and extending to beauty services through the network of Lakme
Beauty Salons.
Its bond with beauty and fashion is manifested through the Lakme Fashion
Week, which is now the largest fashion event of its kind in the country.
Lakme has a foot print of over 1200 assisted sales outlets, which is the
largest span of outlets with “Beauty Advisors” in the country.
Lifebuoy, an undisputed market leader for 112 years, has a compelling vision “to
make 5 billion people across the world, feel safe and secure by meeting their
personal care hygiene & health needs”
Key facts
Undisputed Leader in the soaps market of India, with 18.4% share.
Pureit is the world’s most advanced in-home water purifier. Pureit, a breakthrough
offering of Hindustan Unilever (HUL), provides complete protection from all
water-borne diseases, unmatched convenience and affordability.
Pureit’s unique Germkill Battery technology kills all harmful viruses and bacteria
and removes parasites and pesticide impurities, giving you water that is "as safe as
boiled water". It assures your family 100% protection from all water-borne
diseases like jaundice, diarrhea, typhoid and cholera. What’s more, it doesn’t need
gas, electricity or continuous tap water supply.
Pureit not only renders water micro-biologically safe, but also makes the water
clear, odourless and good-tasting. Pureit does not leave any residual chlorine in the
output water The output water from Pureit meets stringent criteria for
microbiologically safe drinking water, from one of the toughest regulatory agencies
in the USA, EPA (Environmental Protection Agency).
PRODUCT INNOVATIONS
First we had to understand the hand wash process really well. Typically people
keep rinsing till all the lather has gone. That often takes four rinses, which means
four buckets of water.
We knew we could cut the number of rinses by adding one of a number of anti-
foam ingredients commonly used in machine-washing detergents. That would
make the lather rinse more quickly. But we also know that people like the foam
when they’re washing because it’s a sign that things are getting clean.
Reduced rinsing
So we had to find just the right ingredient that doesn’t suppress lather significantly
during the main wash, yet aids significant foam reduction during the rinsing step.
We tested several until we found one that doesn’t kick in until the concentration of
surfactant active is lower – in other words when washing is complete and rinsing
begins - then rebalanced the formulation until we got it just right.
This is how new Surf Excel Quick Wash can deliver a good lather at the washing
stage, and reduce the need for the rinsing – saving two bucketfuls of water per
wash.
We have supported the launch of Surf Excel Quick Wash with an advertising
campaign that promotes the message that you can have cleaner clothes with less
lather with the aim of helping to reduce the water used in washing even more in the
future.
convenient way.
Closer to home
By interacting closely with consumers, we realised that the jelly format of Knorr
Stock Pot is very close to home-made bouillon in how it looks and smells and how
you use it. Unilever chefs and product developers worked closely together to cook
and stabilise, in a natural way, rich bouillons with big and fresh pieces of
vegetables and herbs. We have applied for patents around this innovative
technology.
Knorr Stock Pot is easy to use and melts naturally into food, developing a great
aroma and taste, while keeping the salt dosage in the end dish flexible. The
protected packaging locks in the goodness of the bouillon, requiring no artificial
preservatives.
Global launch
Consumers around the world are enjoying Knorr Stock Pot. The first country to
launch in 2007 was China, where there was no bouillon cube market, and soup-
consumption is very high. Chinese home-cooks love the convenient way to create
the dense soups their mothers and grandmothers made. Now, home-cooks in the
UK, Ireland, France, Spain, Belgium, Greece and many countries to follow are
expanding their repertoire and creating wonderful, wholesome dishes for their
families.
The idea
In line with the consumer trend for experiencing greater sensory pleasure, we
decided to launch a new product platform that delivered a premium and complex
experience – the ‘blow me away’ concept. This would allow the more discerning
consumer to trade up to a super premium level compared with the core range of
Magnum.
Different challenges
The total offering required a step change in the visual, tactile and organo-leptic
experience. In other words, a unique new sensual shape, perfect finish on the
chocolate coating and exceptional ice cream quality.
We wanted to incorporate the highest ever levels of inclusions. For instance, one
would have sauce combined with chocolate and brownie chunks. Another, almond
pieces smothered in chocolate and caramel sauce. And we wanted it delivered in an
impulse format, by which we mean ice cream on a stick rather than in a tub.
All of this demanded inspired creativity from our ice cream R&D experts.
New technology
We developed a new forming process based around continuous extrusion that
allowed us to shape in three dimensions whilst dosing the inclusions. Evolved over
a decade by the team at Colworth, this pioneering cold roller technology was set to
revolutionise the stick format.
Packaging design
Developed through Open Innovation with a strategic partner, the novel and visually
attractive packaging is integral to the premium nature of the concept. Smart design
struck the right balance of minimal environmental impact through renewable
material use with effective product protection. What’s more, it establishes a
consumer ritual: remove the seal and open the box to reveal the naked product on a
soft cellulose inlay, surrounded by the ‘gold’ inside of the carton. Reminiscent of a
jewellery box in function and graphic design, each variant has its own signature
colour within the carton.
In-market results
In 2007, we launched Magnum Temptation in Italy, Spain and Switzerland. In
2008, we went into the rest of Europe with a dark chocolate variant. In 2009, we
expanded capacity and introduced a fruit variant to cover the range of consumer
preference.
ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATIONS
In the above pie charts we see the position of various FMCG companies doing
business in india . we can see that HUL is enjoying the position of market leader
and is following by ITC as close second in the market share of FMCG products.
MARKET LEADER-HINDUSTAN UNILEVER LIMITED
As mentioned in the above graph ,hul is enjoying the leader position in the market
and is having highest market share which are followed by the market challengers
like dabur india ltd , nestle,itc etc. in different categories of fmcg products like
shampoos deos, coffee, dish wash etc.
HINDUSTAN UNILEVER LIMITED-COMPETITORS
In some category market challengers are giving high level competition in different
product lines such as ketchup and tooth paste.
So we can see that in overall FMCG business HUL is distantiy ahead of rest of
the companies as far as market share of different product are concerned
CATEGORY WISE SALE GROWTH OF FMCG SECTOR OF HUL IN IN
INDIA
CATEGORY PERCENTAGE
BEVERAGES 13.6%
OTHERS 19.4%
PORTFOLIO STRADDLING THE PYRAMID ACROSS CATEGORIES
AFFLUENT
ASPIRING
STRIVING
CATEGORY LEADERSHIP: LAUNDRY
As mentioned in the above graph ,hul is enjoying the leader position in the market
and is having high market share in home care products.
BUILDING CATEGORY:PROCESSED FOODS
MURI(EAST) 27
STRONG GLOBAL BRAND : DOVE
As mentioned in the above graph ,hul is enjoying the leader position in the market
and is having high market share in personal care products. Dove is a global brand
and used by million of customers,due to various innovations made it is becoming
famous among teenagers and the sales is constantly increasing.
MARKET SHARE OF HINDUSTAN UNILEVER – SKIN CARE PRODUCTS
As mentioned in the above graph ,hul is enjoying the leader position in the market
and is having high market share in personal care products.nivea and garnier are
strong competitors of hul in skin care products to stay ahead it has to do
advertisements and give various promotional offers.
FINANCIAL OVERVIEW
In 2000, we collaborated with Self-Help Groups (SHG) to extend our rural reach.
We partnered with the SHGs by offering them opportunities for business. By
promoting micro-enterprises, our initiative not only makes great business sense,
but also has a deep social impact. The business objective is to extend our direct
reach into untapped markets and to build brands through local influencers. The
social objective is to provide sustainable livelihood opportunities for
underprivileged rural women.
On an average, a Shakti entrepreneur earns INR 700 - 1000 a month, and since
most of them live below the poverty line, this earning is significant, often doubling
the household income.
Shakti is not only a channel for increasing our reach, the Shakti entrepreneurs are
also brand ambassadors for all HUL brands in rural India. Their relationship with
consumers is forged by their home-to-home contacts, and goes a long way in
building brand loyalty.
Our Shakti initiative can be described in many ways – as a sales and distribution
initiative that delivers growth; a communication initiative that builds brands; a
micro-enterprise initiative that creates livelihoods; and a social initiative that
improves the standard of life in rural India by providing quality products. What
makes Shakti scalable and sustainable is the fact that it contributes not only to our
business, but also to the community it is a part of.
HINDUSTAN UNILEVER LIMITED: CREATING A POSITIVE
IMPACT ON THE SOCIETY
The United Nations reports that people need a minimum of 50 litres of water a day
for drinking and other basic needs. In India, more than 50%of the population lives
on less than 10 litres of water a day. Approximately 70% of the total water is
consumed by the agriculture sector. India is an agri-economy, and as its population
grows, there will be an increase in water consumption by the agriculture sector.
These issues are likely to be exacerbated by climate change, making access to
water an issue for farmers and society.
What we do
We have identified water conservation as an issue we would like to focus our
energies on. We are working in close partnership with our stakeholders to conserve
precious drops of water. Water management has been a key area of focus for HUL
across the entire value chain.
Water
We will conserve water by working on a wide range of locally relevant initiatives
and partnerships for water conservation and spread awareness about the issue
amongst our consumers and communities.
We are working with specialised NGO partners in the field of water conservation,
and use various models with specific performance indicators and evaluation
procedures. We began this journey seven years ago to build our learning. Since
then, we have been engaged in successful projects on water conservation across
different terrains in India which face acute shortage of water.
Project Silvassa
In April 2004, Vanarai and HUL started a project in Karchond and later in Dapada,
Pati, Sindoni, and Silvassa. Till March 2010, the project has made an impact on
water and soil conservation. The project has ensured sustainable development of
water and land resources, locals have attained self-sufficiency in basic needs of
food, water, fodder and fuel, and local employment opportunities have been
generated through increased economic activity.
The other highlights are:
- More than 67 million litres of water have been harvested since 2004
- Additional income of INR 160 lakhs was accrued to villagers during project
period
- 325 families have benefited under various programmes, 130 families now have
access to the public toilet facility
- Soil conservation treatment has been carried out on 282 hectares of land
- 12,000 mango seedlings have been planted
- 22 bore wells and 20 open wells were recharged
Project Puducherry
In 2008-09, HUL's Puducherry unit partnered with DHAN Foundation, Madurai
and identified eight village ponds for renovation to enhance the water availability.
One of the unique aspects of the project was to form social capital by organizing
villagers into pond association and empower them to execute the physical
renovation work. The pilot project has improved water availability in eight village
ponds by harvesting monsoon run-off. Rainwater harvesting storage of 22300 cu.
meter has fulfilled the multiple domestic needs of 4519 households in eight
hamlets and 346 acres are now irrigated due to the rejuvenation of ground water.
Livelihoods
Enhancing livelihoods has been another area where we have built partnerships to
make a difference.
We have developed innovative distribution channels, like Shakti, based on micro-
enterprise models as part of our business process. We have also implemented
community initiatives to enhance livelihoods with NGO partners, such as:
The short term courses offered by iLEAD are attuned to the demands and needs of
the industry leading to more relevant employment opportunities, thus leading to
higher returns. This is a win-win model for local communities and businesses.
What is remarkable is that the youth from the iLEAD programme are pitching in
by mobilising new trainees, and providing necessary counselling about taking up
jobs outside their village through an alumni association they set up! Youngsters are
also given necessary space and advice when they want to establish their own
enterprises.
These are some highlights of recognition we have received from external bodies on
our social, economic and environmental performance during 2009 and 2010.
Awarded top Indian company in the 'FMCG' sector for the third consecutive
year at Dun & Bradstreet-Rolta Corporate Awards, 2009
HUL ranked fourth in the ‘Top Companies for Leaders, 2009' (Asia Pacific
region) and 10th place in the global rankings in a survey carried out by Hewitt
Associates
HUL received the Award for Excellence in HR in 2010 from Confederation
of Indian Industry (CII). This is a rigorous fact-based assessment which is
conducted by a team of external assessors. HUL has won this award for the third
consecutive year.
Awarded Customer and Brand Loyalty Award by Business India & Business
Standard in 2009
Awarded for Best Corporate Social Responsibility Practice at the Social &
Corporate Governance Awards 08-09 by BSE, Nasscom Foundation and Times
Foundation
Awarded in the Category 'FMCG Manufacturing Supply Chain Excellence'
at the Third Express, Logistics & Supply Chain Awards by APL Logistics,
Indiatimes, Mindscape, Business India Group in 2009
Our Orai unit received the Gold Excellence award and the Khalilabad unit
received the Silver Excellence award in the environment category by Greentech
Foundation in 2009
HUL's Goa factory won a Gold Trophy at the Greentech Awards in 2009 the
manufacturing sector category for their outstanding work in Safety Management
Project Shakti won the Silver Trophy at the EMPI-Indian Express Indian
Innovation Awards, 2009
Kwality Wall's Swirl's awarded 'The Franchisor of the year' for the Ice-
cream parlour category by Franchise India in 2009
HUL brands have topped Brand Equity's ‘India’s Most Trusted Brands
Survey’ rankings for 2010. Six HUL brands (Lux, Lifebuoy, Clinic Plus, Pond's,
Fair & Lovely and Pepsodent) feature in the top 10 and eight in the top 20. All
together there are 17 HUL brands among the ‘100 most trusted brands’ in the 2010
survey. Additionally, five HUL brands (Fair & Lovely, Lifebuoy, Lux, Pepsodent
and Pond’s) featured in the list of ten Hall of Fame brands. This recognition was
accorded to brands which consistently ranked high in the survey over the last 10
years since its inception. In 2009, three HUL brands featured in the top ten, and
seven in the top twenty.
SUGGESTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
As it is obvious from the study the products of HUL have approached the
high water mark of sale in the global consumer market. However, there are
genuine reasons to observe that they have yet to attain the cutting edge status
on many counts. In thisregard a few suggestions can be made to give the
required boost to the marketingprospects of HUL products. These can be
summed up as follows:
An attempt should be made by HUL management to tap all the
potentialsoffered by the global market by devoting a more substantial,
efficient and better equipped resource base. This task can be accomplished in
the first place by implementing a stronger and more ending distribution
channel for various products so that even those sections of consumers who
are not accessible so easily, can be covered with greater ease.
Efficient infrastructural base coupled with better and more
comprehensiveadvertising strategies should be resorted to; though HUL is
presently surfingahead of others on the path of taking some great initiatives
it should be moreconcerned about it for the purpose of corporate image
building.
The price structure for various products should be more within the limit of
affordability for consumers; the grassroots consideration in this regard
should notbe ignored. Here, the policy of loco-centric rather than uniform
price structurewould certainly be more advantageous.
HUL should go for more planned and sensible marketing and
advertisingstrategies with a view to accomplishing the task of global brand
image buildings.
Hypermarketing and retailing network should get special attention as
vitalcomponents of HUL’s marketing policy
CONCLUSION
In recent years, the FMCG sector declined due to downtrading. Also because of
presence of large number of companies trying to seize this opportunity, this force
the old HUL for the change and thus, their transformation has resulted in a new
HUL, which has successfully faced this challenge and reversed this trend. It has
done so by substantially strengthening their brands and building capabilities. This
has already begun to yield benefits and they are returning to growth. Volume
growth is being followed by value growth, which in turn is bringing profit growth.
India is one of the most exciting markets offering great potential.Over the next 10
years, the per capita income in India is likely to double. In FMCG, there is an
opportunity to catalyze penetration, increase usage, and upgrade consumers. As a
result, the FMCG market is expected to grow to over Rs.100,000 crores from its
current base of Rs.40,000 crores.
The new Hindustan Lever see an exciting opportunity for growth. They have 35
powerful brands covering all segments, with leading market positions in most.
Today, these are stronger and more relevant to the consumer than ever. The people
are energized by the scale of the opportunity and determined to seize it. The scale
of the business and operations gives them the resources needed.They are delivering
good services and the changes they brought in the products are well taken by the
customers, by this they are generating sustainable profitable growth
BIBLIOGRAPHY
WEBSITES
www.hul.co.in
www.fmcg.com
www.google.com
www.economictimes.com
BOOKS