“Coping strategies Adopted by unilever

In Pakistan to Overcome the

World wide Economic crisis in

International Business.”

Letter of AuthorizationThis research report on “Coping strategies adopted by unilever in Pakistan to overcome

the world wide economic crisis in International Business.” was assigned by international

business analysis course instructor, Sir Arshad Husain. The matter presented for reader in

this report is authorized by our course instructor.

[2]

Letter of transmittalWe would like to request to our course instructor Mr. Arshad Husain to kindly accept this

report and take into consideration to research work that we have accomplished according

to course requirement of preparing a term report on “Coping strategies adopted by

unilever in Pakistan to overcome the world wide economic crisis in International

Business.” in order to have a better understanding of the practical implications of

international business analysis

[3]

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:This report has contributed a major accumulation to our knowledge of the topic. We are Thankful to Allah for making it possible for us, and to our course instructor who supported us throughout this research We are also thankful to the management of Lever Brothers Pakistan Limited, RF, especially Mr. Shahzeb Mehmood who provided useful guidance and information for understanding the practical work of the organization to understand the global presence of Unilever Company.

TABLE OF CONTENTSEXECUTIVE SUMMARY

[4]

CHAPTER 1INTRODUCTION pg.7

1.1 GLOBAL BRANDING- MARRIED TO THE WORLD1.2 WORLWIDE ECONOMIC CRISES

1.3INTRODUCTION TO THE COMPANYCHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW pg.14

2.1 CONCEPTS AND TERMS USEDCHAPTER 3

REASEARCH AND FINDINGS pg.18

3.1 GLOBAL OVERVIEW3.2 GLOBAL MARKETING STRATEGY3.3 FACTORS LEADING UNILEVER TO A GLOBAL SUCCESS3.4 BRAND FOCUS3.5 GLOBAL BRANDS MEETING LOCAL NEEDS3.6 GLOBAL ADVERTISING3.7 MEDIUMS FOR ADVERTISING3.8 BRAND AWARENESS SURVEY3.9 INTERVIEW

CHAPTER 4ANALYSIS pg.36

4.1 CUSTOMER ANALYSIS4.2 SWOT

CHAPTER 5

RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION pg.46

References

[5]

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

How global branding enables companies to reach the highest level of success and

growth is the crux of this thesis. It basically revolves around the global success of

unilever and how it helped the company to be the best in the business, even in the

global recession. The introduction to the topic and the company itself and then the

research and findings about the company’s global scenario makes it up. The analyses

that have been undertaken are the competitors’ analysis and the SWOT analysis. A

brief survey is also represented which highlights the consumer perception of global

brands. The global marketing strategy as well as its advertising has been discusses.

Besides that some overview about economic crises in all over the world has been given

that how economic crises has spread, and it impacts unilever as well, but how unilever

cope the economic crises. A few recommendations to further the success of Unilever

are made to conclude the report.

[6]

CHAPTER 1INTRODUCTION

[7]

1.1 GLOBAL BRANDING-MARRIED TO THE WORLD

Global brand is one which is perceived to reflect the same set of values around the world.

In the example of the children's toothpaste, the "pat on the head" is only an execution

device to express the parent's appreciation for the child's action, and corresponds to a set

of brand values such as: "Likes children and helps them to be more self-reliant in taking

care of their hygiene; Is appreciative of the concern parents have for their children’s

hygiene," etc. If, in a particular market, a communication device does not work as well as

in other markets, it can (and should) be replaced with one that communicates the intended

set of values or "brand character" which form the backbone of a global brand strategy.

GLOBAL SUCCESS ATTRIBUTES

This report focuses on the global success of UNILEVER. Many things add up for a

company to be a global success. The global culture is very competitive with more and

more brands making it across their local boundaries. The principle is that a global brand

requires the building of compelling relationships across a diverse spectrum of brand

audiences. Before a solid foundation can be established, companies must determine the

brand’s core attributes, personality, and positioning by appraising its market category,

target consumers, and competitors, as well as the attitudes and beliefs of their own

employees. In addition, governmental legislation and taxation, political issues, social and

environmental pressures, cultural differences, local customs, religious restrictions,

consumer tastes, and different languages will need to be considered. Accounting for all

these details in one worldwide brand is no small feat and, while it is often attempted, it is

truly achieved by only a few consumer brands.

Global Recession

[8]

In economics, a recession is a general slowdown in economic activity in a country over a

sustained period of time, or a business cycle contraction. During recessions, many

macroeconomic indicators vary in a similar way. Production as measured by Gross

Domestic Product (GDP), employment, investment spending, capacity utilization,

household incomes and business profits all fall during recessions.

Governments usually respond to recessions by adopting expansionary macroeconomic

policies, such as increasing money supply, increasing government spending and

decreasing taxation.

In a 1975 New York Times article, economic statistician Julius Shiskin suggested several

economic indicators that identify a recession; these indicators included the rule 'two

successive quarterly declines in GDP'. Over time, the other rules have been largely

forgotten, and a recession is now often identified as a period when a country's GDP falls

(negative real economic growth) for at least two quarters. Some economists prefer a more

robust definition of a 1.5% rise in unemployment within 12 months.

In the United States the Business Cycle Dating Committee of the National Bureau of

Economic Research (NBER) is generally seen as the authority for dating US recessions.

The NBER defines an economic recession as: "a significant decline in economic activity

spread across the country, lasting more than a few months, normally visible in real GDP

growth, real personal income, employment (non-farm payrolls), industrial production,

and wholesale-retail sales." Almost universally, academics, economists, policy makers,

and businesses defer to the determination by the NBER for the precise dating of a

recession's onset and end.

A recession has many attributes that can occur simultaneously and can include declines in

coincident measures of activity such as employment, investment, and corporate profits.

A severe (GDP down by 10%) or prolonged (three or four years) recession is referred to

as an economic depression, although some argue that their causes and cures can be

different.

Stock market and recessions

[9]

The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States

and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article or

discuss the issue on the talk page. (September 2008)

Some recessions have been anticipated by stock market declines. In Stocks for the Long

Run, Siegel mentions that since 1948, ten recessions were preceded by a stock market

decline, by a lead time of 0 to 13 months (average 5.7 months), while ten stock market

declines of greater than 10% in the DJIA were not followed by a recession[

The real-estate market also usually weakens before a recession However real-estate

declines can last much longer than recessions.

Global recessions

There is no commonly accepted definition of a global recession, IMF regards periods

when global growth is less than 3% to be global recessions. The IMF estimates that

global recessions seem to occur over a cycle lasting between 8 and 10 years. During what

the IMF terms the past three global recessions of the last three decades, global per capita

output growth was zero or negative.

Economists at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) state that a global recession would

take a slowdown in global growth to three percent or less. By this measure, three periods

since 1985 qualify: 1990-1993, 1998 and 2001-2002.

A few other countries have seen the rate of growth of GDP decrease, generally attributed

to reduced liquidity, sector price inflation in food and energy, and the U.S. slowdown.

These include the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Japan, Australia, China, India, New

Zealand and many countries within the EEA. In some, the recession has already been

confirmed by experts, while others are still waiting for the fourth quarter GDP growth

data to show two consecutive quarters of negative growth. India along with China is

experiencing an economic slowdown but not a recession.

1.2 INTRODUCTION TO THE COMPANY: UNILEVER

‘Meeting the everyday needs of people everywhere’

[10]

Unilever is currently one of the most successful consumer goods companies in the world

and they have set their ambitious targets for growth, in traditional and new markets and

channels, to keep it that way. The global presence of Unilever contributes to its major

success and competitive edge. The corporation sells products in over 150 countries and

has annual sales of approximately $ 46 billion [£31,5bn]. Unilever controls subsidiaries

in more than 90 countries and employs 295,000 (in 2000) people.

Unilever is one of the world’s top three food firms after Nestle and

Kraft and the world’s second largest packaged consumer goods

company –behind Procter & Gamble.

BACKGROUND

Unilever was formed in 1930 when the Dutch margarine company Margarine Unie

merged with British soap maker Lever Brothers. The companies were competing for the

same raw materials (e.g. oilseeds), both were involved in large-scale marketing of

household products and both used similar distribution channels. Between them, they had

operations in over 40 countries. Margarine Unie grew through mergers with others

margarine companies in the 1920s. Lever Brothers was founded in 1885 by William

Hesketh Lever. Lever established soap factories around the world, and had plantations in

many Third World countries. In 1917, Lever began to diversify into foods, acquiring fish,

ice cream and canned foods businesses.

UNILEVER’S PURPOSE

The company focuses on key growth drivers in a number of ways:

Continually reconnect with consumers to better anticipate their needs and desires

Develop and nurture close working relationships with customers to create

communication and sales support for their particular consumers

[11]

Constantly develop new technologies that will deliver product benefits in better

ways and Explore new communication opportunities.

UNILEVER BRANDS

Everywhere they operate, they work to understand people's lives, needs

and aspirations and to provide food and home & personal care products

that help them, even just a little. Since their Path to Growth strategy was

launched in 2000, they have reduced the number of brands they manage

from 1600 to some 400 leading brands and just under 250 tail brands. This enables them

to concentrate resources on a portfolio of leading brands with strong growth potential that

best meet the needs and aspirations of people around the world. They make the most of

their investment, producing exciting innovations and imaginative ways to capture the

attention of customers and consumers. As a leader in world markets Unilever makes

products including home care, skin and hair care, deodorants and antiperspirants, their

products meet people's diverse requirements to clean and care for their homes, their

clothes and themselves.

The biggest brands have international appeal because they meet a

need or fulfill a desire that people share, no matter where they live.

Unilever’s two big brands are, Dove and Knorr. Some of their

brands stay close to home with powerful roles in their own right in

one or a few countries, for example, PG Tips and Marmite in the UK, Maille in France,

Breyers ice cream, Ragú and I Can’t Believe It's Not Butter in the US, and soy-based

drink brand AdeS in Latin America.Suave and Vaseline in the US, Lifebuoy in India,

Robijn in the Netherlands, Cream Silk in the Philippines are some of the highlights from

Home & Personal Care's portfolio. Over half of the sales are generated by their Foods

brands, which include Knorr, Flora, Becel, Hellmann's , Lipton , Iglo, BirdsEye,

Findus, Rama, BlueBand, Slim Fast, Bertolli , Ice cream 'heart' brand and Cadbury

chocolates In many parts of the world they lead the home care market with brands such

[12]

as Omo, Surf, Skip, Cif and Comfort Their leading personal care brands include Dove,

Lux, Sunsilk, Ponds, Axe and Lynx.

Unilever is currently one of the most successful consumer goods

companies in the world and they have set their ambitious targets

for growth, in traditional and new markets and channels, to keep it

that way and expand even more. The deep roots in local cultures

and markets around the world are their unparalleled inheritance

and the foundation for their future growth. They bring the wealth of knowledge and

international expertise to the service of local consumers all over the world that is truly

multi-local, multinational.

[13]

CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

The increasing spread and domination of international brands has seemed inevitable for at

least the last 30 years. Investors have historically been extremely confident about the

prospects for branded goods businesses, particularly those owning international brands

like Unilever. And the multinational branded goods owners themselves have shared that

confidence. With their economies of scale, massive spending power and highly

developed management structures, these behemoths have seemed invincible.

Multinationals, in pursuit of the global brand, have rationalized irrational name variants –

In the last few months, Unilever has changed the name of its leading cleaning brand in

the UK but local and regional brands still remain strong.

The multi-layered multinationals simply don’t have the agility and speed to respond to

local needs in every country of the world in the way that locally grounded brands do.

Nimbler, smaller competitors, who are solely focused on their home markets, can adapt

more quickly. None of this has gone unnoticed by global brand owners. Back in India,

[14]

Hindustan Lever is owned respectively by Unilever. It could be argued that the downfall

of all local brands is that they have ambitions to be global brands. It is clear that the

fortunes of both global and local brands will wax and wane with new fashions, new

governments and new technology esp. in the case of multinationals like Unilever.

Perhaps, though, the question we really should be asking is what global and local mean in

the new economy. Most virtual Internet brands are effectively transnational. The word

‘global’ in our marketing vocabularies for some time now and that very coining seems to

recognize that global and local brands need each other. In the end people want both

global and local brands – brands that make them feel part of wider international

community and brands that root them in their home culture as done by unilever

worldwide.

2.1 TERMS AND CONCEPTS USED:

Global Marketing Strategy:

How companies position themselves in different companies and how customers perceive

the value and authenticity of their brand name and products is majorly what a marketing

strategy focuses on Global Marketing strategies become increasingly important within a

modern global company. No firm competing regionally, or world-wide, can afford to

pursue marketing strategies that are based solely on national characteristics or potentials.

To succeed in these situations, the marketing effort must consider all global aspects of the

company’s marketing effort and its competitors. Companies must develop characteristics

that, compared with national, regional and global competitors, generate advantages in the

market place. Marketing resources must also be effectively allocated in line with strategic

objectives. 

Global Success Factors:

A company’s many attributes form to make the company a major success. These major

strategies and core competencies of companies make up its global success factors.

[15]

Global Advertising:

Global advertising depends on the culture, value and beliefs of the coutry where the

company wants to place itself. For example in Pakistan the advertisements are way

different than they would be in china or in Australia or in any other country for that

matter.

Mediums for Advertising

Another major part of global branding is mediums for advertising. It depends a lot on

technological potential of countries where the company is doing its operations.

Electronic-media, bill boards, print media and many more mediums are used for this

purpose.

Brand awareness

Brand awareness is a proof of company’s success. It relates to how customers know

about the brand and respond to it. Later in this report a brand awareness survey has been

carried out to make the concept clearer.

Competitors analysis

Its is very important for companies to carry out this analysis to know their position in the

market and to analyze how they can make it better for themselves to improve on their

product and mange to have a competitive edge over their competitors.

SWOT

SWOT analyzes the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that a company

possesses. It is a major help for companies to analyze their weakness and to enhance on

their strengths and opportunities and to overcome the threats that hinder the path to

success.

[16]

CHAPTER 3RESEARCH AND FINDINGS

[17]

3.1 GLOBAL OVERVIEW

Unilever is taking a global brand to worldwide success. For the past thirty years, the

Unilever logo has remained constant, but within a changing global environment, no

company can afford to stand still. So the decision was taken to launch a new Unilever

logo, one that would reflect and support the company’s new mission of ‘adding vitality to

life’. The 25 different icons that now make up the ‘U’ in Unilever represent the company,

its brands, the idea of vitality and the benefits the organization brings to consumers and

the world we all live in. But then the immediate challenge became how to roll out this

new identity to a company the size of Unilever and make sure it is incorporated into all

communication going forward – everything from individual business cards to product

[18]

packaging. Unilever employs some 240,000 employees in 150 countries worldwide. Add

to that the third parties – agencies, printers, consultancies – that work with Unilever on a

global scale and the company potentially faced a significant challenge.

The 25 different icons that make the U of Unilever represent the company, its brands, the

idea of vitality and benefits the organization brings to the consumers all around the

world.

3.2 GLOBAL MARKETING STRATEGY

Unilever’s priority is meeting and responding to their consumers'

needs all around the world. The core building block in Unilever is

the local operating company. These companies are organized into ten

regional groups. Following the announcement of the evolution of its

top management structure in February 2000, in line with their Path to Growth strategy

(elaborated upon further in the project), Unilever now operates with two global divisions

- Foods, headed by Kees Van der Graaf and Home and Personal Care headed by Keki

Dadiseth. 

This structure allows improved focus on foods and home and personal care activities at

both the regional and global levels. It allows for faster decision making and strengthens

Unilever’s capacity for innovation by more effectively integrating research into the

divisional structure. Reporting to their respective divisional executive directors, are the

Unilever Bestfoods and the Home and Personal Care regional presidents, responsible for

the profitability of their regions. The regions remain the driving force behind Unilever,

comprising as they do the operating companies which provide the key interface with

customers and consumers, allowing quick response to the needs of local markets. 

Unilever Bestfoods, Ice Cream and Frozen Foods, has been formed into a global business

as has Foodservice - a new focus, the result of the acquisition of Bestfoods in mid 2000. 

[19]

Unilever's mission is to add vitality to life. It meets everyday needs for nutrition, hygiene,

and personal care with brands that help people feel good, look good and get more out of

life.

Simply speaking, Unilever recognizes that the world in which it operates is

changing. Consumers are increasingly bringing their views as citizens into their buying

decisions, demanding more from the companies behind the brands. They want companies

and brands they trust.

Unilever sees growing consumer need for:

A healthy lifestyle

More variety, quality, taste and enjoyment

Time, as an increasingly precious commodity. 

3.3 FACTORS THAT LEAD TO THE GLOBAL SUCCESS OF

UNILEVER

The biggest factor that leads to the success of Unilever is its quality of brands. These

brands have penetrated well into more than 90 countries of the world. The fact that these

products are of high quality and in different local markets is one of the major factors of

the company’s success.

The following are some of the major regions where the company is providing different

products for those specific areas.

HOME & PERSONAL CARE REGIONS

Home & Personal Care, North America

HPCNA was formed in 1977 by integrating Lever Brothers

Company, Chesebrough-Pond’s and Helene Curtis. HPCNA has

major business and manufacturing facilities across the US and

Canada.

Home & Personal Care, Europe

[20]

HPCE combines 2 businesses: Lever Faberge, operating in Western Europe, and Unipath,

operating on a global basis. HPCE has its HQ in Waterloo, near Brussels, and operates in

16 European countries with 19 factories and 7 development laboratories.

Latin America

The Latin America region has well-established operations in all main markets. HPC

businesses throughout the region have leading shares in the laundry, personal wash, hair,

deodorant, skin and oral categories.

East Asia Pacific

Unilever’s top selling brands in the region are Dove, Sunsilk, Pond’s, Close-UP,

Omo/Persil, Rexona, Lynx/Axe, Cornetto, Lipton Yellow Label, Continental.

Africa, Middle East & Turkey. Top brands in the region are Omo, Lipton, Knorr, Royco,

Lux, Surf, Sunlight, Dinor, Close-up, Key and Signal.

Central Asia & China

Unilever established companies across Central Asia. Top selling brands in this highly

populated region including Lux, Wheel, Lifebuoy, Surf, Rin, Omo, Fair&Lovely,

Sunsilk, Hazeline, Close-up, Zhonghua and Pepsodent. In foods, Lipton, Brooke Bond

and Walls are the best selling brands.

DiverseyLever

DiverseyLever is the world’s leading provider of cleaning and hygiene solutions. The

corporation has operations in more than 60 countries and distribution links to another 40.

DiverseyLever has its head office in Schiphol in the Netherlands and operates

manufacturing facilities around the globe.

UNILEVER BESTFOODS REGIONS

Unilever Bestfoods, North America

[21]

Unilever Bestfoods, North America combines the Lipton and Bestfoods business of both

the United States and Canada. The group provides consumers with a vast range of

products in categories such as tea, salad dressings and margarine and spreads. Unilever

Bestfoods, North America is headquartered in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.

Unilever Bestfoods, Europe

Unilever Bestfoods Europe, headquartered in Rotterdam, stretches right across the

continent incorporating countries from both western and eastern Europe. Unilever’s best-

performing categories include Spread, Savoury, Dressings and Leaf Tea. Top-selling

brands in Europe include Lipton, Knorr, Bertolli, Flora, Becel, and Amore Maille.

Latin America & Slim.fast worldwide

The Latin America region has recently invested in new food categories, particularly

spreads, tea and tomato products. In addition, the region is now also the international

base for the Slim*Fast nutritional product and healthy snack foods business, acquired in

May 2000

East Asia Pacific

The EAP region covers both HPC, and Food Brands. EAP has its regional office in

Singapore. Top-selling brands include Dove, Sunsilk, Pond’s, Close-UP, Omo/Persil,

Rexona, Lynx/Axe, Cornetto, Lipton Yellow Label, Continental.

Africa, Middle East & Turkey

This region covers both HPC, and Food Brands. Top-selling brands include Omo, Lipton,

Knorr, Royco, Lux, Surf, Sunlight, Dinor, Close-up, Key and Signal.

Central Asia & China

The CAC region covers both HPC, and Food Brands. Unilever established companies

across Central Asia. Top selling brands in this highly populated region including Lux,

Wheel, Lifebuoy, Surf, Rin, Omo, Fair&Lovely, Sunsilk, Hazeline, Close-up, Zhonghua

and Pepsodent. In foods, Lipton, Brooke Bond and Walls are the best selling brands.

Foodservice

Foodservice is a global business concerned with food consumed outside the home – in

hospitals, schools, at fast-food restaurants, in work canteens or even from vending

machines.

[22]

Ice Cream and Frozen Foods

The global Ice Cream and Frozen foods business stretches across Europe, North America,

Latin America and Asia. The business is organised on the basis of the following

organisation design principles: * operating companies in specific countries interface with

their local markets * regional strategic business units are responsible for the strategic

leadership of the ice cream category and channels in the region.

GOOD MANAGEMENT

A major part of Unilever’s success is also due to its well-qualified management staff.

Highly skilled employees and enlightened leadership is one of the main factors of

Unilever's success. Both globally and locally, Unilever is people-driven and places much

emphasis on promoting talent and building skills from within its own ranks. Leadership is

an integral part of management at Unilever and a strategic framework for action is

essential. The leadership and strategy process sets the vision, values and goals for the

business. These, in turn, define the company's values and policies and inspire the

organization as a whole. Although the crucial disciplines of day-to-day management are

understood at every level of the business, still leaders play a key role in the development

of the whole company as a whole.

Unilever being one of the world's leading Foods, Home, and Personal Care companies,

has even adopted a comprehensive online leadership training program to strengthen its

corporate leadership development and the implementation of a new competency model.

The new model, called the Leadership Growth Profile, is part of a comprehensive change

program has helped business strategy growth of the company. It is aimed at developing a

more enterprising culture and a change in leadership behavior, and has been specifically

tailored to the Path to Growth strategy and objectives. The model is specifically designed

to educate the leaders in the company to be upgraded as Unilever’s is today a successful

company only as it has worked upon its employees and specially managers to such an

extent that even scholarships are given to exceptional students on the basis that they

would work with the Unilever upon the completion of their education.

[23]

According to Kay Robinson, Leadership Development manager at Unilever

"Management training and development has always been important

to Unilever, But as we bring about change in the corporate culture

and adopt the behavior of the Leadership Growth Profile, we are

looking to Harvard Business School Publishing to provide us with

material that will help our employees continue to develop

themselves."

So Unilever even collaborates with top universities to get assistance regarding the leaders

training as they value their leaders as their assets and acknowledge their contribution in

the success of the company. One of another key tenets in Unilever's leadership

development programmers, is that when highly talented individuals are taken out of their

comfort zones and exposed to a different culture, their leadership capacity is rapidly

developed. Leading from the top, the CEO takes all levels of his employees, who are

highly trained and qualified, hand in hand. Just to include, I have :

Executive Committee

Leading the Committee are the chairmen of Unilever PLC and Unilever NV, the parent

companies. Other members are the global division directors for Unilever Bestfoods and

Home and Personal Care; the Corporate Development Director; the Finance Director and

the Personnel Director.

Niall FitzGerald

Chairman, Unilever PLC and Vice Chairman, Unilever NV (since 1996)

FitzGerald is also non-executive director of Merck & Co (one of the world’s leading

pharmaceutical companies) and Ericsson (one of the world’s biggest suppliers in

[24]

telecommunications, Ericsson is taking the lead in the expansion of mobile infrastructure,

including GSM’s).

1. Niall FitzGerald, CEO of Unilever, the UK's largest advertiser with an annual

spend of nearly a quarter of a billion pounds, accepted the Advertising

Association's invitation to become President of the AA. The Advertising

Association is a federation of 26 trade associations and professional bodies

representing advertisers, agencies, the media and support services. It is the

only body, which speaks for all sides of an industry currently worth over £17

billion per annum.

2. Unilever chairman Niall FitzGerald has recently been named as the most

powerful marketer in the UK. FitzGerald retains the number one spot in

‘Power 100 list’, now in its second year. Power 100 ranks the most influential

people in the industry by criteria such as spending power, personality, brand

strength and contracts.

3. According to annual reports and Bloomberg data, salaries for the highest paid

executives at Britain’s 30 biggest companies rose 67% over the past year to a

medium of £1,2 million. Unilever CEO FitzGerald received a 15% increase in

salary and bonus in 2007, while net income of the company fell 60%.

FitzGerald’s total ‘compensation’ was £1,5 million.

Quest for New and Better

People a Unilever are consistently searching for newer and better innovations to satisfy

consumer needs. This is an on-going effort and continuously they keep coming up

with products and new ideas. These are in the field of food, personal care etc.

etc. According to the interview I did from Mr Shahzeb Mehmood, a manager of Unilever,

“Some of the most important developments in the future will be in the food &

health sector. Unilever is a partner in this effort with world's leading

agencies and institutions. One of the recent examples of this is Flora - a

margarine spread that actually reduces the risk of heart attack.”

[25]

Adding to this he also stated, “This will continue to happen

for all categories and the relevant consumers. Youth are

obviously a big market and we are consciously evolving a

lot of our brands and innovations to meet the expectations

of this highly aware and educated segment

Company Name Vs Product Brand Names

In the SWOT I have identified that the product lines of Unilever such as Lipton, Walls

and Sunsilk seem to eat up the company’s name. It may seem to be doing so, but this is

taken as one of the major successes for Unilever. Unilever knows and when asked by Mr.

Shahzeb, he also replied this by saying that “our brands are our strength. The name of the

brand is what matters when a consumer picks up a bottle of Sunilk. The company name

becomes important in a scenario where we launch an unknown / new brand. Then

consumers want reassurance that the brand has been launched by a known organization.

So for known brands, we don't feel the need to project our company name even though it

is there on every item that we produce (part of packaging).”

Making themselves Socially Responsible

Unilever considers itself socially responsible for helping out communities through out the

world. As already mentioned “The Nelson Mandela Scholarship”, help and aid provided

in different hospitals of different countries including Shaukat Khanam Memorial Cancer

Hospital. Helping out in the Tsunami affected areas and distributing different products of

Unilever to the affecter’s has also been one of the major steps Unilever took to help

humanity.

Narrowing down the products

As already mentioned that recently Unilever shed its products from somewhat 1600 to

400. Even though this may seem to be a huge step in reducing the products and product

lines but in reality it adds to the success factors of Unilever. As it’s not easy to decide

[26]

when to cut a segment of the product line you are producing and to start aggressively

producing another type of products.

Successful forms of advertising

Unilever was one of the first company’s in UK to

come up with an advertisement on television.

From there onwards, there hasn’t been any sort of

looking back by the company. Aggressive

marketing campaigns have not been launched for

only new sorts of products, but also for

relaunching different products, also when only

prices were changed etc. Hence all sorts of media

have been relied upon to deliver products to the best possible level in a very attractive

way. Also when making these ads it is made sure that what the company is trying to show

is also consistent with what is being provided in the products too.

Cultural acceptance of Unilever

Unilever has its branches in more than 90 countries of

the world. Being established in the era of less

competition than it is today, we can see that it had

penetrated into different markets at the right time and

merging and acquiring different companies has lead

to the fact that Unilever is a well established company

which has a great tendency for adapting to different

[27]

cultures and then coming up with solutions which are best met for different countries.

This is also another of its success factors.

3.4 BRAND FOCUS

Since Unilever’s Path to Growth strategy was launched in 2000, it has reduced the

number of brands it manages from 1600 to some 400 leading brands and just fewer than

250 tail brands. This enables the company to concentrate resources on a portfolio of

leading brands with strong growth potential that best meet the needs and aspirations of

people around the world. It means Unilever can make the most of the investment,

producing exciting innovations and imaginative ways to capture the attention of

customers and consumers.

3.5 GLOBAL BRANDS THAT MEET LOCAL NEEDS

Unilever’s biggest brands have international appeal because they meet a need or fulfill a

desire that people share, no matter where they live. Two of its biggest brands, Dove and

Knorr are good examples:

1) Knorr has the expertly tailoring recipes and ingredients for local tastes and making

products that fit into people’s lives.

2) Dove delivers real benefit and satisfaction for millions of people around the world,

both functionally and emotionally.

3.6 ADVERTISING

Unilever’s roots go back to the latter half of the nineteenth century when the Industrial

Age spawned working-class households with money to spend. Entrepreneurs began to

package products under brand names and promote them to millions of the new customers.

It was the dawn of modern advertising and

merchandising. Lever was one of the firsts to

discover the efficacy of mass advertising.

[28]

Obviously, the budget for marketing and advertising has grown dramatically ever since.

Advertising has always been a keystone of the business. (E.g. Unilever Best foods UK

spends almost £100 million a year on advertising; The PG Tips chimps’ family

advertising campaign was first screened at Christmas in 1956. The chimp adverts are now

the longest running TV advertising campaign of any brand, having featured in over 100

commercials)

Advertising has been an important aspect that Unilever has been investing a lot in. An

evidence of this can be indicated by the fact that in 2002, Unilever accounted for the

biggest advertising deal in the history of United Kingdom. The deal worth of £320 was

signed between Unilever and Carlton Sales and Granada Media Sales. The agreement

locked in trading terms for Unilever’s UK operating companies; Birds Eye, Wall’s, Lever

Fabergé, Unilever Bestfoods and Unilever Cosmetics International and secured a

competitive advantage for them through a period which is likely to be one of continuing

change for the UK’s broadcasting structure. This ground-breaking four-year deal marked

another step on Unilever’s Path to Growth strategy, enabling the company to concentrate

its resources behind its focused portfolio of leading brands using the most powerful

medium, television.

3.7 Other mediums of advertisement

There a number of ways to advertise both local and global brands in the market. Some of

the very common means through which advertisement is done include:

Electronics Media

Electronic Media has been the major factor in determining the global success of Unilever.

In today’s world where an average middle class individual has access to 30 to 40

[29]

channels through the cable minimum, he has the ability to view different types of

advertisement just flipping the channels. Thus the consumer of today is so well posted on

the fact that whenever a new product is launched, be it in the United Kingdom or in the

United States, a consumer living in Asia would be well aware of the features of the

products and he would know who the company is targeting.

Print Media

Print Media advertisement is one of the common ways of

advertising. Whenever there is a new campaign being launched

or that any event like that of “Daagh nahi tow seekhna kia”

by Surf Excel is introduced, the print media including the

magazines, newspapers and brochures are relied upon a lot. In

print media, the importance of placing the advertisement plays

an imperative part in increasing the sales of the product.

Billboards

Billboards has become one of the most influencing way to advertise in our world. At first

there were people who used to paint different types of products on the boards, then came

the time when the ads on these billboards used to get computerized and now what you

can see on a billboard is massive. You can see a whole advertisement like you watch on

your own televisions or the type of moving and animated type of advertisements that you

can see on the billboards happen to be very much in fashion.

Unilever also has nearly all of its products on the billboards when either its launching a

new ad, coming up with price promotions or re launching any product. These ads seem to

be appearing all the time, which is really good for the company, as they are easily

attracting the customers in every possible manner.

[30]

Innovative Types of Advertising

Unilever always has been a pioneer in leading the advertising industry especially in

countries like Pakistan. The advertisement they had of Lipton, took the country by storm

when they introduced their ad of “Chaye Chahyay”, which showed a male model and a

female standing on the platform of a railway station. This was a very famous

advertisement of the 1980’s and the general consumers liked this new concept. Nearly

two years ago the new advertising campaign of Lipton took the country by storm again.

And this time the ad was exactly the same as that of the 1980’s, the jingle was same but

obviously new models had to be used. This jingle of the ad became so famous that this

jingle was forwarded to thousands on the mobiles and most people had their ring tones

sent as this jingle. Hence, using this type of innovative advertising technique has greatly

increased the recall value of the customer.

Giving out free Samples

When the new Sunsilk Black was introduced in Pakistan, what the company did was, to

create awareness amongst the youth they went to schools and colleges and distributed

free samples of the products and gave out little brochures which told the qualities that the

product had and the proper method of getting a black and shiny hair look.

Advertising Alliance

AOL Time Warner and Unilever announced their multi-million dollar advertising

alliance. AOL Time Warner, the world's largest advertiser, announced a multi-million

dollar enhanced cross-platform advertising and marketing partnership under which AOL

Time Warner will bring Unilever's wide array of leading consumer product brands to

millions of consumers through innovative marketing campaigns across AOL Time

Warner's broad range of online, on-air and print media in 2002.

[31]

At the end of the summer (2000), Unilever claims enthusiastically, two thousand people

from Europe headed off for Ibiza (!) where Unilever organized a big dance party (in a

converted zoo) in order to introduce a new product (a new variant of Axe personal care).

International Quality of advertisements

The Axe 'getting dressed' TV ad has won a Gold Lion at Cannes for international

advertising quality. This is the second time in four years that a European Axe film has

scooped the top award. The ad shows a spontaneous encounter between a young couple

who meet in a supermarket. It's a poignant, romantic tale: in essence, a modern day urban

fairy tale. Young men watching the ad are reassured by the message that Axe is an

effective 24-hour deodorant.

3.8 Brand Awareness of Unilever

Brands awareness for a company speaks a lot for itself. How consumers relate with the

brand and how they respond to it is a major concern for globally expanded companies

like Unilever itself. It is a major part of global branding. The art of creating brand

awareness of a specific brand in order to maximize its recognition globally, the brand

strategies should define company’s uniqueness and set it apart from competitors.

This survey focuses on three major attributes of a global product, which are brand

loyalty, preference of consumers over other brands and their reaction towards a global

product.

Brand Loyalty

The loyalty level of Unilever has a slight edge over here in Pakistan due to the fact that

most of the product lines of P&G are not available here whereas the products of Unilever

[32]

have been engraved in the roots of many generations especially in countries like Pakistan.

That’s why it can easily be seen why the consumers are more loyal to Unilever as

compared to others in Pakistan.

Preference of the consumer over the other brands

From this part of the survey I got to know that what factors did the consumers prefer

from one brand over another and as it can be seen that the reliability factor has a lot of

importance in the minds of the consumers.

Do you feel good by using a global product?

From here we can see that more than 60% of the consumers prefer using a global product.

[33]

3.9 INTERVIEW

Even though Unilever has a lot of information on its websites and a lot of information is

gathered by other areas to make this report possible, still it is very essential to conduct an

interview with an employee of Unilever so that a clear insight in the company is

established. For this I did an interview of the Manager of Modern Trade of Unilever Mr.

Shahzeb Mahmood who helped in different parts of the project.

In the interview, I asked him a couple of questions which were thought to be the main

issues that were hindering my path. First I asked about the competitive edge that Unilever

had over its competitors, he replied saying that Unilever has a diverse range of products

and brands under one umbrella. Catering to different consumer needs throughout the

world. Due to this powerful range, Unilever is able to meet nearly every consumer

expectation at any time of the day, any place in the world! This is backed by

over 90 years of expertise in the relevant categories and Unilever's

unrelenting commitment to constant consumer delight and satisfaction. This diverse

range also means that Unilever enjoys a better bargaining ability with retailers and trade

compared to the competitors. Another competitive edge that Unilever has is that being a

global product, Unilever has different products for its different markets, i.e. Unilever

Pakistan’s Sunsilk is different that Unilever Thailand’s Sunsilk. This is done to account

for the difference in our environments, biology (far eastern / oriental people have

naturally softer hair compared to us). Similarly what the people in India consider a good

cup of tea is very different to what we want in our cup of tea hence Lipton is different

in different countries.

[34]

When asking about the economies of different countries he said that different economies

of the countries definitely have an impact on the products. In economic downturns,

people have less money to spend. This means that they try and save money on everyday

purchases as well as luxury items. In such conditions, good companies who are quality

conscious and do not compromise suffer while less honest organizations or profiteers

tend to come up more.

[35]

CHAPTER 4ANALYSIS

4.1 Competitor AnalysisNo business is an island. For success, the business will need to deal with customers,

suppliers, employees, and others. In almost all cases there will also be other organizations

offering similar products to similar customers. These other organizations are competitors.

[36]

and their objective is the same: to grow, make money and succeed. Effectively, the

businesses are at war, fighting to gain the same resource and territory i.e. the customer

and like in war, it is necessary to understand the enemy. For that reason we will analyze

the competitive market of Unilever.

Proctor & Gamble

Established in 1837, The Procter & Gamble Company began as a small, family

operated soap and candle company in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. Today, P&G markets

almost 300 products to more than five billion consumers in 140 countries, Pakistan being

one of them. Procter & Gamble started its operations in Pakistan in 1991 with the goal of

becoming the finest global local consumer goods company operating in Pakistan.

After extensive research we have come to the conclusion that if we look at the global

perspective, Unilever’s biggest competitor is

Proctor & Gamble. They offer almost the similar

product line and their focus is also on the same type

of market. In Asian market, Unilever and P&G

cover almost 85% of the market. However things

are starting to get tougher for these two giants.

Many regional players have sprung up in the last

decade and they have managed to establish

themselves in their own states and have eaten up a

large chunk of Unilever’s and P&G's customers.

The products they offer are cheap and largely targeted towards the lower income groups

in this country. Unilever has also come out with products in this price category but these

products are facing severe competition. Unilever has been witnessing a fall in profits in

the last one-year. To combat this onslaught of cost-competitive products, P&G slashed its

product prices by almost 40% so that they could increase sales volumes. Unilever

followed suit. Shampoos, Detergents, Soaps that are the main products of these two

companies are now being sold at prices 40% lower than last year's. However, it has been

6 months since this move and the profits have not risen.

[37]

So, when it comes to competition, companies can go to any extent to go ahead of other

company. Like in August 2001, Fortune magazine reported that the leading global

consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble (P&G) had been engaged in an illegal corporate

program against its competitor, Unilever. Agents appointed by P&G were alleged to have

misrepresented themselves as market analysts and used various other methods to collect

information about Unilever's hair care business.

Soon P&G admitted that the information collection episode had indeed taken place, but

without the knowledge of the top management. However, the company firmly refused

Fortune's claim that its agents misrepresented themselves as market analysts to acquire

information. P&G claimed that it had not indulged in any illegal activities; it added that

these activities were against its strict business policies and guidelines.

Since Unilever is a company with the most diverse range of products and brands under

the one umbrella, catering to different consumer needs throughout the world, its

competitors are different product categories of different companies.

When we consider competitors of Unilever product wise then we can have a zillion of

other companies which are producing generic products like Unilever and P&G are doing

so as these products are mostly of every day use and any one can indulge in this business.

However P&G is the main rival of Unilever and which has the main battle between the

whole industry going on. Therefore giving more attention to P&G, i have only done its

competitor analysis.

[38]

4.2 SWOT ANALYSYS

STRENGTHS

Well-established brand name

Unilever being one of the well- established brands all over the world has a number of

attributes, which result in its strengths. Unilever didn’t start out as a market leader and

did not have an advantage of it being the market leader in the category of the consumer

goods. Starting off just as P&G did in its beginning; Unilever's founding companies

produced products made of oils and fats, which were principally soap and margarine.

The concept in the early age of production and selling was to produce standardized

products and to mass market them. This worked really well in the early 20 th Century and

took the market at large. At that time most of the companies were doing this strategy and

were profiting for producing a product, which was standardized.

Then throughout the years the company evolved and started to expand its product lines,

and started to penetrate in different markets of the world, which lead to its high brand

awareness and recognition in different countries. Hence, now, in the current time,

Unilever is considered to be a strong and a very well established brand. The name of the

brand has made it possible that whenever the company thinks of introducing a product in

any country, the fact that it is already so very well established, makes the company

credible. The customers who don’t want to associate themselves with any introduction of

[39]

a new and a changing brand would then be inclined in buying a product of this company.

Thus the name, that the company has established for itself is helping it a lot.

Aware of the Consumer Buying Behavior

The products of Unilever have been around for more than a decade, whereas the company

prevails under the name of Unilever for more than 70 years. Thus, the Research and

Development department of Unilever are aware of the buying behaviors of the customers

so well, as they have researched the grandfathers, fathers and the current customers.

Hence they know that what were the main causes for a consumer to buy a certain product

and how there have been trends in the buying behaviors of house holds. This has lead to

the advantage on the behalf of Unilever that they have a whole data base of research

which is helping them when they innovate new goods and the competitive they have on

the small and relatively new companies.

Unilever has Global reach, with local Roots.

Unilever has been expanding globally since a very long time. When it started its

company, which in 1890 became Lever Brothers Ltd, it then started to export its products

in different parts of the world. During the 1960’s Unilever started its aggressing type of

marketing in different parts of the United Kingdom as a part for acquiring different small

companies and brands in different countries. Acquisitions and mergers, whether they

were done in a peaceful manner or simple hostile take-overs like that of Brook Bond, it

has established global products in different parts of the world, which have local roots. As

the acquisitions that Unilever did were of local companies, hence these companies had a

know-how of the local market also these companies were very well known by the

customers, this helped a great deal in the expanding of products as well as bringing

credibility to the company. An example of this is that they tailored their products to be

affordable for the general consumers of India and China, who were mostly living in rural

areas and were low-income earners. They did this not by offering a super-family size

packaging but a smaller or “sachet” size packaging only marketed to these countries and

demographics. As a small or medium business you would have more control over

[40]

whether you can change the way you offer your products simply due to less red tape and

top level management to go through thus making it easier to enter global markets.

Vast Distribution Networks

When said that Unilever had acquired and had merged with a number of local companies,

it means that a vast distribution network is also being acquired by Unilever. Considering

the Pakistani Market Scenario, we saw when Walls a product of Unilever acquired Polka,

it also acquired the vast distribution networks that Polka already had. As when you enter

in a new market, it is a tremendously hard job to get your product in different parts where

different customers of different needs are located. Thus the distribution channel of

Unilever owes its success to the local industry, which it has acquired or merged with.

Handling and managing more than 90 countries simultaneously

Even though Unilever is a huge company, having more than 250 tail- brands, integrating

them all is a bit of a problem. But Unilever is doing a really good job in handling more

than 90 countries simultaneously all over the world. This is a major plus point for

Unilever that it is handling so many economies and so many multi cultural environments

in one go. As it is very difficult to handle so many products by one company, so

integrating them all owes a lot of credit to the management of the Unilever.

Financial Stability

A lot of the stability of Unilever today owes to its capturing of markets in the early 20 th

Century. And a steady flow of consistent growth has been observed in the years that have

followed. Leading brands of Unilever have increased from 75% to 93% sales in 1999.

Now 12 brands have sales over € 1 billion. In 1999 there were only 4 of these brands and

ten years ago there was only one of this brand. The growth and quality has consistently

been increasing and between 2001 and 2003 was a little over 3%. [67]

[41]

WEAKNESSES

When we say that organizations are like individuals, we mean that there are weaknesses

in organizations just like those of individuals. There are some features of Unilever which

attribute to its weaknesses:

Confusion in their products

A major confusion occurs in the brands of Unilever is that they are producing brands like

Lipton and Brookbond which are the producers of tea against each other. These brands

even though are marketing in a separate kind of market; still there is confusion amongst

the consumers that the brands of Lipton and Brookbond are competitors of each other.

Also that buying a Lipton brand makes them believe that they have a better image as

compared to those who are buying a BrookBond product.

Brands have swallowed up the Parent Company Name

It is seen that brands like Lipton, Sunsilk, Surf Excel and Wall’s etc have swallowed up

the parent company name. In this scenario the consumers know about the product lines

and less about the main company. Lipton and Surf Excel have become such big names

that Unilever the name itself is having some problem with the subsidiary brands. This

seems to be some what of a problem from Unilever’s point of view

OPPORTUNITIES

If we look at the external environment of Unilever, we will find out that there are a lot of

opportunities available for it. Some of them are as follows:

E-commerce:

As world entered the 21st century, everyone became extremely dependant upon

the information age. With the changing trends of use of high-tech systems for

everything, it can be great opportunity for Unilever to establish itself online. It

[42]

can make efficient internet marketing campaigns or even launch online delivery

service for their products.

Investment in developing countries:

Unilever has the biggest market in the developed countries like USA and UK.

Since world is becoming smaller everyday due to the trend of globalization, the

small developed countries are also becoming aware of the global brands and

products and if the companies like Unilever try to invest in such countries, they

will gain a lot profit from them. They might not be the huge markets but still, they

can be a great source of profit for them.

Promoting special events of every culture:

Unilever is focusing on the events and cultural aspect of every country in its own

way. For example in countries like USA or UK, they make special marketing

campaigns for events like Valentine’s Day and Halloween. Whereas if we look

Unilever Pakistan, they don’t give that much importance to Valentine’s day but

their one of the most leading brand Lipton is the biggest sponsor for the Basant

festival in Lahore.

Oldest MNC of Asia:

If we look at the Asian market, it is considered to have very traditional thinking.

They are always reluctant to try out new stuff and stick to old and traditional

things. This gives a great advantage to Unilever since it was the very first

multinational company to enter this market. Even at this point, people are well

aware of its name; they trust its products and are always hesitant to try out new

companies who enter the market. This advantage of Unilever is a great threat for

its competitors.

Launch of nutritious food items:

With the changing trends of the world, people are becoming more health

conscious. They prefer food that will give them maximum nutrition and less

[43]

calories. In the present scenario, the Food items offered by Unilever are mostly

fattening food like Walls ice cream and Knorr Noodles. They can also come up

with diet ice creams in South Asia, which would help their sales to jump up. They

should diversify themselves in food category and should introduce more of

healthy food products. Unilever is already a partner with the world's leading

agencies and institutions of food and health sector.

Target the youth of world:

Most of the Unilever’s products are targeted upon families and middle aged

people. They should focus upon the youth segment as well. They should introduce

products that specifically focus on the youth, that way the company will gain

popularity in that segment as well which can provide a lot of profit opportunities

for the company. Products like P&G’s Pringles, which as taken over the world for

its top class taste, should be one of the focus of Unilever too. Making and

focusing on products like this would yield more profits and enhance their

customer base.

THREATS

The local companies:

The biggest threats for Unilever in every region are the small local companies

who are emerging into the market with the introduction of similar product like as

of Unilever’s.

Price wars:

Due to the unstable economy of many counties and very less difference between

Unilever’s and its competitor’s products, the main thing to compete upon is the

price. Unilever is unable to keep its stable pricing due to the immense competition

and high level of price war.

[44]

Low brand recognition for company:

Unilever’s biggest advantage is sometimes considered as the biggest threat to it,

i.e. the fact that it has a huge product line and category. From health care to food

products, from shampoos to beverages, it is diversified in every category of

products. Due to this fact, there is a very little recognition to the company’s brand

name itself. People are more familiar to Lipton or Close up instead of Unilever

itself. Nobody calls them Unilever’s Lipton or Unilever’s Close up. Due to so

much diversity, the company has lost its own identity.

[45]

CHAPTER 5

RECOMMENDATIONS and CONCLUSION

[46]

CONCLUSION

Unilever is committed to diversity in a working environment where there is mutual trust

and respect and where everyone feels responsible for the performance and reputation of

our company. they are committed to safe and healthy working conditions for all

employees. We will not use any form of forced, compulsory or child labor. and

committed toorking with employees to develop and enhance each individual's skills and

capabilities.

Unilever is providing branded products and services which consistently offer value in

terms of price and quality, and which are safe for their intended use. Products and

services will be accurately and properly labeled, advertised and communicated.

Unilever l conduct its operations in accordance with internationally accepted principles of

good corporate governance. We will provide timely, regular and reliable information on

our activities, structure, financial situation and performance to all shareholders.

Unilever is establishing mutually beneficial relations with our suppliers, customers and

business partners. Unilever is making continuous improvements in the management of

our environmental impact and to the longer-term goal of developing a sustainable

business.

In our scientific innovation to meet consumer needs we will respect the concerns of our

consumers and of society. We will work on the basis of sound science applying rigorous

standards of product safety.Unilever believes in vigorous yet fair competition and

supports the development of appropriate competition laws. Unilever companies and

employees will conduct their operations in accordance with the principles of fair

competition and all applicable regulations.

[47]

More than 150 million times a day someone, somewhere is choosing a Unilever product.

A good brand is vital to an organization and this report has reflected how Unilever has

managed to be just that. It is clear from the analysis and survey carried out that the

company is adopting global branding to its highest standards and that is exactly how the

global presence of any company is taken to its highest levels of success. So far unilever

has been able to be one of the best I the business. That is what global branding is all

about. It allows companies the access to consumers all over the world and increases their

customer base to a large extent. It allows them to expand their horizons and to make a

global impact of their products all over the world. They have more market segments to

target and can increase their product line to a large extent. Different countries market

their products. These are the benefits of companies going global and they have been

reflected above in this report in the form of unilever’s global success.

[48]

RECOMMENDATIONS

Although unilever is already on the brink of its success but there is always rom for improvement.

1. In spite of Unilever’s vast size and presence worldwide, the company’s actual

visibility is surprisingly low. Anonymity hides the company’s importance.. Who

does not know brand names like Magnum, Omo, Dove, Knorr, Ben & Jerry’s,

Lipton, Slim-Fast, Iglo, Unox, Becel,; BUT Unilever? They’re all part of the

‘Unilever armada of brand names’. To make sure the brand names do not go

unnoticed Unilever should make its brand awareness stronger. Besides that in

today’s economic recession, unilever should also focus on following areas.

2. The unilever is global company it operates in many countries, and each country

has own culture, and needs so unilever should operate according to local

preferences and needs because it is really necessary in today economic crisis to

capture huge market share.

3. It is time that unilever is big brand and captured the urban market, but we believe

that still there is a huge potential in the rural areas of Pakistan, so unilever

Pakistan should develop e effective supply chain management to make their

product in the hand rural customer as well.

4. Unilever Pakistan must focus on social responsibility, to maintain image among

Pakistani customers, basically advertisement covers huge expenses of unilever,

but we recommend them to cut their advertisement expenditures, in the economic

crisis and should more focus on social responsibility.

5. Unilever Pakistan facing worldwide economic crisis and to cope with that, they

need strong employees motivation to accomplish their work efficiently and

effectively so in order to induce employees motivation, the unilever should focus

on the strong reward management, that must shows relationship between effective

work and reward.

[49]

6. The unilever Pakistan should encourage the employee’s participation in decision

making, because the great ideas can come after any where so the employees must

be encouraged to contribute in organizational decision making.

7. The unilever Pakistan has high debt ration, which indicates their borrowing from

other and that cause them to pay interest, so we recommend unilever Pakistan to

raise funds through equity financing.

8. This is worldwide economic recession, which has adversely affected all

organization, so to cope with this recession, the company must have the proper

inventory system, so for that unilever should gain control over its suppliers by

following backward integration.

9. In worldwide economic crisis the unilever Pakistan must reduce the extra

expenditures, so for that, those division which presents huge loses so those

divisions should be closed down in order to reduce extra expenditure

10. Reducing price is not effective decision in long term, but unilever should more

focus on quality because quality provide them complete advantages and that will

add value to customer.

11. The stakeholders like investors, employees, customers must be satisfied with

organization, so for that unilever Pakistan should develop and maintain good

relationship to stake holders to cope with the economic downslide

12. As mentioned before people are familiar with its products like sunsilk, close-up

etc however they are not interested in whether it is a unilever product or not.

Through extensive marketing methods unilever should make people aware of the

fact that it is a Unilever Product and not just any product so that the brand loyalty

increases and people purchase its product due to its brand name and not just the

product name.

13. Unilever should also strategize to maintain its competitive edge over the local

competitors in the countries where it is placing its self. The price wars make it

difficult for unilever to maintain this edge.

[50]

14. Unilever should work more towards targeting low market areas specially in

countries like Pakistan. The low income people cannot afford a unilever product

like sun silk shampoo or an axe deodorant. Unilever should go for reengineering

for this segment of the market.

15. P & G is the major competitor of Unilever. They are going neck to neck in this

competition. While a certain product line of Unilever is preferred in some cases,

in others a certain product line of P&G is preferred. Unilever should try to grasp

more market share to make its brand the best one and get the competitive edge

over P&G and its other competitors.

[51]

References:

1. www.unilever.com/ 2. http://www.mind-advertising.com/nl/unilever_nl.htm 3. http://just-food.com/news_detail.asp?art=41678&dm=yes 4. http://just-food.com/news_detail.asp?art=41041&dm=yes&c=1 5. ‘Unilever downgraded on concerns over Bestfoods’ artificial sales growth’,6. http://just-food.com/news7. ‘Bestfoods buy boosts Unilever’, The Guardian8. Unilever Jaaroverzicht 2000, en verkorte jaarrekening 9. http://cobalt.freetekno.org/issue7.htm 10. http://www.heureka.clara.net/gaia/genetics.htm11. http://www.warringtonhistory.co.uk/products.html 12. http://www.sbaer.uca.edu/Research/1995/SMA/95swa358.htm 13. http://www.unilever.co.uk/unileverintheuk/didyouknow.html 15.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/01_32/b3744137.htm 16. http://www.hoovers.com/co/capsule/2/0,2163,40432,00.html

14. http://iw1.prizes.com/Slimfast/rules.asp

[52]

[53]