“150 million times a day, someone somewhere chooses a Unilever product”

Who are Unilever

 Origins of Unilever  Operational style  Strategic style  Examples of strategic style  Competitive environment  Current strategies  Simon Clift  Marketing lessons learnt  Future prospects Overview

The origins of Unilever Unilever is an Anglo-Dutch multinational corporation that owns consumer products in; Food and Beverages Cleaning agents Personal care Created in 1930 from a merger between the British soap maker Lever Brothers and Margarine Unie As palm oil was a major raw material for both soaps and margarines

 Mergers and acquisitions – grew through repeated mergers of companies who usually retained their names and brands. This encourage strong belief and initiative to de- centralise control Operational Style

Top 25 brands = almost 75% of Unilever’s sales*. * As at end 2009 Big global brands

Strategic Focus

Deep roots in local cultures and markets around the world give a strong relationship with consumers and are the foundation for future growth. Focus on wealth of knowledge and international expertise to the service of local consumers – a truly multi-local multinational. Exceptional standards of performance and productivity, to working together effectively, and to a willingness to embrace new ideas and learn continuously. To succeed also requires, the highest standards of corporate behaviour towards everyone we work with, the communities we touch, and the environment on which we have an impact. Corporate purpose

Their strategic focus is to win share and grow volume in every category and country. Unilever’s growth priorities Winning with brands and innovation ● Deliver superior products, design, branding and marketing ● Bigger, better, faster innovations ● Appeal to more consumers across needs and price points Winning in the marketplace ● Lead market development ● Win with winning customers ● Be an execution powerhouse Winning through continuous improvement ● Lean, responsive and consumer-led value chain ● Drive return on brand support ● Agile, cost-competitive organisation Winning with people ● Organisation and diverse talent pipeline ready to match our growth ambitions ● Performance culture which respects our values ● Leverage our operating framework for competitive advantage

Strategic Style  Research and Innovation  Localisation  Diversification into a broad category  Multiple segment specialisation - developing products to target every segment. Serving multiple markets whilst differentiating products in a way that meets needs of each segment  Developing in emerging markets

Current Strategies  Downsizing brand portfolio –stream line the business portfolio to reflect vitality concept  1,500 – 400 master brands  Also, acquisition of high profile food brands

 Brand positioning  “The Beauty Soap of Film Stars”  Icon Brand

Unilever Brands

.  Research and Innovation  Different needs for different hair types

 Concentrating on emerging markets  Understanding different consumer needs  Offering products at different price points

Unilever Brands  Localisation  Building businesses organically  The world's biggest ice cream company  Ben & Jerry's

Of the 6.8 billion people in the world today, 5.9 billion live in developing and emerging markets – countries such as Brazil, India and Indonesia where Unilever has deep roots and a wide presence. We already reach many more consumers than our competitors in these markets. The D&E opportunity % 2004 Sales % 2009 Sales North America 23% Western Europe 38% D&E 36% Other developed 3% North America 16% Western Europe 30% D&E 50% Other developed 4%

Developing and Emerging Market Opportunity  Bottom of the Pyramid  Multi-trillion dollar opportunity  Billions of people out of poverty in the next 10 years

Developing and Emerging Market Opportunity

Competitive environment  Key Competitors  Proctor and Gamble  Nestle  Colegate-palmolive  Supermarket private lables  The management of the smaller brands slowed down its growth.  Whilst their competitors concentrated on global development and economies of scale.

Unilever’s Growth Matrix

Simon Clift  First chief marketing officer for Unilever “Unilever was effectively a holding company. That led to a very complex brand portfolio, with thousands of formulations, positionings, and ways of developing advertising.”  (Marketing Week)  Centralised marketing culture  Concentrates on building the brands  New Unilever brand identity

Marketing Lessons learnt 1. Be forward thinking and with constant innovation – looking beyond organisation’s walls. 2. Defend its territory through growth and diversification 3. Bigger is not always better. companies need to contract and recognise its weaknesses.

Future Prospects  How will Vitality be brought amongst all their brands?  How will they overcome two contradicting values?