1. A Tale of Two Marketing Campaigns Unilever vs Nestle
Case Study

2. Marketing problems Unilever “impulse” (or stick) ice-cream category
Accounts 22 percent of total sales
Recorded sluggish growth of 2 percent over the past year

3. Consumer behaviour Unilever’s insight on consumer behaviour
People have a dual desire to treat themselves more nutritionally and treat themselves more indulgently

4. Marketing performance
Whenever Unilever push premium indulgence products or push health and nutrition, they get a tremendous reaction in the marketplace

5. Ice-cream market $1.8 billion market
Nestle’s Peters division and Unilever’s Streets division accounts for about 50 percent of the market
Market grew about 3.5 percent over the past year, up slightly from its average annual growth rate of about 2.5 percent over the past five years

6. Ice-cream market People switching to healthier products
Fall in milk production because of the drought
Healthier ice-cream products getting popular

7. Unilever’s marketing objectives
Boost the company’s share of the “impulse” (or stick) ice-cream category (Cornetto, Drumstick, Paddle Pop, Heart etc)
Boost sales of multi-pack versions of the four brands
Take on Nestle’s Drumstick brand, which has 70 percent of sales

8. Unilever’s marketing objectives
Revive sales of Paddle Pop, which fell in a hole two years ago when Unilever slashed its fat content and tried to promote it on a health platform

9. Unilever’s strategy
Devoting $25 million to its summer ice-cream marketing budget
Ads pushing new versions of key products such as Magnum, Cornetto, Paddle Pop and Calippo

10. Unilever’s strategy
Half of its budget spent on the Internet and other non-television media
Shifting money away from traditional media

11. Unilever’s strategy
At the premium end of the market, Continue to focus on the “indulgence” positioning of Magnum
Introduce new variants and a TV and online ad campaign that offers free “gold class” movie tickets with every product

12. Unilever’s strategy
For the healthier ice-block brand Calippo, added fruit gelato variants to give the brand a more premium positioning
Revive a new version of the “Lick-a-price” promotion for Paddle Pop after a five-year absence

13. Unilever’s strategy
In the cone category, changed the formulation of its Cornetto product – adding more nuts and sauce – to take on Nestle’s Drumstick brand, which has 70 percent of sales

14. Nestle’s marketing strategy
Part of its summer strategy involves bringing in products outside the ice-cream market
For example, it hopes to tap into the booming ice tea market
Ice-cream and confectionery division to work closely together

15. New products Iced-tea flavoured frozen water ice product
Kit Kat branded cone product

16. Two different strategies
Unilever
Promotions
Positioning
Innovate products
Nestle
Add new product ranges

17. Lesson learned Unilever
It is perilous to remove the flavour and indulgence qualities of products