Category: Unilever

The European Union is always viewed as a model of regionalism or regional cooperation because of its developed units and agencies. The Union has always influenced member states to follow the provided strictly, especially on matters related to the environment. The European Union is determined to preserve the environment through the idea of sustainable development. Directive related to the management of packaging waste was first introduced in the late 1980s. The directive affected the performance of many companies, including Unilever because they had to readjust their packaging systems to comply with the new law. In particular, directive 85/339/EEC specifically covered the packaging of liquid products for instance beverage containers. Any product to be consumed by humans was to be packaged in a container (Dams 2008, p. 17). However, the policy was considered ineffective to bring about the synchronization of policies of various member states. Member states expressed their concerns over the law because it affected their industries in several ways. This paper explains the effects of the directive on the introduction of new sustainable packaging. The paper also looks at the relevance of the directives in Europe. This is accomplished by describing the process through which the laws are formed. It is noted that many companies, including Unilever, were affected greatly because they had to come up with laws that were a complaint to the provisions.

In 1992, the commission charged with the responsibility of overseeing policies related to packaging proposed a comprehensive policy on packaging and waste management. The council of ministers and the European Parliament adopted the proposal and enacted it as directive 94/62/EC. The directive influenced the packaging system of companies because its main aim was to harmonize national measures to respond to the standards of the commission. Unilever had to come up with extensive policies to cope with the new challenge because it had to observe the environmental laws when designing the packaging materials. Other companies that were threatened by the presence of Multinational Corporations had an advantage since the new law aimed at safeguarding them from the unnecessary competition. The law ensured that the internal markets of member states were functional implying that they could not rely on external markets for production. Unilever was affected since it relied on other countries for the supply of packaging materials (Noel 2009, p. 20). The law provides extensive policies on packaging waste, reuse of packaging materials, and recovery of packaging waste.

The law was evaluated in 2004 because of the loopholes witnessed in many markets. The new law clarified the term packaging. It also gave a clear definition of the term to include recycling of packaging waste. In 2005, some member states complained that they did not have time to adjust to the new laws. The law was amended to include a transitional clause, which allowed members to adjust to the new policies with time (Solomon 2010, p. 19).

The directives play a critical role as far as the regulation of packaging materials is concerned. This means that the law was created to protect the interests of the consumer. It is observed that the consumer has always suffered in the hands of manufacturers because they are provided with goods that are not packed by the health standards. The law made it a mandate of all companies to consider the effects of the packaging materials on the health of consumers. The laws are created through consensus. It is widely accepted that consumer security and environmental degradation are some of the global problems meaning that they are global commons. The European Parliament is concerned with the passing of the laws. The laws are drafted by the council of ministers and are taken to the parliament for subsequent approval.

List of References

Dams, A 2008, Law for business students, Pearson Longman Harlow.

Noel, H 2009, Consumer behavior, AVA Academia, Lausanne.

Solomon, M 2010, Consumer behavior: a European perspective, Prentice Hall, Harlow.

The choice of a product or service that an entrepreneur wishes to invest in is an important factor to consider before bringing it to the market. Any investment project chosen should produce returns to benefit all stakeholders and other interested parties that the project affects directly or indirectly.

The paper utilizes axe anarchy fragrance for women, a new product that Unilever Company has launched on the market, as a case product in a bid to show the financial implication or consideration that the case company made before investing in the product.

Unilever is a big corporation that deals with production or manufacture of many kinds of household products. Axe anarchy is the latest innovation or rather new product that the company has launched on its market (Unilever PLV, 2012, Para. 3). This product is therefore financed by the company. The company has put in place enough funds that are used to innovate and manufacture new products on the market.

The company is quoted in the securities exchange market as exemplary in terms of the quality of its products. Some of its finances come from the owners of the business who are the shareholders.

Because of the high amount of money the company receives from its shareholders, it is able to carry out various innovations besides venturing in the production of multiple types of products. Unilever PLV therefore generates its funds through the sale of shares to its investors, a process known as equity funding (Unilever PLV, 2011, p. 15).

This form of acquiring fund is advantageous because investors who buy the shares are not entitled to any interest. Bondholders, on the other hand, require that interest be paid to them. Therefore, this method allows the company to access capital for use to produce and market its products. The investors are only entitled to profits and losses in equal measures.

Hence, the method does not have any impact to the company. Another advantage that the company will accrue from this form of financing is that there is no collateral required for this type of investment. Furthermore, the company is only obliged to pay dividends on the earnings that it makes. This therefore protects the company from any court proceedings or accusations when the company fails to make profits on the products.

Therefore, the business is not faced with a threat of collapse, as it can come up with other strategies to ensure survival. Furthermore, investing or financing this project through shared capital makes the company have a full control of the funds. The company is able to keep the funds indefinitely without being asked by the investors (Safania, Nagaraju & Roohi, 2011 p.78).

Furthermore, the company has an opportunity to make decisions on whether to invest in the product or not. The decision is solely based on the management of the company that has been given the responsibility to carry out managerial decisions on the behavior of the shareholders if they help in the growth of the company besides helping further in accruing of more profits for the organization.

Production of new products or services requires the organization to carry out a clear calculation on the total cost of producing the new product or service to ensure that it gets some profits after the product is sold. In this case, Unilever PLC Company will be required to analyze each investment components of producing axe anarchy fragrance for women to the moment it is sold. Therefore, various factors will be put into consideration.

One of the investment components of producing this new product is the cost of producing or purchasing raw materials that are required for the manufacturing of the product. The cost of transportation of raw material to the company for production, as well as distribution to the suppliers and retailers should be factored in the company’s marketing strategies.

The cost of paying salaries to the employees who ensure that the product is manufactured or converted from its raw materials to the time it reaches the consumers should also be provided. Logistic costs are also paramount and worth considering such as storage costs and administration costs among other costs. It is also important to consider the costs related to government taxes. Other costs include marketing.

For the product to reach a wide market to attract high sales, the company needs to invest heavily on its marketing strategies. Media must be used to reach a wide audience coverage including television ads, billboards, internet, social media, and traditional forms such as print media among many other mediums.

All these costs should be calculated and the right figure known to help the company in determining its price that should be competitive in the market to enable many customers to use the products. The product should also be of high quality to suit the target audience i.e. Young boys and girls.

By breaking this cost down, the company will also be able to know the amount of money that it has invested in the new product, as this will enable it to have a clear estimate or projection of the profits that it is likely to accrue from the sale of the product.

Furthermore, this analysis is vital is enabling the company to either progress with production of the product or not. For instance, if the cost of production is very high and surpasses the income level of the target audience or customer, it will not be viable for the company to produce such a product.

The company can as well seek an alternative source of funding that costs less. In this case, the best option that the company can source its funds is through debt financing. This refers to borrowing of funds in the form of loans that are repaid over a certain period. The company can decide to borrow funds over a short term-less than one year- or a long-term scheme, which extends to more than one year.

The major sources that the company can seek for these funds are from government agencies or banks that provide loans with a certain percentage of interest. This option of sourcing for finances has a number of benefits. For instance, the interest that is paid on the loan is deductible. Therefore, the company will benefit from tax advantage. In addition, the company will be able to retain its ownership.

The lender of the money, whether financial institution or government agencies, cannot get or receive ownership of the company. Furthermore, lenders cannot claim any future profits or revenues of the company, as the lender will only be given the principle loan plus the interest as agreed between the lender and the party.

It is also easy to raise funds using debt financing because it does not require the company or the borrower to comply with the federal or state securities’ regulations. Debt financing is also a very good method of sourcing for funds because a company is able to establish good relationships with the lenders. Hence, it can secure future financial assistance of a short and or a long-term financial health in time of need (Mitton, 2008, p.27).

Ensuring that the history of a company is conducive for borrowing, the company is required to ensure that there is balance between the debt and equity ratio. The company must also demonstrate that it can be able to repay the loan within the stipulated duration to time. Furthermore, the company can source its funds from debt financing because it enables the company to have freedom in terms of its financials.

This helps the company to invest in projects or products that it feels can boost its profits. Axe anarchy fragrance for women is such a product. It therefore allows the company the discretion to make its own strategic decisions that can help to promote or stir economic growth of the company.

Therefore, the company can opt for this form of sourcing its fund as an alternative method. The debt equity method of sourcing for funds is one of the cheapest and affordable methods that will enable the company to meet its needs including meeting costs of production and marketing of the products.

In conclusion, finding the right source of funds for the Unilever Company can influence its operation positively when it comes to investing in new products or services. The paper has used axe anarchy fragrance for women as a case product from the company. Therefore, the use of equity financing whereby the company sells its shares is one of the appropriate sources of funds that Unilever used to seek funds and promote this product.

Various investment components are however important in helping business decide whether to invest in a project or not. An alternative source of funds that can be used as an alternative is debt financing because it costs less to the company.

Reference List

Mitton, T. (2008). Why Have Debt Ratios Increased for Firms in Emerging Markets?. European Financial Management 14(1), 127-151.

Safania, S., Nagaraju, B., & Roohi, M. (2011). Relationship between Long Term Debt- to-Equity ratio and Share Price — a study on NSE, INDIA (2007-2010). International Journal of Business Management & Economic Research, 2(4), 278- 283.

Unilever PLV (2011). Financial Statement. Web.

Unilever PLV. (2012). Latest from out brands: Axes launches its first fragrance for women. Web.

The Source of Unilever’s Advantages Over Its Competitors

Unilever has a broad channel of distribution compared to its market rivals. It especially makes use of small scale retail outlets. Even though such outlets do not use several freezer cabinets when selling ice cream from Unilever, they have a significant multiplication effect towards the distribution of ice cream from Unilever.

The company has also been retailing its other products using the aforementioned outlets thereby boosting its overall power of distribution. In addition, the company enjoys economies of scale that have been largely generated by a strong brand name in the market. In other words, Unilever is capable of producing in large scale without the fear of inadequate marketing opportunities.

As a result, it readily enjoys the benefits associated with large scale production. Some of these benefits include high volume of sales, improved profitability and large trade discounts from other trading affiliates. Moreover, the strong brand image associated with Unilever has made it possible for the company to implement its strategies both at the national and pan-European levels.

Unilever’s Main Strengths and Weaknesses

Unilever has several strengths in the European market in spite of the stiff prevailing competition. Firstly, it has a along reputable history in the production of consumer goods. In other words, it is a well known global brand. This makes it easy for the company to market its products. Besides, it has a ready access to manufacturing resources across the globe. Moreover, the company is strong in terms of its ability to harness synergy of resources.

Unilever works closely with its distribution partners such as small scale retailers. Hence, it has developed a cordial relationship with its various chains of distribution and therefore capable of reaching out the widest market. The company has a strong base and appreciation for intensive research and development. This has led to variety of products in the market that meet the various tastes and preferences of consumers.

On the other hand, the greatest weakness of Unilever especially in its European market is lack of participation in the confectionary market unlike its competitors. Other weaknesses include fall in revenues, reduced expenditure in research and development as well as poor management of brands. These weaknesses can be minimized by revamping brand management skills, boosting research and innovativeness, exploring untapped markets and also developing a confectionary division for it ice cream brand.

Unilever in Launching Pan-European Products

The company should indeed go ahead and launch truly Pan-European products in the market bearing in mind that its competitors have already rolled out such products. The prevailing market competition is quite stiff and therefore the company should fully entrench itself in the European market.

A product such as ice cream is important to Unilever because it cultivates early consumption habit among young consumers ( who are mainly minors). By targeting consumers who are still in their tender ages, the company will not merely be promoting future markets; it will also be improving its brand loyalty. Therefore, it will act as a potential marketing strategy for both the current and future marketing needs of the company.

Company Profile

“What is our business?” Unilever is a global business that specializes in production of food and beverages, home, health and personal care products (“Introduction to Unilever”).

“Who are our customers?” Unilever operates globally: the company offers goods for consumers who live on all continents of the World (170 countries worldwide). Due to a broad range of goods, customers with different buying capacity purchase products of Unilever.

“What do our customers want?” The company’s customers expect high-quality, safe goods that meet their expectations and needs.

“What should our business be?” Despite substantial scale of operation, the company plans to grow and gain competitive advantages. Unilever works to create the image of a strong, socially responsible company that cares for its customers, environment and the society.

Strengths

The company operates worldwide and is well-known to their current and potential customers. The company’s brand portfolio is very broad (400 brands) (“Introduction to Unilever”). During the years of its operation, Unilever has set favorable relations with its suppliers and retailers. Substantial volume of production gives opportunity to benefit from economy of scale and thus get a competitive advantage in price. Company is willing to carry out research and improve its products (ibid.)

Weaknesses

Several indicators of the company’s operation demonstrate negative tendency. In 2010, turnover (2010 to 2009) shows growth in Asia and Africa (20.8 per cent), North and South America 17.3 per cent); however, in Western Europe, the growth is absent (0.0 per cent) (“Q3 2010 Results Announcement” 12). The indicators of trading work capital turnover and free cash flow growth are negative (“Q3 2010 Results Presentation” 27).

Besides, the gross margin change in the third quarter is -120 bps (12). Market value growth is negative on both developed and emerging markets (6). The company has difficulties with promoting its social responsibilities: the company is criticized by its former workers and Greenpeace for “dirty” production and insufficient care for its employees and environment (Greenpeace).

Opportunities

The needs of consumers evolve, and the company has opportunities for developing new products and advancing the existing brands. Healthy products become more and more in demand, and the company has opportunity to “conquer” this niche. The economies of many developing countries demonstrated rapid growth; the company’s emerging markets now demonstrate rapid growth (“Q3 2010 Results Announcement” 12), which also creates attractive opportunities for it.

Threats

Competition becomes tougher and tougher; the threat comes from both competing global companies and local retailers’ brands (The Economist).

SO Strategies

As the company is global, it may manage its brands globally. Unilever should develop innovative health products and offer them on developed markets where consumers’ requirements are high and where the company’s growth has stopped. The company may prolong old brands’ life cycle on the emerging markets where the economic growth takes place.

WO Strategies

Unilever should intensify its operation on the emerging markets to improve the indicators of its activity and conquer market share. The company should produce healthy goods and improve its image as the environmentally-friendly company, as this is what a modern consumer is oriented on.

ST Strategies

Being a global company, Unilever should use its competitive advantages when competing with other companies. The company should study the market and the offers of its competitors (global companies and retailers) to develop a competitive strategy. The company should intensify activity on emerging markets in order to conquer leading positions on them.

WT Strategies

The company should optimize its financial strategy to improve the indicators of its operation. To compete with global and local companies, the company can put effort into marketing and compete in price.

Conclusion

Despite existing weaknesses and threats, the company has significant potential for growth. To compete successfully and meet customers’ requirements, the company should offer health innovative products to the developed markets; it should intensify its activity on the emerging markets, as there are significant prospects of growth there. The company should carry out marketing research and marketing campaigns.

References

Greenpeace. “Unilever Admits Toxic Dumping: Will Clean Up but Not Come Clean.” U.K. Web.

The Economist. “Path to No Growth.” 2004. Web.

Unilever. “Q3 2010 Results Announcement.” 2010. Web.

Unilever. “Q3 2010 Results Presentation.” 2010. Web.

Unilever. “Introduction to Unilever.” Web.

Executive Summary

The history of Unilever Company can be traced back to the beginning of the 20^th Century. Unilever’s first decade (1930s) is no easy ride: it started with the great depression and ended with the Second World War (Unilever, 2012 p.4). It can be noted however, Unilever Company did not exist from the beginning of the century. Instead, there existed smaller companies that merged to form one huge company in the 1930s.

The companies that existed were producing similar products but with challenges in quality of the products. During this time, a brilliant idea was thought of and the companies decided to merge and form a more powerful company that could meet the demands and quality standards of the market. Delaney and Whittington explain that, “merger is a combination of two firms producing the same type of goods” (2011 p.261).

This concept was the order of the day for small companies that wished to grow and control the market. That is the reason why in the 1930s, the companies tried to cushion themselves from the effects of World War I and World War II by coming together and avoiding unhealthy competition.

Unilever became one of the world’s largest companies and it took the idea of concentrating on its image, core products and its brands. The issue was that, Unilever had to be a household name for the longest period possible. The company mainly expanded into Central and Eastern Europe.

Because of the aggressive desire to expand the business, a marketing strategy had to be found to help improve the sales of the fast growing company. A meeting in the company boardroom came up with an idea of how to market the newly launched PHASE DAWN Butter Flavour vegetable oil in the market and earn the company the reputation it deserves to make profits.

Unilever Company is a multinational corporation that conducts business all over the world with different industries manufacturing several products. Its brands are grouped so that one may have a variety to choose from. The groups are food brands, home care brands, personal care brands, nutrition, health, hygiene & beauty, and Unilever Food Solutions (Unilever 2012). The most outstanding products in the food category are blue band and Knorr.

The most outstanding products in the home care category are Omo and Sunlight detergents. The most common personal care brands are lifebuoy, Rexona and Vaseline. In nutrition, hygiene, health and food, Unilever Company educates the population as well as part of its corporate responsibility and does its best to clean and conserve the environment. As part of its ISO procedures, it binds itself to packaging products in eco friendly packaging materials and it encourages recycling of its plastic cans.

This is a very attractive company with a rich history and the fact that it controls a good market share of the world product consumers; it is worthy carrying out a research that is comprehensive. This starts earnestly with laying out ground rules that can be called objectives.

Problem of the Statement

The introduction of the Phase Dawn butter flavour to the market faces the challenges of competition and being new in the market. This is why the research work must be done to find out how much information has moved around the region and how stiff the competition is against this product. The data and analysis of the data that will be gathered will help inform the company to make critical decisions on the marketing strategy and the way forward.

Objectives

The main objective of this research is to ‘examine the use of butter flavour vegetable oil in cooking meals’. To achieve this objective, it would be subdivided to more discrete objectives that can be quantified as follows:

1. To find out the way in which vegetable oil used in homes
2. To identify how Phase Dawn butter vegetable oil competes with other brands
3. To find out how Phase Dawn butter vegetable oil can be promoted and thus hit the market the way it was anticipated.

To find out what these objectives explicitly mean to the marketing proposal to be arrived at. The objectives are elaborated below to avoid ambiguity in the research.

To find out the way in which vegetable oil is used in homes

This analysis is expected to find out the amount of vegetable oil released from cooking oil factories, follow it to the homes that use the oil until it is consumed or disposed in some manner. If it will be well carried out, it will be able to identify the quantity demanded for a period of say one month or one year or even a quarter a year. It will also be able to investigate other ways of disposing the vegetable oil bought by the families and more so, in which meals are the vegetable oils used most.

To identify how Phase Dawn butter flavour vegetable oil competes with other brands

Phase Dawn butter has just entered the market where there are other brands being consumed. This objective will help us to find out how it compares with the old brands. It will also be able to investigate how people got to know about Phase dawn, whether it is by spontaneous spread of the product or it is by the company’s adverts on radio, television or billboards. There are reasons why people prefer certain brands compared to others and the other point of concern is the quantities that are more preferred for packaging purposes.

To find out how Phase Dawn butter flavour vegetable oil can be promoted and thus hit the market the way it was anticipated

This is an objective that will basically consider the collection of advertising ideas. It considers what consumers craze for in the vegetable oil and the packaging. It will be able to pick the preferences and emotions that run through the consumers’ minds that make them use butter. This objective can be considered to be far reaching and the assumption is that, the preferences will change as soon as the research is concluded.

This research will use the three research stages as outlined by Selden as; inspecting existing sources to uncover usage of figures and other useful information, qualitative research to provide more information on vegetable oil usage, attitudes and the rough estimate on how many litres of vegetable oil each household uses per month (2003 p.86).

Ethical Considerations on the Research Methodology

The research methodology used works in a way that it meets the ethical standards of research writing. The basic considerations that will be to ensure anonymity of the respondents, any quotes from the respondents must be edited so that it is free from errors, the samples taken are unbiased in the best it can be, and that the interviews done over telephone cannot be tapped before reaching the intended end. However, this research does not deal with sensitive data critical to the respondents it will be purely professional work.

Desk Research

Purpose

Since the product on sale is a commodity that is used in most households, the objective of this research is to provide the basis of the next stages in the whole research work. Without this step, it will be like moving blindly in darkness. The desk research phase is the most critical in that, it will establish documented information on the usage of cooking oils for the past five years.

Then, the data will be used to construct a trend curve that will enable a simple extrapolation to predict the future demands for cooking oil. This is the point at which the competitor brand can be enlisted together with the most important information about these competing brands.

This part of the research as the name suggests point out that perusing though documents will be of prime importance. Records of supplies, delivery notes and inventory records will be scrutinised and data picked from it. This data will enable the researchers to answer some of the questions highlighted in the objectives.

This data will give a brief guide of what will be expected when the actual ground work is done. The questionnaire questions will be informed by the answers sought from the desk research. This may be a difficult task due to the unwillingness that may arise from the respondents.

In brief, the desk research should be able to establish the following:

• How many households use cooking oil as compared to cooking fat?
• What brands of oil do they know?
• What brand of cooking oil are they using currently?
• What prices are charged?
• What sizes are bought?
• What advertisement are they aware of?
• Who should be targeted by what media?

Procedure

This is the actual desk research undertaking that will unravel a lot of information kept in the records of the organizations that deal with similar products. After picking five main brands of cooking oils in the market, it will follow that the personnel of each company is consulted because they are the ones who can access the records.

A brief will be necessary about what the research is intended to do. The sales team in the brief may be in the whole process. The fact that the companies produce delivery notes and keep records of the commodities delivered, it is clear that they may have information that is accurate to the best of their ability.

The local market is the most essential market to find information from. After all, the essence of marketing is to sell the commodities in the area nearest the factory to reduce the cost of production and distribution which in turn makes the product cheaper and easier to buy.

Though the internal market is the first to study, external market can also be studied. The records for external markets can be perused from the export processing sections of the companies or factories. The national bureau of statistics will also be a very useful instrument to provide information. Published research will be of prime importance in the desk research work.

Qualitative Research

Purpose

Since the research deems to find out more than just information, but the finer details of how the promotion of the product and qualitative analysis would focus to provide such information. Qualitative research concentrates in finding out the feeling and the mood of the customers about this product Phase Dawn butter flavour cooking oil. It is more of perception and preferences and how widespread it is.

Qualitative analysis therefore, will specifically answer the following questions:

• How is oil kept in the house?
• What brands they have ever used?
• What brand are they currently using?
• Do they know about Phase Dawn butter flavour cooking oil?
• Do the like the flavour in the oil?
• What would they like changed in the Phase Dawn product?
• What quantities do they usually buy?
• Is the brand name confusing with for example butter spread for bread?
• How did they know about Phase Dawn butter flavour cooking oil?
• What is the mostly used form of advertisement in that area?
• What may make them prefer certain cooking oil than the other, is it cholesterol level or what?

Population and Sampling

It is wise to divide the region in to four blocks so that the navigation and timing is quickly done through independent groups visiting the sites. The following table indicates these divisions:

The groups will include households with:

• Light users and heavy users
• Mix of males and females

Procedure

Using a road show, it will be better to introduce the product by describing it, showing it to the people and the likely competing brands. The most important issue at this stage is how the product is packaged and the colouring on it. Since the packaging may become a distraction, the use of the same products from other markets may be appropriate to use. This will lay good ground for the quantitative research to take off.

Quantitative Research

Quantitative research can be a costly affair as it, “can be cheap, in the sense that the researcher can choose a less costly design among comparable research designs” (Hyman and Sierra, 2010 p. 10). For the sake of this study and reducing the cost of doing the research, a telephone study with a structured questionnaire will be used.

This is a cheap but effective method because it will be cheaper to contact the respondents in this manner. However, this may be met by challenges like respondents not willing to respond at particular times and the researcher will be required to prepare the respondents psychologically before asking any question. In the event that in a particular block, the respondents are missing, the researcher will need to replace the respondent randomly from the same block.

Purpose

This is the critical part of the research work to be done. It should be carried out with highest degree of precision. It is at this point that the actual findings of the research are recorded. The question of how many households use Phase Dawn butter flavour cooking oil is answered.

The figures that will be captured here will be analysed to give out actual facts in terms of percentages, central tendencies and graphical output. It will be at this point that both spontaneous and prompted promotion means of consumer awareness can be studied. The prices of Phase Dawn butter flavour cooking oil will be compared with other brands as viewed by the consumers.

Population and Sampling

The sample size must be representative of the whole population. Despite the fact that a sample cannot perfectly represent a whole population and it’s unique nature, it will provide the general information about the population. The telephone interviews will be carried on 200 respondents from different households. The households should be able to represent all types of set ups. This means the intention is to sample from households with differences in occupant number and occupant sex.

The quotas are set as follows:

Procedure

The questionnaire will be developed keenly by PWC research team and sent to Unilever for approval. By the end of the day, it should be able to find out the following:

• How many households use cooking oil as compared to cooking fat?
• What brands of oil do they know?
• What brand of cooking oil are they using currently?
• What prices are charged?
• What sizes are bought?
• What advertisement are they aware of?
• Who should be targeted by what media?

The analysis from the findings will involve computer tabulations using statistical analysis packages. Once the initial data is evaluated, the requirements for statistical analysis will be discussed. The necessary weighting must be done so as to reduce the errors that may be caused by differences in sample characteristics. For instance, a household with one occupant may be using less cooking oil because of the kinds of meals cooked. And for houses habited by males only, they have a tendency of not cooking in a regular basis.

Reporting

From the qualitative research, an interim report will be presented to marketing department for scrutiny. The marketing department will then meet and discuss the way forward on this research. Using tools like Gantt charts and pert charts, the way forward and time limits will be spelt out.

After approval, the findings will be presented formally to the board. All the necessary documents will be submitted for decision making to take place. McDaniel and Gates insist that, “the marketing research report has the critical function of containing a complete and accurate description of the relevant findings of the marketing research project” (1998 p. 425). This means that the researches work must be thoroughly done more so, collection and analysis of data.

Timing

The research is anticipated to take nineteen weeks. The deadline must be met because the results are needed to find out the situation in the market and hence, influence the marketing decisions. The weekly progress reports must be sent to the marketing department by 11:30am every Friday. This is intended to allow the marketing department to discuss the progress of the research work and sustain its monitoring activities.

They may also have the opportunity to factor in what was left out in the design of the research that is ongoing. There is overlapping of time in the time allocation simply because some activities are done concurrently in the period allocated due to the fact that they don’t depend on the previous step. The time table is strictly adhered to despite the launching date of the research.

Fees

The table below outlines the cost of the project based on the assumptions contained in the proposal; it can be adjusted fairly so that the research can be carried out well with the highest level of accuracy.

Credentials

This is research is being done by the popular DNJ research institution that has led to the success of large companies like Apple computers, Microsoft corporation and Kentucky Fried Chicken businesses. All work will be done by professionals who have over 10 years’ experience in the field of marketing research.

Reference List

Delaney, R and Whittington, R 2011, Wiley CPA Exam Review 2012, Business Environment and Concepts, John Wiley & Sons, New Jersey.

Hyman, M and Sierra, J 2010, Marketing Research Kit for Dummies, Wiley Publishing, New Jersey.

McDaniel, C and Gates, R 1998, Marketing Research Essentials, 2^nd Edition, Cincinnati, Ohio.

Selden, A 2003, Research in Collegiate Mathematics Education, Volume 5, American Mathematical Soc, Rhode Island.

Unilever, 2012, “Transcript of Unilever Heritage”.

Introduction

Planning is one of the tools used in improving efficiency, effectiveness, and performance of organizations. Most organizations have realized and adopted this aspect. The management of organizations is no longer embracing general plans. They have realized the importance of strategic plans as they are more comprehensive than general plans.

Strategic plans capture significant details and often bear positive results when implemented. These tools portray certain aspects that may seem insignificant, yet they have a big effect on the organizational activities. Strategic plans are prepared through strategic analysis (Abraham, 2012).

Strategies are formulated basing on the strategic analyses. Strategic analyses give the management of organizations well informed and comprehensive bases of understanding organizational environment (Hitt, Ireland & Hoskisson, 2012). Also, the interaction of the organization with the environment is well comprehended.

Therefore, it becomes quite easy to raise the levels of efficiency and effectiveness in the organization. This is done by intelligent redeployment of organizational resources (Hitt, Ireland & Hoskisson, 2012). Strategic plans are vital in improving all aspects of organizational performance.

This paper presents a strategic plan of Unilever. This is a company that produces and distributes consumer products. The plan focuses on the marketing management of beauty products of the company.

Background/Situational Analysis

Unilever is a multinational company dealing in the manufacturing and distribution of consumer products. The company is ranked third on the list of companies dealing in consumer products based on the 2011 global business statistics. Unilever deals in a wide range of products among them healthcare products, as well as consumable products.

The organization has been operating for more than 80 years. The Unilever Company is one of the most treasured companies in the world with its assets and intermediaries located in various parts of the world. The Unilever Company has set a leading pace in providing high quality beauty products (Jones, 2005).

The beauty products of the company are well known by quality all over the world. This has been critical in defining the organization to its customers worldwide. The company’s brand originates from the beauty products. Unilever operates through subsidiaries that help in easing its global operations. The demand for beauty products in the world continues to grow due to the rising number of people who are using beauty products.

However, competition in the beauty industry is becoming stiffer day by day as other beauty product companies are coming up. This implies competition on the side of the beauty products being produced by Unilever. In the recent times, there has been a twist in the beauty industry with more people turning to products with herbal ingredients.

These products have been known as the natural beauty products. Individuals are emphasizing on the use of beauty products that have been manufactured using the natural ingredients. Many companies have come up with what is called the herbal beauty products (Peter & Donnelly, 2009).

Many changes are taking place in the beauty industry. This denotes competition for companies like Unilever that have been in the industry for a long time. A review on marketing improvement has been the focus of the organization. Unilever has been forced to incur great expenses on advertising so as to beat the competition.

The focus on improving marketing management is important in ensuring that the company remains relevant in the market. There is still a certain level of trust in the company products by its network of customers (Piotraschke, 2008).

Since the start of the 20th century, the company has embarked on aggressive marketing of its products. Enhanced advertising and promotion campaigns were held in the last decade than in any other period of the company’s existence. The year 2010 recorded the highest amount of money ever used by the company in advertisement.

The company has also been focusing on diversity as one of the means through which to increase the number of customers while maintaining the existing ones. An example is the introduction of the anti-ageing beauty products. As it is now, competition is still imminent and is likely to persist into the future.

Market strategizing and implementation of both long-term and short-term plans has to be held up by the organization. It has been quite efficient for the short time and will be more helpful if it is done in a comprehensive way. The marketing department of Unilever will come up with improved strategies that will help them in understanding the external environment (Piotraschke, 2008).

SWOT Analysis

Strengths of Unilever

Unilever is a large company with operations in five major continents – Asia, Europe, South and North Americas, as well as Africa. The company has a large revenue and capital base which comes from the diverse products of the company. Unilever deals in more than four hundred different products.

This has helped to keep the capital base of the company intact even when a certain line of product is not performing well in the market. The firm has been operating on profits despite the challenges being faced in the world economy. Unilever operates in different parts of the world, and this is achieved through subsidiaries (Unilever Website, 2012).

The company sells its products in more than 150 countries around the globe. Subsidiaries reduce centralized planning and the negative effects associated with such plans. Planning is thus easily decentralized hence addressing all issues existing in the specific environment and market.

Having been in the market for over 80 years, Unilever has managed to establish a strong brand depicted in its products. Unilever has a wider coverage in the market already meaning that there are a sizable number of customers who have developed loyalty to their product (Unilever Website, 2012).

Unilever has managed to enter and establish deeper roots in the local markets. It has knowledge of different cultures that preempt different consuming patterns in the market. All the four major brands of Unilever have gained a wider acceptance in the market. The company produces beauty products that cater for both men and women. Unilever has a well networked marketing approach with each focusing on certain regions of the world (Unilever Website, 2012).

The company has maintained a good record environmental sustainability. This starts with the ingredients which go into their beauty products. They conduct various tests to ensure that their products do not have negative impacts on the health of their customers. Also, they have a good record of adhering to environmentally conscious technology in producing the products (Piotraschke, 2008).

Weakness

Unilever is constrained by many factors in its effort to boost its brand and the wide presence in the market. As good as it is for the company to concentrate on a big number of products, it also works to the disadvantage of the organization.

Unilever has a high number of products, and this limits it from concentrating on improving the marketing of its beauty products. Monitoring its products in the market is a big challenge since the company has so many products. The monitoring of the product consumption patterns forms the basis on which effective strategies of improving marketing are crafted (Piotraschke, 2008).

The company has a very big workforce. Aligning such a big workforce to the objectives of the organization is quite challenging. It entails the alignment and moderation of the needs of the workers first. This is a costly and time consuming affair, and it brings delays in the formulation and implementation of strategies.

Unilever is choosing to partner with other companies. This has a positive outlook on the inside. However, when it is looked at extensively and from a marketing point of view, the company is likely to lose its brand, position, and value. Unilever has taken too long to bring other products into the picture.

The company has been relying on its ancient and pioneer products for quite long. It banks heavily on a certain number of beauty products in the personal care brands. This is quite risky as any of these products can lose value leading to the general loss of significance by the company (Piotraschke, 2008).

Opportunities

In the wake of the renewed sense of embracing beauty in the world, many people are embracing the use of beauty products. Beauty and fashion is graduating into a big industry. Unilever can use this chance to foster good relations through its product and become one of the major suppliers in the market.

As people continue to embrace the use of beauty products, the company shall gain a significant number of customers. If the company engages in best customer practices by way of products and service offered, more customers will be attracted to the company (Piotraschke, 2008).

It was noted earlier that Unilever has a good strategy with the local markets. The company interacts well with customers hence understanding the customers’ needs regarding their products. This is also an opportunity for the company as the developing countries get integrated in the global market.

The fashion industry is gaining momentum in the developing countries. The company can easily capture these markets using previous experience in dealing with local markets (Aslam, García, Szczecina & Lima de Faria, 2008).

Diversity of products is an issue that is being addressed by the company. In the recent past, the company has been devising a number of new products to meet the changes in consumption. An example of such products is the Vaseline cocoa butter lotion and the anti-ageing beauty products.

The changing beauty needs is creating an opportunity for Unilever. Unilever is crafting new products to match the needs in the market and enhance growth of the company (Piotraschke, 2008).

Threats

Competition in the beauty industry is stiff. Companies are coming up daily and manufacturing similar products as those that are manufactured by Unilever. This gives the company a hard time as it responds to the changing needs in the industry. Companies from different parts of the world, especially Asia, are manufacturing complementary products and attaching lower prices to these products in the market (Piotraschke, 2008).

The shift in the consumption paradigm with the concept that herbal products are the best on human has affected the organization. Various herbal companies have used this to change the minds of consumers and have taken over a number of local markets (Piotraschke, 2008).

A rise in prices of raw material has been witnessed in the recent times. The price of palm oil remains to be a worry for Unilever. Palm oil is critical in the manufacturing process of beauty products. The cost of production has been rising, yet this cannot be easily passed to consumers owing to the competition observed in the industry.

The increased cost poses a risk to Unilever. It can result to a shrink in profits. Increased competition is expected due to the entrance of other companies in the industry. Market focused and equally serious companies such as P & G are flooding the market with their products. This is indeed a nightmare for Unilever given the many years it has enjoyed market dominance (Aslam, García, Szczecina & Lima de Faria, 2008).

Areas to be emphasized in the strategic plan

As said earlier, strategic plans center on major issues in streamlining the functioning of an organization. As it is with this organization, the major focus will be on improving the marketing management of the personal beauty products. From the analysis, the marketing management of Unilever is not strong enough to deal with competition and other challenges in the marketing environment.

The marketing team will need to be tailored to meet the marketing demands. Most organizations are turning to best human resource practices among the employees. Effective management of employees will be a good tool of bridging the vacuum existing in the market. If any organization has to improve its performance, it has to be ready to invest substantially. Marketing improvement forms one of the major goals of this strategy.

Training the marketing staff will be one of the priorities for the management. Staffs need to be informed about the demands in the market and how to introduce and maintain the products of the company. Marketers will be trained not only on the basic skills in marketing, but also the technical aspects of marketing. In this case, the technicalities of products, such as their composition and their effect in use, must be understood by the team (Effron, Gandossy & Goldsmith, 2003).

Market diversification will also be an area of focus in the strategic management improvement. In the analysis, it has been discovered that the company has been focusing on diversifying its products though not so much has been achieved. Many other companies are diversifying their products.

Diversification is one of the important and efficient methods of improving marketing. This can be done by producing products that address the needs of different consumers. The consumers of beauty products can be categorized into three groups. These are the ageing people, men, and women beauty products. If the products are tailored and end up meeting the needs of all these groups, then Unilever will be assured of capturing bigger market compared to what its current status (Jones, 2005).

Quality management is a method that is used in gaining and maintaining customers in the markets. The management of Unilever will need to focus on quality of the personal care beauty products. Quality management is a sure way of improving the quality of goods and services in the market. It is a leading way of market differentiation. A lot goes into quality management especially if the organization will be required to enhance quality management.

The importance of focusing on quality for Unilever will be to assure the customers of value for their money. Many trendy products are coming up, and reassuring the customers through quality must be embraced to capture customer loyalty. It will enhance loyalty and make the customers trust the company products.

As part of quality assurance to customers, the marketing team will be trained on standards that go into the manufacturing of the products. In this case, it is expected that customers will respond to queries about the products. Therefore, the marketing team will convince them to continue using the products (Aslam, García, Szczecina & Lima de Faria, 2008).

Evaluation of the areas of focus in plan

It is important to measure the success of any plan. It helps one to understand the level of achievement in each of the objectives in the plan. It also helps in understanding the gaps that arise from the implementation plan thus easy to fill the gaps so that the plan can be kept on track.

The training of the marketing team by focusing on the technical aspects of products can only be tested in the field. After a marketing exercise has been run, surveys will be conducted to ascertain the depth of customer understanding about the products.

As the company introduces diversified product in the market, the customers will be informed of products through marketing campaigns. The acceptance levels will be measured through the consumption trends during the early stages of product introduction into the market.

The only way to determine whether the quality of a product is appealing is through the rate at which it is being consumed. Customer opinions will be sought to establish the areas of weakness in the quality of products and the general way in which the product is administered by the company.

Conclusion

Strategic plans are meant to facilitate comprehensive changes so as to raise the perspective in which the organization and management of activities is done. For such plans, understanding of the areas which need change in the organization is very critical. This is done through comprehensive and analytical tools such as the SWOT analysis.

References

Abraham, S.C. (2012). Strategic planning: A practical guide for competitive success. London: Emerald Group Publ.

Aslam, S., García, E., Szczecina, J.C. & Lima de Faria, H.A. (2008). UNILEVER Portfolio Management. Web.

Effron, M., Gandossy, R.P. & Goldsmith, M. (2003). Human resources in the 21st century. Hoboken, N.J: J. Wiley & Sons.

Hitt, M.A., Ireland, R.D & Hoskisson, R.E. (2012). Strategic Management Cases: Competitiveness and Globalization. Mason, OH: South-Western Pub.

Jones, G. (2005). Renewing Unilever: Transformation and tradition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Peter, J.P. & Donnelly, J.H. (2009). Marketing management: Knowledge and skills. Boston: McGraw-Hill Irwin.

Piotraschke, F. (2008). Brand Portfolio Management, Basic Principles and Recent Trends Shown in Context of Unilever, a Consumer Goods Company. München: GRIN Verlag GmbH.

Unilever Website (2012). Customer Development. Retrieved from: https://www.unilever.com/careers/our-teams/customer-development.html

About Unilever (in general)

Unilever is a multinational company. It manufactures and sells consumer products. The company was founded in 1930s, and has grown tremendously since it launched its operations.

Despite the competition and business challenges it experiences, Unilever’s business strategies have favoured its growth. The Company is dual-listed in London (UK) and Rotterdam (Netherlands).

Annually, the company registers considerable revenues despite the huge operational costs it incurs. For instance, it registered €46.467 billion gross revenue in 2011.

Due to the growing demands for its products, the figure increases annually. Unilever’s managerial techniques have embraced ethical provisions. The company supports various charity organisations.

This constitutes one of its Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR); staged to “give back” to the community.

Since Unilever operates in numerous countries with diverse cultural provisions, the company has established, ratified, and embraced dynamism so as to remain competitive, spirited, and relevant in the market.

The major competitors of Unilever incorporate Nestlé and Procter & Gamble among other local producers.

Unilever (Saudi Arabia)

Unilever operates in Saudi Arabia under taut “Shariah” laws. The Saudi Arabian market is large and affluent following the economic prowess of the country.

Clients have been categorised into various market segments for easy promotional strategies. The racial and religious differences in this region are considerable. They have affected the growth of some companies remarkably.

Nevertheless, Unilever has managed to survive in the Saudi Arabian market regardless of the mentioned challenges. The aspects and influences of the Islamic religion matter in this area.

As a multinational corporation, the management of Unilever is centralised. Most of its operational directives emerge from headquarters. However, such directives are modified to fit the Saudi Arabian market.

Evidently, the company sells various products in the Saudi Arabian marketplace. This includes the consumer goods mentioned before. Unilever products are well-known throughout Saudi Arabia.

Company Objectives

Unilever has set various business objectives so as to remain relevant and competitive in the market. The fact that it deals in the consumer products demands considerable business objectives.

Firstly, the company endeavours to produce quality products that will satisfy the market demands. Additionally, it strives to augment its production capacities to counter the continuously growing market opportunities.

Unilever also endures to expand its market presence by opening up its branches in numerous countries and enhancing its production capabilities as indicated earlier.

It has equally enacted viable CSR programmes to ensure that it ‘gives back’ to the society, conserves the environment, and embraces sustainable development.

Another objective is to embrace modern Research & Development techniques that will allow the company to emerge with novel products. This will enhance its customer services and market saturation.

Similarly, Unilever endeavours to operate beyond the cultural and territorial barriers.

Company Strategy

Unilever’s business strategies are evident. Firstly, the company has managed to embrace technology in its operations and production techniques. This has enhanced the company’s productivity, profitability, and customer services.

Another strategy is to enact viable business policies that will favour its territorial operations and market penetration. The company produces distinctive consumer products with exceptional qualities so as to outdo its competitors.

Additionally, its business prospects are visionary and strategic. It has managed to embrace various business cultures depending on its region of operation.

This is quite critical. Precisely, Unilever enjoys various competitive advantages in the business realms. It has the capacity to attain its business prospects.

Introduction

Marketing is a combination of strategies and methods used by companies to identify, build and maintain gratifying relationships with customers therefore, benefiting both the customer and the marketer (Amity Institute of Higher Education, 2011). For a successful marketing strategy, a marketer needs to combine, in a balancing manner, the right elements and processes. This is dependent on the nature of the products, services or ideas that the company wants to market.

It also comprises the decisions the management make in the implementation of the positioning strategy and in line with the achievement of the company’s overall objectives. Moreover, a marketing mix will involve the marketing tools the marketer uses to achieve these goals in the target market according to Armstrong & Kotler, (2009). The four marketing elements are product, place, price and promotion.

Elements of marketing

Product

A product simply means what the firm has to offer to its target market. Firms attempt to provide solutions to the problems of their target market, which may be in form of tangible, intangible (or both) product offerings. These products satisfy the needs of the market, help generate income for the firm and profits for the stakeholders.

Non-for-profit organizations such as regulatory authorities get their revenues from the same product. In creating the right market mix, marketers need to come up with the right product features and benefits such as branding, labeling, style, installation, durability, packaging and quality that will satisfy the customers (Amity Institute of Higher Education, 2011).

Pricing

The marketer has to make decisions on pricing as an element of marketing mix. Price refers to what must be surrendered by one party in order to receive something from another one in a transaction. However, it may mean different things to the parties that are doing the transaction.

To the buyer a price is what he/she has to part with in order to obtain benefits or gain access to a good or service. This may not always be in monetary terms since in barter trade no money is involved. To the seller, price is the earnings he/she gets from each product and therefore important to the profits he gets (Armstrong & Kotler, 2009).

Apart from a profit factor to a marketer or a firm, price also acts as a marketing tool. In marketing mix, pricing decisions are very important and marketers should pay a keen interest. This is because, pricing, is the most flexible element in the mix and can be changed rapidly if need be; the other elements may take months to change. Setting the right price for products means the company generates satisfactory revenue and therefore adequate research, analysis and strategic review are important.

The price of a product also creates the first impression on the customer even though the final decision is based on other considerations. Finally, pricing is an important tool for sales promotion. Price features of a product such as discounts, price variations, trade-in terms, price discrimination and payment terms are decisions that are made in pricing to create the right price for a product (Amity Institute of Higher Education, 2011). Promotion

Promotion is described by Nielsen, (2011) as channels of communication through which firms use to reach a target audience with a specific message in order to reach their goals. These channels may range from celebrity endorsement of a company’s product to a small retailer handing out fliers on the street about his product offerings. A promotion strategy should have in account all other aspects of the products such as pricing, distribution and the market targeted and also should be aligned with the overall goals of the firm.

In addition, promotion techniques of a firm should be coordinated in what is known as Integrated Marketing Communication, which includes liaising with other functions of the company. This is important in order to carry a consistent message across all promotion campaigns. A promotional mix could include advertising, direct marketing, public relations, sales promotion and sponsorship (Amity Institute of Higher Education, 2011).

Place

The place element of marketing mix simply means that, target customer needs to have the products at the right place and at the right time. The marketer’s job is to ensure that goods are where they are needed when they are needed. This means decisions on the distribution of goods focus on creating a system that, without much hustle, allows customers to get access to products and purchase them. Since this is not as simple as it appears, a marketer should ensure that the system that he/she chooses is effective and efficient.

This means that products are delivered where they are needed and in the right amount and condition and also at the right time and for the right cost. Decisions involved in this element include choice of channels and outlets, markets coverage, dealers support, logistics and channel variety among others (Amity Institute of Higher Education, 2011).

Marketing mix changes as a product moves through the life cycle and therefore strategies in regard to the mix should also change. Also, each product should have its own marketing mix developed for it which puts into mind the target market (Armstrong & Kotler, 2009).

Unilever

Unilever is a complex integrated network of companies, brands, products and components that are in the consumer goods industry. The corporation has around 400 brands which are mixed in two categories; global brands and “local jewels” which are tailored to appeal to a global market and others to specific geographical areas to meet particular local tastes and habits. Everyday, around 150 million people in the world use Unilever products that are made in three global divisions; foods, home care and personal care (Nielsen, 2011).

In the foods division, the largest brand is Knorr with products ranging from soups, sauces, noodles, and complete meals. Branded cooking oil and fats is another category in this division and also ice cream and tea all of which are branded. In homecare and personal care divisions, cleansing and hygiene products are produced with global brands like OMO being the most popular. In the personal care market, skin, cleansing, deodorants and antidepressants products are marketed (Nielsen, 2011).

In the detergent market, Unilever produces global brands such as OMO and Persil and local jewels that are targeted to particular markets in a region. One of these is Surf Excel which is very popular in the Pakistan market (Pacheco & Chandon, 2007).

Surf Excel marketing mix

Surf Excel washing powder is offered in two varieties in the Pakistan market; Surf Excel and Surf Excel Matic. It is very popular in this market since its introduction four decades ago and has continually been improved in order to meet the changing needs of consumers.

The Surf Excel as a brand is regarded in the market as a brand for people’s beliefs and values as it participates in activities relating to these aspects. It has also been used for sponsoring children academically and carries the message that encourages people to allow children to explore and discover without minding the dirt. It also comes in many sizes; 25g, 50g, 115g, 500g, 1kg and 2 kg packs (Ahmed, 2010).

In terms of price, Surf Excel sets competitive prices in the market through the following ways

• Price to distributors where all are equally treated,
• Unilever also gives price margins to distributors for wholesale prices so that all retailers get the products at fixed prices, and
• The company is also in control of the retail prices so that consumers get the products at fixed prices.

Discounts are another feature of Surf Excel where distributors and wholesalers who buy in large volumes get a 1% discount on sales exceeding Rs 600. A trade discount is also offered by Unilever on functional basis such as storing and book keeping (Ahmed, 2010).

Distribution of Surf Excel is through indirect marketing channels where the products move from the company to distributors then to retailers and finally to the consumer. Surf Excel Unilever covers all regions of the country irrespective of the economic classes. You will find these products in departmental stores such as Akbari Stores, Al Fatah and Decent Departmental Stores as well as retail shops and small kiosks where it is convenient for the target consumer.

It also targets shelf spacing in departmental stores where it is separated from other brands in stores such as Al Fatah where the corporation paid 2 million Rupees in 2008 to get a 40% share of the area reserved for detergents (Ahmed, 2010).

Unilever Pakistan Limited uses the media and trade incentives to distributors and wholesalers to promote their products. Surf Excel advertises through radio, TV, Billboards and newspapers nationally. The company has established a scheme where wholesalers gain points on their purchases beyond 200 Rupees of Surf Excel of different sizes. The company has also set a store display model and uses sales officers to make sure retailers follow this model and hangers used to do this are from the company.

Sales promotion is done through incentives to buy such as 1kg mango for each 1kg Surf Excel bought and free samples. Further, sales promotion through order takers and stalls in exhibitions are implemented. Moreover, public relations through events involving children and the ‘Surf Excel game must’ event that is held regularly (Ahmed, 2010 and Pacheco & Chandon, 2007).

References

Ahmed, H. (2010, November 29). Report on Marketing Strategy of Surf Excel. Web.

Amity Institute of Higher Education. (2011, n.d n.d). Principles of Marketing Tutorials. Retrieved from KnowThis.com: https://www.knowthis.com/

Armstrong, G., & Kotler, P. (2009). Customer-Driven Marketing Strategy: Creating Value for Target Customers. In G. Armstrong, & P. Kotler, Marketing: An introduction (pp. 165-195). United States of America: Prentice Hall.

Nielsen. (2011). Nielsen Insights in Action: Informing Decision-making Through ROI. United States of America: Nielsen.

Pacheco, P., & Chandon, P. (2007). Unilever in Brazil (1997-2007): Marketing Starategies for Low-Income Consumers. Brazil: INSEAD.

Background

The Unilever Ice Cream division operates in a highly competitive environment. Ice cream is part of the company’s food business that has to compete with other companies in the fast moving consumer goods segment. The company is the biggest maker of ice cream in the world.

Customers are mainly retail buyers who shop from supermarkets and are increasingly taking on ice cream as a snack.

Figure 1: Euromonitor International-Statistics.

The main Unilever ice cream brands in the UK are Ben & Jerrys, Carte D’or, and Walls. The following graph displays the market share of the respective brands in UK in 2013.

Meanwhile, du telecom operates in a young, growing industry. It also benefits from its association with the United Arab Emirates government by being owned by several state agencies. du is enjoying a persistent increase in mobile data revenues. The business segment contributes about 30% of the total company revenue.

The main challenge for du telecom is sustaining the cable infrastructure to provide 100% uptime on data business. Rivals like Etisalat and YahClick are already opting to use satellite links as backups. du has to keep up with changing technologies to remain relevant in its business (du 2014).

Competitive environment applications

Five Forces du telecom in the UAE

The threat of new entrants in the UAE telecom market remains low because of the low population of the country and the high cost of setting up the required infrastructure. New entrants also try to avoid the associated cost of having to upgrade their networks when new technologies become common.

The industry in a duopoly served by Etisalat and du. However, there are smaller companies offering hybrid services in some specific telecom segments, such as data. Rivalry is very high as du tries to increase its market share to reach at least 50% of the market.

Currently, it has about 30% control of the market. In the industry, buyers can shift their service providers quickly, but du is doing all it can to sustain consumer loyalty by providing long-term contracts and increasing switching costs. Therefore, the bargaining power of buyers remains moderate.

Meanwhile, the bargaining power of the suppliers is low because there are many global and national companies competing for contracts and tenders to supply equipment and services to the UAE telecom industry.

In the UAE, telecom companies provide the same services, but they differentiate the services through customer care and market campaign presentations. Any changes in pricing by a rival will directly affect du telecom. Therefore, the threat of substitute products remains high.

Mapping strategic groups, Unilever in the UK

When mapping, Unilever uses demographics to divide markets and then follows through with the expectations of the particular age group segment. Ice cream flavours are made with the needs of the diverse customers in mind. Each company brand is for a specific market segment.

For example, the Calippo, an ‘ice lolly’, is for children.

Brands sold in the UK do not have to be launched in the country. In segmentation, Unilever also follows customer traits, where 29% are quality driven, 24% are individualistic, 19% are habitual shoppers, 14% are shelf stalkers, and 14% are conformists brand loyalists (Unilever 2013).

The performance of different brands in the UK follows consumer income levels, with Magnum as the best-selling brand because it targets adults.

The marketing and sales strategy for Unilever UK is defined clearly. The company concentrates on its biggest brands, but it also ensures small ice cream brands have the required presence in retail stores.

Packaging differs for all brands and the targeted price segment in the market. Brands focusing on impulse customers are mainly premium and mixed-priced. Those focusing on the take home market are available in all price variations, leading to the brand positioning structure displayed below.

Company strategy applications

Objective of du Telecom

The company aims to maintain a progressive dividend policy for the shareholders. The objective provides a reference point, which also serves as the main unit of performance measurement. The other objective is to provide consumers with the best offerings in the world in terms of handsets, network technologies, and overall consumer experience.

The company measures its commitment to this objective by evaluating the available choices offered to customers, the quality of its network compared to the rivals and industry standards, the innovativeness of its products and services measured by the frequency of upgrades, and the pricing of its products to reflect profit margins and market competitiveness.

One minor objective of the company is to comply with the Emiratisation programs of the UAE government. It involves the hiring of many UAE nationals as workers. The company judges its performance towards this objective by the number of job applicants who are Emiratis and the turnover of Emirati employees annually.

Objectives apply differently to functions and business units; the voice market segment pursues the call quality objective, while the customer care area aims to satisfy a higher number of customers (du 2015).

Unilever Mergers and Acquisitions

Unilever embraces mergers and acquisitions to take advantage of the emerging trends in the ice cream industry (Unilever 2013). It also does so to consolidate market share, reduce costs, and increase its economies of scale. The table below presents a summary of the company’s activities from 1959 to 1980 (Reinders 1999).

The motive was to improve its access to relevant resources, which were critical to its business expansion. Therefore, the choice of target depended on freezer cabinets, cold stores, and transportation demands (Jones 2002).

In 2014, the company finalized the acquisition of Talenti Gelato & Sorbetto in a move that would enable Unilever increase its offerings for the ice cream market (Boyle 2014).

Acquisitions have happened within and outside Europe to make the company truly global and to enable it develop elaborate supply chains for the main ingredients of its ice cream brands. There are no notable mergers in the company’s history, which could be due to the company’s need to retain absolute control of its business.

Acquisitions are helpful in reducing the costs of operation. They also help Unilever to become diverse. The company targets small firms that are operating in single national markets, where it can easily dominate after acquisition (Jones & Miskell 2007).

Reference List

Boyle, M. 2014, ‘Unilever buys Talenti Gelato & Sorbetto to bolster ice cream business’, Bloomberg Business. Web.

du 2014, Q3 2014 year-on-year revenues exceed AED 3 billion for the second consecutive quarter. Web.

du 2015, Company overview. Web.

Jones, G. & Miskell, P. 2007, ‘Acquisitions and firm growth: Creating Unilever’s ice cream and tea business‘, Business History, vol. 49, no. 1, pp. 8-28. Web.

Jones, G. 2002, ‘Unilever- A case study‘, Harvard Business School Working Knowledge. Web.

Reinders, P. 1999, Licks, sticks and bricks: A world history of ice cream, Unilever, London.

Statista 2015, Brands of ice cream in tubs and blocks ranked by number of users in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2013 (in 1,000 people). Web.

Unilever 2013, 2013 annual report and accounts: Making sustainable living commonplace. Web.

Many companies come a long way in order to reach a position that is deemed sustainable and competitive. Companies usually come up with strategies whose implementation helps them to increase their chances of surviving in the market.

Some of the strategies implemented might work in favor of the company while others might not be successful. This paper provides a review on Unilever and Proctor and Gamble (P&G) indicating what they have done that works and what they have done that doesn’t work.

The research also notes the top competitors of Unilever and P&G and determines the impact of business relationships on long term growth.

Unilever is among the world’s leading fast moving consumer goods companies. The company offers products including foods, home products and personal care products. Unilever is a global company with presence in over 170 countries hence prides in the recognition as a global company.

Globally recognized companies like Unilever have privileges like economies of scale and access to global resources. Moreover, Unilever has created a strong relationship with merchant by offering reasonable margins and incentives.

This has worked for the company because it has been able to reach the consumers on the ground. Unilever has also done mass scale production which has enabled the company to overcome the bargaining power of suppliers leading to reduces production (Unilever, 2012).

Unilever has also invested a lot of money on research and development of new products and brands enabling the creation of high entry barriers to the worldwide consumer market.

Furthermore, Unilever has created a highly skilled human resource from around the world which has enabled it to understand and manage the individual requirements of the customers.

However, due to the formation of many products and brands, Unilever faces the problem of inefficient brand management. This has resulted in the realization of fewer returns than expected.

Proctor and Gamble Company is a top manufacturer and promoter of branded consumer packaged goods across the globe. The company prides in the manufacture, promotion and distribution of beauty and personal care products.

Ariel and pampers are some of the leading brands of the company. Over 180 countries enjoy the highest quality products from Proctor and Gamble. Just like Unilever, P&G has developed many strong brands into the market leading to the acquisition of numerous profits.

Moreover, the safety and quality of products are very important to the company which has led to the improvement of the lives of global consumers. The quality of products has ensured continuous success in all business activities.

However, the company depends heavily on mature markets while neglecting emerging markets. This practice is likely to leave the company in a vulnerable position in the future (The Proctor and Gamble Company, 2010).

Both Unilever and P&G have gained sustainable growth over the years through hard work and commitment. It is almost impossible to remain in the market without facing stiff competition.

The top competitors of the companies include Johnson and Johnson, Nestle, Kimberly-Clark Corporation and Mars Incorporated. This healthy competition enables the building of strong business relationships which enhances long term growth.

Competition is an essential business relationship which ensures the production of high quality goods at lower prices in order to win consumer acceptance and support.

Moreover, a good business relationship between companies enables them to learn from each other through their successes and failures. Companies are in a better position to become more successful through avoiding past mistakes.

Conclusion

Both Unilever and P & G are very successful global companies. The companies have gained sustainable growth over the years and are quite similar in their business models and practices.

The stiff competition between the two companies has led to the development of high quality products and brands all over the world. The high quality products and brands have benefited them by ensuring that they acquire the acceptance and support of consumers.

The two companies also face competition from other global companies. The competition has made them to come up with strong strategic plans in order to outshine any competition.

Reference List

The Proctor and Gamble Company. (2010). Our Worldwide Business Conduct Manual. Web.

Unilever. (2012). Making Sustainable Living Commonplace. Web.