Introduction

Unilever is British-Dutch Multinational Fast Moving Consumer Goods(FMCG) company. Their

products include foods, beverage, cleaning agents, and personal care products. It’s the world’s
Third-largest consumer goods company measured by revenues (after Proctor & Gamble and
Nestle) and world’s largest maker of ice cream. As of October 2014, their Revenue is $ 66.1
Billion and Profit $ 6.4 billion. It is the 6th largest company in FMCG with market value $ 124.5
billion. Over the last few decades, Unilever Bangladesh has been constantly bringing new and
world class products for the Bangladeshi people to remove drudgery of life. Over 90% of the
country’s households use one or more of our products.

Mission of Uniliver
Unilever Bangladesh mission is to add Vitality to life. It meet every day needs for nutrition,
hygiene and personal care with brands that help people look good, feel good and get more out of
life. In the future, its brands will do even more to add vitality to life. Its vitality mission will
focus its brands on meeting consumer needs arising from the biggest issues around the world
today – ageing populations, urbanizations, changing diets and lifestyles.

Unilever Bangladesh see growing consumer need for:

# A healthy lifestyle.
# More variety, quality, taste and enjoyment.
# Time, as an increasingly precious commodity.

Vision of Uniliver
UBL vision set out the long term direction for the company – where it’s want to go and how it is
going to get there:

# It works to create a better future every day.

# It help people feel good, look good and get more out of life with bran ds and services that are
good for them and good for others.
# It will inspire people to take small everyday actions that can add up to a big difference for the
world.

Goals:
The goals of UBL are: • To manufacture high-standard products. • Promoting products to the
highest extent • Producing large volume to achieve production cost economies. • Enabling
quality products to be sold out at obtainable prices.
Attracting the target market
Unilever is quite active in promoting its brand to their customers. P&G has developed a logo
that is differentiable and can easily be recognized. Most important factor to attract customers,
it considers

 Strengthen sales force organization.

 Reorganize sale force for particular area.

 Introduce performance related bonus scheme for sale force.

 Recruit additional sales personnel.

 Increase sales effort to increase sale to major customers.

 Increase sales efforts for most profitable products

 Start new advertising campaign

 Increase company image advertisement.

 Increase advertising for the product in specific market

Marketing Strategy
Divide large market into small segments

Buyers in any market differ in their wants resources location buying attitudes and buying
practices. Through market segmentation Unilever Bangladesh divide large, heterogeneous
market into smaller segments that can be reached more efficiently and effectively with product
and service that match their unique needs. They has to try different segmentation variables,
alone and in combination, to find the best way to view the market structure. For their consumer
UBL have used some of the variables of Geographic, Demographic, Psychographic, and
Behavioral.

Geographic
Country region East, West, North, south
Density Urban, suburban, rural
City o r m e t r o Major cities, mainstream, climbers, small town
size

Climate Northern, southern

Demographic

Age Under 6, 6-11, 12-19, 20-34, 35-49, 50-64, 65+

Gender Male, female
Income Deprived(Rs less than 90000) ,aspires(RS 90000-200000)
seekers(Rs.200000-5000000) strivers(Rs.500,000-
1,000,000) global Indians(1,000000+)
Occupation Professional and technical, managers, officials, supervisors, farmers,
retired, students, homemakers, unemployed.
Education Illiterate, literate but no formal schooling, school up to 4 thstandard, standard
5th to 9th , SSC/HSC, some college, graduate, postgraduate,
professional.
Religion Muslims, Christian, Hindu, Buddhi
Psychographic

Social class Lower lowers, upper lowers, working class, middle class, upper middles,
lower uppers, upper uppers,

Lifestyle Achievers, strivers, survivors

Behavioral

Occasions Regular occasion, special occasion, holiday, seasonal

Benefits Quality, service, economy, convince, speed,
User status Non user, ex-user, potential user, first time user, regular user.
User rate Light user, medium user, heavy user
Evaluating Market Segmentation

The objective of Porter Five Forces Model is to beat the competition of market by overcoming
the challenges offered by rival companies. The five forces model was analysis developed by
Michael E. Porter in 1979. According to this model the five forces that can affect the profits of
company and can help to determine
the prevailing competition in market are :

Threats of
New
Entrants

Rivalry
Bargaining Among Bargaining
Power of Existing power of
Suppliers Competito Buyers
rs

Threats of
substitute
products
or services

Threat of New Entrants

Due to the vast range of Unilever products, it is very hard for a new company to come and
participate. However, the company holds considerable shares of market and also has
established reputations therefore, no new entrant can compete with the company without
heavy amount of capital and complete marketing strategy based on comprehensive research.
Though small companies with specialization in particular products can offer competition to
Unilever in specific areas.
Bargain Power of Supplier

The bargain power of supplier is coped with mutually dependent relationship of company with
its suppliers. Unilever request some good materials in order to produce products of good quality
and sell them at sensible price. Likewise, suppliers in market are always in search of reputed
clients that can help them to generate good amount of revenue. The standard reputation
maintained by Unilever offers advantage to the company in this regard. Therefore, the
prevailing crisis of credit and fluctuation in interest rates do not affect the terms of company
with suppliers.

Bargain power of Consumers

As with the bargaining power that is alarmed by the costumers, Unilever can deal with it
easily. The wide range of household products produced by company maintains the revenue
of company even in time of recession. It is due to the type of various products and the demands
of products in everyday life of consumers, that this company plays an effective role in reducing
rate of recession in economy of UK .

Threat of Substitute Products

Although Procter & Gamble has to deal with the presence of various substitutes in market
nowadays, however quality offered by P&G in its all products ensure the sustainability of
company in market all over the world. In this regard company has adopted variety of
collaboration strategies with their customers in order to develop better understanding of
consumer demands and their response.These factors allow the industry to know about their
buyers that are they happy with Unilever products or will choose some other brand over
Unilever. The quality in Unilever products is always maintained and it ensures costumer
trustworthiness and and value for their money
 Unilever is one of most successful company offering quality products in present times.
For more than half of a century this company is dominating the world of household
products in different parts of world. This success of company is because of flexible attitude
of company towards modifying user requirements and shifting market conditions. The
successful marketing and business strategies of company ensures growth in revenue and
constant reputation in world of business.

It is a buyer oriented industry which is ready to know about the requirement of their
costumers sooner than any other. Unilever is now familiar with the business war going in
the market but it has also formed a business map to compete. With Porter’s five forces
model Unilever can successfully eradicate its rival companies and beat the competition
anywhere in world.

Designing the Product based on Consumer’s Demand

Unilever follows differentiated target market segments as they are focused on improving the
lives of the world’s consumers. That is why they target several market segments and design
separate offers for each.

Differentiate and Positioning (Product & its Statement)

Lux Beauty Soap: “Bess, Ektu khani Lux”. Positioned by the special attributes that it
posses the power that make you beautiful than any other.
Close up: “The Close up, The Better”. So it posses special attributes in this product that this
will not only refresh your teeth but also freshen up your breath.
Surf Excel: “Stains are good when something good happen from stains”. This statement sends us
a message that Surf Excel is ready to remove any kind of stains that will bring us a good thing.
Unilever’s Prices and Pricing Strategies

Unilever maintains a wide variety of price points, considering the level of diversification of its
products. Prices and corresponding pricing strategies are determined in this section of the
marketing mix. In general, the most significant pricing strategies in Unilever’s consumer goods
business are as follows:

1. Market-Oriented Pricing Strategy

2. Premium Pricing Strategy
3. Product Bundle Pricing Strategy

The market-oriented pricing strategy entails setting price points based on consumer goods
market factors. For example, Unilever uses competitors’ pricing to determine the most
appropriate prices. On the other hand, the premium pricing strategy involves prices that are
higher than competitors’. For instance, for products like Dove, Unilever applies moderately high
prices that correspond to the premium quality of the brand. Also, the company occasionally
offers products in bundles set at discounted prices. This section of Unilever’s marketing mix
shows a mixture of strategies that suit the variations in the company’s consumer goods and target
markets.

Unilever’s Promotion (Promotional Mix)

Unilever needs to promote its products, considering the high level of competitive rivalry in the
global consumer goods market. This section of the marketing mix outlines the strategies and
tactics in the company’s approach to promote its products to target consumers. Unilever uses the
following promotional tactics, arranged according to significance:

1. Advertising (primary)
2. Sales Promotion
3. Public Relations
4. Personal Selling
5. Direct Marketing

Advertising serves as the primary means of promoting Unilever’s products. Many of the
company’s brands have advertisements on television and online media. The firm also
occasionally uses sales promotion, such as discounts and product bundles. For example, Dove
soap bars are sometimes offered in bundles of three at a discounted price. In terms of public
relations, the Unilever Foundation’s activities enhance corporate image and brand strength
(Read: Unilever’s Corporate Social Responsibility & Stakeholders). The company sometimes
implements personal selling in collaboration with retailers to operate kiosks for certain occasions
or promotional events. Direct marketing is the least significant promotional tactic in Unilever’s
marketing mix. This tactic involves directly engaging client organizations to promote suitable
products. Based on this section of the marketing mix, Unilever heavily relies on advertising as
the main factor that influences consumer perception about the company’s consumer goods.
Unilever’s Products (Product Mix)
Unilever expands its consumer goods business through the years, resulting in a broadening
product mix currently composed of over 400 brands. This section of the marketing mix identifies
the company’s outputs, collectively known as the product mix. Unilever has a wide variety of
products under the following categories:

1. Foods
2. Refreshment (beverages and ice cream)
3. Home Care
4. Personal Care

Unilever’s food products include Best Foods mayonnaise and sandwich spreads, as well as
Knorr stock cubes and sauces. The refreshment category includes Heartbrand ice creams and
Brook Bond teas. Unilever sells products like Surf laundry detergent and Sun dishwasher
detergent under the home care category. The company’s Close-Up toothpaste, Vaseline lotion,
and Dove soap and shampoo are sold under the personal care category. These types of products
indicate that Unilever’s marketing mix is already highly diversified. Such diversification partly
results from the company’s acquisition strategy in the consumer goods market through the years.
For example, the firm acquired Best Foods in 2000. Unilever’s organizational structure reflects
the diversity of consumer goods in this product mix.

Conclusion
Today's market is characterized by highly competitive organizations which are all for consumer's
loyalty. Firms are faced with the challenge to maintain their own competitive edge to be able to
survive and be successful. Unilever was built on the theory of touching consumer lives with
brands that make life a little better every day. They continue to connect with consumers by
offering affordable products and packaging specially designed to meet consumer needs.
UBL must maintain an innovative approach by introducing new products and re-facing
existing product lines to compete and satisfy consumer demands, to allow them to remain
profitable for the next one hundred-seventy three years.