Introduction
Unilevers is one of the oldest multinational giants in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) industry; its operations span more than 190 countries. The compamy owns over 400 brands which include popular/prominent brands such as Axe, Dove, Knorr and Sunsilk.
Unilever, SriLanka was established in 1983 with local manufacturing facilities in the country. It owns more than 25 brands in the country such as Fair & Lovely, Signal, Lipton, Marmite and lux. Unilever’s products fall under the diverse categories of food items, personal care and home care. Each segment is headed by three directors and three category heads. These segments constitutes several brands with are managed by brand manages.
Personal care is a vital segment of Unilever
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Unilevers has marketing and branding individuals responsible for each brand who works closely with the other functions in the organization such as finance, procurement, logistics and research & development. A brand manager’s role is to be responsible for the overall management and performance of the specific brand.
The dissertation will focus on the elements of branding, and the significance it possesses in the personal care segment of the FMCG industry in Sri Lanka. It will also highlight the importance of the branding and marketing initiatives undertaken by a large organization such as
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Brand identity and brand image are two distinct yet interrelated dimensions of brand building. Brand identity entails the strategic efforts of firms to assign a brand with unique characteristics in a bid to achieve positive perceptions by target consumers (Nandan, 2005).
The ingredients of a brand are the product itself, the packaging, the brand name, the promotion, the advertising and the overall presentation. The brand owner assembles these attributes and blends them in a unique way.
A key to enhancing the equity of a brand is the selection of an appropriate branding strategy. Laforet and Saunders (1999) define branding strategy as the way companies mix and match their corporate, house, family and individual brand types for their products or services. This mix and match of brand types generates a variety of options for the companies from which they can select a suitable branding strategy for a product/ service. Furthermore, McDonald et al. (2001) assert that an appropriate branding strategy is crucial as it would reinforce the desired positioning and hence influence purchase behaviour. Unfortunately, even the best brand managers have struggled to choose the most appropriate branding strategy, in part, due to a lack of academic clarity and
A brand is what can either attract people to you or make people avoid you; people would identify you by the brand you portray. One can communicate their brand through actions and words. “It is essential to understand that wherever we are, in whatever we do, we are all building our brand”.
Catherine, W., Tat Pui, L. and Henrik, U. (2011) The Roles of Branding for a Brand Entering
Unilever Global is a company dedicated to producing quality and nutritionally balanced foods to indulgent ice creams, affordable soaps, luxurious shampoos and everyday household care products. They also produce world-leading brands which include Lipton, Knorr, Dove, Axe, Hellmann’s and Omo, alongside trusted local names such as Blue Band, Pureit and Suave. Furthermore, Unilever Global is one of the world’s leading fast-moving consumer goods companies with products sold in over 190 countries. Arguably, more than 2 billion consumers worldwide use a Unilever product on any given day. According to its website, the vision of Unilever is “to make sustainable living commonplace place, working to create a better future every day,
Its origin goes back to the 19th century when a group of companies operating independently, produced soaps and margarine. In 1930, the companies merged to form Unilever that diversified into food products in 1940s. Through the next five decades, it emerged as a major fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) multinational operating in several businesses. In 2004, the Unilever 2010 strategic plan was put into action with the mission to ‘bring vitality to life’ and ‘to meet everyday needs for nutrition, hygiene and personal care with brands that help people feel good, look good and get more out of life’. The corporate strategy is of focusing on core businesses of food, home care and personal care. Unilever operates in more than 100 countries, has a turnover of €39.6 billion and net profit of €3.685 billion in 2006 and derives 41 per cent of its income from the developing and emerging economies around the world. It has 179,000 employees and is a culturally-diverse organization with its top management coming from 24 nations. Internationalization is based on the principle of local roots with global scale aimed at becoming a ‘multi-local
According to Holt (2004), a brand can be defined as a term, name or a design that distinguishes product or service of one manufacturer from others. Brands are normally utilized in advertising, business and marketing. In accounting terms, brand is an intangible asset which is present within every organization. It is most valuable asset that is outlined in the balance sheet of a company. Brands owners need to effectively manage their brands in order to enhance shareholder value. Brand valuation is an important technique that associates money with a brand. Effective branding often results into high sales volumes of a particular product. A customer who prefers a brand is more likely to choose other products which are offered by the same brand. Brand can be stated as a personality that facilitates identification of a company, product or service. It even encompasses relation with other constituents like customers, partners, investors, staff, etc. Individuals distinguish psychological aspect of a brand from experimental
Unilever, founded in 1929, is an Anglo–Dutch multinational consumer goods company. Its headquarters are in London, England and in Rotterdam, Netherlands as well. It is the world's third-largest consumer goods company as of 2012. It is also one of the oldest multinational companies in the world, its products include food, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products. And these products are available in 190 countries.
Unilever is a world renowned company, which was created in 1930 through the merger of margarine Unie, a Dutch margarine company and British-based Lever Bothers, soap and detergent company.
Brand strategy is of upmost importance when it comes to customer visualizing a company. Branding is critical to the company as well as the product. The company brand embodies what the company is about,including the product (Hatline, M.D. & Ferrel, O.C., 2014). Branding provides the company with leverage when it tries to enter new markets Whether that be new locations or new product offerings (Douglas, S. P., Craig, C. S., & Nijssen, E. J., 2001).
Branding is one of the most important aspects of any business structure. Your brand is meant to increase the competiveness against your company. “your brand is your promise to your customer. It tells them what they can expect from your products and services, and it differentiates
In the theory, it defines a brand as a name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of them intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate the offering from those of other competitors. Simply put, branding is one of the most important aspects of any business, large or small, retail or B2B, which is the promise to customers and tells them what they can expect from the products and services. (Lake, 2015) (Williams, 2014) Consistent, strategic branding leads to a strong brand equity, which means the added value brought to your company's products or services that allows you to charge more for your brand.
According to the American Marketing Association (AMA), a brand is a “name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of them intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competition”. However, as Keller highlights, a brand is also “something that has actually created a certain amount of awareness, reputation, prominence, and so on in the marketplace”. Therefore, a brand is an identity created to differentiate itself from the competitors and to be remembered in consumer’s mind.
Since an increasing number of people focus on brand names instead of product, brands become important elements for customers to choose products (Carroll, 2008). When customers trust the brand, the benefits for the manufactures are generated. In the first place, brands can be used by products as the tool to identify and differentiate themselves from various products. Secondly, brands are helpful for companies to build a competitive advantage (Bick, 2009). Therefore, organisations take more attention to branding.
Hindustan Unilever Limited which has a heritage of over 80 years of corporate existence in India is one of the largest Fast Moving Consumer Goods Company in India. It has a rich history, with a belief in values and an eye on growth. This approach has helped its business grow. They build their brands and develop products based on the customer insights, innovation and relentless marketing and design. The company is committed to reduce the environmental footprint and increase its positive social impact making sustainable living a commonplace.
In recent times, branding has played a pivotal role in some brands’ success. This has been made possible through the ability of some marketers to capture the essence and minds of people (consumers), and put the trends and characteristics into the personality of a brand. Customers have always found ways to identify themselves with certain products, and on several occasions, branding campaigns
Unilever is a multinational company that has almost 400 brands and currently doing business in almost 190 countries and was founded in 1930. Its headquarters are in UK and Netherlands.