Hindustan Unilever Limited

Overview & Strategy of HUL

BY:
GROUP 2

About HUL
The company is a 52% subsidiary of multinational Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG)

company Unilever Plc. It was incorporated in 1933 and is one of the leaders of FMCG market in India.
The company is into manufacturing of soaps, detergents, shampoos, skin care products,

deodarants, toothpastes, tea, coffee, packaged foods, ice-creams and water purifiers.
HULs brands are classified into the food, home care, personal care, water, nutrition, health

and hygiene and beauty segments. Food brands include Anna Purna, Red Label, Brooke Bond Taaza, Brooke Bond, Taj Mahal, Kissan, Kwality Walls, etc. Under home care, it has brands like Rin, Vim, Domex, Surf Excel, Active Wheel, etc. The personal care segment has brands like Ponds, Clinic Plus, Dove, Lakme Fruit Blast, Hamam, Axe, Close up, Fair & Lovely, etc. HUL sells water purifiers and has 2 types of water purifiers, namely Pureit-Blue and Pureit-Maroon. The nutrition category has brands such as Kwality Walls fruit ice cream and Soupy noodles. Under the health and hygiene category, brands include Lifebuoy. HUL products are available at all price points i.e. the company offers premium, mid-priced and mass products. In FY10, HUL launched Brooke Bond SehatMand, which is a tea containing vitamins.

About Consumer Markets in India

According to McKinsey Global Institute (MGI), Indias consumer markets are touted to

grow exponentially during 2000-2025, wherein the total consumption in the country is likely to quadruple, making it the fifth largest consumer market by 2025. MGI expects Indias real gross domestic product (GDP) to grow at 7.3 per cent annually through 2025.
According to the latest edition of the Nielsen Global Online Consumer Confidence

Survey (which tracks consumer confidence, major concerns and spending intentions among consumers), for the second quarter of 2011, Indian consumers continue to stand most optimistic globally. India fared at 126 index points for the survey, followed by the Philippines (115) and Indonesia (112).

About Competitive Strategy

Competitive Strategy consists of move of companies in order to attract

customers. With stand competitive pressures and strengthen an organizations market position. The main objective of Competitive Strategy is to generate a competitive advantage, increase the loyalty of customers and to beat competitors.

Five main competitive strategies are:

Overall low cost leadership strategy Best cost providers strategy Broad differentiation strategy Focused low cost strategy Focused differentiation strategy

The competitive strategy varies from sector to sector and company to company. Thus, it is not easy to predict a single or to find a single strategy for the whole sector.

Strategy Of HUL
After stagnating between 1999 and 2004, the company is back on the growth track. In

the past three years, till 2008 HULs net sales have witnessed a CAGR of 11%, while net profit has posted a CAGR of 17%.
HUL always believes in customer friendly products with major emphasis on low cost

overall without compromising on the quality of the product. They are leveraging the capabilities and scale of the parent company and focusing on the value of execution. The entire product portfolio is also being tweaked to include premium offerings such as Ponds Age Miracle and dove shampoo in skin and hair care.
Being an MNC operating in India, HUL is more conservative in its strategies than its

Indian counterparts. Moreover, given increasing competition, it faces the risk of being overtaken by domestic players in various categories. Prolonged inflation may lead to margin contraction, in case HUL is not able to pass on this burden to consumers.

Strategy Of HUL contd..

HULs prices are comparatively low as the Indian people are price conscious, quality better

than others and reliability is extremely high as in the case of Lifebuoy or Dalda, these products hold high regard in the minds of the senior citizens in India.
HUL came to India in the way back in 1931 when India was not at all affluent in spending on

commodities. Now that the purchasing power has increased over the years, HULs offerings and prices has also changed. It aligned its tactics in accordance with the needs of the Indians.

HUL is the largest FMCG company in India. That explains that the company is doing tremendously well as it has got highest returns, financial statistics say the companys turnover is 17,523 in 2009-10. HUL has moulded its strategies time to time to cater with the needs of Indians therefore making itself the largest in India.

Strategy Of HUL contd..

In past HUL strategy was to align its strategies to the special need of the

Indian business environment . For instance HUL is known for its capabilities in rural marketing, effective distribution systems , human resource development now its corporate strategy has changed to an attempt to leverage global scale while retaining local responsiveness to some extent This caused change in strategic decision making which shifted from subsidiary to headquarters- Unilever formulated a new global realignment under which it will develop brands and stream line product offerings across the world and the subsidiaries will sell the product . They also decided to focus managerial attention to a limited set of high potential products . There focus changed to limited number of international brands rather than a large range of local brand.

THANK YOU ..