CUEGIS - Unilever

Question 1

Country it is based in?

Answer 1

British multinational, headquarters in London

Question 2

Scale of business

Answer 2

International

Question 3

What goods and services do they provide

Answer 3

Owns over 400 brands and provides FMCGs including Ben and Jerry’s (ice cream), Vaseline (skin care product) and Knorr (food products)

Question 4

When was it founded?

Answer 4

2 September 1929

Question 5

Vision statement

Answer 5

To make sustainable living commonplace. We believe that this is the best long-term way for our business to grow.

Question 6

Mission statement

Answer 6

To add vitality to life. We meet everyday needs for nutrition, hygiene and personal care with brands that make people look good, feel good and get more out of life.

Question 7

Type of ownership

Answer 7

Public limited company

Question 8

Number of employees

Answer 8

149,000

Question 9

Revenue and profit (2021)

Answer 9

Revenue: $52bn
Profit: $8.7bn

Question 10

Change

Answer 10

In January 2022, Unilever has shifted from a matrix organisational structure. Now they have divided their organisation into 5 business groups: Beauty and well-being, personal care, home care, nutrition and ice-cream. Each business group is responsible for its business strategy, growth and profit distribution. This has meant 15% less senior managers and 5% more junior managers.

–>
To meet the needs of their customers, its 5-category business groups are believed to be “more responsive to the needs of the consumer” allowing Unilever to better understand the needs/wants of the consumer.
+ reduce in cost as there are less senior managers
- possible lower motivation (less positions for promotion)

Question 11

Innovation

Answer 11

Unilever’s Uk Materials Innovation Factory, which is co-run by the University of Liverpool, has the highest concentration of robots doing material chemistry work. These new technologies allow data to be collected 10x faster than traditional methods. Furthermore, Unilver can utilise this to speed up tests on products and optimise them. This reduces the time it takes before the products are on the market.

Unilever has an AI hub in Shanghai which has highly-advanced computer and software systems, allowing them to test consumer reactions to products on the internet (e-commerce). This helps them find the best ways to present products and drive the most sales.

Question 12

Ethics

Answer 12

Unilever introduced a sustainability plan and incorporated “making sustainable living commonplace” into the organisation’s vision.

Unilever announced that they would be working with brands, suppliers, retailers and consumers to reach net zero emissions by 2039.

Unilever UK and Ireland claims to have reduced carbon footprint by 2/3 since 2018.

In 2019, Unilever announced that they had achieved 100% renewable electricity across 5 continents.

Question 13

Strategy

Answer 13

Unilever intends to continue to expand on its e-commerce activities as they see this as a growing sector. E-commerce grew by 38% in the third quarter of 2021 and now makes up 12% of company sales.

Unilever wants to accelerate growth and increase its market share in “key markets” such as India, China and the US as they see the growth of emerging markets as an opportunity.

Question 14

Globalization

Answer 14

Calls itself the “multi-local national”
One of the main difficulties of a globalised company is the differences in average incomes. As Unilever sells Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCGs) they have to be affordable for a typical household in a country. Therefore Unilever scales it’s products based on different countries
700ml of “Wall’s ice cream”
–> “Kwality Wall’s” (India) = 100 rupees (1 euro)
–> “Ola Ice cream” (Belgium) = around 4 euros

Ice cream “Wall’s”:
The Wall’s trade mark has been used in the UK by Unilever in relation to ice cream since 1922. It is well known and highly regarded. To expand it’s presence globally Unilever purchased a number of local or regional ice cream businesses from around the world. Each of these brands have its own story and loyal customer following. Therefore, instead of changing the name of the brand, they added the “Hearthbrand logo”. As a result the companies kept their local customers as the name did not change, and furthermore the omnipresent logo meant all these brands tied together and became a common visual identity

Question 15

What are some marketing examples for unilever?

Answer 15

1. Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty challenges current stereotypes about beauty.
2. Omo/Persil’s ‘Dirt is good’ campaign promotes getting dirty as a natural and positive part of growing up for children – all part of their learning and development.
3. Comfort One Rinse’s campaign explains to consumers that they only need one bucket of water for rinsing their clothes rather than three, helping them to save water.

Question 16

Culture

Answer 16

Unilever is also “committed to a culture of transparency”.
- Unilever non-retaliation policy.
- This allows employees to raise their concerns, allowing them to feel appreciated and listened to and their input being welcomed.
- Furthermore, it shows that Unilever takes employee input and concerns seriously.

Unilever set up a Global Diversity Board which focuses on setting inclusion and diversity across the business. The board meets 4 times a year and is chaired by the CEO.

Question 17

Who is the CEO of unilever?

Answer 17

Alan Jope
–> received a 40% pay rise in 2022 due to strong unilever performances

Question 18

Economic facts of unilever

Answer 18

Unilever saw increases in revenues in 2021 but this was due to inflation and increases in costs of production. They actually lost market share in ALL of their business sections (5).