Unilever

INTRODUCTION TO UNILEVER

Unilever is a BritishDutch multinational consumer goods company co-headquartered in Rotterdam, The Netherlands and London, United Kingdom. Its products include food, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products. It is the world's third-largest consumer goods company measured by 2012 revenue, after Procter & Gamble and Nestl. One of the oldest multinational companies, its products is available in around 190 countries. Unilever has more than 400 brands.UNILEVER PAKISTAN

Unilever Pakistan is the largest consumer goods producing company in Pakistan, was incorporated here in 1948 and started building their factory at Rahim Yar Khan. This factory was inaugurated formally in 1951 by the Governor General of Pakistan.Unilever Pakistan moved into the personal care product business in 1981. It has gained a major market share due to the introduction of quality brands like Sunsilk, lifebuoy, lux, and fair and lovely. Unilever Pakistan enjoys a leading position in most of its core Home and Personal Care and Foods categories, e.g. Personal Wash, Personal Care, Laundry, Beverages (Tea) and Ice Cream. The company operates through 5 regional offices, 4 wholly owned and 6 third party manufacturing sites across Pakistan.

UNILEVER BRANDS

UNILEVER PRODUCTS PORTFOLIO

Unilever brands include: Home Care Brands Personal care Brands Nutrition Health, hygiene, and beauty Unilever food solutions

SOME POPULAR UNILEVER PRODUCTS:DoveDove Beauty Bar revolutionized the way women cared for their skin by providing the first alternative to soap that was less drying to skin. LiptonLipton is one of the worlds greatest refreshment brands. Its the worlds best-selling tea brand, has been established for more than 100 years, and is available in more than 100 countries.KnorrWith Knorrs dynamic range of products you will experience flavors, spices and colors inspired by the worlds best dishes and recipes. Knorr a world of ideas.VaselineAt any time, no matter what your age or your skin type, the Vaseline skin care team wants everyone to be able to enjoy great, healthy skin.

SunsilkSunsilk provides real solutions to women's everyday hair needs everywhere.LuxLux has been bringing the best of beauty to every woman since 1925.

LifebuoyLifebuoy offers affordable, accessible soaps to help communities around the world improve hygiene through hand washing.Wall'sWe want a world with more joy and thats why we inspire people to take a moment away from seriousness, stress, duties, and expectations... just like when youre holding an ice cream. Walls philosophy is quite simple, live from the Heart!

Close-upClose-up is designed to deliver longer-lasting fresh breath, whiter teeth and a more confident smile and each one of Close-ups extraordinary toothpastes is made to leave your mouth feeling irresistible.Blue Band:Daily source of essential nutrients that help every family member to grow, develop and thrive.

Surf ExcelIntroduced by Unilever Pakistan in 1948 under the brand name Surf, its deep rooted heritage has made it a national icon.

Fair & Lovely:Fair & Lovely is the first fairness cream in the world with 100% safe ingredients and is dermatologist tested and proven

INTRODUCTION TO FAIR & LOVELY

Fair & Lovely, the worlds first skin lightening brand, is trusted by women all across the world over to deliver results. Fair & Lovely is one of the brands of Unilever Pakistan. Building on its heritage of being the worlds first skin lightening brand, it contains no bleach or harmful ingredients. Fair & Lovely brings expert fairness to the Pakistani consumer. Now it has successfully launched new product formulations from face wash to gels and menz fairness cream.The tube of Fair and lovely has its presence in many homes whether they are rich or poor, rural or urban. It is thefavoriteof women of different age groups ranging from college going girls (even school girls) to older women.

HISTORY

Fair & Lovely, the worlds first fairness cream, was launched in 1975. In 1988, the brand went international, and is now available in 40 countries. These include countries across Asia, Middle East and Africa. In the early 1976, it is introduced in Pakistan.All the oil & fat used in Fair & Lovely products are of vegetable or synthetic origin only. Fair & Lovely doesnt contain any harmful ingredients. All Fair & Lovely ingredients have been safety cleared and are all approved for cosmetic products as per local regulations..

VISION: Every girl holds a dream of what she wants to truly pursue, a dream to carve out her own identity before she gets married.The Fair & Lovely Foundations initiative is to economically empower women and pursue their dreams and reach their true potential. They aim to inspire an attitude of self-reliance and independence among young women by providing scholarships in the areas of higher education, vocational training and start up business capital. fair & lovely foundation:

Every girl holds a dream of what she wants to truly pursue, a dream to carve out her own identity before she gets married.We understand the value of the girls dreams, and the need to invest in their future, in order to become self-reliant. After all, self-reliance is the crucial building block to creating their own true identity. Fair & Lovely Foundation is consistently at work since 2003, Fair & Lovely Foundation has provided scholarships worth up to Rs. 1 lakh each year to girl students with outstanding academic track record. To date, the Foundation has given out more than 1,000 scholarships to deserving applicants.MAIN INGREDIENTS:Fair & Lovely contains a synergistic combination of extensively researched, safe & internationally approved cosmetic ingredients such as: Fairness and skin benefit actives Niacinamide (Vitamin B3) and Vitamin B6 work synergistically to lighten skin and spots and stimulate skin renewal. Other skin benefit actives and powerful antioxidants (Glycerin, Allantoin, Provit C and Provit E) which soothe the skin, improve skin texture, Lighten dark circles and provide antioxidant benefits. Triple sunscreens (Parsol MCX, Parsol 1789 & TiO2), protecting against UVA and UVB rays (including UVAI and UVAII), preventing skin darkening and tanning. White optics for instant brightening and natural glow.The ingredients work together to leave you with fair & fresh skin in just 4 weeks without the oily feel of other creams.

TARGET MARKETThe target market for Fair & Lovely is predominantly young women aged 18-35. Disturbingly, there is repeated evidence that school girls in the 12-14 years category widely use fairness creams. The pooralso are a significant target market forFair & Lovely. HUL marketed the product in affordable small size pouches to facilitate purchase by the poor.Fair & Lovely targets thepoor or those at thebottom of the pyramid as well.PACKAGINGSpecial Packaging is the part of Value innovation Strategy.A beautiful packaging can attracts more customers eyes and also to maintain the quality. Fair and lovely packaging has eye-catching appearance and they use nice color in their packaging.

FAIR & LOVELY RANGEFor Women: FAIR & LOVELY ADVANCED MULTIVITAMIN CREAM

NOT JUST A CREAM, ITS A FAIRNESS TREATMENTNew Fair & Lovely Advanced Multivitamin targets the same fairness problems as 5 EXPERT FAIRNESS TREATMENTS LASER like precision on skin marks FACE POLISH like targeting of skin tan FACE PEEL like targeting of dullness ANTIOXIDANT lightening action on dark circles VITAMIN MASK lightening of skin colorFAIR & LOVELY MULTIVITAMIN FACE WASHFor Fairness with every washThis rich lathering foam along with Tri-Fair vitamin complex and anti-oxidants lifts away impurities and works gently to help provide: Instant fairer look. Clearer skin. Soft smooth feel.

FAIR & LOVELY NIGHT FAIRNESS TREATMENTFor Naturally Fair SkinFair & Lovely Advanced Multivitamin Night Treatment, works all night as you rest to give you an Expert Fairness Boost night after night, fair & lovely Night treatment reduces dullness to give you skin that is visibly fairer!

FAIR & LOVELY ANTI MARKS CREAM:For Pimple free SkinFair & Lovely Anti Marks has a breakthrough Spot-Block system that not just fades current pimple spots but also prevents them from coming back. It also blocks dark pigments and prevents them from spreading anymore.

FAIR & LOVELY WINTER FAIRNESS CREAM:For Soft, Fair Skin in wintersFairness cream with the goodness of a cold cream. The cream has Tri-fair vitamin complex and active moisturizers that give you radiant fairness along with soft, supple skin. Now say goodbye to your cold cream and welcome to winter fairness.

FOR MEN:FAIR & LOVELY MEN MAX FAIRNESS FACEWASHMagnet action for a Cool Instant Bright Look

Fair & Lovely Men MAX Fairness Face wash with Magnet action pulls out deep seated dirt and pollution particles to give you a cool, instant bright look. Its icy Menthol leaves your skin feeling cool and fresh. FAIR & LOVELY MEN MAX FAIRNESS CREAMFor Unbeatable Fairness in just 2 weeksFair & Lovely Men has Fairness boosters which protect you from the sun's UVA & UVB rays to give you our Unbeatable Fairness in just 2 weeks.

ADVERTISEMENTS & PROMOTIONS

Fair and Lovely has dominated the market for long period of time and now a days also it is doing pretty well despite the increased competition both from domestic and international brands. All this is because of loyal customer base it has created through great marketing efforts of the company.With a pack of Fair and Lovely, the companydoesn'tonly sell the product but also hopes.

Advertisement has always been a great marketing mix for Fair and Lovely. The advertisement shows the whitening effect on its cover only by showing a face six times in whitening progression, as woman becomes fairer she is even more happier depicted by showing two pictures of woman as before use and after use. To verify, instrument such as fairness meter is given along with the pack. The TV commercial of Fair and Lovely also shows highly depressed women and after use of Fair and Lovely she fulfill her dreams and meet with happiness.

But the promotion strategy and also the products of fair and lovely is changing day by day but their main focus is women. Last year they launched a new product for men. And they did their advertisement with men models which got a huge response from the customer of menz active. Now menz fairness face wash is also available in market.

Besides the newspaper & the TV ads, the following types of promotion regarding fair and lovely observed1. Billboards:

2. Facebook and other social networking sites:

3. Sampling Plan

For the purpose of marketing, they have also visited houses, schools and universities for distributing free samples of fair and lovely.VALUE PRICINGIn this highly competitive marketplace, it can be difficult to persuade customers to buy from you when you offer a similar product to your opposition. And trying to beat competitors on price alone is a cut-throat business, very risky and not impressive. It attracts bargain hunters ready to defect to competitors for a better deal. Using a value-pricing strategy is a better proposition because it attracts loyal customers. We know that fair and lovely is one of the symbols of status of Unilever. The price is not that much higher than the competitors. According to the officials of the price are given below.1. Fair and Lovely advanced multivitamin cream Rs: 1002. Fair and lovely advanced multivitamin face wash Rs: 1003. Fair and lovely winter fairness cream Rs: 1004. Fair and lovely anti marks cream Rs:1005. Fair and lovely max fairness cream for men Rs: 1006. Fair and lovely max fairness face wash Rs: 1057. Fair and lovely night fairness treatment Rs: 120

ONLINE SKIN CONSULTATIONFind your custom-fit skin care routineFair & Lovely believes that great skin can be created. Just take your online skin consultation and they'll find the routine that's right for you.

MARKETING PHASES:

PHASE 1LAUNCH PHASE(1986-2001)(LIGHTENING PASSION IN HER)

It was the first product to enter into fairness segment. It positioned itself as a beauty cream which increases beauty within 6 weeks and help in making a girl beautiful and then fulfilling her dreams of getting married. All the TV advertisements were based on this theme.

PHASE 2EXPANSION(2001-2006)(CHANGING HER DESTINY)

In this phase band tried to expand itself by increasing its consumer base. It started targeting younger age college women and even rural women who all are modernized and believe more in cosmetics and faster results than in home remedies.

PHASE 3REVOLUTION(2006 ONWARDS)(EMPOWERING HER TO GO FURTHER)

In this phase brand completely change its campaign and started focusing on emotional values of consumer. The Fair & Lovely Foundations initiative is to economically empower women and pursue their dreams and reach their true potential.

MEETING DEMANDS OF CONSUMERS

Positioning of brand keeps on changing with evolving customers. Initially advertisements were focused on aspiration of girl getting the right man, but as aspirations kept on changing, advertisements have also started evolving about achieving career, status, self-achievement etc. Fair and lovely has always listened to their customers needs and has changed accordingly thus becoming one of the favorite brands of its followers.

CONTROVERSIES

Initially, the advertisement campaign which was launched by Fair and lovely was somewhat biased toward darker skin and attracted a fair share of controversies with people blaming that fair and lovely mixed beauty with fairness. But now the advertisement campaign which is focused on fulfilling the dreams and "transforming the women. Unilever did not create prejudice, it already existed there. It used it to increase selling of its product.

SUCCESS STORY OF BRANDThe success of a brand depends on various factors such as right product at right time to right consumers with right marketing efforts. There were various advantages for fair & lovely such as, it has backing by strong company like Unilever, which is always considered to be acumen of marketing. This brand also focuses on a specially designed marketing drive for villages.

COMPETITORS

SWOT AnalysisStrength:1. Fair & Lovely brand is World's first and largest Fairness cream brand.2. Presence in 40 countries and a value of around Rs.6 billion.3. Enjoys high levels of Consumer Awareness for the brand.4. Excellent, top-of-the-mind name, and good distribution.5. Fair n Lovelys USP- Power of beauty and fairness in 4 weeks.Weakness:1. Categorization of women on the basis of skin color, has led to many issues with activists and human rights leading to Negative Publicity.2. Extremely tough competition in skincare market.3. Many markets untapped around the world. 4. Entrance of foreign companies in Pakistan with higher skilled and efficacy to beat the existing or domestic player.5. Changing trends resulting in reduction in affinity for fair skin. Opportunity:1. Fair & Lovely Foundation which aims at empowerment, achievement and transformation of women.2. Fair & Lovely Scholarship for underprivileged girls. 3. Introduction of Menz Active fairness cream and face wash for Men.4. The market is bigger and the potential of the market for fairness is even bigger.5. In Pakistan beauty seemed to be associated with fairness and not anything else.Threats:1. Several competitors in the market falling under the same product category.2. Challenges to deal with consumer choice and buying behavior.3. Legal issues often hamper the brand image.4. Fair & Lovely is now at its maturity stage, so it can slip down to decline stage.

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