Unilever lifebuoy case study solution

Lifebuoy and Swasthya Chetna With the growth in the developed markets in North America and Western Europe approaching saturation, consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies have turned their eyes toward developing and emerging markets to spur future growth. These markets accounted for 84% of the global population and were estimated to spend US$ 23 trillion dollars on consumer goods. Global CGP major Unilever Plc. (Unilever) was one of the companies that had had a headstart in many of these developing and emerging markets. For instance, Unilever had been operating in India since the early 1930s. Its Indian subsidiary, Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL, earlier known as Hindustan Lever Ltd.), held a dominant position in the Indian CPG market with many big brands cutting across categories. It accounted for around 10% of Unilever’s worldwide revenue. Unilever, an Anglo-Dutch company, was formed in 1930 by the merger between British soap maker Lever Brothers and Dutch margarine producer Margarine Union. By the start of the 21st century, Unilever had become a leading manufacturer and marketer of CPG brands in foods, beverages, cleaning agents, and personal care products. The first Indian subsidiary of Unilever, the Hindustan Vanaspati Manufacturing Company (HVMC), was formed in 1931. But Unilever products were available in India even before this. Its laundry soap ‘Sunlight’ reached the Indian shores as early as 1888. Other Unilever brands such as ‘Lifebuoy’, ‘Pears’, ‘Lux’, ‘Vim’, and ‘Dalda’ were also available. In 1956, three of Unilever’s subsidiaries that operated in India merged to form Hindustan Lever Ltd (HLL). Right from its early years in India, HLL placed a lot of importance on marketing. It was one of the largest ad spenders in the traditional media such as print and radio. Its media strategy was predominantly TV-led since TV entered Indian homes, and it was also the largest advertiser on radio in India. However, after years of significant growth, HLL started facing reverses in the late 1990s. A number of its star brands faced intense competition from the brands of other companies. In 2000, HLL lost market share across categories. Thus, HLL began an intense reevaluation of many of its products and its marketing strategies. LIFEBUOY: TARGETING THE BOP POPULATION For Unilever, Lifebuoy soap had always been a strong regional brand. It was a market leader in Asian markets and was the market leader in the Indian soap market. HLL considered Lifebuoy its flagship soap brand. Lifebuoy was first launched in 1895, as a health and hygiene soap targeting the tough, labor class man. It was a ‘hard’, brick shaped rectangular bar that was red in color and had a strong carbolic scent. In the early 1900s, Unilever’s Indian subsidiary took a cue from its international counterparts and started highlighting Lifebuoy’s disinfectant qualities in its promotions. The positioning strategy was a success and Lifebuoy’s sales picked up significantly. However, just as HLL suffered market share declines in many of consumer product categories in 2000, so, too, did Lifebuoy suffer. In 2000, Lifebuoy’s Indian market share declined 9-10%. HUL decided to then launch a marketing program to spur the growth of Lifebuoy by increasing the usage frequency and creating new users from among people who had never used soaps. In India, diarrhea resulted in the death of about 3 million children each year. Moreover, diarrhea and other such diseases led to loss of workdays that directly affected labor productivity and income in rural India. However, diarrhea could be easily prevented by washing the hands with soap and water. After some intense strategy discussions, HLL decided to develop the Lifebuoy ‘Swasthya Chetna’ (LSC) program. Swasthya Chetna means “Glowing Health” in Hindi. One of the goals of LSC was to invigorate Lifebuoy with a new brand vision: ‘to make a billion Indians feel safe and secure by meeting their hygiene needs’.