Chapter 8: Unilever brands target all markets
Aims of the exercise
- To become familiar with Unilever’s portfolio of brands and their markets
- To gain insight into Unilever’s marketing strategy through its web content
- To critically assess the ways in which Unilever presents its brands on its website
Getting started
Go to Unilever’s main website at
www.unilever.com Look at a few of the pages under each of the main headings on its home page. This exercise will focus mainly on the heading ‘our brands’. Note there is an interactive element. You can vote on your favourite brand and vote on what most influences your choice of food (taste, price, healthy options, calories). The ‘brands worldwide’ map features interesting stories about the company’s brands, old and new. Look at the advertising section of this site.
Tasks
A. Questions
- Look at Unilever’s core brands in each division: food, personal care and home care. Do they all reflect a global brand which unites them, or do they seem to be separate?
- The web pages on advertising offer video clips of some of the company’s advertisements. Watch a few of them. They are likely to change from time to time. Here are some which were available when this exercise was written:
- Bertolli pasta sauces
- Lynx touch
- Rama – growing up Poland
Now, answer the following questions about each video you have seen:
- What is the main message of this video?
- What cultural elements stand out? Are they linked to local or global aspects of lifestyle and consumer behaviour?
- Is their an ethical aspect of this advertisement? If so, how has the marketing message taken it into account?
- Is Unilever more local or more global in putting across its brands? Or do you feel it has the balance about right?
B. Reflection
Unilever is one of the world’s largest consumer products companies, making a huge range of products which are consumed or designed for personal use.
- Would you expect such a company to have a strong CSR stance, especially on sustainable development?
- How does Unilever meet this challenge??
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