ADDO

As one of the leading food, home and personal care companies globally, Unilever prides itself as a pioneer and a leader in food, home care and personal care innovation. The company has a long history of offering breakthrough solutions in terms of a healthy, safety, and eco-friendliness of its products in the food, home and personal care industry. The company also prides itself of having a first-class brand portfolio renowned in different regions and three recognized brands namely food, home and personal care. The study evaluate the influence of external factors that affect branding strategies in customizing of Unilever brand in the food, home and personal care category. In particular, the study administered questionnaires and conducted interviews to identify the external factors that affect brand strategies and capabilities that make Unilever stand out in the global economy. Today businesses and consumers are placing increasing importance on brands due to the growing realization that brands are one of the most valuable intangible assets that firms have. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were employed in collecting the data from 100 customers and 10 management staff for the study. Marketing executives of Unilever reported that branding is a tool used to differentiate their products from competitors and give their products new features which encourages high demands and purchase. The evaluation indicated that the external factors that affect branding strategies in customizing global brands are culture, political and legal issues, socio-economic reasons, both changes in income and lifestyles (Koehn, 2001) and religious differences and the economic and technological factors. These factors can make or break the organization if it is not handled carefully and appropriately. The study also identifies that Unilever customized to suit the needs of different markets but basic research may be conducted on a global basis. Findings also reveal that the Unilever customize to comply with government regulations, better satisfy and service host country consumers, climate, cultural differences in terms of colour, religious beliefs, language, tastes in order to capture a large enough share of a host country market. Also findings reveal that the organization customize to comply with government regulations, better satisfy or service host country consumers, climate, cultural differences in terms of colour, religious beliefs, language, tastes and to capture a large enough share of a host country market.