TABLE OF CONTENT

SR.No Content Page no.

1. Executive summary 2

2. Company Overview 3

3. Industry & Economic Value 4-6

4. Competitive Strategy
Value Proposition 7
Positioning 7
Trade off  8
Other Activities 8

5. Five Forces Analysis

Supplier groups 9
Buyers group 9
Substitutes 10
 New Entrants Threat 10
Competitors 11

6. Conclusion 12

7. Bibliography 13

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 Executive Summary:

Hindustan Unilever Limited is the Indian arm of the Anglo-Dutch company – Unilever.

Both Unilever and HUL have established themselves well in the Fast Moving Consumer 
Goods (FMCG) category. In India, the company offers many households brands like, Dove,
Lifebuoy, Lipton, Lux, Pepsodent, Ponds, Rexona, Sunsilk, Surf, Vaseline etc. A lot of HUL
 products have been identified in the „Top 10 brands‟ list each year.

HUL is also known for its strong distribution network in India. In order to further strengthen
its distribution in the rural areas and to empower the local women, HUL launched a
„ project Shakti‟ in 2000 in Andhra Pradesh. The idea behind this project was to create women
entrepreneurs and provide them with financing and training in entrepreneur, which would
enable them to create Self-Help Groups [SHG] and become direct distributors of HUL
 products.

FMCG Companies always have a huge market demand which is growing in size and
diversified. The strategy analysis of HUL consists of the following:

Competitive strategy of HUL which includes:

Value proposition: HUL products provide value to its customer be it rural, urban or semi-
urban.

Positioning: HUL products are mainly classified around need based positioning strategy.
HUL‟s strong supply chain enabl es it to supply the demanded products to right customer 
ahead of its competitor.

Trade-Off: HUL strategy to trade-off with profitability and go ahead with low pricing
strategy.

Porter‟s five forces model analysis for HUL which includes:

Supplier does not have much bargaining power. Buyers are highly price sensitive. Threats of 
new entrants are high since FMCG industry is open industry where local brands compete with
international brands. The business strategy of HUL has been aligned towards welfare of 
society and provides economic growth with its brand popularity.

HUL concentrate mainly on its low pricing strategy, due to which it loads the self with
various products which are used in day-to-day activities of common man, instead focusing
only on premium products unlike some of its competitors.

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 I. Company Overview:

Hindustan Unilever Ltd. is India‟s largest fast moving Consumer goods company . Its
Headquarter is in Mumbai.HUL products include foods, beverages, cleaning agents and
 personal products. HUL touches the lives of two out of every three Indians everyday

Over 35 brands spanning 20 distant categories such as soaps, detergents, shampoos skin care
toothpastes, deodorants, cosmetics, ted, coffee, packaged foods, ice cream, and water purifies

In 1931 Lever brothers made first subsidiary in India. In 1931 they joint with Hindustan
Vanaspati manufacturing company. In 1935 they joint with United Traders limited. All these
3 players mixed together and form HUL in 1957. HUL offers 10% of its equity to Indian
 public

Brooke bond is present in India back to 1900 and its Red label band was launched in 1903. In
1912 it joined with lever brothers. Unilever acquired LIPTON in 1972. Ponds India Ltd. is
working in India since 1942 and it is acquired by HUL in 1986 by an international
acquisition. Tata oils Mills Company merged with HUL in 1993. In 1996 Tata made 50-50%
 joint venture for LAKME with HUL and in 1998 it was completely sold to HUL. HUL made
50-50% joint venture with Kimberley Clark corp. in 1994 as Kimberley Clark lever Ltd.
which makes Haggies diapers and kotex sanitary pads. In 2002 HUL launched Ayush
ayurvedic soap. In 2004 it came into the water purifier segment and launched PUREIT. In
2007 it formally formed as HUL from HUL that is Hindustan Unilever Limited. It has
currently more than 16,000 employees, including 1,300 managers.

HUL lives by its „ Sustainable Living Concept‟. It makes sure that all their products create
more value to its customers by improving health & well-being, reduce environmental
footprint, and try to source 100% of agricultural raw materials sustainably.

HUL‟s rural development initiative programmes has been a success right from „Project
Shakti‟, „Lifebuoy Hand -wash campaign‟ till „Reduce water consumption for w ashing
clothes‟.

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 II. Industry:

Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) is India's largest Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG)
Company.

Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) or consumer packaged goods (CPG) are products that
are sold quickly and at relatively low cost. FMCGs are those retail goods that are generally
replaced or fully used up over a short period of days, weeks, or months, and within one year.
FMCG have a short shelf life, either as a result of high consumer demand or because the
 product deteriorates rapidly

The following are the main characteristics of FMCGs:

a. From the consumers' perspective:

 Frequent purchase
 Low involvement (little or no effort to choose the item – products with strong brand
loyalty are exceptions to this rule)
 Low price

 From the marketers' angle:

 High volumes
 Low contribution margins
 Extensive distribution networks
 High stock turnover 

HUL with over 35 brands spanning 20 distinct categories such as soaps, detergents,
shampoos, skin care, toothpastes, deodorants, cosmetics, tea, coffee, packaged foods, ice
cream, and water purifiers, is a part of the everyday life of millions of consumers across
India. Its portfolio includes leading household brands such as Lux, Lifebuoy, Surf Excel, Rin,
Wheel, Fair & Lovely, Pond‟s, Vaseline, Lakmé, Dove, Clinic Plus, Sunsilk, Pepsodent,
Closeup, Axe, Brooke Bond, Bru, Knorr, Kissan, Kwality Wall‟s and Pureit.

H UL has its pr esence in 4 dif ferent i ndustry segments :

1. Food and beverages

2. Homecare
3. Personal Care
4. Water purifier 

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FOOD & BEVERAGES:

HUL aim and vision for this industry is to improve the taste and nutritional quality of all its
products by reducing salt levels, sugar levels, calories, saturated fat, improve heart health and
increase essential fatty acids.

Company‟s aim is to make great-tasting food which makes a positive contribution to a

healthy diet. It has launched various Nutrition Enhancement Programme to increase their 
nutritional standards based on globally recognized dietary guidelines.

Some of its products are Anapurna salt and atta, bru coffee, Brooke bond, Lipton tea, kissan
squashes and ketchups, kwality wall's and modern bread.

HOMECARE:

HUL aim and vision for this industry is to improve health, beauty, remove offensive odour,
avoidance of dirt and killing of bacteria.

Its target is to reduce water use in the laundry process, produce easy rinse products and
 products that use less water, reduce water use in skin cleansing and hair washing, and reduce
water use in agriculture and manufacturing process

Homecare HUL brands include Active wheel detergent, Rin detergents, Surf excel detergent,
VIM dishwash and comfort fabric softeners.

PERSONAL CARE:

HUL aim and vision for this industry is to improve hygiene habits by reducing diarrhoea and
respiratory diseases through hand washing. HUL make effective, affordable products that
improve health, hygiene and well-being.

Few personal care brands include Lifebuoy, lux, pepsodent, dove, axe, pears, ponds, rexona,
sunsilk, lakme beauty products etc.

WATER PURIFIER:

HUL aim and vision for this industry is to provide safe drinking water to 500 million people
while reducing the incidence of life-threatening diseases like diarrhoea and respiratory
diseases

HUL has launched Puriet Water Purifier brand which will enable to improve health through a
concerted effort around clean water, sanitation and hygiene.

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 III. Economic value:

Indian FMCG industry- 4th largest in the world

Market size: $ 25 billion constitutes 2.5% of India GDP

Annual profit: $14.74 billion

Market growth rate: Rural- 40%, Urban- 25%

Recorded 16% sales growth last fiscal

H UL

 Revenue: 18220.27 crore with 15000+ employees

 The domestic consumer business grew by 18% with 9% underlying volume growth.
 Profit Before Interest and Tax (PBIT) grew by 25% with PBIT margin improving 140
 basis points.
 Profit After Tax but before exceptional items, PAT, grew by 20% to Rs.2,592 crore with
 Net Profit at Rs.2,691 crore growing 17%.

 Net Revenue Profit EPS EVA

Rs. 22,116 crores Rs. 2691 crores Rs. 12.46 Rs. 2250 crores

Segment wise revenue distribution:

Sales
Others
Packaged food 3%
6%

Beverages Soaps and detergents

12% Soaps and Personal Products
detergents
Beverages
48%
Personal Products
Packaged food
31%
Others

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 IV. Competitive Strategy:

Competitive strategy of HUL varies for product to product of various segments. Thus, it is
not easy to predict or to find a single strategy at Organizational level. Major competitive
strategies of HUL lay behind on basis of market strategies, cost, and quality strategies.

4.1 Value Proposition  – 

Creative value proposition : Selling beyond the Media‟s Reach

HUL observed that conventional media reaches only half of the population, thus more than
500 million people are in dark about companies product or brand. Consequently companies
that want to grow beyond urban and semi-urban India to access rural customers have had to
derive innovative way to get their attention. By launch of Shakti project they targeted those
untouched market regions, HUL built upon the infrastructure by offering entrepreneurial
opportunities for group members to sell HUL products direct fellow villagers.

Border social purpose and business growth:

With Shakti, HUL sought to achieve dual objective of social impact and business growth. The
self-helping group entrepreneurs worked as social influences, increasing local awareness and
challenging attitude towards using of various products, mostly those targeted for women. By
deriving a new and self-sustaining channel for reaching Indian countryside masses, it has
 been able to open a new market for its long-standing products

4.2 Positioning:

Positioning the right customer for the products offered forms an important strategy for HUL.
HUL offers wide product range to cater the needs of its customer.HUL is constantly evolving
with their positioning strategy with changing needs of market. The strategic positioning can
 be classified into following types:

4.2.1 Variety-based positioning:

HUL positions its products under umbrella brands, i.e. grouping products under various
 product segments and sub-segments, which is very useful in selling the right product to right
customer under a segment. HUL clubbed Brooke Bond and Lipton under Packaged Foods
category and Rin, Surf and Wheel under Fabric wash category.HUL has withdrawn brands
like Sunlight, 501, Dalda and Nihar due to falling demand and concentrate on particular 
 products in the FMCG industry.

HUL recent strategy of focusing on sub-segments of FMCG industry amongst its available
segment diversification enables them towards variety-based positioning.

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4.2.2 Needs based positioning:

Address & Identify the needs of the customer and target the customer segment as per their 
needs. HUL has aligned its business strategy along Needs based positioning. It strategy of 
rural empowerment works closely with identify the problem areas and provide solution to the
same. „Project Shakti‟ involved self -employed group [SEG], by financing and provide
training for bar soap manufacturing at rural homes and selling it to nearby homes across 1-2
kms. HUL has premium based brand product - „Dove‟ to value-for-money product  – 
„Lifebuoy‟, to address different customer needs. HUL is the market leader in the detergent and
soap industry in India, P&G despite being the global leader in this segment, has been unable
to achieve a critical mass in India due to premium pricing strategy.

4.2.3 Access based positioning:

HUL targets its customer segment from rural to urban areas. HUL sustainable Living Plan
for rural development and empowerment enables its product branding being spread across
villages. HUL tries to access its target customers according to the geographic locations and
economic conditions.

4.3 Trade off:

Against global competition- P&G in detergents and shampoos, ITC in foods (& now in
soaps) and; local rivals- Tata, Marico, Godrej, Cavin Kare etc… HUL‟s approach had
always been to provide consumers with an exciting portfolio of world class products. Thus,
the decision was to make a trade-off between profitability and market share.

HUL focused to claw market share by market development and penetration and conversion. It
earlier built the detergents and soap market & now, did the same with packaged foods. It was
now a fight for market share conversion from home-made foods to ready-to-cook. Therefore,
maintaining market share by doubling or trebling the sizes of some markets for products such
as Knorr, Kisan, Kwality Wall‟s, Red label, Annapurna, Taaza, Bru, Lipton , Out of Home
services, Amaze milk food & snack food, etc is the main target to achieve.

HUL, a heavyweight in the FMCG space that has been focusing on making products
affordable and make money out of it, but they had been not able to generate profit at premium
cost which provide competitors to move towards selling premium products to align with the
aspirations of modern day Indian consumers. However, recently it has taking the lead in
tapping opportunities in the upper segment as the Indian market evolves.

4.4 Activities tailored to match positioning and their integration

HUL has to prepare a strategy to position its food segment as they had missed the bus in this
segment. It needs to replicate the incubation strategy it followed in personal care -- with hand
wash, body wash, conditioners and the like -- in foods, and scale up promising categories that
are small now. The company has initiated its bakery
 business under modern Foods by expanding its distribution and
launching products and offerings in categories such as cakes, cookies, idli/dosa batter and dry
mix powders, by this it aim to localize Western food products to suit the Indian palate to be
able to grow a “strong non- beverages foods business” in the country. HUL has also launched
Kwality Swirl's parlours and Bru cafes space with integration of Unilever Food Solutions

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 (UFS) and Out-of-home (OOH) which gives additional merits to food segment. UFS offers
 branded food products and services for hotels, restaurants, institutional caterers and flight
kitchens.

HUL is also using a geographic information system to identify pockets to expand its
distribution coverage in urban and rural markets for medium- to long-term distribution of 
 packaged food and personal products which will be the fastest-growing segments in future.

As for rural markets, HUL plans to further expand and strengthen its business with the use of 
technology and partnerships, E.g. :- HUL‟s partnership with Tata Teleservices Ltd in 13
telecom circles has helped the company further drive rural growth with enhanced earning
 potential for its channel partners, rural distributors and Shakti entrepreneurs. Company also
deployed a low-cost mobile IT solution for its 40,000 Shakti entrepreneurs last year.

V. Porter Five Forces Analysis:

5.1 Bargaining Power of Suppliers:

The bargaining power of suppliers of raw materials and intermediate goods is not very
high. In FMCG industry, a lot of substitute suppliers supplying raw material are readily
available. There exists no monopoly on supplier side since the suppliers are also
competing amongst themselves. Also, most of the raw materials are homogenous in
nature.
HUL adopts Backward Integration with respect to supply-chain management. It adopts
mass production in low cost and does not have dependency on particular vendors.
HUL is slowly shifting from centralised raw material procurement to decentralised/local-
level vendor relationship, which helps them to reduce cost and improve production
volumes. Hence, bargaining power of suppliers is marginal in FMCG industry.

5.2 Buyers and their power:

 Bargaining Power: Bargaining power of consumers is very high. In FMCG industry the
switching costs of most of the goods is very low and there is no threat of buying one
 product over other.
 Switching Cost: Customers are never reluctant to buy or try new things off the shelf.
Hence, the switching cost of buyers is negligible
 Price Sensitive: HUL buyers are distributors, retailers, end-customer and intermediate
customers. The distributors provide bulk orders to HUL for their range of products and
 bargain hard for huge discounts. Since, all the products in this industry have the same
quality; the price factor pays a very important part for buyers. HUL deals with retailers
like Wal-Mart, D‟Mart - B2B [Business to Business] by providing exclusive arrangement
of huge discounts and bulk ordering facility. These intermediate customers for HUL play
an important part in buying power of end consumer.

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5.3 Substitution and the size of threat:

 Price Ceiling: There are complex and never ending consumer needs and no firm can
satisfy all sorts of needs alone. There are plenty of substitute goods available in the market
that can be replaced if consumers are not satisfied with one. The wide range of choices and
needs give a sufficient room for new product development that can replace existing goods.
In FMCG industry, price factor plays an important factor for any substitute products.
HUL‟s main competitor like P&G, Dabur, ITC have the same and equal replaceable
 product line variant with almost same quality & price. The costumers can switch from
HUL substitute products for even slight price variance.
 Attractive Price Performance : The substitute products can overcome HUL products only
using attractive pricing strategy. Since, the quality aspect does not vary much amongst its
competitors‟; the only way to pull customer loyalty towards its substitute is through low
 pricing. HUL‟s expertise in distribution channel and low -cost methodology of mass
 production makes it very difficult for its competitor to substitute board range of HUL
 products.
 Size of threat : HUL has equal threat of substitute products across its various segments
like Household care, Personal Care and Food & beverages from company like ITC, P&G,
Dabur, Nestle, etc. By product variants and their market share, P&G stands closely for 
HUL products substitution across its product segments.

5.4 Competition and its threat:

In the FMCG industry, rivalry among competitors is very fierce. There are scarce
customers because the industry is highly saturated and the competitors try to snatch their 
share of market. They use all sorts of tactics from intensive advertisement campaigns to
 promotional stuff and price wars etc. Hence the overall the intensity of rivalry is very high.
In FMCG industry, competition is faced from both domestic, MNCs and also from cheaper 
imports. Price wars are a common phenomenon. FMCG industry has domestic players like
Dabur, ITC and international MNCs like P&G, Nestle.
The competition for HUL brands can be analysed as:
 Basis of Competition: All FMCG companies battle fiercely again each other across the
same segments by providing wide range of products.
 Price discount: HUL spends almost 30%-40% of its revenue on mass marketing. As per 
Indian television ad agency rating, 3 out of 5 Consumer goods advertisement is of HUL
 products. HUL makes sure its customers are retained for longer time period by providing
discounts and attractive offers.
 Sustained competition : Innovation of new products is key to sustain market in Consumer 
Goods industry. The shelf life of any new products is fast reducing with frequency of 
 product launches increasing as per increasing customer demands. Price war is intense
among FMCG companies.

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 Brand Image: HUL capitalises on its brand image not only for launching its new
 products to cater to increasing customer demands hereby retaining customer but also is
successful in absorbing new customers.
 Diverse Consumer Group : HUL products cater to diverse consumer segments and the
company enjoys its position from the brand image created for past 50 years. HUL‟s new
 product diversification is into packaged food segment which is currently untapped
segment in India.

5.5 New Entrants and the strength of entry barriers in industry:

Resistance to enter a FMCG market is very low. Structure of this industry is very complex
which makes the entry of new firms easier which results in tough competition to the
existing players due to cost effectiveness. Hence, potential entry of new firms is highly
viable.
In spite of this there are threats to new entrants:

 Time and cost of entry : Market is not very growing and HUL has already established its
 brand image. Entry of a new firm with a new product needs huge site space to meet HUL
 production line and for that needs huge capital investment. Something not easy to cater in
today's market scenario.
 Supply side economies of scale: FMCG industry enjoys supply side economy of scale.
HUL products production cost gets lower as production increases. HUL has leveraged this
fully by establishing mega-sites and huge production lines for its product manufacturing in
all sectors. Its supply chain is stronger. Any new entrant wants to enter in market need
huge capital investment to match up with production and price.
 Cost advantage: HUL has cost advantage as its products are priced low with a huge
variety and is providing discounts to the distributors which stands as a disadvantage to a
new entrant as to establish itself in a market with profit it is difficult to give discounts and
 produce such waste product line.
 Customer switching costs : Customer switching cost is low as products in FMCG industry
cost low and it won't take a customer to switch to a new and a good quality product if it
 price less than a HUL product
 Demand side benefits of scale : Indian FMCG industry is dominated by few established
and large players like HUL, ITC, and Dabur etc... These players are trusted by the
customers hence customers may not trust the new player immediately. Also, HUL is
introducing products as per customer demands like a shift from soap to shampoo or from a
 bar soap to wash clothes to detergents.
 Capital requirements: HUL is a big firm and proved its legacy from past 75 years. It has
huge capital to launch a new product and can target a new market segment thus stay ahead
of a new entrant who has limited capital to invest and take risks.
 Incumbent advt. independent of size : HUL presence is across 35 geographic locations in
India with established brand identities, production efficiency & experience which are
difficult for a competitor to challenge.

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 Unequal access to distribution channel : Most of the companies follow B2B (Business to
Business) business model. FMCG like HUL has a huge and unmatched distribution
network especially in rural areas. Though new entrants can directly approach distributors,
it‟s unlikely that distributors would tru st new entrants.
VI. Conclusion:

 HUL has the expertise and industry experience to succeed in highly competitive
changing demands of FMCG Industry.
 HUL‟s current focus is expanding more on untapped Food & Beverages segment.
 HUL is having better edge over its competitors in terms of its supply chain
management.
 HUL is the only FMCG Company in India, which concentrates more on rural
marketing than urban and is involved in economic development of rural through its
unique sustainable programme.

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 VII. Bibliography:

In-text a. The India Way., Page 144 talks about HUL value proposition
List of 
1. Book  references
The India Way:
How India's Top Business Leaders are Revolutionizing Management, Peter 
Cappelli (2010). Retrieved from
http://books.google.co.in/books/about/The_India_Way.html?id=KrmGsUh8IK4C

In-text The Five Competitive Forces That Shape Strategy, M. Porter (2008). States about
5 Forces...
Facts about HUL states...
2. HUL Sustainable Living Plan explains about...
Website/ HINDUSTAN UNILEVER LTD: Stock Of The Decade!!!...
web List of 
 page references The Five Competitive Forces That Shape Strategy, M. Porter (2008). Retrieved
from http://hbr.org/2008/01/the-five-competitive-forces-that-shape-strategy/

Facts about HUL. Retrieved from

http://www.hul.co.in/Images/HULFactsheettcm114188694.pdf 

HUL Sustainable strategy...Retrieved from http://www.hul.co.in/sustainable-

living/uslp/

http://www.hul.co.in/Images/USLP%E2%80%93India-2012-Progress-

Report_tcm114-241468.pdf 

Annual Report http://www.hul.co.in/Images/USLP%E2%80%93India-2012-

Progress-Report_tcm114-241468.pdf 

HUL Financials: http://seekingalpha.com/instablog/2779031-montyuu/614371-

hindustan-unilever-ltd-stock-of-the-decade
In-text Forbes: P&G Versus Unilever In India, Para (19, 20) talks about.....
HUL Strategies competitive market talks about...
3. List of 
Journal references
Articles Forbes: P&G Versus Unilever in India, Indrajit Gupta (2010). Retrieved from

http://www.forbes.com/2010/04/12/forbes-india-pg-unilever-soap-opera.html

HUL Strategies competitive market. Retrieved from

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http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-09-

28/news/34148327_1_unilever-spokesperson-d-e-markets-unilever-ceo

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