Brand Management of Unilever PLC: A Comprehensive Analysis

Desklib provides solved assignments and past papers to help students succeed.

BRAND MANAGEMENT
UNILEVER PLC
1

Table of Contents
Table of figures............................................................................................................................................3
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................................4
TASK 1..........................................................................................................................................................5
TASK 2..........................................................................................................................................................9
BRAND PORTFOLIO APPROACHES AND STRATEGIES OF ORGANISATIONS..............................................9
HIERARCHY MANAGEMENT OF THE BRAND..........................................................................................13
STRATEGIES OF UNILEVER TO MANAGE BRAND EQUITY.......................................................................14
TASK 3........................................................................................................................................................15
LINE EXTENSION AND BRAND EXTENSION.............................................................................................15
STRENGTHS OF UNILEVER THAT CAN BE LEVERAGED............................................................................16
WEAKNESSES AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR UNILEVER.....................................................................17
COLLABORATIVE AND PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENTS..............................................................................18
TASK 4........................................................................................................................................................19
TECHNIQUES USED TO MEASURE AND MANAGE BRAND VALUE OF UNILEVER....................................19
CONCLUSION.............................................................................................................................................25
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................................26
2

Table of figures
Figure 1: KELLER BRAND EQUITY MODEL....................................................................................................6
FIGURE 2: GOOGLE BRANDED HOUSE PORTFOLIO......................................................................................9
FIGURE 3: UNILEVER HOUSE OF BRAND PORTFOLIO.................................................................................10
FIGURE 4: COCA-COLA HYBRID HOUSE MODEL.........................................................................................11
Figure 5: HIERARCHY MANAGEMENT OF UNILEVER..................................................................................13
FIGURE 6: AUDITING AND TRACKING BRAND VALUE OF UNILEVER..........................................................21
3

INTRODUCTION
Branding refers to creating an identity for the products using creative and artistic techniques
that connects emotionally with the customers and allow the marketers to fight competition and
gain the loyalty of the customers. Brand management is the evaluation of the brand and how it
is accepted in the market. It is important to build a better relationship between product and
target customers in the brand management and the elements of brand management include
product, its look, size and quality, etc. (Heding et al., 2015).
In this assignment, the importance of brand is explained and how the brand is managed with
the lapse of time is also discussed. By taking the case study Unilever, brand management is
described and its importance is also shown. An article is written to show the importance of a
brand and how the brand is managed. Then the brand portfolio and hierarchy are discussed
through Unilever. The strengths and weaknesses of Unilever are discussed in the third part and
its partnerships with other firms are also mentioned. Lastly, various techniques are used in
order to measure and manage the brand value of Unilever.
4

TASK 1
‘Brand is Power’
The brand is basically an image of the products and services that help the products to stand
ahead in the competition and to create their own identity in the market. A brand is a concept
through which the products can be marketed and communicated. Branding is the process of
creating a brand name. Branding can be done to the corporate firms or separate products and
services. And in order to secure the identity, brands are protected using trademarks and
copyrights (Heding et al., 2015).
According to Luo (2015), brand equity is a term used by marketers to define the value of the
brand. The brand’s value can be estimated by the positive reviews of the consumers and also
from the perception and loyalty of the consumers towards the brand. If the performance of the
brand is not up to the mark, the consumers start avoiding brands and that counts as a negative
brand equity (Lee et al., 2017).
Brand equity can be beneficial to the companies as it helps in adding the value of the company
in stock markets, brand equity can help in promoting other products with the same brand name
and companies can charge more amount of money from the customers, if the brand equity is
positive. Brand equity is built by the consumer’s positive experiences. It is only half of the work
to create brand equity the other half of the work is how to persistently manage the positive
brand equity (Lee et al., 2017).
Branding is important for Unilever as it helps in creating an identity for its products that enables
the company to build consumer loyalty. It is necessary for the companies to have customer
loyalty as once customers recognize the brand and have a positive experience; they continue to
use the same brands. The consumers of the brand such as apple, coco-cola, Starbucks, Nike,
Adidas, etc. are loyal and have a positive impression of the brands that help in building positive
brand equity. It also becomes easier for organisations to launch new products as the customer’s
value brand names. The credibility of the company increases with the positive brand name
(Heding et al., 2015).
5

Unilever is the British-Dutch multinational company that deals in consumer goods and has the
vision of creating a sustainable and easy lifestyle available to all. There are hundreds of brand
under its name and some of them are Knorr, Wheel, Cornetto, Bru, etc. are all the names of the
brands with positive brand equity. With the help of Keller brand equity model, the brand value
of the
Brand identity: the products and services of the Unilever have their own identities Unilever
brands can be identified.
Figure 1: KELLER BRAND EQUITY MODEL
Source: (Keller, 2016)
Keller brand equity model is also known as customer-based brand equity. This model has four
steps;
. The pricing of the products determines the brand value as it creates a relationship between
brand equity and its performance. Unilever uses various logos, symbols, images and slogans in
order to create its brand identities and use trademarks and copyrights to secure its brands. The
names such as Wheel, Bru, and Cornetto are some of the popular brands by Unilever (Keller,
2016).
6

Brand meaning: it has two basic concepts that are brand imagery and brand performance.
Brand performance refers to the perception and likeability of the brand by its consumers and
that brand meets the demand and needs of the customers whereas brand imagery refers to the
image and perception of the brand by the consumers according to their social needs. Unilever
has introduced various innovative and different products that add value to the brand. The focus
of Unilever is different in different products as there are different product lines introduced by
the company (Keller, 2016).
Brand response: brand responses basically constitute of two aspects; judgement and feelings.
Brand judgement refers to the perception and opinions of the consumers about the brand and
brand feeling refers to the emotional stimulation of the customers because of the brand such as
warmth, social security, reliability, etc. Unilever uses a holistic marketing approach to promote
the products and also organizes various activities in order to connect to the emotions of the
customers (Keller, 2016).
Brand relationship: it refers to the emotional and psychological attachment of the customers
with the brand that can be seen through their loyalty, positive reviews, attachment and also
through active participation of customers towards product purchasing. Consumers of the
Unilever have developed a deep relationship with the products of the company. Products like
Bru and Cornetto have become household names in the field of coffee and ice creams
respectively. Therefore, it can be said that Unilever has developed its brand name and equity
and is an excellent example for different companies to follow (Keller, 2016).
Unilever uses extension and reinforcement strategies in order to avail its products to every type
of consumers. The products are offered in different shapes and sizes in order to cater to the
needs of different customers. This also helps in the development of a brand and promoting
brand equity that in terms help the company to launch new product lines in the same brand
and also it can charge more money according to the reinforcement of the brand (Chimhundu,
2018).
7

Marketing is basically promoting goods and services in order to improve their sales. Marketing
plays an important role in creating brand equity. The marketing strategies include prices,
promotions and distribution of products and services that are an important factor that
contributes towards the building of brand equity (Chimhundu, 2018). Marketing helps in
creating awareness about the brands to the customers and also help in creating a brand image
that is necessary to build up positive brand equity. It promotes brand name through
advertisement in all forms that help in building the image in the minds of people that lead to
the building of strong loyalty and brand equity. Marketers aim to create the relationship
between the brand and the customers that enables them to establish a name and identity as
well as strong connection and loyalty towards the brand (Chimhundu, 2018).
8

TASK 2
BRAND PORTFOLIO APPROACHES AND STRATEGIES OF ORGANISATIONS
The brand portfolio consists of all the brands and brand lines that are offered by the firm in
order to meet the needs of the customers. This portfolio is created to enable the management
to know the functioning of all the brands and to think from a broader perspective. Some of the
brand portfolio approaches are:
BRANDED HOUSE STRATEGY: in the branded house strategy, the firm itself is the parent brand
and all the products under it are its sub-brands. The subsets do not overpower their parent
brand and all the sub-brands are marketed under the parent brand. Examples of branded house
strategy are companies like Google where it is a parent brand and all the other products such as
calendar, Gmail, G pay, etc. are its sub-brands and all the subsets are recognized with one main
brand i.e. Google. Other examples are Apple, FedEx, etc. (Zenker and Braun, 2017).
FIGURE 2: GOOGLE BRANDED HOUSE PORTFOLIO
Source: (Zenker and Braun, 2017)
Upsides of Branded House Strategy:
9

 It provides great efficiency in working because the market strategies and brand code are
made for a single brand and that enables effectiveness.
 It is easy to function as confusion and complications can be avoided because of one
brand.
 Through one strong parent brand, it is easy to evolve and introduce new product line
and new products in the market (Zenker and Braun, 2017).
Pitfalls of the Branded House Strategy:
 The overall reputation of products hangs on a single brand. It follows the approach of all
or nothing. For example, suppose if the phone of Samsung fails, the overall damage
occurs on the brand and customers perception change.
 If the brand equity of the brand is negative, even if its other products are better, it limits
the growth (Zenker and Braun, 2017).
 There is always confusion over what the brand offers, whether it’s a phone
manufacturer, music store or something else.
House of Brands Strategy: house of brand strategy has multiple brands under one parent
company. It is opposite to a branded house approach as here there are several different brands
that are marketed differently, their brand codes are different and the company operates these
brands separately. Large consumer goods companies like Unilever and P&G follow House of
Brand strategy and are very successful in it. The detergents are called Wheel and Tide and not
Unilever detergent, similarly, Axe perfume or soap is a brand in itself, not Unilever perfume. In
fact many times, consumers do not have the knowledge about the parent company and only
knows the brands (Jain and Sharma, 2018).
10

FIGURE 3: UNILEVER HOUSE OF BRAND PORTFOLIO
Source: (Jain and Sharma, 2018)
Upside:
 The well-known brands can act as the shield for the company at the time of the new
product failure.
 Through the medium of multiple brands, the company can reach a broad market range
and focus on different brands for the different target audience (Jain and Sharma, 2018).
 A company can take more risks and the known brands can become a safety net for the
new products.
Pitfalls:
 It can be quite overwhelming to manage multiple brands and creating marketing
strategies for multiple brands is not easy.
 The parent company can become isolated in handling the risks of product failures.
 There are confusions regarding the image of the parent company and brands about
which represents the other (Jain and Sharma, 2018).
Hybrid house strategy: there are companies that have a long established history and follow
both branded house and house of brand strategies. Companies like Coca-Cola and Pepsi are
11

known for their original product but these companies are also parent to other subset brands
(Zenker and Braun, 2017).
FIGURE 4: COCA-COLA HYBRID HOUSE MODEL
Source: (Zenker and Braun, 2017)
Upside:
 It can be useful for making customers happy and satisfied
 It provides a broader scope to explore new markets.
Pitfall:
 It is a complex strategy and long-established companies can only adopt it.

12