International Marketing: Unilever's Strategy Analysis Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Unilever's international marketing strategies. It begins with an introduction to standardization and adaptation in the context of multinational corporations (MNCs) and highlights the significance of factors like emerging markets and competition. The report then critically evaluates Unilever's market focus, product and service offerings, and competitive position, utilizing Porter's five forces to assess the competitive landscape. It explores the reasons behind Unilever's international strategy development, including innovation and diversification, and delves into key decisions in strategy development, such as addressing supply chain management and sustainability challenges. The report concludes by summarizing the importance of standardization and adaptation for achieving business objectives, emphasizing the use of Porter's five forces and the analysis of current issues to formulate future strategies. References to books and journals are provided for further research.

International
marketing

Table of Contents
Table of Contents.............................................................................................................................2
SECTION 1.....................................................................................................................................1
Introduction..................................................................................................................................1
SECTION 2.....................................................................................................................................1
Critical evaluation of market focus, product, service including the reasons for the international
strategy development of the enterprise........................................................................................1
Key decisions in strategy development.......................................................................................3
SECTION 3.....................................................................................................................................4
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................4
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................5

SECTION 1
Introduction
Standardisation can be defined as the process which is focused by entities to implement
and develop technical standards which are based upon consequences of various stakeholders
such as customers, firms, government standard organisations etc. On the other hand, adaptation
is the process of modifying the existing offerings of the entity which are highly suitable to the
customers and the target market (Eteokleous, Leonidou and Katsikeas, 2016). There are various
types of trends that are affecting the MNCs and international entities. Some of them are growing
emerging market, innovative techniques, higher level of competition, population and
demographic shifts etc. The organisation which is selected for this report is Unilever. It is one of
the largest MNC which deals in consumer goods. It was founded in 1929 and established in
London, United Kingdom. This report covers various topics such as market focus, product and
services of the organisation. Apart from this, key decisions that should be focused in strategy
development are also covered in it.
SECTION 2
Critical evaluation of market focus, product, service including the reasons for the international
strategy development of the enterprise
Back Ground of Unilever: Unilever is one of the largest MNCs which are operating
business all around the world. Different items that are offered by it to its clients in various
nations are food, energy, tea, beauty products, ice creams etc. Its headquarter is in London,
United Kingdom and it was founded in year 1929 by Lever Brothers, Samuel Van Den Bergh,
Antonius Johannes Jurgens and George Schicht (Back ground of Unilever, 2020).
Activities of Unilever: Unilever performs different types of activities which helps it to
meet all its long-term business goals. These are creating opportunities for women, paying
attention towards circular economy and ignoring the plastic packaging, fairness at workplace,
improving nutrition, tackling the climate impact in the operations. Some of the operational
activities of it are selling, marketing, distribution, research and development etc. In order to
perform all of them it is very important for the enterprise to make sure that it pays attention
towards effective execution of all of them (Katsikeas, Leonidou and Zeriti, 2019).
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Market focus: Unilever pays attention towards middle as well as upper class customer
and in order to reach maximum number of clients, market development strategy is focused by it.
It pays attention towards expanding its business in different locations so that it can reach to
maximum number of individuals. It also focuses upon the cost leadership strategy and set
competitive prices for all its products so that it can remain the highly competitive in the industry.
Product and services: All the different items and facilities that are offered by an entity
to its clients are considered as the products and services of the enterprise. There are various types
of offerings that are made by Unilever to all its customers. These are ice creams, food, energy
drinks, tea, daily care products, personal care, beauty products etc. Apart from this, it also
provides facility of cleaning agents which is one of the best-selling services of it.
Competitive position: For all the entities it is very important to maintain a competitive
position in the market so that the high level of competition could be faced and dealt properly. In
order to establish it Porter’s five forces could be analysed by Unilever. Detailed description of all
of them is as follows:
 Competitive rivalry: This force reflects the level of competition for an entity because of
the major players in the industry. Some of the main competitors for Unilever are Pepsico,
Nestle, P & G, Johnson and Johnson etc. It shows that the level of competition for the
organisation is very high (Li, Liu and Bustinza, 2019).
 Threat of substitute: The items which could be replaced by another one but provide
same benefits are known as substitutes for each other. Main substitutes for items that are
sold by Unilever are the items that are sold by local retailers and having very low price.
The brand loyal customers do not shift to another items because of their price so the
threat of it is low for Unilever.
 Threat of new entrant: The consumer goods industry is very large and in order to enter
in it the company will require huge funding. It shows that threat of new entrant for
Unilever is very low.
 Bargaining power of customers: The number of sellers in the industry affects the
bargaining power of clients. As the players in consumer goods is very high so the power
of bargaining of the customer swill be high for Unilever (Morgan, Feng and Whitler,
2018).
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 Bargaining power of suppliers: The external parties selling the goods to deliver final
products are the suppliers. The number of them for Unilever is very high because of large
size of industry so bargaining power of them for the entity is very low.
From the above analysis it has been determined that competitive position of Unilever is
good as it sets competitive prices for all its products and also having brand loyal clients.
Reasons for international strategy development: For all the entities such as Unilever it
is very important to makes sure that they are able to develop international strategy. Some of the
reasons of the are introduction of innovative techniques, launching of new products in a new
country etc. In order to analyse it following theories could be assessed:
 Innovation: Introduction of a new item in the market which is based upon latest
technology is known as innovative product. It is one of the main reason due to which
international strategy development is very important. If it will be focused then it can help
to make proper changes in products that are sold to clients and success could be acquired.
 Diversification: When a new product is introduced in a new market then it is known as
diversification. It is also a reason of international strategy development because with the
help of it a new market could be captured and the profits along with revenue could be
enhanced (Skarmeas, Zeriti and Baltas, 2016).
Key decisions in strategy development
While formulating strategies for business it is very important to analyse the challenges that
are faced by the organisation. Some of them which are dealt by Unilever are as follows:
 Poor supply chain management is one of the main global challenge which is faced by
Unilever and it is also affecting its market image.
 Sustainability of Unilever at global level is very low and due to this issue, its profits and
revenues are decreasing.
In order to standardise profits and service offerings along with adopting the requirements
of local markets Unilever is required to make following decisions in strategy development:
 It is very important for the entity to make sure that it manages its supply chain properly
and standardise all its products according to their quality.
 Unilever is required to analyse the local markets and they analyse main requirements of
all the clients and then formulate decisions according to it. With the help of it, long term
sustainability could be acquired (Vellas, 2016).
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SECTION 3
Conclusion
From the above project report, it has been concluded that standardisation and adaptation
are two different processes that are linked with each other. Both of them are required to be
focused by all the entities to maintain the market focus and reach the business objectives. In
order to analyse competition position Porter’s five force model could be used and to develop
strategy for future current issues could be focused.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals:
Eteokleous, P. P., Leonidou, L. C. and Katsikeas, C. S., 2016. Corporate social responsibility in
international marketing: review, assessment, and future research. International
Marketing Review. 33(4). pp.580-624.
Katsikeas, C., Leonidou, L. and Zeriti, A., 2019. Revisiting international marketing strategy in a
digital era. International Marketing Review.
Li, R., Liu, Y. and Bustinza, O. F., 2019. FDI, service intensity, and international marketing
agility. International Marketing Review.
Morgan, N. A., Feng, H. and Whitler, K. A., 2018. Marketing capabilities in international
marketing. Journal of International Marketing. 26(1). pp.61-95.
Skarmeas, D., Zeriti, A. and Baltas, G., 2016. Relationship value: Drivers and outcomes in
international marketing channels. Journal of international marketing. 24(1). pp.22-40.
Vellas, F., 2016. The international marketing of travel and tourism: A strategic approach.
Macmillan International Higher Education.
Online
Back ground of Unilever. 2020. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.unilever.com/>
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