Analysis of Unilever's Marketing Strategies: A Detailed Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Unilever's marketing strategies, focusing on its operations within the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector in Europe. It examines the macro trends influencing the industry, utilizing the PESTEL framework to assess political, economic, social, technological, environmental, and legal factors. The report also delves into the micro-environmental factors, applying Porter's Five Forces to analyze competitive rivalry, buyer and supplier power, and the threat of substitutes and new entrants, particularly in relation to Unilever's 'Knorr Partnership for Sustainability' initiative. Furthermore, it identifies Unilever's target customer groups, considering psychographic, demographic, and behavioral aspects. The report critically assesses the current communication campaigns, especially those related to Knorr, evaluating their appeal to the food consumption market. The analysis highlights Unilever's commitment to sustainability and its impact on consumer behavior and market positioning, concluding with a summary of key findings and strategic implications.

Running head: INTRODUCTION TO MARKETING
INTRODUCTION TO MARKETING
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Analysis of macro trends that shape fast moving consumer goods or FMCG sector of Europe.....2
Micro-environmental factors that have influenced the decision taken by Unilever to create
“Knorr Partnership for Sustainability” initiative in 2010................................................................4
Customer target groups of Unilever................................................................................................6
Critical assessment of current communication campaign and its appeal to food consumption
market..............................................................................................................................................7
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................8
References........................................................................................................................................9

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Introduction
Unilever is a British-Dutch global consumer goods based firm that has its headquarters in
London, England and Rotterdam, Netherlands. The products that are offered by the organization
mainly include energy drinks, ice cream, food, beauty products, cleaning agents, personal care
based products and beverages. Unilever is also considered to be one of the oldest organizations
in FMCG industry and the firm has its operations in 190 countries. Unilever offers more than
400 brands and produces a turnover of 53.7 Billion Euros (Unilever.com 2020). The case that has
been taken into consideration for analysis in the report is related to the sustainability strategy that
is implemented by Unilever in order to improve its processes in different parts of the world. The
macro trends in the industry and micro-environmental factors will also be analyzed in the report
in detail. The target groups of Unilever will be analyzed in the report along with the
communication campaigns that have been developed by the organization.
Analysis of macro trends that shape fast moving consumer goods or FMCG
sector of Europe
The ability of Unilever to address different external factors in the macro or remote
environment is able to offer key levels of contribution to the prominence of the organization in
the FMCG market of Europe. The PESTEL framework can be used for analyzing the external
aspects that have an impact on the different FMCG organizations like Unilever (Dollet et al.
2017).
Political factors – The political landscape in European countries has a major impact on
the performance that is depicted by Unilever. Political stability that has been developed in most
of the countries have supported the operations of Unilever in a huge manner. Political issues that

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have taken place in European Union however have a negative impact on profit margins and sales
of Unilever as well. The free trade based relations formed between countries have proved to be a
growth opportunity for Unilever in the FMCG sector (Laforet 2017).
Economic factors – The economic stability that has been developed in the European
countries is considered to be a major growth opportunity for Unilever in the highly competitive
FMCG sector. Manufacturing facilities of Unilever that are located in different parts of Europe
have supported sustainable operations of the firm (Gong et al. 2020).
Social factors – Unilever has the ability to grow with the help of different products that
can address interest of consumers in the industry. The rise in environmentalist behaviors in
European consumers can attract them towards the sustainable operations of Unilever.
Technological factors – Rise in the levels of business automation has an impact on the
growth of product line of Unilever in the FMCG sector of Europe. Competitiveness of the firms
have however increased in a huge manner due to improvement of technologies in the sector.
Unilever has implemented advanced technologies in order to improve the sustainability of
operations of the firm (Ma, Park and Moultrie 2020).
Environmental factors – The consumers have become highly aware of the environmental
impact that different organizations are able to develop with respect to their production processes.
The sustainability initiative that has been implemented by Unilever is considered to be a major
aspect related to reduction of its environmental footprint (Marinova, Larimo and Nummela
2017).
Legal factors – The environmental regulations have become highly complex in nature
and the organizations in FMCG sector have to strengthen the consumer rights based laws and the

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patent based laws as well. Unilever has implemented corporate social responsibility based
initiatives in order to fulfil the legal requirements of the industry (Mann and Ghuman 2018).
The FMCG sector of Europe is considered to be highly competitive in nature and
Unilever has also faced major levels of competition from the major organizations. However, the
organization has been successful in the proper development of sustainable operations in order to
reduce the influence of its operations on the external environment. The reduction of impact on
the external environment also has a positive influence on the communities that are a part of
different countries of Europe (Moses and Ambrose 2018).
Micro-environmental factors that have influenced the decision taken by
Unilever to create “Knorr Partnership for Sustainability” initiative in 2010
The Porter’s five forces framework can be implemented for the purpose of analyzing the
FMCG sector of Europe and its impact on the operations of Unilever. The five major forces of
the FMCG industry of Europe that are related to the profitability of Unilever are as follows, Competitive rivalry – Competitive can be considered as a significant force in the
FMCG sector that has an impact on the profit margins of Unilever. Different firms
that are operating in the FMCG sector have a major influence on pricing of the
products and profit margins that have been gained as well. Tough competitive is
also developed in the European FMCG sector due to the presence of major
organizations like Nestle, Procter and Gamble (Nainaar and Masson 2018). The
intensity of competition is also increased as similar products offered to the
customers. Power - High

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 Bargaining power of the buyers – The response that is provided by the
consumers to different products offered by the FMCG organizations in Europe are
able to play a major role in enhancing the profitability levels. The consumers are
provided with huge number of options by other organizations and they can easily
switch to similar products. The consumers are however with high quality
information related to the activities that are being performed and the product
portfolio as well (Nasir et al. 2016). The communication developed by Unilever
has proved to be effective for the organization to maintain the loyal customer
base. The buyers can also gain information based on the sustainability based steps
that have been implemented by Unilever through its website. Power – Moderate
 Bargaining power of the suppliers – The suppliers of Unilever have a moderate
influence on the operations and the prices that are set for the products as well. The
major reason behind this is the availability of large number of suppliers in the
FMCG industry of Europe. Sustainable sourcing is considered to be a major
aspect related to supplier relationships that have been formed by Unilever.
Sustainable agriculture is also considered to be a major part of the mission that
has been formed by a major FMCG organization like Unilever (Pypłacz and
Liczmańska-Kopcewicz 2018). Power - Low
 Threats of the substitutes – Low switching costs have been able to provide
opportunities to the consumers so that they are able to switch to different
products. However, the availability of substitutes for products that are offered by
FMCG organizations like Unilever is quite low. This is able to reduce the power

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of this force and Unilever is also not influenced by the substitute products that are
available for the customers (Sagaert et al. 2018). Power - Low
 Threats of the new entrants – The entry of new organizations in the FMCG
industry is not considered to be quite easy. The requirement of huge levels of
capital and need for the proper development of brands is considered to be a major
factor that is able to influence the entry of new firms (Stanciu et al. 2019). The
sustainable practices that have been implemented by Unilever have been able to
provide the company with a unique position in the FMCG industry of Europe. The
sustainable practices have influenced the communities in Europe and the company
also has a low environmental footprint. The new organizations that aim at
entering the FMCG industry have to take this into consideration for the purpose of
developing their operations (Studylib.net 2020). Power - Low
The sustainability and vision of Unilever has been integrated in a major brand of the
organization named Knorr. The Sustainability Living Plan had been implemented by the
organization in the year 2010. The major purpose that is aimed to be fulfilled by the organization
is mainly based on enhancing the levels of sustainability. The new business practices that have
been implemented by Unilever are based on the mission that has been formed by the
organization (Studylib.net 2020). Knorr is a food and beverage based brand of German origin
and the brand has been owned by Unilever from the year 2000. The dehydrated soups have been
offered by Knorr after Unilever had acquired the organization named the Best Foods. Knorr
products have been able to offer major levels of contribution to the sales and levels of
profitability gained by Unilever in the FMCG sector of Europe. Sustainable agriculture of the

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vegetables used in the soups of Knorr is also a major aspect that has been able to reduce the
environmental impact of the organization (Studylib.net 2020).
Customer target groups of Unilever
The sustainability portfolio of Unilever has depicted 30% faster growth in comparison to
rest of the business operations in the year 2015. Unilever has targeted the conscious customers
with the help of its sustainable products and social and environmental factors have a major
impact on the purchase based decisions that are made by the firm. Sustainability initiatives
implemented by Unilever in the year 2010 have a positive impact on the operations and image
formed by the firm. The three aspects that can be taken into consideration for the purpose of
analyzing the target consumers include psychographic, demographic and the behavioral (Tatoglu,
Sahadev and Demirbag 2018).
Psychographic – The consumers who have a healthy lifestyle and are conscious about the
products that they use are a part of the target segment of Unilever.
Demographic – The target consumers of Unilever belong to the age group of 10 years to
80 years.
Behavioral – The consumers who belong to the target segment of Unilever mainly
include loyal individuals and are interested in the benefits that are offered to them as well
(Tatoglu, Sahadev and Demirbag 2018).

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Critical assessment of current communication campaign and its appeal to
food consumption market
Knorr has gained its position as one of the major global brand of Unilever in the FMCG
in the industry. Knorr has provided major levels of importance to the sustainable operations in
order to democratize nutritious food. The major belief of Knorr as a large brand of Unilever is
based on the ways by which tangible levels of behavioral change can be driven for the purpose of
having a positive influence on people’s health and the environment as well. Knorr has
collaborated with World Wide Fund for Nature or WWF for launching the first food
sustainability based campaign. The campaign has been accompanied by a report that is able to
identify different future facing and plant based foods that the organization believes needs to be a
part of the diet of people (Marketingweek.com 2020).
The three major areas in which Knorr aims at driving behavioral change include
encouraging people to consume the greater variety of vegetables, more amount of plant based
protein and driving variety in the types of grains that people eat as well. Knorr offers its products
to consumers in more than 90 countries and the company aims at bringing real changes in the
environment. The company has promoted the less consumed foods that include wild rice, lentils
and kale as well. The nutritional value that is provided by different foods are also taken into
consideration as a part of the campaign (Marketingweek.com 2020).
Conclusion
The report can be settled by stating sustainability initiatives have been a vital part of the
successful processes of different international organizations. Unilever has been able to maintain
its brand image and successful operations with the support that is provided by Sustainability and

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Corporate Social Responsibility based activities of the organization. Knorr is a major brand of
Unilever and has implemented sustainability in the activities and campaigns that are used to
communicate with the consumers as well. The organization has been able to decrease its
ecological impact with the support provided by its sustainable plans and initiatives.

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References
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Laforet, S., 2017. Effects of organisational culture on brand portfolio performance. Journal of
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Nainaar, D. and Masson, J., 2018. AN INVESTIGATION INTO TECHNOLOGY
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