Unilever CRM Case Study

UNILEVER: A CASESTUDY FOR Customer Relationship Management

Submitted By: Akhil Soni(2020984002)

1. Introduction about Unilever Unilever was an organizational curiosity in that, since 1929, it has been headed by two separate British and Dutch companies—Unilever Ltd. (PLC after 1981), and Unilever N.V.—with different sets of shareholders but identical boards of directors. An "Equalization Agreement" provided that the two companies should always pay dividends of equivalent value in sterling and guilders. There were two head offices—in London and Rotterdam—and two chairmen. Until 1996 the "chief executive" role was performed by a three-person Special Committee consisting of the two chairmen and one other director. Beneath the two parent companies many operating companies were active in individual countries. They had many names, often reflecting predecessor firms or companies that had been acquired. Among them were Lever; Van den Bergh & Jurgens; Gibbs; Batchelors; Langnese; and Sunlicht. The name "Unilever" was not used in operating companies or in brand names. Lever Brothers and T. J. Lipton were the two postwar U.S. affiliates. These national operating companies were allocated to either Ltd./PLC or N.V. for historical or other reasons. Lever Brothers was transferred to N.V. in 1937, and until 1987 (when PLC was given a 25 percent shareholding) Unilever's business in the United States was wholly owned by N.V. Unilever's business, and, as a result, counted as part of Dutch foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country. Unilever and its Anglo-Dutch twin Royal Dutch Shell formed major elements in the historically large Dutch FDI in the United States. However, the fact that all dividends were remitted to N.V. in the Netherlands did not mean that the head office in Rotterdam exclusively managed the U.S. affiliates. Thus, while ownership lay in the Netherlands, managerial control was Anglo-Dutch. The organizational complexity was compounded by Unilever's wide portfolio of products and by the changes in these products over time. Edible fats, such as margarine, and soap and detergents were the historical origins of Unilever's business, but decades of diversification resulted in other activities. By the 1950s, Unilever manufactured convenience foods, such as frozen foods and soup, ice cream, meat products, and tea and other drinks. It manufactured personal care products, including toothpaste, shampoo, hairsprays, and deodorants. The oils and fats business also led Unilever into

specialty chemicals and animal feeds. In Europe, its food business spanned all stages of the industry, from fishing fleets to retail shops. Among its range of ancillary services were shipping, paper, packaging, plastics, and advertising and market research. Unilever also owned a trading company, called the United Africa Company, which began by importing and exporting into West Africa but, beginning in the 1950s, turned to investing heavily in local manufacturing, especially brewing and textiles. The United Africa Company employed around 70,000 people in the 1970s and was the largest modern business enterprise in West Africa. Unilever's total employment was over 350,000 in the mid1970s, or around seven times larger than that of Procter & Gamble (hereafter P&G), its main rival in the U.S. detergent and toothpaste markets.

2. A worldwide investor: An early multinational investor, by the postwar decades Unilever possessed extensive manufacturing and trading businesses throughout Europe, North and South America, Africa, Asia, and Australia. Unilever was one of the oldest and largest foreign multinationals in the United States. William Lever, founder of the British predecessor of Unilever, first visited the United States in 1888 and by the turn of the century had three manufacturing plants in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Philadelphia, and Vicksburg, Mississippi. The subsequent growth of the business, which was by no means linear, will be reviewed below, but it was always one of the largest foreign investors in the United States. In 1981, a ranking by sales revenues in Forbes put it in twelfth place. Unilever's longevity as an inward investor provides an opportunity to explore in depth a puzzle about inward FDI in the United States. For a number of reasons, including its size, resources, free-market economy, and proclivity toward trade protectionism, the United States has always been a major host economy for foreign firms. It has certainly been the world's largest host since the 1970s, and probably was before 1914 also. Given that most theories of the multinational enterprise suggest that foreign firms possess an "advantage" when they invest in a foreign market, it might be expected that they would earn higher returns than their domestic competitors. This seems to be the general case, but perhaps not for the United States. Considerable anecdotal evidence exists that many foreign firms have experienced significant and sustained problems in the United States, though it is also possible to counter

such reports with case studies of sustained success. More significant influences appear to be market share position—in general, as a foreign owned firm's market share rose, the gap between its return on assets and those for United States—owned companies decreased—and age of the affiliate, with the return on assets of foreign firms rising with their degree of newness. Related to the age effect, there is also the strong, but difficult to quantify, possibility that foreign firms experienced management problems because of idiosyncratic features of the U.S. economy, including not only its size but also the regulatory system and "business culture." The case of Unilever is instructive in investigating these matters, including the issue of whether managing in the United States was particularly hard, even for a company with experience in managing large-scale businesses in some of the world's more challenging political, economic, and financial locations, like Brazil, India, Nigeria, and Turkey.

3. Customer Relationship Management implementation inUnilever: Unilever is committed to providing branded products and services which consistently offer value in terms of price and quality and are safe for the purpose of use. products and services will be labeled, advertised, and communicated accurately and properly. •

Acquired the new customer: Unilever R&D has an important role to play in the design and use of our products because consumers are increasingly looking for products that mean they can 'do their bit ‘for the environment while at the same time helping them look good, feel good and get more out of life. Unilever R&D already has a long history of developing products that meet these exacting criteria and, looking to the future, all our products

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Increasing customer value: Unilever always give priority the customer in which the values of Unilever always provide the best service and products to meet the

needs of the community. In addition, Unilever always maintain the quality of its product are always good and satisfying customers. •

Maintain the existing customer: Companies can retain the existing customers by: o Provide time to listen to the needs of customers, including customer dissatisfaction towards our products or services, which we use to become better longer Unilever is one company that really listens and meet customerneeds this can be viewed from creation of products with new innovations tomeet customer needs today. o Sending brochures or souvenirs at certain events to loyal customers. It is also often done by Unilever to retain the loyal customers, Unilever often open stand on specific events and provide sufficient promotion of its products. For example, the promotion of the new flavor of ice cream Magnum, promotion of a product at a discounted price is quite appealing orthe promotion of the product of extra size with a fixed price. Apart from that Unilever also often provide surprise or door prizes like a surprise to ourcustomers lifebuoy, sunsilk diamond necklace raffle prizes, etc.

4. Pioneering New Ways for Customer Relationship: All these initiatives build convergence of product availability, brand communication and brand experience in the current channels. But these current channels are somewhat constrained by the existing formats and business models. They therefore need to go further in creating touch points for the brands relevant to the scale and nature of the Indian consumer opportunity. They are thus creating a whole set of new channels that are designed on the principles of holistic contact with consumers. These are across all consumer segments in both urban and rural India.

5. Understanding customer needs The main purpose of this area is to understand customer needs and work together to solve joint logistical challenges such as on shelf availability. Roles include order management, working at the interface between warehousing and transportation, and ensuring the right products arrive in the right place at the right time.

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CRM is defined as a single unit sales, marketing and service strategies that preventthe occurrence of work activities that are not coordinated between the well and it depends on the action -the company that coordinated action. CRM concentrates onwhat is judged by customers, not on what the company wants to sell. Customers donot want to be treated equally. But they like to be treated individually.

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CRM development undertaken by Unilever Indonesia by using Astute Solutions Real Dialog, i.e., a tool in the call center. Real Dialog uses linguistic analysis engine customers in each word and then provides contact center agents so easily read the response. Real Dialog allows them to control the message.

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CRM Implementation is expected to increase customer loyalty and increase customer reach. High level of satisfaction to be the main target application of CRM.The customer is expected to deliver a response to the company and their valuation.With the CRM is expected to be able to better understand the company and its customers to know the needs of its customers.