Questions:
The final stage of the marketing audit is for you to evaluate how well the marketing mix of the organisation is performing for your chosen organisation. Referring to the chapters 7-14 of the text, and with the use of secondary research, please provide informed answers to the following questions:
1. Are there any products/services able to benefit from quality, feature and style improvements? If so, how?
2. Are there any new products worth adding?
3. What are the pricing objectives , policies, strategies and procedures? To what extent are prices set on sound cost, demand and competitive criteria.
4. What are the distribution objectives and strategies. How can these be improved?
5. What are the organisation’s promotional objectives and strategies? Are they sound?
6. How could the promotional budget be improved to get better results?
7. How could the use of the expanded marketing mix, as outlined in chapter 14 be used to improve the performance of the organisation?
Hindustan Unilever Limited, earlier known as Hindustan Lever Limited, is India’s biggest customer Product organization and was established in 1933 as Lever Brothers India Limited. It is at present headquartered in Mumbai, India and its 41,000 workers are headed by Harish Manwani, the non-official administrator of the board. HUL is the business sector pioneer in Indian items, for example, tea, soaps, shampoos, baby products, ready-eat packaged food items. Its products have become a necessity in Indian homes. The Anglo-Dutch organization Unilever possesses a greater part stake in Hindustan Unilever Limited (Cateora, 2007).
Hindustan Lever Limited’s dissemination system involves around 4,000 redistribution stockists, covering 6.3 million retail outlets arriving at the whole urban populace, and around 250 million rustic shoppers. HLL is likewise one of India’s biggest exporters (Srivastava, 2010).
The Expanded Marketing Mix: In service industry one needs more elements which are follows: –
1. Physical Evidence: Before taking service, consumer doesn’t know how to test the service quality provided by a service outlet and hence many other physical clues such as actual location etc help to make a decision. Thus cleanliness at college, school, restaurants, hotels, airports and cinema hall etc are more important where people exchanges the services, adequate facilities become more special as in case of airport, hotels etc. 2nd part of Physical Evidence is air ticket, cash memo, cheque book, token, pen, slips etc. (Srivastava, 2010).
2. People: People constitute an important dimension of marketing services as quality service depends of quality employee it has. As provider, marketer must provide quality product to costumers. Every employee in organization should be a sales person of company service so his attitude, sense of work and responsibility, style etc becomes more special. People plays important role to influence other people
3. Process: It refers to process by which costumers are served with desired product. The process of delivery becomes more important in Service Company. It includes the mechanism, procedures and timing which remain within the company (Menon, 2008)
Importance of Marketing Mix:
Marketing-Mix Determination is an important decision which marketing manager has to take. If proper marketing mix is determined following advantages will occur to the company: Marketing-mix takes care of the needs of consumers; it helps in increasing earnings and sales of products.
From time to time HUL has added innovation to its products. Take for instance the ponds cream which was has been in use from last so many years. That ponds cold cream has undergone so many changes. Today the market is flooded with products like ponds age miracle, ponds face wash, ponds anti-wrinkle and so on. Now these improvements have captured both the generations. Mothers, teenage daughters and newly-weds alike!
So the success of a brand or a company lies in diversifying its products in such a manner that it should appeal to people of all age groups. So such a change was well accepted by people everywhere of all age groups.
HUL was the first company in India to introduce shampoo sachet. This made the product available to the masses, made it convenient to carry around on trips and the product entered the remote areas as well and the brand building was successfully done at large.
The following are the reasons how it has profited from the nature of the items
1. Safety of the products and buyers is the first priority: HUL has strict obliged quality standards set up against which consistence is affirmed through predictable surveys and self assessments. These standards ensure that they arrange, make and supply things that are shielded, of awesome quality, and fit in with the relevant business and regulatory gages in the countries in which they work. Extensive organization systems are situated up to ease dangers and to secure their buyers and markets (Dixit, 1926).
2. Client and customer satisfaction at the core of their business values: HUL adequately caters their clients and customers, decoding their needs and essentials into their products and services. (Dixit, 1926).
3. Quality is a bestowed compulsion: Quality and purchaser security is the commitment of every Unilever agent and Unilever displays evident and unfaltering organization to meet this course of action. The drive for quality, in all that they do, is reflected in their picture change, amassing and customer organization structures and is furthermore expected of their business associates. HUL unites with stakeholders to give power, advance straightforwardness and bestow best practice. Additionally HUL has delivered feasible working relationship with suppliers and contract makers (Desai, 2013).
4. Building and keeping up awesome systems to ensure the quality and wellbeing of the things: HUL consistently and endlessly makes structures and techniques to ensure quality and security all through the whole justified regardless of chain, and company while setting a benchmark for the business. HUL regularly measures and improve its execution using both internal and external measures (Murari, 2014).
It is rightly said that there is always a scope for improvement. There are products which can be worked upon.
Improved toothpastes:
If closely monitored then recently the toothpaste market in India has under gone a revolution. The medicated toothpastes are being branded as a must have for everyone. Therefore here lies a scope for improvement as people are largely shifting to such medicated tooth pastes for relief. Lifestyle has undergone a sea change in the past decade and so people are left with less time and therefore they look for products which can keep them healthy and not just clean.
Spices:
A lot of companies are engaged in manufacturing spices in India. But people/ restaurants and home makers look forward to more refreshing and more home-like spices. This is where the company can venture and benefit not just in India but abroad too as Indians love to add typical Indian spices in their food wherever they stay.
How to go about the change:
Recently Lipton has introduced green tea in a number of flavours. Lime, mint and strawberry were the new introduced flavours of green tea. Now this is called marketing with the changing lifestyles of people. This is how change can be brought out in few other products as well.
HUL is into so many things, it has almost everything under its umbrella. From personal care to food and beverages, it is reaching the common man of the country. Because it is a huge organization and it has the capital to invest into a new products (Murari, 2014).
This year company is introducing new products such as Water Purifier with high quality and lowest price which will increase the revenue of company. HUL will also improve the quality in health care and personal care producing with cutting prices.
HUL strategically creates products which are in complete coherence with what the customers require.
The pricing is based on these objectives:
The whole item portfolio is likewise being changed to incorporate premium offerings, for example, Ponds Age Miracle (Dixit, 1926).
The distribution strategy of Hindustan Unilever limited is the best amongst all the FMCG companies. It includes three phases namely direct, indirect and stream line distribution system.
In the present scenario, HUL’s products are manufactured all over the country, and are distributed through a network of about 7,000 redistributions and stockiest that cover about one million retail outlets. HUL used the principle of project stream line which is to leverage HUL’s scale and organizational synergy to increase reach of rural market. Streamline was conceptualized significantly to enhance rural supply control via network of sub-stockiest. The streamline provides higher quality servicing, credit and full-line availability to rural trade. This gives a substantial competitive edge over the upcoming decades (Murari, 2014).
HUL dependably has faith in client inviting items with significant accentuation on ease generally without trading off on the nature of the item.
They are leveraging the abilities and size of the guardian organization and concentrating on the estimation of execution.
HUL’s up-and-running plan of action is a treat for financial specialists looking for presentation in the F HUL Distribution Model Overview HUL’s (long ago known as HLL) items are disseminated through a system of 4,000 redistribution stockists, covering 6.3 million retail outlets arriving at the whole urban populace, and around 250 million provincial purchasers. There are 35 C&F as in the nation who nourish these redistribution stockists routinely. The general exchange embodies markets, scientific experts, wholesale, booths and general stores. HUL gives tailor made administrations to each of its channel accomplices. It has created client administration and production network capacities for banding together rising self – administration stores and markets. Around 2,000 suppliers and partners serve HUL’s 40 assembling plants which are decentralized over 2 million square miles of region. Stage Wise Evolution of HUL Distribution Model Phase 1b: Indirect Phase 1a: Van scope model; Phase 2: Phase 3: Project based immediate (altered wholesaler situated in Operation Shakti for littler course) scope for expansive town to supply Streamline towns (
Provincial Distribution Model Phase 1: Direct Coverage HUL selected a typical stockist to administration all outlets inside a town and offer a restricted determination of the brand portfolio. Towns comprised of population of less than 50,000 individuals. Stage 1b: Indirect Coverage HUL focused on retailers in open towns near to bigger urban markets. Retail stockists were allocated perpetual course to guarantee that all available towns in the region were served in any event once a fortnight.
Phase 2: Operation Streamline Goods are appropriated from C&f operators to country wholesalers, each one having 15-20 sub-stockists (Star Sellers). Operation Streamline leveraged the provincial wholesale channel to achieve markets distant by street. Star Sellers were named among wholesalers in a specific town. Star Sellers would buy stock from a neighbourhood wholesaler and afterward disseminate stock to retailers in littler towns utilizing nearby method for transport (e.g. cruisers, rickshaws).
Phase 3: Project Shakti focused on the little towns (<2,000) and took advantage of prior ladies’ Self Help Groups (Shgs). Underprivileged rustic ladies were welcome to wind up immediate to-purchaser deals for HUL items. Termed Shakti Ammas, these ladies speak to HUL and offer home-care, wellbeing, and cleanliness items in their towns on a “money and convey” premise. Every Shakti ambitious person generally covers 6-10 towns in the populace strata 1000-2000. Redistribution Shakti C & F Agents Stockist Distributor Entrepreneur. During 2010-11, HUL altogether expanded its control retail scope by including in excess of 600,000 outlets. In country, HUL tripled its coordinate scope in rustic India from 2.5 lakh stores to 7.5 lakh stores by including 5 lakh provincial retail locations in its run scope. In 2010, Project Shaktimaan, second period of Project Shakti was dispatched. In excess of 23000 Shaktimaans are working in towns crosswise over India. Venture Shakti has been extended to 5, 00,000 outlets (Desai, 2013).
Phase 4: Growing its compass through Project Shakti, where it utilized ladies business people as a part of inaccessible towns to stock and offers its brands. 2010 onwards, while defining a formal new get ready for HUL’s dispersion in rustic regions; the organization understood that the purchasing propensities for country customers were evolving. A significant number of these buyers really tried to purchase the same items they saw the city individuals utilizing. Taking into account this understanding, the organization set about getting its redistribution stockists to begin offering upwards of 250 Skus to stores in towns with a populace of in excess of 5,000. Taking care of the intricacy at the wholesaler’s end, because of expanded scale was a test. The organization now utilizes ‘geo-labelling’ to see how far towns are from the closest interstate and to what extent it would take the closest wholesaler to achieve them. Likewise, desires from rustic wholesalers are distinctive. Rustic zones are still in the development mode and wholesalers are relied upon to effectively push businesspeople to stock HUL cleansers, shampoos and cleansers. Pushing items and getting store space is still all that much the name of the diversion. Advancement through promoting and presentation will assume a key part. Add to that the higher expense of raising capital for littler outfits and the organization still offers them sound imprint ups of 5 percent. Most merchants make around 2-2.5 percent on the merchandise sold. • Shopkeeper who loaded HUL items felt no reliability to the organization and could switch side overnight.2001. Littler provincial brands would offer better stamp ups and offer merchandise on layaway and take away a huge parcel of business in a short compass. • HUL had next to zero control over the circulation chain. • Created a centre point and talked framework and named sub-merchants who had the chance to serve towns in their region. • For littler towns with a populace of short of what 5,000, its items were sold through wholesalers. Retailers from these towns make a trip to these wholesalers and to get their supplies as and when it suited them. Best case scenario, the dissemination in these towns was sketchy and the organization had no technique on whom to cover and whom to forget. How HUL extended its conveyance arrange long ago (Dixit, 1926).
Phase 5: With the organization — and not the wholesaler — controlling what the businessperson purchases, it is conceivable to deal with the item blend and push more higher-edge items into the business. The included gainfulness can then be utilized to get merchants to push deeper into appropriating items furthermore put resources into innovation. Ultimately, the organization would like to enhance it. The organization has conveyed in the past and can possibly improve in future.
HUL has an extensive brand portfolio comprising of about 110 products. In every product offering, it has fabricated various brands over a time of time. Very much a couple of brands have arrived at its overlap from the guardian organization. It has likewise gained a few progressing brands from the business sector. HUL likewise energetically seeks after brand augmentation methodology. Furthermore simultaneously, HUL embraces line pruning and brand rebuilding and merging, based on advertising impulses. HUL is additionally playing the restoration and re-dispatch amusement. With incredible profit the corporate-level tries at business development and enhancement are additionally tossing new difficulties on the brand procedure front. HUL gives itself for a legitimate understanding of the many-sided quality of the brand administration undertaking. It should be inspected how HUL handles the complex requests in brand administration (Dixit, 1926).
Such an exhibit of brands is the result of a cognizant corporate methodology by HUL. As a corporate, HLL needs to be a pioneer in every one of its organizations and the procedure is to battle on the quality of the game changer emerging from the ownership of solid brands. It is this methodology that is getting reflected in the advancement of a large number of solid brands. In the event that the matter of showering cleansers are taken, as an illustration, HUL has the goal of being a national player (not a specialty or a local advertiser) and the pioneer in that. HUL likewise needs around 30 every penny of the corporate pay to originate from this line.
Thus, HUL selected the technique of creating very much a couple of solid brands in this line, and among them they cover diverse business fragments and value focuses. Dove, Lux, Liril, Rexona, Pears and Lifebuoy are the result of such a decently arranged brand methodology actualized over the long run.
At the time while advertising “vim” in provincial zones. Keeping into psyche the elements of rustic purchaser and dissemination foundation, the advertiser applied an alternate advancement methodology to advance the vim in country territories.
The formal media used to impart the item was TV, radio, Silver screen, print proportionately relying on their scope and their impact on country masses. The casual advancement system was formed. The steps included to advance the item in country regions.
The main step was the use of sound visual reputation vans. This exposure vans were secured by delightful flags, pennants were embellished with the item photographs, the base or slogan of the item and beautiful picture that can pull in the country buyer. The perceptible material utilized were tunes of current cloudy melodies, which were formed with new verses, these verses gave the uncommon peculiarities about the vim. This step was utilized as a presentation of the item vim in provincial markets (Desai, 2013).
So the promotion strategy of HUL is brilliant. It has got the nerve of the people and gives them exactly what they want.
It could have been better with some more effective promotion plans that reach out the people in the forgotten corners of the country. However the HUL has excellent marketing strategy that has been proving successful since the beginning. There is a scope of improvement. It’d better if the company starts focusing on doing more campaigns like that VIM in the rural areas.
HUL is India’s biggest advertiser of Soaps, Detergents and Home Care items. It has the nation’s biggest Personal Products business, driving in Shampoos, Skin Care Products, Colour Cosmetics and Deodorants. HUL is also the market leader in Tea, Processed Coffee, branded Wheat Flour, Tomato Products, and Ice cream, Soups, Jams and Squashes. Home & Personal Care (Desai, 2013).
Personal Wash
• Fabric Wash
• Home Care
• Oral Care
• Skin Care
• Hair Care
• Deodorants &Talc
• Colour Cosmetics
Foods
• Tea
• Coffee
• Branded Staples
• Culinary Products
• Ice Creams
• Modern Foods ranges
Personal Wash
Soaps
A percentage of the huge brands in Soaps in rustic markets are Lifebuoy, Lux, Liril, Hamam, Breeze, Dove, and Rexona.
It offers brands with different price range & even for the same category. The costs of the items are such that it is moderate to all salary bunch .Competitive rates as contrasted with its companions. Discounts are offered on different items relying on the items
HUL is the First and foremost organization in India to have introduced Shampoo sachet for the people. Sales happen through retail & wholesale dispersion by conducting study about the items & their inclination (Desai, 2013).
Making Product Awareness through ad & data on the site and Generating interest among buyers through stalls out and about or outside shops and so on and demonstrating live exhibit of the item, Sales Push is carried out through free specimens, presentation of another item at lower cost. Moreover the most well known celebrities of the country endorse the products.
Having more than 20 lakhs client, in excess of 2000 suppliers, in excess of 16500 representatives makes this organization an extremely prominent brand.
Client Research – The Company is dependably makes a shopper examine before & in the wake of dispatching an item keeping in mind the end goal to enhance & make it more buyer cordial.
Company can improve the performance by following its own strategies:
1. Expend product range, providing more benefits
2. Focus on rural and local market where people mostly search high discount products
3. Company can also follow the marketing strategies: Stepping up and End front Portfolio Execution, Pan Pyramid straggling, Betting on Big Stars for products Advertisement, Fast and better communication, highlighting benefits of products, providing quality products, maintaining quality of products, fast sell, fast services, Leveraging social media and IT and Increasing Consumption in Rural Market, better stores and marketing of products through advertisement
4. Better, bigger and faster innovation personal home care products, personal care home products quality, formulation, design, pricing and positing
5. In A nutshell HUL Company is admired and awarded FMCG Company of India giving high competition to many players in many sector such as ITC, P&G, Nestle etc. It understands of costumers and leveraging technology to connect with them stands it apart.
Hindustan Unilever Limited supplies high quality goods and products which are used in daily life as mentioned above. In doing so, HUL Company is committed to exhibit the standard for its consumers, society and employees. This company is regulating various policies to improve the performance in marketing. By implementing all marketing plans and policy strictly in company, performance can be improved (Dixit, 1926).
Conclusion
Marketing Mix is like a magic wand which if put into practice efficiently by the companies can literally bring desired results. One best example of company which has utilised this magic want to the fullest is Hindustan Lever. It has not only introduced variety of products in the same category. Like the shampoo market has shampoos catering to various classes and needs of the people.
It has introduced a variety in the sizes of the products so that it can cater to people in the remotest of areas. In this way any organisation can have their visibility to all the customers. Similarly HUL has done its expanded marketing mix in such way that it’s the leading FMCG Company in the world. They should keep changing their marketing mix in order to have the hold on the market share because Change is the only constant.
References
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