Unilever

Unilever Case Q1. Conduct market analysis, addressing 4C`s (Community (PEST Analysis), Company, Competitor, Customer). Understand, in particular attributes that are important to low income consumers and their end benefits when buying detergents.

I: Company

Unilever is a US$ 56 billion multinational company headquartered in London (UK) and Rotterdam (Netherlands) employing about 300,000 people in more than 150 countries. In 1996 it had a portfolio of 1600 brands worldwide. Unilever Brazil is headquartered in SÐ"Јo Paulo and is the pioneer of the consumer goods industry in Brazil. Its divisions are: 1) Lever for home care 2) Elida Gibbs for personal care 3) Van den Bergh for food, nevertheless detergents products still being the cash cow of Unilever Brazil. Unilever Brazil is the leader within the detergent powder production and achieved a 81% market share through its three brands: 1) Omo (most important) 2) Minerva 3) Camperio (cheapest).

II: Community

The community can be separated by geographical factors. Generally speaking there are about 170 million people, living predominantly in two clusters on the Atlantic coast. Those clusters are the Northeast (NE) and the Southeast (SE) regions. In Brazil the per capita income was $ 4,420. Caused by the regional differences (NE vs. SE), the per capita in SE was around $ 6,600 (122 million people), NE $ 2,250 (48 million people) only. The NE lifestyle, religion and cultural aspects are influenced by Africans. Therefore music and humor are the key elements of the northeastern culture. In contrast to the NE, the SE is predominantly influenced by the Europeans, which explains why economic and political power are routed there. However, the NE community with its low income potential costumer force is the main analyzing factor of the Brazilian community.

III: Competitor

Unilever`s direct competitor P&G is a US$ 40 billion multinational company headquartered in Cincinnati (USA). “P&G is a distant second player with only a 15% share of the Brazilian detergent market.” Pop, as the low-priced brand, seems to be the direct competition to Unilever`s product Minerva. However, the real threat to Unilever is P&G`s expertise in R&D and marketing. The Brazilian fabric wash market consists of two products: 1) detergent powder and 2) laundry soap. It is crucial to differentiate between