How Unilever’s
ands connect with consumers
From soap to soup, Unilever markets a wide range of personal care products, foods and household cleaners under popular
ands such as Dove, Bertolli, Lipton, Lux, Axe (Lynx), Sunsilk, Surf and OMO. Two billion consumers buy its products every day, adding up to annual revenue of $62 billion. The Anglo-Dutch company constantly conducts research to learn more about what consumers want and need, identifying even seemingly small changes that can make a big difference in the daily lives of people worldwide.
One of the company’s most memorable marketing initiatives has been Dove’s ‘Campaign for Real Beauty’. Based on extensive consumer research into women’s attitudes and emotions, the campaign uses ads, YouTube videos, special events and other communications to counter beauty stereotypes and make the point that real beauty is more than skin deep. By linking its soap
and to messages reinforcing positive self-esteem for women of all ages, races, sizes and shapes, Dove has won the admiration and loyalty of consumers in many countries.
Unilever’s Ragú food
and has been courting parents with Facebook and YouTube communications that encourage ongoing conversations with marketers and among its
and fans. For example, marketers recently used the
and’s Facebook page (which has more than one million ‘likes’) to start a dialogue about getting children to eat. Its Facebook fans responded with dozens of additional ideas, which Ragú’s ad agency turned into helpful online videos that dish up tips with a sense of humour. Heavy use of social media is one way that Ragú aims to create an emotional connection with its customers and understand their ever-changing needs and interests.
Campaigns combining Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and special websites have helped Unilever market its food and personal care
ands to highly targeted segments such as Latin American families in the United States. Unilever’s http:
www.vivemejor.com, the Spanish-language website, and Facebook page provide
and-oriented recipes, coupons, holiday ideas, household hints and other information that Latino families can use. The company also holds Disfruita la Pasión de la Vida events outside supermarkets to attract and engage Latin American consumers. In planning such events, the company turns to its Multicultural Consumer Marketing Insights research team for guidance.
Unilever is looking beyond immediate acquisition behaviour to encourage healthy, environmentally sustainable behaviour all over the world. Through research, it has determined that the first step is to help consumers understand why they should do something (such as wash with soap to prevent the spread of disease). The next step is to show them how easy it is to take action (buy bars of soap and use them). Then, they must make the new behaviour desirable (washing can keep the family safe from germs). Next, it is important to make consumers feel good about doing this action (for themselves, their family and society). Finally, find a way to continue the behaviour over time (ask children to wash before every meal). With these five steps, Unilever has convinced millions of consumers in developing countries to adopt the healthy habit of washing their hands – promoting the company’s Lifebuoy soap
and at the same time.
Unilever also sells laundry products in developing nations where water is a scarce resource, yet consumers are accustomed to rinsing clothes several times to get them clean. To address both consumer needs and environmental issues, CEO Paul Polman explains, ‘We’ve put products out in the market – fa
ic softeners – that only need one rinse’. Even then, ‘consumers were still doing two or three rinses, so we had to be very creative in educating them,’ he says. Clearly, Unilever wants to build strong relationships with its customers by making sure its
ands are down-to-earth and ‘real’.
CASE QUESTIONS
1. How is Unilever applying its understanding of internal consumer processes in the psychological core to market its products?
2. Which of the four external processes in the consumer’s culture do you think have been the most important to the success of Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty? Why?
3. Do you agree with Unilever’s decision to link its
ands with efforts to encourage healthy and sustainable behaviours? Explain your answer.
IKEA’s household appeal
No matter where you live, no matter what kind of household you live in – ma
ied with children, same-sex couple, single, single parent or just roommates – IKEA wants to be ‘your partner in better living’. The Swedish retailer rings up $33 billion in sales through 284 stores in 26 countries, offering stylishly designed furniture and quality housewares at affordable prices. In fact, IKEA continues to lower prices year by year on popular items so it can both attract new customers and stimulate repeat business, even among consumers whose household incomes are stalled or falling. Offering a range of goodbetter-best products widens the store’s appeal to consumers setting up new households, families getting ready for new babies, families where children regularly travel from one parent’s household to another and households that are buying on a limited budget. Also, consumers who might have bought IKEA’s top-of-the-line items now have more choices if they’re trading down to less-expensive products.
Shopping at IKEA is deliberately family-friendly. Many of its stores feature a play area where youngsters can be dropped off while parents
owse the store for adult or children’s furniture and make purchases without their children. The stores also are equipped with restaurants that serve Swedish-style foods for
eakfast, lunch and dinner and have high chairs for the youngest shoppers. When the IKEA store in Wednesbury, England, added a children’s play area and expanded the restaurant, it saw an immediate sales increase and found that the length of the average customer visit had doubled, to about four hours.
Yet not every family member looks forward to an IKEA shopping trip. For Father’s Day weekend in Australia, the IKEA store in Sydney set up a temporary Manland, a room where men could watch sports programming and play video games while their wives or girlfriends shopped. ‘Manland is the perfect solution for both the blokes who find shopping a chore and the ladies who are forced to drag their partners around,’ said IKEA’s PR manager in Australia. Although targeting singles and couples with advertising that appeals to their needs and wants is nothing new, IKEA was among the pioneers of mainstream advertisers to target gay couples. Its TV commercial showing two men shopping for furniture together caused a stir in part because the men were depicted as a committed couple. A recent – and controversial – billboard for IKEA in Italy features two men holding hands (and a shopping bag) under the headline: ‘We are open to all families.’ The ad goes on to say: ‘With us, you will feel at home. What we want to do is make life easier for everyone, every family, every couple, whoever they are.’
IKEA’s word-of-mouth reputation for quality and value gives the company an advantage in expanding to new markets. Before the first IKEA store opened in Bangkok, Thailand, the marketing manager acknowledged the presence of competition but also noted that many locals ‘have travelled a
oad or learned from friends about IKEA furniture’. In advance of this store opening, IKEA distributed one million copies of a special 16-page catalogue featuring items chosen specifically for the Thai market. IKEA’s full 370-page catalogue is available to consumers worldwide for ideas as well as for shopping. IKEA prints more than 200 million copies each year and makes the catalogue available online and via an app.
Consumers in the United Kingdom who use Facebook were recently invited to create a 3D IKEA bedroom on YouTube and click on items from the company’s catalogue to furnish it as they wish. IKEA adds the finishing touch by hanging photos from each user’s Facebook wall in the bedroom. ‘We want to be the experts in truly understanding people’s needs, wants and dreams to help them live a happier life at home,’ explains an executive. Of course, any merchandise chosen for the virtual bedroom can be easily ordered for delivery in the real world.
CASE QUESTIONS
1. The Manland experiment lasted only one weekend in one store. What are the marketing advantages and disadvantages of expanding it to other stores? Do you think IKEA should do more with this idea? Why or why not?
2. Would you classify IKEA’s products as suitable for conspicuous consumption, voluntary simplicity and/or compensatory consumption? Explain your answer.
3. IKEA’s ads targeting gay couples have drawn criticism as well as acclaim. What effect do you think such controversy has on the retailer’s image and appeal?
4. Why would IKEA continue to print millions of catalogues every year, while other retailers are eliminating printed catalogues in favour of online and instore shopping?
Microsoft Word - Ru
ic_Case Study Report_ECON 318_S13.docx
CASE
STUDY
REPORT
RUBRIC
CRITERION
STRONG
AVERAGE
WEAK
Identification
of
Main
Issues/Problems
Identifies
and
demonstrates
a
sophisticated
understanding
of
the
main
issues/problems
in
the
case
study.
Identifies
and
demonstrates
an
accomplished
understanding
of
most
of
the
issues/problems.
Identifies
and
demonstrates
acceptable
understanding
of
some
of
the
issues/problems
in
the
case
study.
Analysis
and
Evaluation
of
Issues/Problems
Presents
an
insightful
and
thorough
analysis
of
all
identified
issues/problems;
includes
all
necessary
calculations.
Presents
a
thorough
analysis
of
most
of
the
issues
identified;
missing
some
necessary
calculations.
Presents
a
superficial
or
incomplete
analysis
of
some
of
the
identified
issues;
omits
necessary
calculations.
Recommendations
on
Effective
Solutions/Strategies
Supports
diagnosis
and
opinions
with
strong
arguments
and
well-‐
documented
evidence;
presents
a
balanced
and
critical
view;
interpretation
is
oth
reasonable
and
objective.
Supports
diagnosis
and
opinions
with
limited
easoning
and
evidence;
presents
a
somewhat
one-‐
sided
argument;
demonstrates
little
engagement
with
ideas
presented.
Little
or
no
action
suggested
and/or
inappropriate
solutions
proposed
to
the
issues
in
the
case
study.
Links
to
Course
Readings
and
Additional
Research
Makes
appropriate
and
powerful
connections
etween
identified
issues/
problems
and
the
strategic
concepts
studied
in
the
course
readings
and
lectures;
supplements
case
study
with
elevant
and
thoughtful
esearch
and
documents
all
sources
of
information.
Makes
appropriate
but
somewhat
vague
connections
etween
identified
issues/problems
and
concepts
studied
in
readings
and
lectures;
demonstrates
limited
command
of
the
analytical
tools
studied;
supplements
case
study
with
limited
research.
Makes
inappropriate
or
little
connection
between
issues
identified
and
the
concepts
studied
in
the
readings;
supplements
case
study,
if
at
all,
with
incomplete
research
and
documentation.
Writing
Mechanics
and
Formatting
Guidelines
Demonstrates
clarity,
conciseness
and
co
ectness;
formatting
is
appropriate
and
writing
is
free
of
grammar