Internship Report

on
Professional Marketing aspects
of
Unilever Bangladesh Limited

Prepared for:
Mr. Mohammed Rezaur Razzak
Assistant Professor
BRAC Business School

Prepared by:
Ruhama Tasnim Choudhury (ID: 09204007)
BRAC Business School
BRAC University

Submitted on: 31st August 2013

 Letter of Transmittal
31/8/13
Mr. Mohammed Rezaur Razzak
Assistant Professor
BRAC Business School
BRAC University

Subject: Submission of Report of Internship Summer 2013

Dear Sir,

With due respect, I would like to submit the “Internship Report” for your kind
inspection.

This report is a summary and analysis of three months of internship experience in

Unilever Bangladesh Limited, Gulshan Branch. The topic of this report is
“Professional Marketing aspects of Unilever Bangladesh Limited”. To carry out the
report, I have gathered various papers/document, periodicals etc. from my line
manager as well as from internet for the purpose of secondary data. I have practically
worked and observed their working pattern, management and other company
activities, in order to earn experience about the corporate environment. On the basis
of these secondary data and practical observation, I have prepared the report later.

Hence, I hope that you would be kind enough to accept this report for analysis.

Thanking you.

Sincerely yours,

Ruhama Tasnim Choudhury

ID: 09204007
BRAC Business School
BRAC University
 Acknowledgement
In preparing the report on, “Professional Marketing aspects of Unilever Bangladesh
Limited”, firstly I express my gratitude to my academic supervisor Mr. Mohammed
Rezaur Razzak Sir, without his kind direction and proper guidance this study would
have been a failure. In every phase, from topic selection to data collection and data
analysis, his supervision has shaped this research paper.

I also want to thank my line manager at Unilever Bangladesh Limited, Mr. Ishtiaque
Shahriar Shaanto, who provided me with all the necessary information that I required.

I am also thankful to the other employees of Unilever Bangladesh Limited such as

Anisa Murshed (Brand Executive) and Ankan Siddiquee (Assistant Activation
Manager) who gave me their valuable time and enough information to successfully
make this report.
 Executive Summary
As known to all, Unilever Bangladesh Limited is one of the leading multinational
business firms in the world of FMCG industry. Over the last four decades Unilever
Bangladesh Limited (UBL) has been relentlessly bringing new, innovative and world-
class products to make the lives of Bangladeshis easier. Over 90% of the country’s
households use one or more of UBL products. Unilever currently offers nineteen
variety brands in spread across four different categories- Food and Drink, Home care,
Personal Care, Water Purifier.

Making these brands popular amongst the people of Bangladesh is the core objective
of the “Activation department” (a small yet proactive segment of the Brand Building
department of Unilever Bangladesh Limited). Marketing activation is the execution
of the marketing mix as part of the marketing process. The activation phase typically
comes after the planning phase during which managers plan their marketing activities
and is followed by a feedback phase in which results are evaluated with marketing
analysis.

Professional Marketing is an activation campaign that began from January this year
and is planned to be continued till the very end of the year. The core need of this
activation campaign came from the fact that doctors and dermatologists are
considered a strong source of generating word of mouth; so it is always important to
get their recommendations when it comes to product quality and credibility for the
mass consumers. Building good and happening relationship with is community is vital
especially for the range of category of products where safety is a big concern. Hence,
brand managers of Unilever Bangladesh Limited (UBL) believe that it is important
for these professionals to endorse their brands based on the safety ground. Led by this
thought, and backed by the activation team of UBL, the activation campaign began.

In addition, I have also carried out a small-scale causal research to find out whether
Activation campaigns actually create a boost in sales and market share and hence
fulfill the objectives based on which the campaigns are implemented. I have made use
of documents provided by my internship supervisor on site and the brand manager of
Knorr (secondary data) to complete my analysis.
 Table of Contents

Title Page number

Part-1 Introduction 01

1.1: Background of the study 01

1.2: Origin of the report 01
1.3: Objective of the study 01
1.4: Scope of the study 01
1.5: Limitation of the study 02
1.6: Methodology of the study 02
1.6.2 Nature of Data: 03

1.6.2.1 Primary Data 03

1.6.2.2 Secondary Data 03
Part-2 About the Organization 04

2.1 Unilever Global 04

2.2 History of Unilever 04

2.3 Unilever Design and History 06

2.4 Unilever Bangladesh Limited 09

2.5 Unilever at a Glance 09
2.6 Mission 10
2.7 Vision 10
2.8 Goals 10
2.9 Unilever’s Contribution 10
2.10 Unilever Brands 10
2.11 Strategies followed by the 12
company
2.11.1 Functional Level Strategies 12
2.11.2 Business-Level Strategies 12
2.11.3 Strategy in the Global 12
Environment
2.11.4 Corporate strategy 13

2.12 Unilever’s Growth 14

 2.13 Organizational Structure 14
2.13.1. Brands and Development 15
Department
2.13.2. Supply Chain Department 16
2.13.3. Finance and IT Department 16
2.13.4. Human Resources Department 16
2.13.5. Customer Development 17
Department
2.14 Unilever’s Social Responsibility 17
Part 3: Professional Marketing 18
campaign at a glance
Part 4: Duties and Responsibilities 22
as an Intern
Part 5: Findings and Analysis 23
Part 6: Conclusion 25
Part 7: Recommendation 26
Part 8: References 27
 Part-1 Introduction

1.1: Background of the study:

Every graduate from business study has to do the Internship with the purpose of learning
how to do work practically from the knowledge gained so far as a business student. It is a
great experience for every student to get practical experiences of the theoretical
knowledge that we have gathered in our for years graduation life. For gaining practical
knowledge on a specific subject a research should be done. I have done my internship in
the Brand Building department of Unilever Bangladesh Limited. The topic of my report
is: Professional Marketing aspects of Unilever Bangladesh Limited.

These days the brands of Unilever Bangladesh Limited are in fierce competition with that
of other multinational FMCGs’ that are currently established in Bangladesh- for instance
Glaxo Smith Kline, Procter and Gamble, Reckitt Benckiser, Nestle, Novartis and so on. In
order to stand out from the competition and hold more credibility, Unilever Bangladesh
must ensure that their brands are certified and recommended by top dermatologists and
dentists as general public highly depend on the advice provided by these specialists. This
is the key highlighted area of this report.

1.2: Origin of the report:

Main purpose of internship (BUS 400) is giving the practical experience of a theoretical
subject. This credit course is required to be completed by all students graduating under
school of business at BRAC University. I prepared this report as a partial fulfillment of
Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) program under the supervision of Assistant
Professor Mr. Mohammed Rezaur Razzak. This is the outcome of three months long
internship program at Unilever Bangladesh Limited.

1.3: Objective of the study:

To make a research successful it’s very important to have few objectives. So from the
very beginning of the study I tried my level best to conduct my internship with a view to
achieve some specific objectives.

My Internship program is carried out to achieve the following objectives:

• Gaining an overall knowledge about various Activation campaigns carried out by

the activation team
• To get an idea about how the need of an activation campaign is realized
• Find out the whether activation campaigns boost up sales and market share

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1.4: Scope of the study:

The foremost purpose of doing internship on Brand Building department is to gather

practical knowledge about Marketing/Brands department at corporate working
environment. It also gave the opportunity to gain some experience form the Branding
experts; how and when they take the decision regarding Activation needs.

I have completed my three-month internship program from Unilever Bangladesh, Gulshan

Branch. I tried to get an overall fact about the HR department. This department manages
not only decisions regarding a sales volume increase but also connecting their established
and/or new brands with the consumers minds- an activity carried out by the Activation
department. Hence, my main focus was on the key activities carried out by the Activation
department. During my internship, I tried my best to learn the strategy and techniques
followed by Activation experts of UBL. I am really thankful to all the employee of all
departments for continuous supporting and inspiriting me during Internship period.

1.5: Limitation of the study:

With due respect to my internship supervisor, I tried my level best to fetch the maximum
outcome of my research and I also tried to prepare a comprehensive and organized report
on Unilever Bangladesh Limited. But during my research, I had to face some obstacles.

A few constrains are the following ones:

• The main problem that I found in doing this report is unavailability of information.
Sometimes it was very difficult for me to find original information about UBL’s
past and/or current activation campaigns since these are confidential information.

• As we know that the internship’s duration is only 3 months: This is a very

short time for doing any kind of research. For this reason I could not efficiently
collect all information needed for this report.

1.6: Methodology of the study:

1.6.1 Research Design:

• From the viewpoint of function: In my study, I tried to find out how activation
campaigns shape the behavior of consumers and whether it actually causes higher
sales of UBL’s products in the long run. So in this sense it is a descriptive and
causal research.
• From the viewpoint of research place: It is both field and desk research.
Sometimes I took information from the field such as from brand managers
working in the Brands team of UBL. Also, sometimes I took information from
secondary resource such as articles, manual, websites etc.

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1.6.2 Nature of Data:

The report is based on primary and mainly secondary data and sources.

1.6.2.1 Primary Data: Primary data have been collected by:

• Informal interview with the officers of HR department.
• Some information of my report objectives has been collected through discussion
with Brand managers and experts.

1.6.2.2 Secondary Data: The whole research is mainly based on secondary data. Data has
been collected from:
• articles written by activation experts at UBL
• company’s internal data
• company’s official website
• observing daily activities of activation and brand managers
• brochures

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 Part-2 About the Organization

2.1 Unilever Global

Unilever is an Anglo-Dutch company, with a history of colonial exploitation, on which it
has gradually built its capital. Today it owns most of the world's consumer product brands
in food, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products. Unilever employs more
than 247,000 people and had worldwide revenue of €48 760 million in 2002. Unilever has
two parent companies: Unilever NV in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and Unilever PLC in
London,
United Kingdom. This arrangement is similar to that of Reed Elsevier, and that of Royal
Dutch Shell prior to their unified structure. Both Unilever companies have the same
directors and effectively operate as a single business. The current non-executive
Chairman of Unilever N.V. and PLC is Antony Burgmans while Patrick Cescau is Group
Chief Executive.

Unilever's major competitors include Nestlé and Procter & Gamble.

2.2 History of Unilever

William Hesketh Lever founded Lever Brothers in 1885. Lever established soap factories
around the world. In 1917, he began to diversify into foods, acquiring fish, ice cream and
canned foods businesses. In the Thirties, Unilever introduced improved technology to the
business. The business grew and new ventures were launched in Latin America. The
entrepreneurial spirit of the founders and their caring approach to their employees and
their communities remain at the heart of Unilever's business today.

Unilever was formed in 1930 when the Dutch margarine company Margarine Unie
merged with British soap maker Lever Brothers. Companies were competing for the same
raw materials, both were involved in large-scale marketing of household products and
both used similar distribution channels. Between them, they had operations in over 40
countries. Margarine Unie grew through mergers with other margarine companies in the
1920s.

In a history that now crosses three centuries, Unilever's success has been influenced by
the major events of the day – economic boom, depression, world wars, changing
consumer lifestyles and advances in technology. And throughout they've created products
that help people get more out of life – cutting the time spent on household chores,
improving nutrition, enabling people to enjoy food and take care of their homes, their
clothes and themselves. Through this timeline you'll see how UBL brand portfolio has
evolved. At the beginning of the 21st century, path to Growth strategy focused us on
global high-potential brands and
Vitality mission is taking us into a new phase of development. More than ever, how
brands are helping people 'feel good, look good and get more out of life' – a sentiment
close to Lord Leverhulme's heart over a hundred years ago.

4
Timeline

19th century: Although Unilever wasn't formed until 1930, the companies that joined
forces to create the business we know today were already well established before the start
of the 20th century.

1900s: Unilever's founding companies produced products made of oils and fats,
principally soap and margarine. At the beginning of the 20th century their expansion
nearly outstrips the supply of raw materials.

1910s: Tough economic conditions and the First World War make trading difficult for
everyone, so many businesses form trade associations to protect their shared interests.

1920s: With businesses expanding fast, companies set up negotiations intending to stop
others producing the same types of products. But instead they agree to
merge - and so Unilever is created.

1930s: Unilever's first decade is no easy ride: it starts with the Great Depression and ends
with the Second World War. But while the business rationalizes operations, it also
continues to diversify.

1940s: Unilever's operations around the world begin to fragment, but the business
continues to expand further into the foods market and increase investment in research and
development.

1950s: Business booms as new technology and the European Economic Community lead
to rising standards of living in the West, while new markets open up in emerging
economies around the globe.

1960s: As the world economy expands so does Unilever and it sets about developing new
products, entering new markets and running a highly ambitious
acquisition program.

1970s: Hard economic conditions and high inflation make the 70s a tough time for
everyone, but things are particularly difficult in the fast-moving consumer
goods (FMCG) sector as the big retailers start to flex their muscles.

1980s: The business expands into Central and Eastern Europe and further sharpens its
focus on fewer product categories, leading to the sale or withdrawal of two-thirds of its
brands.

1990s: The business expands into Central and Eastern Europe and further sharpens its
focus on fewer product categories, leading to the sale or withdrawal of two thirds of its
brands.

The 21st Centuries: The decade starts with the launch of Path to Growth, a five-year
strategic plan, and in 2004 further sharpens its focus on the needs of 21st
Century consumers with its Vitality mission.

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2.3 Unilever Design and History
In 2005, Unilever decided to change their logo to represent their new theme of vitality.
The new logo was also planned to coincide with the 75th anniversary of the company.
The new logo tells the story of Unilever and vitality. It brings together 25 different icons
representing Unilever and its brands, the idea of vitality and the benefits Unilever brings
to consumers.

The icons are represented below.

Sun: The primary natural resource. All life begins with the sun- the ultimate
symbol vitality. It evokes Unilever’s origin in port of sunlight & can represent a number
of Unilever brands.

DNA: The double helix. The generic blueprint of life and a symbol of
bioscience, it is a key to healthy life. The sun is the biggest ingredient of
life and DNA is the smallest.

Bee: Represent creation, pollination, hard works and bio diversity. Bees
symbolize both environmental challenges and opportunities.

Hand: A symbol of sensitivity, care and need. It represents both skin and touch.

Flower: Represent fragrance, when seen with the hand, it represents

moisturizing cream.

Hair: A symbol of beauty and looking good. Placed next to the flower, it

evokes cleanliness and fragrances; placed near the hand it suggests softness.

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 Palm tree: A natural resource, it produces palm oil as well as many fruits.
Coconut and dates are also symbolize paralyze.

Spoon: A symbol of nutrition, tasting and cooking.

Bowl: A bowl of delicious smelling food. It can also represent a ready meal,
hot drinks or soup.

Spice & Flavors: Represent chili or fresh ingredients.

Fish: Represent food, sea or fresh water.

Sparkle: Clean, healthy and sparking with energy.

Bird: A symbol of freedom. It suggests relief from daily chores, getting more
out of life.

Recycle: Part of commitment to sustainability.

Lips: Represent beauty, looking good & taste

Ice-cream: A treat, pleasure or enjoyment.

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 Tea: A plant or an extract of a plant, such as tea, also a symbol of growing and
farming

Particles: A reference to science bubbles and fizz.

Frozen: The plant is a symbol of freshness, the snowflake represent freezing,

a transformational symbol.

Wave: Symbolize cleanliness, freshness and vigorous icon. (With the clothes
icon)

Liquid: A reference to clean water and purity.

Container: Symbolizes packaging- a pot of cream associated with personal

care.

Clothes: Represent fresh laundry and looking good.

Heart: A symbol of love, care and health

Sauce or Spread: Represent mixing of stirring. It suggest blending in flavors

& adding taste.

2.4 Unilever Bangladesh Limited

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The history Unilever Bangladesh Ltd is one of the world’s most successful fast moving
consumer goods manufacturing companies with local manufacturing facilities, reporting
to regional business groups for innovation and business results.

Lever Brothers Bangladesh Ltd. as a subsidiary of Unilever is leading the home care,
personal care and food product market of Bangladesh. On 25th February 1964 the eastern
plant of Lever Brothers Pakistan Ltd. was inaugurated at Kalurghat, Chittagong with a
soap production capacity of approximately 485 metric tons. It was a private limited
company with 55% share held by Unilever and the rest by the Government of Pakistan.
After independence the eastern plant was declared abandoned. But on 5th July 1973 it
was registered under the name of Lever Brothers Bangladesh Ltd. as a joint venture
company of Unilever PLC and the Govt. of Bangladesh with a share arrangement of
60.75% to Unilever and 39.25% to the Bangladesh Govt.

Unilever today

Unilever brands are trusted everywhere and, by listening to the people who buy them,
they've grown into one of the world's most successful consumer goods companies. In fact,
150 million times a day, someone somewhere chooses a Unilever product.

UBL have a portfolio of brands that are popular across the globe - as well as regional
products and local varieties of famous-name goods. This diversity comes from two of
their key strengths:

Strong roots in local markets and first-hand knowledge of the local culture.

World-class business expertise applied internationally to serve consumers everywhere.

2.5 Unilever at a Glance

Type of business: Fast Moving Consumer Goods Company with local manufacturing
facilities, reporting to regional business groups for innovation and business results.

Operations: Home and Personal Care, Foods

Constitution: Unilever - 60.75% shares, Government of Bangladesh - 39.25%

Product categories: Household Care, Fabric Cleaning, Skin Cleansing, Skin Care, Oral
Care, Hair Care, Personal Grooming, Tea based Beverages.

Brands: Wheel, Lux, Lifebuoy, Fair & Lovely, Pond's, Close Up, Sunsilk, Taaza,
Pepsodent, Clear, Vim, Surf Excel, Rexona, Dove, Vaseline & Lakme.

Manufacturing

Facilities: The Company has a Soap Manufacturing factory and a Personal Products
Factory located in Chittagong. Besides these, there is a tea packaging operation in

9
Chittagong and three manufacturing units in Dhaka, which are owned and run by third
parties exclusively dedicated to Unilever Bangladesh.

Employees: Unilever Operations in Bangladesh provide employment to over 10,000

people directly and through its dedicated suppliers, distributors and service providers.
99.5% of UBL employees are locals and they have equal number of Bangladeshis
working abroad in other Unilever companies as expatriates

2.6 Mission
Unilever's mission is to add Vitality to life. They meet everyday needs for nutrition;
hygiene and personal care with brands that help people feel good, look good and get more
out of life.

2.7 Vision
To make cleanliness a commonplace; to lessen work for women; to foster health and
contribute to personal attractiveness, in order that life may be more enjoyable and
rewarding for the people who use the products.

2.8 Goals
The goals of UBL are:

• To manufacture high-standard products.

• Promoting products to the highest extent
• Producing large volume to achieve production cost economies.
• Enabling quality products to be sold out at obtainable prices.

2.9 Unilever’s Contribution

Unilever Making a positive contribution to society through their brands, the commercial
operations and relationships, their voluntary contributions to the community and through
their wider engagement with Bangladeshi society. 72% of the company’s value addition is
distributed to the Government of Bangladesh. UBL operations provide employment to
over 10000 people.

2.10 Unilever Brands

Unilever has a portfolio of about 400 brands globally. However many of these are local
that can only be found in certain countries, e.g. Fair & Lovely. In Bangladesh the number
of UBL’s existing brands is 18 which are categorized in different sections. The brands fall
almost entirely in two categories-

• Food and beverages

• Home and personal care brands

In Bangladesh the company operates in four distinct product categories. These are:

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 • Fabric Wash
• Household care
• Personal care
• Foods

Fabric Wash

• Wheel Laundry Soap

• Wheel Washing Powder
• Wheel Power White
• Surf Excel

Household Care

• Vim Powder
• Vim Bar
• Vim Liquid

Personal Care

- Personal Wash

• International Lux
• Lifebuoy Total
• Dove bar
• Lifebuoy Liquid soap

Skin Care

• Fair & Lovely Multivitamins

• Fair & Lovely Body Fairness Milk
• Fair & Lovely Ayurvedic
• Fair & Lovely Menz Active
• Pond’s Age Miracle range
• Pond’s Daily Face Wash range
• Pond’s Cold Cream
• Pond’s Perfect result Cream
• Ponds Dream Flower Talc
• Pond’s flawless white range
• Pond’s White Beauty Range
• Pond’s Body Lotion
• Lakme skin care products
• Dove skin care products
• Vaseline skin care products

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Hair Care

• Sun Silk Shampoo

• All Clear Shampoo
• Lifebuoy Shampoo
• Dove shampoo All Clear Hair Oil

Oral Care

• Close-up Toothpaste
• Pepsodent Toothpaste
• Pepsodent Toothpowder
• Pepsodent Tooth brush

Deodorant

• Rexona
• Axe

Foods

• Lipton Taaza Danadar

• Lipton Taaza strong
• Lipton Taaza Teabag.

2.11 Strategies followed by the company

2.11.1 Functional Level Strategies:

Unilever Bangladesh Ltd follows different functional level strategies to gain competitive
advantages and sustain it in the long run in the matured industries.

• They increase their efficiency through exploiting economies of scale and learning
effects. For example, 808,720 bars of soaps, 1,023,810 packets of detergent
powders, 154, 430 toothpaste tubes and sachets,329, 530 bottles and sachets of
shampoo, 156, 910 tubes, jars, bottles and sachets of creams and lotions, and 35,
000 packets of tea are produced in one day in Bangladesh by Unilever.
• They adopt flexible manufacturing technologies, upgrade the skills of employees
through training and perform research and development function to design
products that are easy to manufacture.
• They have higher customer responsiveness rate. They carry out extensive research
to innovate new products and modify the existing products to better satisfy the
consumers.
• They continuously innovate products, promotional activities, packaging and
distribution. This way they can respond quickly to customer demands.

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2.11.2 Business-Level Strategies:

Unilever’s strategic managers adopt different business level strategies to use the
company’s resources and distinctive competencies to gain competitive advantage over its
rivals. These are:

• They follow cost-leadership strategy as they have intermittent over capacity and
the ability to gain economies of scale. This way they can produce cost effective
products and yet be profitable.
• They also follow differentiation strategy for some products to meet the needs of
the consumers in a unique way.
• They also target different market segments with different products to have broad
product line. By product proliferation they reduce the threat of entry and expand
the range of products they make to fill a wide variety of niches.

2.11.3 Strategy in the Global Environment

Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. is registered under Unilever. As a part of a global company it

follows some generalized strategies and principals of Unilever. However, they also
modify different strategies based on the national conditions. The different strategies that
they follow in the global environment are stated below:

• As a worldwide famous company and comprising internationally renowned brands

gives them unique strengths that allow a company to achieve superior efficiency,
quality, innovation, or customer responsiveness. The different policies and
strategies Unilever follows and their experience is transferred to Unilever
Bangladesh Ltd.
• They import the raw materials from the places where it is less costly, thus achieve
location economy.
• They are locally responsive. They are always ready to improve and modify their
products to meet the needs of the local customers.
• UBL follows a multi domestic strategy where the companies extensively
customize both their product offering and marketing strategy to different national
conditions.

2.11.4 Corporate strategy:

UBL carries out the following corporate level strategies:

• They involve in short term contracts and competitive bidding for the supply of raw
materials.
• They have a diversified business. UBL has both related and unrelated
diversification. They compete in nine different industries with various products
from home care, personal care and even food products. They have economies of

13
 scope as most of the products can share the same manufacturing facilities, inputs
and specially the distribution channels.

2.12 Unilever’s Growth

Although Unilever has been around since pre-liberation days, the real impetus for growth
started from 1999. Since then the sales growth has consistently been in double digits and
at more than double the GDP rate of growth. In 2003 UBL was the fastest growing
business for Unilever Asia delivering profitable growth of 17%. They have also
strengthened the fundamentals of the business and have been able to double the rate of
gross margins, which has provided us the necessary fuel for growth. During the last few
years the profit after tax has increased more than 8 times and this has resulted in
exponential growth in shareholder’s fund now being one of the highest in corporate in
Bangladesh.

2.13 Organizational Structure

In terms of Unilever, they have two chairmen leading the company worldwide. They have
seven top directors leading seven different departments. They have divided their
worldwide business into different region and have different business groups to manage
them.

Unilever Bangladesh limited falls under the Southeast Asian region. On a more micro
scale, Unilever Bangladesh ltd is monitored by Hindustan lever Ltd. which oversees
operation in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Srilanka. The chairman of Unilever
Bangladesh Limited is known as the managing director. The management staff of the
company consists of six layers, starting from junior manager (who are local managers) to
manager grade 5 (who are Unilever managers). Apart from this the company also hires
many non-management staff as well as operatives to work in the factories.

Unilever Bangladesh Limited structured in the following manner:

Unilever Bangladesh Limited has five departments to carry out all the organizational
functions. Respective director’s head are head of all departments. These departments are:

1. Customer Development Department Headed by Customer Development Director

(CDD)
2. Brands & Development Department headed by the Brands and Development Director
(B&DD)
3. Supply Chain Department headed by the Supply Chain Director (SCD)
4. Finance Department headed by Finance Director (FD)
5. Human Resources Department headed by the Human Resources Director (HRD)

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 Organizational Structure

Figure 2.2: Organizational structure

2.13.1. Brands and Development Department:

The Brands Team has been expanded to Brands and Development, thus providing
opportunity of increased coordination between the marketing and Development Team.
Insight into consumer needs and aspirations is critical if new market opportunities are to
be identified. New market opportunities must be identified if they are looking for
sustainable profitable growth, keeping them miles ahead of their competitors. However it
is also crucial to exploit technology and developments to translate the found insight into
tangible products catering to the needs and aspirations of the consumers with speed. A
deep understanding of both consumers and technologies provides an essential foundation
for successful innovation. To ensure a successful innovation process at Unilever, Brands
and Development have been bought together. This will help their development team to
have closer contact with the consumer world, following the leads and cues of their
aspirations and thus innovating products tailored accordingly at a faster pace. Brands and
Development Department is further divided into six major areas. They include:

• Home care
• Personal care
• Dental Service
• Food
• Tea export
• Marketing research

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2.13.2. Supply Chain Department:

The Supply Chain Director (SCD) who is in charge of planning, buying, manufacturing
and distributing heads Supply Chain Department. The supply chain process constitutes a
series of important activities ensuring smooth delivery to the consumers. Supply chain
process led to joining planning and buying with manufacturing. Joining distribution to the
chain, thus integrating both backward and forward linkages, further extends this chain. An
integrated supply chain will give them the advantage of acting with speed, enabling them
to keep up with pace of the ever changing business scenario. At present, it is divided into
the following functions:

• Manufacturing
• Engineering
• Company Buying
• Distribution
• Quality Assurance
• Planning

2.13.3. Finance and IT Department:

The Finance and IT departments are jointly headed by one Director. The main objectives
of this department are to serve all the division and departments of the companies, to
secure and safeguard company assets and interest, to ensure proper internal control within
the company and above all, to be cost effective in order to get optimum benefit for the
company while operating.
At present the major sub departments are:

• Business system
• Finance
• Legal.

2.13.4. Human Resources Department:

The Human Resources Director (HRD) currently heads this department. The major
functions of this department are:

• Factory Personnel functions or Industrial Relations

• Recruitment, Training and developments, labor welfare
• Personnel Services and Security.

All these major personnel functions are integrated in the best possible way in Unilever
Bangladesh Limited which results in its higher productivity. Industrial relations or the
factory personnel functions are looked after by factory personnel manager, training and
development activities are supervised by Manager Human Resource Development,
Employee Welfare, activities are monitored by Assistant Manager labor welfare,
personnel services are looked after by the FPM along with the office services manager

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and finally security officer is responsible for all the security services At present, the total
number of personnel in Unilever Bangladesh Limited are 720 which includes 159 in
management & 543 unionized permanent workers.

2.13.5. Customer Development Department:

Managing customers i.e. retailers, wholesalers, and distributors, is becoming critical day
by day. With the evolution of modern trade and aggressive local and international
competition, role of Customer Management has also been gradually shifting from
traditional “Sales: to “Trade Marketing”. Category Management, Space Management and
In-store merchandising are becoming more and more important. Exploring and
developing new channels are becoming critical to drive their business forward. With more
and more sophistication, the role of Customer Management will evolve further and the
whole game will be turned into “Relationship Marketing”. The customer management
director (CMD) heads the Customer Management Department. Reporting to him are the
Sales Operation Manager, Regional Sales Managers and Area Sales Managers. Company
organized media is under the Sales Operation Manager. Assistant Area managers report to
the Regional Sales Managers. Territory Managers report to the Assistant Area sales
managers, Area Sales Managers and Regional Sales Managers, which differ in different
sales areas. The Customer Management Department, early called ‘Sales Department’, is
responsible for all company goods and maintains the following customer management
strategy:

• Strong distribution network

• Widest distribution with seasonal operation in cost effectives areas.
• Effective and focused company sales force
• Major thrust in rural market

2.14 Unilever’s Social Responsibility

The company feels that they have some duties towards the environment and the society.
Hence they carry out the following actions:

• Eco-efficiency – Unilever Bangladesh Limited always tries to reduce the impacts

of company operations by efficient manufacturing equipments and proper waste
management system.

• Eco-innovation – Unilever Bangladesh Limited also aim to mitigate the impacts of

Unilever Bangladesh Limited products by using recyclable packages and safe
ingredients.
• Sustainability programs in fish, agriculture and water.
• Unilever Bangladesh Limited Code of Business Principles.
• Fair Business Practice.
• Supporting local communities

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 Part 3: Professional Marketing campaign at a glance
Professional marketing, a unique yet effective activation campaign began its’ activities in
January 2013 and is scheduled to end by the end of this year. Unlike most activation
campaigns, where the activations are designed to create value for consumers by directly
reaching out to them, in this campaign the activities will be carried out for a huge number
of dermatologists and dentists- professionals who will in turn aid us in reaching out our
target market. This campaign will be a building bridge between health experts and
consumers.

Objective of this campaign: Unilever Bangladesh has numerous brands in Oral and Skin
care- all of which are scientifically proven to be effective. An internal study carried out by
UBL revealed that consumers highly rely on the advice provided by dentists and
dermatologists for their oral and skin problems- hence Unilever believes that it is of high
importance to meet these specialists and inform them about their exists products and their
effectiveness. If these specialists endorse their brands and recommend them to the target
group then the credibility of these brands will go up and it will also help the brands to
stand out amongst competitors’ products- ultimately boosting up sales volume. Hence,
with this objective the activation team of UBL has successfully visited 1064 dentists, 285
dermatologists and 628 clinics all over Dhaka city till date and has planned to carry
forward this initiative all over the country.

The campaign activities: UBL arranges a team of enthusiasts known as Brand Detailing
Officers (BDO) who are prepared beforehand with meticulous training. As these officers
will be representing UBL so they must have adequate knowledge about the product which
they will be detailing to doctors/dermatologists. In addition, these officers are be trained
to be highly skilled in giving presentations and to showcase bold deliberation and
confidence to be expert spokesman of the brands that are assigned to them.

The activities follow a process as such:

1. Brand Detailing Officers meet assistants of various and take an appointment from
them at a specific date
2. On that pre-specified date, BDOs visit the dermatologists/dentists and deliver
them a brochure which has detailed information regarding product specifications
3. The BDOs then show a presentation on an electronic gadget (a tablet) provided to
them – specifically highlighting the features and usefulness of the brand- an
activity known as detailing.
4. The BDO will answer any queries of the dentist/dermatologist.
5. Finally, the BDO will provide a sample of the brand as a present to the specialist
to enhance their confidence about UBL’s brands
6. The BDO will then ask the specialist to fill up a feedback form and request them
to recommend UBL’s product to their patients.

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The processes mentioned above are shown through illustrations as follows:

Step 1
Figure: Unilever brands introduction

Step 2
Figure: Scientific content detailing

Step 3
Figure: Video presentation

Step 4
Figure: Gift presentation

Step 5:
Figure: Feedback form being filled up by a dentist

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Also, to enlighten dermatologists about the effectiveness of UBL’s skin care brands
(Clear, Vaseline, Ponds, Dove, Fair and Lovely), the activation team had organized
various skin experts’ conferences in 2012 for these brands respectively. In addition, a
Dental Experts’ Conference was arranged in 2012, named Pepsodent Dental Experts
Conference, to convey the therapeutic features of Pepsodent and to generate frequent
endorsement in favour of this brand from the dentists.

Also, in order to build up a long term relationship with dentists and dermatologist, UBL
sends them postcards/emails/mobile messages on their special occasions such as
birthdays, anniversaries, childrens’ birthdays and so on. Recurrent sharing of scientific
information in light of remedial perspective has already made Pepsodent a promising oral
care brand to the dentist for their patients.

Figure: Birthday card wish from Pepsodent

UBL conquers the mind of a dentist through branding dental chambers and dental
colleges with Pepsodent branded signboards- both for Pepsodent Gum Care and
Pepsodent Sensitive Expert. By providing shop signs and internal accessories branded
with Pepsodent, UBL boosts up their mutual commitment with those specialists.

Figure: Dental Chamber branding

Figure: Dental Clinic branding

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Another attractive feature of the Professional Marketing campaign is Pepsodent Dentibus;
the first of it’s kind. The Pepsodent Dentibus activation began its journey from 13th
January 2013 and shall be continued till December. The Dentibus is a modified, well-
equipped bus sponsored and managed by Pepsodent that goes around the country carrying
free dental check up facilities and expert advice of good oral care. The Pepsodent
Sensitive Expert Dentibus provides services to schools and colleges within Dhaka, while
the Gum Care Dentibus travels in various places outside the city.

Figure: Pepsodent Dentibus

With these everlasting efforts the Activation team of UBL thrives to achieve
endorsements of their brands from various well-known dermatologists and dentists in
order to indirectly create value for their consumers.

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 Part 4: Duties and Responsibilities as an Intern
On the 12th of May, the first day of internship, I was assigned to the Activation team of
Unilever Bangladesh Limited- a team that works in integration with the brand-building
team. During my internship, I have carried out not only the tasks assigned by my line
manager but have volunteered to assist other brand managers as well.

My key duties and responsibilities were as follows:

1. Rural activation campaign of Vim: After joining in the Activation team, my key
responsibility was to look after the ongoing rural activation project of Vim named
“Vim Smart Grihini” and conduct all activities related to this activation.
• Hence to begin with I have organized and attending meetings with event
management firms and/or 
agencies.
• Provided, in absence of my line manager, directions and details to the
agencies regarding the activation
agenda in meetings I have conducted
myself.
• Follow up of the activities mentioned above to ensure that activities
outsourced to those third parties mentioned were being completed as per
the schedule.
• Taking relevant details (mostly sales volume, number of districts/divisions
in which activation has been carried out and other demographic data) from
the customer development team of UBL to aid 
in decision-making.

2. Performing all activities from writing storyboards for various brands to

producing a demo video: particularly Vim, Surf Excel and 
Lifebuo y,ultim ately
coordinating with advertising agencies to come up with a documentary video. A
storyboard is a script containing a narration of how and why an activation began,
what were the objectives, what activities were conducted and what results were
obtained as an outcome of the activation campaign. This storyboard is required to
be composed with illustrations and numerical data and has to be briefed to the
event management firm (assigned by my line manager) who is in charge of
conducting the activation at a pre-specified site and an advertising agency who is
in charge of taking still pictures and videos of the activation to formulate a demo
video as an end product. The core objectives of attaining this video is to keep it as
a reference for future use so that any other personnel recruited in the Activation
team would know what campaigns had been carried out and take ideas/references
from previous campaigns when he needs them.

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 Part 5: Findings and Analysis
As we know, Activation campaigns are designed with the objective that these campaigns
will:

• Create an awareness of a new brand amongst the chosen target group

• Pass on a new positioning statement about an existing product amongst the chosen
target group
• Create a boost in sales volume
• Followed by an increase in market share

Activation is said to be a part of “BTL- Below the Line” activity, that is, unlike
“ATL- Above the Line” activities, the target group is small but the impact is said to
be much higher as it ensures response with the end consumers. Hence, as a part of my
report, I have attempted to find out whether Activation campaigns actually create a
boost up in sales and market share for a specific brand.

The term “Sampling Conversion rate” will aid us to make a conclusion regarding this
particular study. A sampling conversion rate is the ratio between the amounts of free
samples of a brand given out in an activation campaign to the amount of products
actually sold after the activation campaign. Hence, it is to be assumed that the higher
the sampling conversion rate, the higher the sales volume, the higher the efficiency of
a particular activation campaign.

To conduct this study, I have considered the Knorr urban activation campaign in 2013
as an example. This campaign took place in schools, shopping malls and superstores-
where Knorr could reach it’s target market. The objective of this campaign was to
make people aware of the nutrition values of Knorr and make them switch to Knorr
soups during meals from unhealthy junk food or snacks. Hence free sampling was
provided in 20 schools, 12 shopping malls and 31 superstores all over Dhaka city and
their feedback was taken on the taste of the soups.

After the completion of Knorr activation campaign the brand managers of UBL
calculated a sampling conversion ratio. The estimate is given below:

Figure: Sampling conversion rate of Knorr

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This shows that the Knorr activation campaign held in 2013 has a sampling conversion
rate of 25%, slightly higher than the sampling conversion rates of previous activation
campaigns: 21% in 2012 and 18% in 2011. Hence, with this study we can conclude that
the activation campaign held in 2013 had the highest impact on the chosen target group
meaning that it lead a maximum sales increase and hence was most successful amongst
these three campaigns in consideration.

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 Part 6: Conclusion
Based on the analysis done above we can reach the decision that Activation campaigns do
have an impact on the purchase behavior of the consumers. These campaigns not only
create help to create awareness amongst the specified target group but also helps to pass
on a newly or modified positioning statement. Unlike ATL activities like television
commercials, radio commercials or advertisements seen on print media like newspapers
and magazines, BTL activities like Activation have a much smaller target group. But as
activation ensures the individual participation of all people in the chosen target group, it
creates a stronger impact on the minds of the consumers- strong enough to change their
brand choices. Hence, it is quite important for FMCGs to have a proactive Activation
team- a team that is able to grasp opportunities in the market and design their marketing
programs in a manner such that consumers can relate more to the brands that they are
being exposed to. Also, to have a more successful activation campaign there must be an
excellent coordination and integration between the brand managers in the marketing team
and the activation specialists- only then campaigns will be impactful and help attain the
desired results.

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 Part 7: Recommendation
While working in the Activation team for almost 3 months, I have noticed a few activities
where there is a room for improvement. Redesigning those activities or by simply altering
their priorities- one can attain much higher efficiency.
Hence, I have made a few suggestions as to where UBL needs to make slight changes in
the pattern of activities:

1. When activations are initiated by the activation team, brand managers should
participate with equal responsiveness: Often brand managers leave the complete
responsibility of an the activation campaign on the shoulders of the activation
specialists who remain unaware of the plans and target of what the brand manager
wishes to attain from a particular activation campaign. Hence, later when the
activation campaign fails to reach the desired outcome, it leads to disputes and
conflicts.

2. When story-scripts for activation projects are prepared by activation executives,

they should be shown initially to the brand manager (who is in charge of the brand
that will be activated in future) before being passed on to advertising and even
management firms. This is because, often after producing a demo video based on
the story script, when the initial draft video is presented to the brand manager, he
makes numerous changes to the video. This feedback is then again passed over to
advertising agencies to make further changes to the video and edit it as per the
requirements. Often this procedure is repeated so many times that it not only
wastes time but also incurs unnecessary costs as well as the ad firms charge a
lump some amount of money for making amendments to the video.

3. The Activation managers should, from time to time, provide feedback to the brand
managers of UBL about current activations that are taking place so that activations
can run smoothly. Only a good coordination between these two parties can ensure
the success of a campaign in the long run.

4. On the other hand, to guarantee an efficient activation campaign, brand managers

should also be more proactive: they should keep a certain time from their tightly
packed schedules to meet with activation managers and enquire and update
themselves about the status of the activation campaigns that are currently being
run. It is always better to remember that two heads are better than one!

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 Part 8: References

1. Introduction to Unilever Bangladesh Limited. Retrieved August 2, 2013, from

http://www.unilever.com.bd/aboutus/introductiontounileverbangladesh/

2. Our history. Retrieved August 2, 2013 from

http://www.unilever.com.bd/aboutus/introductiontounileverbangladesh/

3. Management committee. Retrieved August 6, 2013, from

http://www.unilever.com.bd/aboutus/companystructure/managementcommitte
e/index.aspx

4. Our brands. Retrieved August 3, 2013, from http://www.unilever.com.bd/our-

brands/index.aspx

5. Our mission. Retrieved August 3, 2013, from

http://www.unilever.com.bd/aboutus/missionstatement/

6. Sultana, Sumnum. How strong brand building is leveraged through efficient

operation in the market. Retrieved August 6, 2013 from
http://dspace.bracu.ac.bd/bitstream/handle/10361/718/INTERNSHIP%20REP
ORT%20on%20unilever.pdf?sequence=1

7. Amin, Shehzad. Brand Activation Model. Retrieved August 6, 2013 from

http://www.macromanagementsystems.net/DSA%20Brand%20Activation%20
Model%20-
%20How%20to%20measure%20your%20activation%20performance.pdf

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