Impact of Digital Marketing on Sustainable Business: A Case Study of the Unilever Company | Case Study

Key Takeaways

• We are back with our digital marketing agency case studies to unravel the secrets of digital marketing of big brands like Hindustan Unilever!
• They used it all, be it marketing for home health agencies and cross channel marketing campaigns, as part of their branding strategy and marketing strategy.
• Read our latest case study to learn from one of the biggest FMCG giants, Hindustan Unilever Ltd.

In this ever-changing and immensely competitive world, staying on top in your industry is a huge challenge!

And that’s why we bring another edition of case studies of remarkable brands that made their presence felt & permanent in India via online and digital marketing.

This week we cover Hindustan Unilever Limited, which is an FMCG, or fast-moving consumer goods brand.

Hindustan Unilever Limited is an FMCG brand that was founded in 1933, i.e., roughly 90 years ago.

They had many transformations,

• Indian Vanaspati Manufacturing Company (1931 to 1956)
• Lever Brothers (1933 to 1956)
• United Traders Limited (1935 to 1956)
• Hindustan Lever Limited (1956 to 2007)
• Hindustan Unilever Limited (2007 onwards)

It is a subsidiary of the Unilever company, i.e., a British company.

In 2024, it caters more than 50+ brands that cover 16 FMCG categories, such as

• Beauty products like Lifebuoy, Sunsilk, LIX, Dove, Lakme, Pond’s, and more
• Oral products from Pepsodent
• Consumable products like Lipton, Boost, Bru, Kissan, Kwality Wall’s, and more

And when it comes to win numbers,

• INR 59,579 CR annual turnover in FY 2023-24
• 3500+ distributors across India
• 9 million+ retail outlets sell their products.
• 90% of households use their products.

Employee stats,

• More than 19000 employees
• 42% gender diversity at Manager level

Sustainability stats,

• 98% lesser CO2 emission per tonne
• Potential created for more than 3.2 trillion+ litres of water

We are sure that these numbers are enough to make you go ‘oooh’ and ‘aaah’.

Thus, it is time to tell their digital marketing story, taking a sustainable route along the way!

They had many problems to deal with, such as hiding their British connection (after 1947) and beating their competitors like,

• Bajaj Consumers Care Ltd.,
• Colgate-Palmolive (India) Ltd.,
• Dabur India Ltd.,
• Emami Ltd.,
• Godrej Consumer Products Ltd. and more.

And other controversial issues like,

• Mercury waste dumping in Kodaikanal,
• Calling Kumbh Mela a place where old people get lost,
• Skin lightening creams such as ‘Glow & Lovely” and
• Triclosan (an antibacterial agent) usage is under review by the U.S. FDA, or Food and Drug Administration.

Now we can understand why an FMCG brand like Hindustan Unilever is doing CSR, or corporate social responsibility, campaigns and running emotional as well as moral advertisements!

They realized that they needed a digital transformation via online and digital marketing services.

They could not skim on the level of thought behind it, its creation, and then catering them across various channels.

They started with an in-depth analysis to figure out the key areas to implement online and digital marketing.

Strength & Opportunities Analysis for Online and Digital marketing

They figured out that their strength lies in diversity, be it their employees, target audience, products, and global coverage.

By this diversification, they are able to enjoy a fair share of the consumer goods market, and the same thing was stated in Graham’s study of 2007.

This freedom helped their product managers to improvise with production, supply, & distribution of their products as per the demographical demands.

They utilized apt online and digital marketing predictive analysis to accurately foresee the changes in consumer behaviors as well as demands.

They utilized the hype created by launching a new product in the new market as an opportunity for immense growth in sales.

They used the 5 Golden rules, online and digital marketing technique which helped them,

• Define the purpose of the campaign
• Take action, accordingly!
• Get feedback from their target audience.
• Engage Friends and Family for in-depth reviews.
• Build touchpoints to cater online and digital marketing better.

Then, they just repeated the process until they reached perfection!

Fig 1. A graphical representation that simplifies Hindustan Unilever’s online and digital marketing technique—5 Golden Rules. [Source: Hindustan Unilever]

Online and Digital Marketing: Keys to Success in Consumer Products’ Industry

They utilized well-planned online and digital marketing strategies along with an apt collaboration between internal as well as external factors that impacted their market share.

They knew that the FMCG industry relies totally on consumer relations for expansion and growth.

So, they showed the usefulness of their products for all of their consumers by driving powerful and emotional advertising campaigns like,

• Lifebuoy’s Help A Child Reach 5 campaign
• Dove’s #StopTheBeautyTest campaign
• Horlick’s Tum Kab Itne Bade Ho Gaye campaign
• Surf Excel’s Daad Ache Hain campaign
• And more to build customer relationships, as stated in the Waarts, 2005 study!

Plus they wanted to engage rural and low-income group consumers as well, so they played the CSR card via,

• Project Prabhat (sustainable communities around their Indian in)
• Project Shakti (empowering rural women)
• Suvidha Centre (for daily washing needs)
• And more.

This way they were able to engage their target audience in various strata of society!

Fig 2. A graphical representation of the UN’s sustainable development goals. [Source: UNSDG]

Unilever’s Online and Digital Marketing Strategies for the Global Market

They have already figured out that to make an impact on their profits, they needed to enter new markets.

They started with local markets and supplied similar products in the nearby regions.

They also crafted new brands as per the international markets’ demands.

While they left their competitors by under pricing their products, as not all brands can maintain quality while lowering the price, as stated in the Jones 2002 study.

Fig 3. A graphical representation of Hindustan Unilever’s apt online and digital marketing. [Source: IIDE]

The mix of emotional online and digital marketing as well as CSR campaigns focused on the digital transformation of Hindustan Unilever helped them control a large chunk of the market, be it in India or overseas.

None of their consumers remember the problems that deteriorated their brand image, while their positive online and digital marketing campaigns helped them build a powerful image in the market.

Hardly any of the Indian customers would know that Hindustan Unilever is backed by the British company Unilever.

Plus, their rural outreach helped them stand out amongst their competitors, who did not have so many products and market coverage (local as well as international).

Hindustan Unilever’s online and digital marketing strategies helped us understand the power of playing to our strengths and doing social good to recuperate for any drawbacks.

As per Fletcher’s study of 2010, online and digital marketing strategies are vital for any business to succeed, especially in a hypercompetitive market such as that of FMCGs.

Thus, it is important for businesses to do optimum online and digital marketing to ensure not only brand reputation management but also to capture a large chunk of their market.

We also learnt that for a business to grow, they need to expand into international markets and cater products that align with the demographic demands of that market.

Plus, as many products you make, larger will be your market capture because consumers do not like to switch brands and prefer to be loyal to one brand for all their needs (if possible).

In short, for any business to succeed, they need effective online and digital marketing as well as diverse products to cater to all the needs of their target audience.

Wildnet Technologies is a leading Digital Transformation company in India that has helped 4100+ clients, be they startups or Fortune 500 companies, to rake in revenues more than USD 150 million.

Connect with us now at info@wildnettechnologies.com to build your brand as a top leader in your industry!

References

• Unilever’s volume beats estimate—Fletcher (2010) study published in Europe’s Business Week, 6. Web
• International Marketing – Graham & Cateora (2007) study published in London’s McGraw-Hill
• Control, performance, and knowledge transfers in large multinationals—Jones (2002) study published in United States’ Business History Review, 76 (43-45)
• Competition as an inspirational marketing tool—Waarts (2005) study published in Europe’s Business Forum, 12 (3-6)