Unilever Case Study

Part 1

Introduction of Company

In 1930s, Unilever is established out of joined forces of English soap maker, Lever Brothers and Dutch edible fats manufacturer. Unilever was beginning in 1947 with the opening of the first Lever Brothers to produce soap and margarine manufacturing plant in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur that established in Malaysia. Unilever’s factory in Bangsar is completed and ready for operation. With costing RM12million, it was reputed to be the largest factory in the country with machines that ability to wrap 124 bars of soap per minute.

Introduction of Brand Line

Unilever is an Anglo–Dutch multinational consumer goods company. Its products include foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products. It is the world's third-largest consumer goods company measured by 2011 revenues and the world's largest manufacturer of ice cream. Unilever owns over 400 brands, although its 25 largest brands account for over 70% of total sales.

For cleaning agents, Unilever have products such as fabric conditioner (Comfort), household cleaner (Sunlight), and detergents (Cif). They also have a lot of products related to food and beverages such as ice cream (Walls, Magnum), cooking oil (Bertolli), mayonnaise (Hellmann’s), bread spread (I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!®) and stock cubes (Knorr). For personal care, they have products such as hair (Clear) and body shampoo (Dove, St. Ives), facial care products (Simple, Pond’s), hair care products (TRESemme), oral care products (fdi, Pepsodent) and deodorant (Axe).

Introduction of Product

        We are doing a research on Sunsilk Smooth and Manageable shampoo (320 ml) or known as pink Sunsilk’s shampoo is a hair care brand, primarily aimed at women, produced from Unilever by Yuko Yamashita, a straight hair expert from Tokyo, Japan. This product which is manufactured in Thailand was created for those who want a smooth and manageable hair throughout the day.

Sunsilk Smooth and Manageable shampoo, now infused with a unique blend of Keratin Yogurt Nutri-Complex with 5 natural oils such as Almond oil, Moroccan Argan oil, Coconut oil, Jojoba oil and Olive oil that deeply nourish without making it greasy or limp. It works in two ways. First, penetrates into the hair to deeply nourish it. Second, creates a protective layer that helps to keep the nourishment inside your hair.

Normal Products

Sunsilk Smooth and Manageable Shampoo is a normal product because it is necessary use by everyone in everyday. Besides, it is cheap and affordable for everyone to purchase. According to the law of demand, it shows an increase in income usually leads to an increase in demand for product. However, a decrease in income usually leads to a decrease in the demand for product. So that, it means when the income of a person is increasing, thus the demand of shampoo will increase. But when the income of a person is decreasing, then the demand of shampoo will decrease but price remain constant. Therefore, when the income of consumer increase, the demand for Sunsilk shampoo will increase, then the demand curve will shift to right.