Marketing Research Project on Unilever

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:

We here by thank Allah who gave us the ability and strength to complete this report. We
also thank our teacher “Miss Shehnaz Meghani” whose encouraging guidance helped us
to prepare this report on “Lipton Cardamom Tea”; the work that has been put up in this
report would not have been possible without her guidance and support.
We also take this opportunity to show our deep gratitude to all persons who have
directly or indirectly helped us while making this informative report. We would like to
give special thanks to Mustafa A. Khan, Managing Director Trust Professional (Pvt) Ltd
who provided us detailed information regarding the product and give us all the
necessary information required to complete the report.

No doubt, all the people who were involved while making report played an active and
wonderful role. We hope that this term report will provide useful knowledge and
information regarding our research product to the reader.

PREFACE

During the course ‘Principles of Marketing’ our team was assigned to prepare a report
based on the marketing strategies of a well-known product.

Our assigned product is Lipton’s Cardamom Tea backed by Unilever.

During the collection and analysis of data, we didn’t face any problem while acquiring
the related information. All the related problems, which were faced by us, are already
kept in risk assessment time and minute in nature, so due to that factor we have
completed our report in time.

This report will definitely create a better understanding of marketing concepts and their
implementation in a real life scenario. This report is about a known product, which is
easily available in the local market and comes under the category of Fast Moving
Consumers Goods (FMCG). After reading this report, the reader can understand how
big companies like Unilever make marketing strategies for themselves and for their
business units, especially focussed on LIPTON’S CARDAMOM TEA.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Unilever was created in 1930 when the British soap-maker Lever Brothers merged
with the Dutch margarine producer, Margarine Unie.

Unilever Company came into the Pakistan market in 1949 with the name of Lever
Brothers Pakistan.
 Changed the name Lever Brothers Pakistan to Unilever in year 2003.

The leading consumer products company in Pakistan, a multinational with deep roots
in the country.

The average per annum consumption of tea is 150 million kilograms

Lipton has the slogan LIPTON TEA CAN DO THAT.

Lipton enjoys a huge market share.

The main charisma of the product is the aroma and the new taste.

Major competitors is Tapal

Under the BCG Matrix, LIPTON CARDAMOM TEA lies in the question marks stage.

The product is in the growth stage.

The product only caters the niche market.

Consumers are emotionally attached with this brand, and in loyalty pyramid comes
under committed buyers.

The distribution of the product is not intense.

Practice the product development strategy

TEA OVERVIEW:
The world's passion for tea is legendary, and as it became less a drink for the rich and
more a drink for the masses, the commerce of tea became big business.
Tea is Pakistan’s most popular and cheapest beverage. The annual consumption is about
150 million kilogram, fluctuates at just less than 1kilogram per year; this is the world’s
seventh highest consumption. 66 percent of the country’s total population of 154 million
lives in rural areas, where tea consumption is greatest
Today, tea is the world's second most popular drink (after water). It's easy to make,
affordable and one of the fastest growing beverages (6.5% over 5 years).
Pakistan became a major tea importer. It is now the world’s third largest tea importing
country. Kenya is the leading supplier with 57 percent of Pakistan’s import. Illegal
imports are substantial, nearly 1/3 of domestic consumption and a nearly 81 million
USD business.
The Pakistan’s tea-makers can be classified into the “blended and packed” segment of
the market and the “loose” tea segment. Blending, Packaging and distribution are
nominated by Unilever, the world’s largest transactional corporation in the tea industry,
 and Tapal Limited, a very competitive local firm. Both are based in the port of Karachi.
There are some other minor players. Out of recent total legal imports of 114,000,000
kilograms, 70,000,000 kilograms went to the packers, while the rest was imported by
independent traders who sell “loose” tea in open markets.

COMPANY PROFILE
Unilever was created in 1930 when the British soap-maker Lever Brothers merged with
the Dutch margarine producer, Margarine Unie.

At that time, an international merger was an unusual move. But the owners of the two
companies could see that bringing together complimentary businesses with strong
global networks would create new opportunities.

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 has universal appeal. One of the largest producers of packaged consumer
goods, Unilever operates in 150 countries in Asia, Africa, North America, the Middle
East, Western Europe, and Latin America.

Unilever is one of the world's leading suppliers of fast moving consumer goods in foods,
household and personal care products. Unilever are growing biggest brands through
innovative product development and compelling brand communications. Each of these
brands has enormous potential to meet the changing needs of consumers through a
variety of products that fulfil their brand's promise. At the same time they also have the
potential scale, profitability and international appeal needed to be world-leaders.

Unilever Best foods' strength lies in its ability to tailor products to different markets and
anticipate consumer’s demands. This comes from in-depth understanding of the
countries in which they operate and policy of listening to the customers.

Employing more than 247,000 people, Unilever is part of the Unilever Group owned by
the Netherlands-based Unilever N.V. and UK-based Unilever PLC. Unilever has two
global divisions, Home & Personal Care and Food.

COMPANY MISSION STATEMENT:

· The leading consumer products company in Pakistan, a multinational with deep roots
in the country.
· Meet the everyday needs of people everywhere – to anticipate the aspirations of
consumers and customers and to respond creatively and competitively with branded
products and services which raise the quality of life.

· Drive to serve consumers in a unique and effective way.

· Attract and develop highly talented people, who are exited, empowered and committed
to deliver double-digit growth.

· Serve everybody needs of all the consumers everywhere for foods. Hygiene and beauty
through branded products and service that deliver the best quality and value.

· Strive to maintain an ever simple and enterprising business.

· Use superior consumer understanding to produce breakthrough innovation in brands

and channels.

· Committed to making continuous improvements in the management of our

environmental impact and to the longer-term goal of developing a sustainable business.

· Brands capture the heart of consumers through outstanding communication.

· With branded products and services which raise the quality of life.

· Through managing a responsive supply chain management, they maximize value from
suppliers to customers.

· They are exemplary through commitment to business ethics, health, environment and
involvement in the community.
COMPANY VALUES:
· Unilever Vision, Mission, Values, and Code of Business Principles are the principle
belief of the company.

· Employees are ambassadors of Unilever, both inside and outside the work place.

· Respect Individual differences and provide equal opportunity regardless of gender,

ethnic or social background.

· Treat each employee and contacts with respect, regardless of grade and job title.

· Set the business priority accordingly.

· Respect time enthusiastically to achieve growth.

· Company search for new ideas even by the consumers.

· Every person is a potential Unilever customer, they treat all with respect.

· Ensure superior quality products and services and aiming for zero complaints.

· Never lose a consumer, Own the problem, win them back and ensure they feel
positively treated.

UNILEVER MARKET:
Unilever caters in three categories and which include Food Brands, Personal Care
Brands and Home Care Brands.

BRANDS OF UNILEVER:

Unilever Pakistan offers brands in three categories

1. Home care brands
2. Personal care brands

FOOD BRANDS
Blue Band
Brooke Bond A1
Flora
Lipton
Pearl Dust
Supreme

HOME CARE BRANDS

Comfort

Rin

SurfExcel

PERSONAL CARE BRANDS

Clear
Close-up
 Fair n lovely
Lifebuoy
Shampoo
Life Buoy
Soap

Lux

Ponds
Rexona
Sunsilk

LIPTON INDUSTRY PROFILE:

Unilever is one of the world’s greatest consumer goods company and Lipton is a product
of Unilever.
Sir Thomas Lipton was a Scottish-born entrepreneur and innovator who decided in
1880, at the age of 40, that he would make tea accessible to all at acceptable prices and
with a guaranteed quality. Before Thomas Lipton, tea had been expensive. It was a
beverage for the rich and variable in taste as a result of improper packaging and
transportation. Thomas Lipton acquired tea estates in Ceylon (today Sri Lanka) and
organized packaging and transportation at low cost to sell his teas 'direct from the tea
garden to the tea pot'. In 1893, he established the Thomas J Lipton Co., a tea packing
company with its headquarters and factory in Hoboken, New Jersey.
LIPTON teas were an immediate success in the US. Thomas Lipton was knighted by
Queen Victoria, who made him Sir Thomas Lipton in 1898 at the age of forty-eight.
Thanks to Sir Thomas Lipton, LIPTON is the world’s leading tea brand and present in
more than 80 countries.
LIPTON stands for brightness, vitality and fun. It compromises of yellow label, iced tea
and green teas. It is designed for upper middle, upper lower and upper middle class.
Lipton is a market leader in the industry. It comes in all the packages including hard
packs, jars and tea bags.

“LIPTON TEA CAN DO THAT”

MISSION STATEMENT OF LIPTON:

 The mission of Lipton is to meet the everyday needs of the people everywhere to
anticipate the aspirations of our consumers and customers to respond creatively and
competitively with products, which raise the quality of life.

SWOT ANALYSIS
STRENGTHS:

 Unilever is a multinational company

 Powerful heritage of Lipton as present in the Pakistan market since 1948
 Familiar with psychographics and demographics of the local consumers
 Strong brand mage and brand awareness in Pakistan
 Market leader as t has a 70% market share in branded tea.
 Larger sales force
 Strong and long-term relationship with distributors, wholesalers and retailers.
 Sound and experienced management.
 Excellent marketing department assisted by a highly regarded marketing
research unit.

WEAKNESSES:

 Loss of market share to Tapal in Karachi and Multan

 Low market share in N.W.F.P.
 Positioning of Lipton Yellow Label as a premium product to which consumers
have a weak emotional attachment
OPPORTUNITIES:

 High rate of population growth

 Rising literacy
 Tea was added to the smuggled goods list in March 1998 and import duty was
reduced from 45 to 25 percent. This has collectively placed the entire organized tea
business in a more favorable position.
· Market opportunity of Lipton Yellow Label in rural areas

THREATS:

 Threat from cheaper tea smuggled into the country via border areas of NWFP and
Balochistan seriously affecting Lever’s sales and earnings.
 Possible increase of Tapal and loose tea market shares
 Rising inflation, which reduces disposable income of consumers?
 Increasing import duties since a lot of raw materials are imported would raise the
price of its end products.
· Lipton’s profit margin is exposed to rupee devaluation.
LIPTON CARDAMOM TEA:
 Lipton has been playing the key role to provide its consumers with something better and
different in every way it can. Lipton once again with the extension in its product mix has
come up with the idea of introducing new flavor in the market, the cardamom flavor.
The differentiation strategy of Lipton is the flavor and aroma. It is targeted for the
existing tea drinkers, providing them with something new and attractive, with great
aroma and taste.
Unilever has used product development strategy to introduce Lipton Cardamom Tea; it
has offered modified/new products to current markets.

SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS:
MICROENVIRONMENT FACTORS
Microenvironment of a company is all the factors that affect its ability to serve its
customers. It includes the company, suppliers, marketing intermediateries, customer
markets, competitors, and publics.

1. The Company:

Unilever is the largest FMCG Company in Pakistan, which was established in 1948. It is
an international company, with head offices in most of the countries of the world.
People at Unilever work together to attain a single target, which is customer, need
satisfaction. The people at work, coordinates to achieve this target through setting up
objectives and targets and attaining them. Top Management set the mission and
objectives, whereas the marketing managers set strategies according to all these
decisions and missions. Unilever strategy has been quite amazing; their efforts go
beyond just providing the products, more importantly, providing consumers with the
required health and nutrition information that can help them make better informed
choices to lead a healthier lifestyle
2. Suppliers:

The suppliers have made an important link in the company’s overall customer value and
delivery system.

3. Marketing Intermediaries:

Unilever marketing intermediaries have played an effective role in distributing its

products. Unilever products are widely available in nearly all retail stores. The physical
distribution of the firm is quite balanced and covers a very wide area. Financial
intermediaries of the firm are quite strong and depict a very firm relation with the
company. These have strongly helped the company in promoting its products.

4. Customers:

The customers have always been quite contended with the products. There’s a huge wide
range of products produced that are being used by consumers on regular basis. The
company has maintained its standard though out, that has helped in binding strong
relations with its customers. Customers don’t feel like switching to any other brands and
are blind folded by the standard and quality produced. The Unilever Lipton cardamom
tea targets very niche market, the concept is new and very few people are aware of it.
MACRO ENVIRONMENT FACTORS:
Micro environment factors are all the societal factors, which affect the company; these include
demographics, economic, natural, technological, political and cultural forces.

1. Demographics:

Pakistan is the country here tea intake is very high as compared to other countries of the world.
Generally, people consume 2-4 cups of tea per day. So demographically in a country like Pakistan where
tea intake is high, any production or development in the line/product extension would help the company to
grow.
The demographics include ages, location, gender, race, occupation etc.
Lipton is designed for upper middle, upper lower and upper middle class. The potential market
of Lipton is the people aged 10-60; it does not target the children.

2. Economics Forces:

The buying of Lipton cardamom tea, which is for a particular class and niche market, the
economic factors like low income, the decline in the production, the inflation rate might
influence the buying pattern of the people.

3. Cultural Factors:
The Pakistani culture is considerably diverse and this diversity has produced unique cultural
amalgam of its own type. Although, the target market of Lipton Cardamom tea are the people
who are diverse and ready to try something new and fascinating, which lingers to their taste buds
and give them a refresh feeling.

MARKET SEGMENTATION
Market segments are group of customers having similar needs / wants and preferences. It enables
the organization to more closely match it marketing mix with the customers of same needs or
demands.

Consumers can be grouped and served in various ways based on geographic, demographic,
psycho graphics and behavioral basis.

Tea drinking is our national habit, addiction and part of our evolutionary culture; it is no more a
fashion in Pakistan. Tea drinking has become such a habit in Pakistan that such slogans for tea
drinkers are in the air.

GEOGRAPHIC:
Country Pakistan
Country Region All
Climate Moderate

DEMOGRAPHIC:

Age 12+
Gender Male-Female
Family Size Any
Income Rs 50000+
Occupation Professionals, Students, Managers, Officials
Family life Cycle Single, Married, Divorced etc
Education Professionals, Graduates, Students
Religion Islam (majority)
Race Asian
Nationality Pakistani

PSYCHO GRAPHIC:

Social Class Upper middles, lower Uppers, upper-uppers

Life Style Achievers
Personality Cultured, energetic.

BEHAVIORAL:

Occasions Regular, Special

Benefits Taste, Aroma
User Status Ex-user, regular user, first time user
Loyalty Status Strong
User Rates Medium user, heavy user
Readiness State Aware, interested, desirous
Attitude Towards Product Positive, Enthusiastic

TARGET MARKET:
Lipton Cardamom Tea has used concentrated niche marketing strategy. Lipton has chosen Niche
marketing because it goes for a large share of one or few segments. The aroma and essence is not
the need of everyone, only few classy people, who want a great lifestyle with a touch of
uniqueness will go for a cardamom flavored tea. Lipton basically has targeted the urban areas
and has concentrated on the upper and middle classes {preferable age group ranging from (15 –
60)}. Today as both men and women consume equal amounts of tea the age group segment
selected for Lipton is 15 – 60 for they want to target those people who are young trendy,
cosmopolitan hip and cosmopolitan.
Lipton cardamom tea is a product of Unilever targeted for niche market with new essence and
flavor. It is high quality high price product. The people at Lipton understood the need of the
niche market, that the niche market is more innovative and need changes. Moreover, Lipton does
not focus on the households, the Lipton cardamom tea focuses on the commercialism of this
product. It is available to the universities, offices and shopping malls. By doing so, it is targeted
the needs of the people who want comfort, quality, convenience and pleasure.

MARKET SIZE CALCULATION

Geographical:
Region: Pakistan (Lahore, Karachi & Islamabad)
City or metro Size: = 25.914 Million
Density: Urban (70% of metro size = 18.139 Million
Climate: Northern, Southern

Demographic:
Age: 12+ (80% of Density) = 14.511 Million
Gender: Male, Female
Family Size: 3+ (80% of Age) = 11.609 Million
Family Life Cycle: All
Income: Above Rs 30,000/= 5.224 Million
Occupation: All except farmers and unemployed (60% of income) = 1.134 Million

Psychographics:
Social class: Upper upper, lower uppers and upper middles (50% of occupation)
= 1.567 Million
Lifestyles: Achievers, Experiencers (90% of social class) = 1.410 Million
Occasions: Regular occasion
Benefits: Quality, convenience, pleasure (70% of life styles) = 0.9873 Million
User status: first time (45% of benefits) = 0.444 Million
Usage rate: Medium
Readiness stage: Unaware

Therefore Market size is

NUMBER OF BUYERS = 0.444 Million
MARKET SIZE = NUMBER OF BUYERS * AVERAGE CONSUMPTION
THEREFORE 0.444 * 48per year = 21.312Million

POSITIONING:
Positioning is the way the product is defined by consumers on important attributes.
 Lipton is portrayed as a high quality product mostly catering to the affluent or the middle class; it
portrays itself as a cosmopolitan, elegant, high class and sophisticated tea. It portrays itself as a
“is a sign of good taste” through its slogan.
The Lipton cardamom tea is a flavored tea with a new aroma and taste. It is a value added to their
previous image. They positioned their product in the mind of consumer as a new value added to the tea,
offering core benefit of taste along with health.

Position their product as

 High quality

 High price

 Great aroma

 New taste

 Exciting and refreshing

“CARDAMOM TEA FOR THE PERFECT TASTE”

REASONS TO LAUNCH THE PRODUCT:

Over the years, people’s lifestyle has been continuously changing. People have become very innovative
and want to endeavor new things which can give them pleasure and comfort. The Lipton cardamom tea is
the type of tea which has milk and sugar already added to it. It is a complete tea mixture to use. The
target market of Lipton Cardamom Tea is the elite class; moreover, it targeted those people who want
relaxation in the day to day routine work. This product is of high premium quality.

The launching of the product was to satisfy the need of target market by providing them taste, aroma,
pleasure and convenience. It is an unsought good.

(Marketing Mix)4-PS OF LIPTON CARDAMOM TEA

PRODUCT:
The Lipton cardamom tea is of high premium quality and mainly to cater the upper upper, upper middle &
lower upper class, and in that class it only targets the niche market, the people who are in universities,
colleges and offices or the people who are going to shopping malls can drink this Lipton cardamom tea. It
does not market the households. It only markets the elite class and professionals

Product concept:
Pleasure
 Taste
 Aroma
 Flavor
 Delight and Freshness
Convenience
  Availability
 Quickly Available
Health
 Physiological functional claims
 Benefits of Cardamom

PRICE:
Lipton cardamom tea pricing strategy isn’t quite effective. The product is costly. The tea vending
machine costs around Rs.500000 to Rs.1000000. Furthermore, the tea is available in 1kg packet
only and its costs around Rs.600. The cup of tea costs around Rs.15-20 depending on the place,
and in comparison to normal tea it costs Rs.10. There is no other charm or appealing factor in the
product accepts for the aroma and style. There are no discounts or allowances given on the
product.

PLACE:
Lipton Cardamom tea is not available in all outlets. Since it’s of high quality and for niche
segment, it’s only available in few whole sale markets and that too, it’s not available to
household’s users. It is only available in wholesale. In Karachi, Makro super store and Metro
Super Store has it.
PROMOTION:
The promotion strategy for Lipton Cardamom tea is quite poor. It hasn’t been advertised
properly. Even though the company has healthy relations with people, there has been no personal
selling done by the company for this product. Most of the people are unaware of this brand of
tea, it is mainly due to the fact that it is not available for the households and the target market is
limited. The sales promotion is quite low. Many people are still unaware if such a product even
exists in market taken out by Lipton. Promotion is done only on magazines; even the Unilever
website does not contain much information about it. You can hardly find anything on the website
of Unilever or the search engines.

PRODUCT CLASSIFICATION AND CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOR

Lipton cardamom tea is an unsought product and has little awareness.
BUYING BEHAVIOR:
The people buying Lipton Cardamom tea has Variety-Seeking Buying behavior, although Lipton
plans to change it to habitual buying behavior.
PERCEPTUAL MAP:
The product is of high quality and high price. The quality in the essence of cardamom
and benefits of cardamom.

COMPETITOR ANALYSIS:
Competitors are the major threat face by every company in a market. Companies need to keep a
careful check on its competitors. They have to keep into consideration that what other
 competitors is offering, at what prices, what quality, what benefits etc. Lipton cardamom tea is a
newly introduced concept and it has not captured a very large market but still all major tea
companies are its competitors.
The main competitor of Lipton cardamom tea is Tapal, which has the 41% of marketshare.
Tapal:

Tapal tea is one of the major competitors for Lipton in the tea industry. Its product range has
achieved great popularity in Pakistan. Products such as tapal danedar and family mixture are the
top selling brands of tapal, other brands are also gaining acceptance in the market. The company
has enjoyed a phenomenal growth particularly during the last decade to expand its base in the
branded market, which for long were dominated by multinational competitors. During the year
2009, Tapal ’s market share has increased. The market share
has risen as Tapal has won customers due to its strong taste and aroma backed by innovative
products, for instance, in the same year; Safari was launched with the aim of ‘revolutionizing the
taste buds of consumers with a stronger blend of tea ’ .Tapal has engaged in extensive promotion
of its products. Another factor driving sales is relatively less prices. The increase in market share
is evident from its increase in sales. Tapal has shown an increase of about 29%in sale revenue.
This has been primarily Tapal has introduced a wide product range to meet the requirement of
different taste and aroma of Pakistani culture. Tapal green tea has shown a rising popularity. It
has introduced different flavors in green tea range. Recently tapal has launched ice tea which has
been not as successful in the market. The major brands of tapal are:

 TAPAL DANEDAR
 TAPAL FAMILY MIXTURE
 CHENAK DUST
 TAPAL GREEN TEA:

Jasmine Green tea

Elaichi Green tea
Lemon Green tea

 TAPAL MEZBAN
 TAPAL TEZDUM
 TAPAL GULBAHAR TEA
 TAPAL SAFARI
 TAPAL ICE TEA

RECOMMENDATIONS TO BUILD CUSTOMER’S EQUITY

 They should make the product available for the households as well.
 They should reduce the size of the packet.
 Intense distribution.
 Different promotion strategies to cater different markets. Different advertisement should make
for the interest of different markets