UNILEVER’S PACKAGING

PRATICES
BACKGROUND NOTE
MARGARINE UNIE + LEVER BROTHERS =

UNILEVER
In The Netherlands…

V S
Jergens Van De Bergh
 Competitors in the Margarine Industry
Late 1890’s- Van de Bergh’s Launched Vitelo.
In 1908- Pool their interests while competing.
1927- Margarine Union formed with Centra and
Schicht
Later formed the Margarine Unie.
 Meanwhile In The United Kingdom…

WILLIAM AND JAMES LEVER FIRST EVER PACKAGED

LAUNDRY SOAP
In 1890, They Became a Pvt. Ltd. Company.
In 1894 they launched their first ever toilet soap.

By the time World War 1

broke out, they were selling
135,000 tons of soap
annually.
In the year 1929
Signed an agreement to keep out of
each other’s business terrains.

In the year 1930

Margarine Unie Lever Brothers

• 1929- Lever Brothers & Margarine Unie Signed
An Agreement To Create UNILEVER.
• Agreement Intended To Keep Both Companies
Out Of Each Others Business.
• Later, Businesses Were Amalgamated.
• Unilever Was Offically Established On January
01, 1930.
• Expanding into new markets & using new
technologies
• 1977- unilever established 200 offices & factories
across the world.
• Employing over 177000 people.
• 1980- company decided to focus on its core
business.
• Sold most of its non-core business.
UNILEVER-ACQUISTISION (1917- 2007)
YEAR COMPANY ACQUIRED 1978 National starch
1984 Brooke bond
1917 Pears soaps
1986 Naarden
1922 Walls
1925 British oil & cake mills 1986 Chesebrough-ponds
1989 Calvin klein & elizabeth
1943 Batchelor’s arden
1958 Vita nv 1993 Breyers ice cream

1961 Good humor ice cream 1996 Helene curtis

1997 Kibon ice cream
1970 Zwanenberg’s
2000 Bestfoods, slim fast foods,
1971 Lipton international ben & jerry
2007 Buavita vitality drinks
1973 Frigo ice cream TIGI hairsaloon
RESTRUCTURING AT UNILEVER
• ‘Path To Growth’
• Cut Down Number Of Brands In Its Portfolio
From 1600 To 900.
• Business Sold Included- Elizabeth Arden
Fragrance Business, Unilever Cosmetics
International, The North American Laundry
Business, Edible Oil Business, Bertolli Olive Oil
& Vinegar
 Unile
ver

Person
al care

Home
Foods
care

Specialty
chemical
s
Positive results
• Top 400 Brands Accounted 88% Of Its Sales
• 1999- Operating Margin Increased From 11.1%
To 14.9%.
• 2003- 635 Brands In Its Portfolio With Top 400
Brands Accounting To 90% Of Its Sales
• 2008- Revenue Of €40.523 Bn.
• Operationg Profit- €7.167 Bn & Net Profit-
€5.285 Bn
Packaging at unilever
• Unilever Considered Packaging To Be The Visible
Face Of The Company’s Brands.
• Packaging Design Was Carried Out At Its Research
Facility At Port Sunlight.
• Balance Between Packaging Communication &
Aesthetics While Designing The Package.
• 1950- Growing Environmental Impact Of
Packaging Materials.
• 1970- Avoid Excess Packaging & Concerned About
Impact.
• The Packaging Components Were Modified
Continuously
 users
consumers customers
• End users of the product • Retail stores that sold products
to the end users.

Warehouse style stores

supermarkets Small stores

Sustainable packaging
1. Increase in the percentage of material from

renewable sources

2. Minimize packaging

3. Test versions of new packaging.

4. Tested using focus groups.

5. How people use the products

 PACKAGING AS A MARKETING
TOOL CIF
• Cif was a cleaning product.
• Sale below expectation.
• Change in the packaging along
with some modifications
• It had calcite, which do not scratch
the surface
• The shape of the bottle was also
changed
• The new packaging was opaque.
 PACKAGING INNOVATIONS
• SHAMPOO BOTTLES
Which Stood On Its Head
• Lipton Cold Tea.
• Wish-bone Spray Salad
Dressing
• Latta Margarine Package.
 Launching New Product Variants
DOVE CREAM OIL BODY WASH

• 3 VARIANTS

1. DELICATE

2. CREAMY

3. ULTRA RICH.
2. DOVE PRO-AGE

• TARGATED WOMEN ABOVE

50 YEARS OF AGE

• BEAUTY HAS NO AGE LIMIT

• DESINED BY RAISON PURE

INCREASE IN THE DEMAND OF THE
PRODUCT
 MARMITE
• Consumers Demanded Easy To Use
Packaging & Break Resistant.
• Inverted Squeez Bottle Made Of
Polyethylene Terephthalate With A Value
Cap.
• It Was Made Available In 200 & 400
Grams.
• The Sale Of Marmite Increased By 4.6%
 Knoor aromat spice blends & seasonings

• Sales of knoor aromat spice

blend was declining
• Several similar products were
launched by the competitors.
• Change in packaging. (flip
flop canister)
• The sales increased by 8.3%.
 Launching premium products
• Bertolli brand was highly
successful in european olive
oil market
• Company decided to launch
premium olive oil under
‘puget heritage’
• Tinplate container to pack
premium olive oil.
• Launch of premium whitening
toothpaste ‘white now’
• The product, marketed as ‘instant
makeup of teeth’
• Designed by firm Seymour Powell.
• In France & Spain white now
version of signal was launched
• In Italy Mentadent white now was
launched.
 Skip perfect black & white
powdered laundry detergent
Repositioning products
 Vaseline
• The benefit & medical heritage of
Vaseline was not communicated to
consumers.
• Marketing team of vaseline to
reposition the brand.
• Considerable increase in sale of
new vaseline products.
• Market share increased by 14.2%
Saving cost & promoting environment
conversation
• Reduced packaging in its operations helped in
cost savings
• Eg. Replacing Glass jars with microwaveable
pouches.
• Detergent made using biotech ingredients.
• Reduction in color Palette from 100 colors to 6
colors named Rainbow color scheme.
• Saved from US $13mn to US $26mn.
LOOKING
AHEAD
• Continuous improvisation & innovation in

packaging were necessary to compete effectively.

• It could not eleminate the use of PVC in its

packaging

• Sachets problems in emerging markets.

• Use of paper in its packaging inspite of

alternatives.
 credits
• Eshaa Panchal

• Nakul Walinjkar

• Raunak Kumar

• Jhuhi Bhatheja

• Ronak Sanghvi