Unilever 2006 Annual Report Download - page 23

20 Unilever Annual Report and Accounts 2006
Report of the Directors (continued)
Operating review – categories
We are passionate about developing great global brands and
bringing them to market brilliantly. Our Foods and Home and
Personal Care teams invest heavily in world-class innovation in
order to create global brand ideas that can be rolled out fast. This
involves close collaboration between our marketing and research
teams, in order to develop breakthrough ideas that meet the
changing needs of consumers the world over and fulfil our
mission of adding Vitality to life.
Faster roll-out
Changes to our structure, our ‘One Unilever’ programme, and
better collaboration across our business are helping us get new
products to market faster than ever before, and this is having a
big impact on brand growth.
Our Dirt is Good positioning including the Omo laundry brand
now has sales of over €2.5 billion thanks to an alignment of the
brand positioning and the rapid roll-out in Asia, where it delivered
not only growth, but record market shares.
The new Rama/Blue Band Idea! spread was launched in 14
countries within only five months. Idea! is a breakthrough
innovation with an advanced nutrient mix that supports children’s
mental development – an issue of interest to parents around the
globe, both in developed and developing markets.
Dove Summer Glow self-tanning lotion was rolled out across
four European countries in just a few weeks. It became
our most successful personal care innovation in Europe in
2006, gaining sector leadership in most markets through an
outstanding team effort involving marketing, supply chain,
R&D and customer development.
Brands with global missions
Throughout 2006 we continued to build brands with global
missions and distinctive points of view. Our brands aim to
communicate ideas that can be expressed wherever and
whenever consumers encounter them, and play an active role
in consumers’ lives.
Axe/Lynx is one of the best-known examples: the ‘Axe/Lynx effect’
–giving guys the edge in the dating game – underpins all the
brand’s campaigns. In 2006 this led to an innovative launch for
Axe Click,our most successful anti-perspirant variant since Pulse.
Morethan 4 million consumers claimed a free hand-held clicker
to keep track of the flirtatious looks they attracted as a result of
using Axe Click,helping drive the brand’s growth in France,
Germany and Mexico.
Overall, our deodorants business continues to grow. Rexona,
with its ‘won’t let you down’ promise, played a big role in this
success, and reached a major milestone by breaking the
€1 billion sales barrier.
Flora/Becel has been fighting the spread of cardiovascular disease
for over 40 years. Since 2003 the brand has joined forces with the
World Heart Federation to educate consumers and encourage
them to make heart-healthy changes to their diet and lifestyle.
Flora/Becel pro•activ is the world’s best-selling cholesterol-lowering
food brand and in 2006 the Three Week Challenge engaged with
consumers in a number of countries to demonstrate to them the
product’s effectiveness in lowering cholesterol.
Throughout the year, the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty
continued to challenge conventional definitions of beauty. The
strength of this global mission led to great examples of regional
execution. For example, the Evolution advertisement, which
exposed some of the tricks of the beauty trade, prompted much
media attention in North America and was downloaded from
YouTube.com a million times in a two-week period.
The Dove Self Esteem Fund works in partnership with schools and
organisations such as Girl Scouts of America and the Eating
Disorders Association to inspire girls to feel more confident about
the way they look. So far, Dove self-esteem programmes have
reached more than 750 000 young people and sales of Dove
products are growing rapidly.
Lipton is committed to ensuring consumers everywhereare
aware of the ‘goodness of tea', which is rich in theanine and
antioxidants, and has zero calories. Popular all over the world,
Lipton is the leading global tea brand. In 2006, the brand grew
strongly, with leaf tea increasing by around 5% and ready-to-
drink products, including sales through our joint venture with
Pepsi, up by 25%.
Research & Development
Wecurrently employ morethan 6 000 scientists and product
developers in Research & Development (R&D) worldwide,
delivering total product solutions for Vitality innovations. In 2006
we spent over €900 million on R&D worldwide.
Following our Science & Technology Review, which looked at all
aspects of our R&D activities, we are focusing resources on world-
class R&D capabilities, working with clear innovation targets and
concentrating on fewer – but bigger – projects, which in many
cases involve patented technology. Wehave also embraced Open
Innovation, which has involved creating new working relationships
between our R&D teams, suppliers, customers, universities and
other institutes worldwide.
Launched in Turkey in December, Amaze Brainfood is the result
of four years of development, long-term clinical trials and
€40 million of research. The range of lunchbox snacks and milk
drinks contains one-third of the nutrients children need daily for
brain development. It was developed through collaboration
between our product development teams and the Unilever
Food & Health Research Institute.