Unilever 2009 Annual Report Download - page 12

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Bigger, better, faster innovations
Successful innovation is based on deep consumer insight. The
balance we seek to achieve is to marry global strength in R&D
with local knowledge of people’s habits, tastes and behaviours.
To grow at the rate we want to, we focus investment on products
that can work globally rather than on launches in just a few
countries. We have also doubled the number of big projects we
are working on. We are already seeing results. We have rolled out
Axe Dark Temptation deodorant to 56 markets, Lipton Pyramid
fruit tea bags to 38 markets and Clear shampoo to 35 markets.
For a product to work at a global level, it needs to address unmet
needs with superior technology and a clear consumer concept.
R&D must deliver breakthrough science in areas that really matter
to consumers, with products that do what they claim. Success
on this scale requires strict priorities and big ideas.
Within R&D, part of prioritising is getting the balance right
between the short and the long term. With an eye to our future
growth plans, during 2009 we developed a more robust process
for fuelling our longer-term innovation pipeline. Called the Genesis
Programme, it spans our foods and home and personal care
categories and focuses on the breakthrough ideas that we expect
will deliver the biggest wins. From 2011 we should begin to see
some of these innovations in our products.
We continued to invest substantially in R&D, despite the economic
environment. In 2009, we opened a new R&D centre in Shanghai.
Located in a country which is increasingly recognised as a world
leader in developing high-end innovations, the new centre further
underscores our commitment to driving growth through R&D. We
also started to leverage the power of our global network of R&D
labs by getting them working interdependently on key projects.
We put in place more rigorous planning processes to make sure
that the right level and quality of resource is put behind the
activities to ensure the projects succeed. And we have stepped up
our focus on a number of areas identified as critical to success
such as open innovation, clinicals and patents.
In 2009 we launched new Dove Body Wash with proprietary
NutriumMoisture technology. It intertwines mild cleansers with
natural moisturisers helping maintain the skin’s natural moisture
barrier, earning the product its scientifically-proven claim to
provide ‘effective natural nourishment’. Supporting the science,
the advertising campaign gave consumers an image to remember: a
fully-clothed woman in the shower, bringing to life how conventional
products use moisturisers that tend to sit on the skin compared with
Dove Body Wash with its penetrating moisturisation. And with its
streamlined tear-drop packaging, less waste means the environment
benefits too. Having proved its potential in the tough US market,
Dove Body Wash will be rolled out elsewhere in 2010.
Case study: Dove
Getting under
your skin
Body wash is a competitive market. Everyone
is seeking that perfect combination: genuine
cleansing without drying out your skin. The
NutriumMoisture technology in Dove contains
100% natural moisturisers that are absorbed
thoroughly to nourish the skin deep down.
Bigger, better, faster
In laying the foundations for
growth, we are focusing on
rolling out more innovations
faster and to more markets.
and more @ www.unilever.com/dove
Unilever Annual Report and Accounts 2009 9