Unilever 2011 Annual Report Download - page 16

Unilever Annual Report and Accounts 2011
Report of the Directors About Unilever
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WINNING WITH BRANDS AND INNOVATION continued
In addition, we have been working with
ourstrategic suppliers to develop
co-innovation programmes and to ensure
that they bring great ideas to Unilever first.
Applying knowledge across the business
One of our key strengths is how we
quickly leverage ideas across our
geographies, categories and brands,
which allows us to focus investment and
resources more wisely and efficiently –
for example, taking the fragrance
technology expertise we used to improve
Rexona and applying it to Skip detergent.
Reaching more consumers
To grow, we need to reach more
consumers with our products and we
are well placed to do so. For example,
we can take brands into markets that
many companies do not have the
resources andexperience to develop.
In 2011, consistent with our strategy
of making bolt-on acquisitions to
strengthen our portfolio in key countries
and categories, Unilever acquired
Alberto Culver, helping accelerate our
transition to becoming one of the world’s
leading personal care businesses.
New markets, new opportunities
The Alberto Culver acquisition gave us
brands such as TRESemmé, VO5 and
Simple. TRESemmé already had a strong
presence as a premium shampoo in
North America and Western Europe,
but it was unknown in the world’s second
biggest hair care market: Brazil.
Within days of completion, Unilever
began work on an ambitious plan to take
the TRESemmé brand to Brazil. As a
business we have wide experience of
rolling out brands into new markets
across the world and, coupled with our
new agile structure, this ensured a swift,
successful launch. TRESemmé was
launched in Brazil less than six months
after theacquisition completed. We’re
alreadyseeing considerable success
inthat market.
And the same is happening all over
the world. With brands including
TRESemmé, Dove and Suave, in 2011
we reinforced our position as a leading
hair care supplier in the US, and
achieved similar success on the other
side of the Atlantic by taking the number
one position in South Africa.
We’re continuing with our acquisition
strategy and bought a controlling stake
in Concern Kalina, one of the leading
local personal care companies in Russia.
Success here would establish Unilever as
a key player in a big emerging market, as
well as giving us invaluable knowledge of
local supply and distribution.
Growing in developed markets
Our aim is to grow in developed markets
too. For example, we re-launched
Domestos in Western Europe in 2011 on
the back of new technology that allows
the product to cling to the toilet, for
longer lasting germ kill. In Personal
Care, we accelerated the launch of
Mentadent Total oral care range inItaly
to take on the fierce local market, ahead
of the global re-launch.
Looking ahead
Our Dove brand is a great example
ofUnilever’s ability to get it right with
brands and innovation. In 2011 Dove
became our first €3 billion Personal
Care brand. This success has been
made possible by focusing on three key
objectives: better marketing – making
Dove a premium brand; better innovation
– for example, applying our leading-edge
expertise to Dove hair care; and
expansion into new markets, as with the
DoveMen+Care range.
Already Unilever has new innovations,
new patents, new brands and new
markets in the pipeline for 2012. And
every day we’re working on ways
tomake our brands the best, most
innovative and most agile in the world.
CLEANING UP IN SOUTH EAST ASIA
Between 2009 and 2011 the liquids market for fabric cleaning
in South East Asia almost tripled in size and Unilever was on
the spot, ready to capitalise on that growth. We got there first,
put our sales people on the ground talking to consumers,
learned the market, and today we’re the market leaders in
Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia.
Dove – our first
€3 billion
Personal Care brand
Less than
6
months to launch
TRESemmé
in Brazil