Unilever 2011 Annual Report Download - page 17

Unilever Annual Report and Accounts 2011
Report of the Directors About Unilever
14
WINNING IN
THE MARKET PLACE
By 2020, the world’s population is expected to reach 7.6 billion, and
we aim to reach a significant number of these consumers with our
brands. Our biggest opportunity lies in addressing all consumer needs
across all markets – and we’re already finding new ways to do so.
Driving growth through
market development
Growth through market development
means reaching more users, creating
more usage and delivering more
benefits to consumers everywhere.
Already, 2 billion consumers worldwide
use our products on any given day. We
want to increase this substantially by
2020 and we will do this by:
• reaching up (offering premium
brands to more affluent consumers);
• reaching down (making our products
more affordable and accessible for
consumers on lower incomes); and
• reaching wide (taking our brands to
new geographies like Central Africa,
to new consumer segments like male
grooming and to new channels like
e-commerce).
This approach is reaping rewards.
In 2011 we continued rolling out our
market development model to ensure
a consistent approach across our
markets. Weproved this approach first
in Asia and then in Latin America; now
we are using it elsewhere to grow our
markets by changing people’s habits
and helping them find new ways to use
our products.
For example, in 2011 we grew the Magnum
Mini range by 8.8% in the UK by offering
consumers an ice cream in a smaller
version of a standard Magnum, more
suitable for eating at home. And in South
East Asia, laundry liquids grew by 9.3%
as consumers traded up from powder.
In 2012, we will continue to target new
consumers in new ways. Reaching up,
we will compete for share in the
fast-growing beauty segment by rolling
out premium offerings such as Toni
& Guy, Axe Hair, Dove Men+Care and
Pond’s Anti Aging premium range to
more markets.
We will reach down in developed markets
to financially pressured shoppers. In
2011, our highly successful launch of new
pack sizes across many brands in the UK
allowed retailers to sell our products at
£1. In emerging markets, we will continue
to offer small, affordable product sizes
of our brands.
We will reach wide through our
expansion inAfrica, leading the market
development of savoury, laundry and
skin cleansing with great brands such as
Knorr, Sunlight detergent and Lifebuoy.
Growing sustainably
with customers
All over the world we are helping our
retail partners to grow sustainably,
combining scale with local knowledge.
In Mexico for example, in 2011 we worked
alongside Walmart to improve the supply
chain for their Superama retail chain.
We also worked closely with drug store
customers, resulting in our highest
recorded underlying sales growth of
9.2% in 2011 in this channel.
Working with global retailers is essential
for growth, but some markets require a
different approach – India, for example,
where reaching consumers is still about
the local small shop. Through the
Shaktiprogramme, we have expanded
adirect distribution network of micro-
entrepreneurs who sell our products,
doubling their household income in the
process (see picture story on page 15).
3 million
shops signed up to
our ‘Perfect Store’
programme
9.3%
growth in laundry
liquids in South
East Asia
PREMIUM ACROSS POND’S
We have installed new premium counters for Pond’s skin care,
making the product more appealing and upmarket in a
competitive environment. Innovations included LED counter
lighting to reduce environmental impact and a handheld skin
diagnosis iPhone tool for beauty advisers. These initiatives
have resulted in significantly improved customer sales.