Unilever 2013 Annual Report Download - page 16

ORNETTO ONQUERS HINA
Cornetto saw strong top and bottom line growth in China in 2013,
with sales of over €100 million, making China the biggest Cornetto
market for the first time. The digital campaign of short love stories
touched 410 million people worldwide.
When the promse of one of our brands s
clearly understood by consumers, and they
are persuaded of ts benefts, we create the
condtons for rapd growth For example,
n 2013 we launched f and Vm (sold as
Domestos n other countres) n Brazl
Whle the slow-down n the Brazlan
economy n partcular has made ths
market more challengng for some of our
brands n 2013, the combnaton of f’s
and Vm’s mproved formulae wth a fast
roll-out and local actvaton has led to a
market share gan of 76 percentage ponts
ALWAYS SEEKIN IMPROVEMENT
Durng the year, all our categores have
been proftable, despte sgns that the
global economc slow-down s havng an
effect n emergng markets But we are
under no llusons about the need to keep
mprovng and strengthenng our brands
f we are to acheve growth In Foods, for
example, weare nvestng n ways to
strengthen our margarnes, through
product renovaton – our foods taste
good because they are made from smple
recognsable ngredents, a growng
number of whch are sustanably sourced –
as well as launchng new, nnovatve
products such as mélanges, a blend of
butter and margarne Supported by better
qualty advertsng, the mélanges started
very successfully n Europe In Refreshment,
weare lookng at ways to mprove and
premumse our ce creams whch, due
tofactors ncludng a poor start to the
summer partcularly n Europe and the US
as well as ntense compettve actvty n key
markets, dd not grow as expected n 2013
Our Personal are category contnued to
grow sgnfcantly and accounted for 36% of
roup turnover n 2013, but could mprove
ts share of the more premum segments of
the market Our Home are category
sawgood underlyng growth, wth
household care approachng the 2bllon
mark and fabrc condtoners 1bllon, but
we would lke tomprove our proftablty
and roll out nnovatons even faster Overall,
as a busness, we ntend to smplfy
ourofferng further – reducng the total
number ofstock-keepng unts (SKUs) that
we sell, n order to focus on those whch wll
best drve our growth and margns
PREMIUM PRODUTS,
HIHER MARINS
Products whch consumers prefer
can command hgher prces than ther
compettors – and we are ncreasngly
focusng on the premum segments of
our markets, whch offer the potental
for better margns and hgher profts
Ths segmentaton s takng place across
most of our categores and s fuelled by
nnovaton, collaboraton wth partners,
and selectve acquston We have, for
example, acqured T2, a fast-growng
premum tea brand n Australa generatng
sales of around 37 mllon a year and
IOMA, a premum skn care brand,
whchuses state-of-the-art dagnostc
technology to study an ndvdual’s skn
and talor a bespoke skn care regme
IOMA s a strategc acquston that gves
us access to the premum skn care
market and channels where we are
under-represented Innovaton s creatng
products such as Magnum 5 Ksses, a
premum Ranforest Allance ertfed
cecream nspred by French patssere,
whch was launched n 13 markets n 2013
Meanwhle our gourmet Malle brand,
founded n 1747, opened ts frst store
outsde France, La Mason Malle n
London’s Pccadlly, provdng premum
mustards, vnegars, gfts and accessores
OVERVIEW OF RISKS
BRAND PREFERENE
As a branded goods busness,
Unlever’s success depends on the
value and relevance of our brands and
products to consumers across the
world and on our ablty to nnovate
and reman compettve
PORTFOLIO MANAEMENT
Unlever’s strategc nvestment
choces wll affect the long-term
growth and profts of our busness
See Rsks on page 34
13Strategc reportUnlever Annual Report and Accounts 2013