Asia’s fourth & worlds 5^th largest paint company, with a turnover of Rs. 170.85 billion. AP erstwhile Asian Paints currently operates in 16 countries and have 25 paint manufacturing facilities in the world. The company is servicing consumers in over 65 countries around the world.

CEO	K. B. S. Anand IIT Bombay IIM Calcuta
Gross Revenue	INR 15,997.5 Cr
Mission	Asian Paints aims to become one of the top five decorative coatings companies world-wide by leveraging its expertise in the higher growth emerging markets. Simultaneously, the company intends to build long term value in the industrial coatings business through alliances with established global partners.
Market Share	54.1% in India’s Paint market
Logo	Apparently represents "A more meaningful and personalized engagement with the increasing number of interior décor consumers in the home, retail and commercial segments across India”

During World War II and the Quit India Movement of 1942, a temporary ban on paint imports left only foreign companies and Shalimar Paints in the market. Which was seized by 4 friends by starting "The Asian Oil & Paint Company" in February 1942. The company became the leading paints manufacturer in the country by 1967.

Reference: The Unusual Billionaires

1942	4 Partners start a company by randomly choosing a name from telephone directory on Foras Road Bombay and “The Asian Oil & Paint Company” is born
1950	“Gattu” one of First brand mascots in India created by R K Laxman
1991	“Asian paints Royal” first premium product launch in the market
1998	50:50 joint venture with PPC Industries USA & Asian paints colour world is born
1999	Asian paints.com goes live “Har Ghar Kuch Kehta” campaign launched
2001	Asian paint acquires a burger International Singapore and Scib paint idiot
2000	New brand identity comes up
2003	“Asian Paints Colour Next” is launched
2005	Asian paints bring “Royal Play” to the game
2007	Asian paints Royal Shine Introduced
2009	One of a kind signature store “Colour” Launched in Mumbai
2011	Asian paint makes it to the Forbes Fab 50 List
2012	Asian paint gets new brand look Turner of 10,000 crores crossed Asian paints Royal Expedia is mast
2013	Asian paints request 51% stake in sleek and Interest kitchen space Vision 1318 established
2014	Asian Paints “EZY Colour” Launched Asian Paints launches front end sales of ESS Bathroom Fittings Acquires 51% Kadisko Chemical Industry Plc
2015	Overseas Expansion Acquires 51% stake in Kadisco Paint and Adhesive Industry Share Company, Ethiopia.
2017	Overseas Expansion Acquires 100% stake in Causeway Paints Lanka (Pvt) Ltd. in Sri Lanka.

: Page 6 to 9 Annual Report 2016-17

Mascot: 

Launched in 1954 Created by R. K. Laxman "Gattu" – a mischievous boy with a paint bucket in his hand was Asian Paint’s mascot till its withdrawal in the 90s. Advertisements at that time said 'Any surface that needs painting needs Asian Paints' . They found appeal with the middle-classes. He was used only in print advertisements and packaging till 1970s and by 1990s was also seen on television advertisements. Gattu is as familiar to Indians like Amul’s moppet girl. It was withdrawn because AP was trying to shake off its mass-market tag for a more premium appeal in the 21st century. There is a famous tale about naming this mascot, where the naming was done by running a campaign ‘Give Me a Name contest, offering a prize of Rs 500 for the best name. 47,000 entries poured in, and the winning name, of course, was ‘Gattu’. Sales apparently went up 10-fold over the next four years after launching this mascot.

Reference: Economic Times Business Standard

Tractor Distemper: In 1950s the company launched a "washable distemper", which was a balance between the cheap dry distemper that peeled easily and the more expensive plastic emulsions. The company used "Don't lose your temper, use Tractor Distemper" in their initial advertisings. Reference The Unusual Billionaires

Rankings

1. Top Ranked Indian company in the “Forbes Most Innovative company List” in 2017 (Ranked 8th in the world)
2. Asian Paints included in the list of India's Super 50 companies by Forbes India (August 2017 issue)
3. Asian Paints was ranked 10th amongst the Top paint companies in the world by Coatings World - Top Companies Report 2017 (July 2017 Issue) Reference

Share Price Trend The share price declined suddenly in 2016 December because the paint companies' key raw materials are derived from crude oil & the oil prices extended gains as producer cartel OPEC and Russia agreed to rein in a global oversupply. Reference

Various Business Units in Asian Paints Limited

DECORATIVE INDIA BUSINESS This business unit has products like Luxury and premium emulsions, Interiors category, Decor Waterproofing solutions.

Brands

1. Royale: Premium popular paints, endorsed by Saif Ali Khan
2. Apex Ultima
3. Tools for painting eg. Rollers
4. Wood Finishes Emporio’, ‘PU-Palette’ and ‘APPU’ [gallery ids="180,181,182,178,177,179,183" type="slideshow"]

Innovaion The company launched ‘Ultima Protek Duralife’ which is only painting system in the world to offer fifteen and ten years’ warranty on performance and waterproofing, respectively.

Its not only about walls, Asian paints have created completly new categories like Door Paints.

Innovative Painting Accessories like Stensils

Sales Stores Categories

By Asian PaintsAsian Paints has different kinds of showrooms for different class of products and target segments. All the showrooms are classified as followed.

Asian Paints Colour World: 3^rd Party operated stores, acting as sales points. Most of the mass market products are sold through these shops without much of experience options.

AP Homes Store One stop shop for all your home décor needs. Products range much more than paint & wide range of designer vignettes or walk through an amazing world of wood, bath fittings, decorative lightings, Soft décor. The stores also offer services by décor experts & experience digital visualization to envision your dream home.

Colour Ideas Stores are bringing new dimensions in the world of wall painting. Gone are the days when painting was seen as a job to be left to the experts, when painting meant weaving out the entire look of your room as per imagination. Today, Colour Ideas is crafted by internationally acclaimed retail design firms, and offers you right mix of inspiration and detail, with special panels for special effects, latest finishes, and trendy colour combinations. More than 150 cities offering consumer a number of décor choices for their home.

Not Impressed with the text?

Still Not Convinced? Have a look at the 3D Demonstration available before you visit the store by clicking here.

Services Business Asian Paints Ezycolour Home Solutions (APEHS) is the painting arm of the Company. The Proposition of Asian Paints in service business is on time painting. Have a look at the commercial.

To give such on time & high quality services asian paints has opened a academy to train painters.

Publishing www.beautifulhomes.com was launched in October 2016 as an online décor magazine

INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS Egypt, is the largest International unit of the Company. Except which major presence is in the following countries.

Ethiopia	Nepal	Oman	Bahrain
UAE	Jamaica	Trinidad	Fiji
Singapore (BIPL)	AP Shrilanka	Mauritius	Singapore

HOME IMPROVEMENT BUSINESS Vision of being a complete décor solutions provider to help customers create their dream homes, the Company forayed in the Home Improvement business 3 (three) years back. Divisions

1. Asian Paints recently acquired Sleek which today enjoys the exclusivity of being the only player in the Kitchen space that is into both ‘Kitchen Components’ and ‘Full Kitchen Solutions’.
2. Projects and AID (Architects and Interior Designers)
3. Bath fittings business
4. Sanitaryware range launched in March, 2016

INDUSTRIAL BUSINESS

1. Automotive Coatings: PPG Asian Paints Private Limited (PPG-AP) PPG-AP, the first 50:50 Joint Venture of the Company with PPG Industries Inc., USA for manufacturing Automotive, OEM, Refinish, Marine, Packaging and certain Industrial Coatings
2. Marine and Packaging
3. Non-Auto Industrial Coatings

Marketing at Asian Paints

Before we look into modern marketing at Asian Paints lets see the first Asian Paints TV advertisement which was aired in mid 70s.

Today according to Asian Paints are selling a feeling of belongingness to home. Which they do by associating meanings to colour. It's not a simple task to do. A lot of marketing research goes behind making low involvement category a brand. Look at how Asian Paint goes about finding what meaning a colour carries in our mind.

After associating a colour with a concept, Asian paint has to find how to communicate that meaning to every one, that needs expert brains working creatively over the concepts.

But how do you do this again and again? That too when you are the market leader? The answer lies in a well structured approach. Which Asian Paints calls "Colour Next". Asian Paints decipher's societal trends at a time when the world at large is feeling a push towards standardisation and the pulls of traditional roots, like culture, colour where they decode colours . By bringing together designers, makers, artists and influencers, to bring  only one thing more liberating than the freedom of expression. The freedom of interpretation

If your really interested in knowing how Asian Paints decodes trends before anyone does it? Find out everything about the process going behind it Here

The journey just starts at Asian Paints by Identifying which shades will resonate with our hearts, But the real effort goes much beyond finding the right shades. Asian Paints is number one Paint company because they know how to influence the influencer in paint buying, The painter. Who strives for recognition. Asian paints has numerous initiatives to give them a recognition.

Once the products are finalised its time to hit the consumers mind, a lot of ATL BTL activities go inside it. But when it comes to selling 1000s of shades, something different is required. This is where book of colour comes to help.

But in todays changing times will a brand like AP stick to only printed books? No, Thats where the technology comes into play with "AP Colour Scheme Pro"

This isn't about selling paints, its about giving someone a better life.

Its not all about ATL, theres a lot of BTL activities done by AP, some of the once which I particularly found interesting. And the last leg for AP marketing comes to having the most trendy brand ambassadors out there, Saif Ali Khan, Soha Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Dinesh Kartik.

Manufacturing

Asian Pants has world class manufacturing facilities at Mumbai, Satara, Rohtak, Raigad, Ankleshwar, Cuddalore, Budh Nagar, Medak, Patancheru. These facilities have robust production systems managed with world class technologies.

CSR

Age Care	The company conducts various health camps for the aged. Asian Paints operates Mobile Medicare Units (MMUs) in association with the NGO Helpage India to provide medical aid to the doorsteps of the needy senior citizens.
Improving infrastructure and health care at local schools	Invests resources in providing infrastructure support to primary schools
Total Water Management	Asian Paints provides expertise to citizens free of charge  to implement rainwater harvesting and total water management solutions

Reference

News About Asian Paints:

Recent M&A at Asian Paints

DECEMBER 22, 2017 Asian Paints to boost production capacity. Asian Paints Ltd., which is setting up two plants in the South, is all set to increase production capacity by 11 lakh kilolitres in 18 months, according to a top executive. “The first plant in Mysuru, with 6 lakh kilolitres, will go on stream by end-2018,” said Amit Syngle, chief operating officer, Asian Paints. “The second plant at Visakhapatnam with 5 lakh kilolitres will begin production by the first half of 2018. Nov 2017 Forbes Global: Three major Indian companies including Hindustan Unilever, Asian Paints and Bharti Airtel have been ranked among Forbes’s list of ‘The World’s Most Innovative Companies’. Ranked at No 8, Asian Paints features on the list for the fifth time in a row. Synonymous with colour in households across India, Asian Paints was also a part of this year’s Forbes India Super 50 list, a compilation of companies based on their shareholder return, sales growth and return on equity (RoE) over a period of three years.

12 Dec 2017 Reno Chemicals: Asian Paints said on Tuesday it has acquired Reno Chemicals Pharmaceuticals and Cosmetics Pvt. Ltd for Rs 159.52 crore ($24.7 million) in cash. Asian Paints said it purchased Reno to use its land and building to meet its own growing infrastructure requirements. Reno’s land is located in Santacruz East area of Mumbai, near Asian Paints’ own office.

Dec 11 2017 Asian Paints Ltd on Monday said it has acquired the remaining 49% stake in kitchen solutions provider Sleek International Pvt. Ltd from the Ahuja family for Rs50 crore. In August 2013, Asian Paints had acquired 51% stake in Sleek International for around Rs120 crore. With the latest acquisition, Sleek International has become a 100% subsidiary of Asian Paints. Sleek International is engaged in the business of manufacturing, selling and distributing kitchens, kitchen components including wire baskets, cabinets, appliances and accessories.

16 February, 2017 Sri Lanka’s Causeway Paints Lanka (Pvt) Ltd to expand its overseas business. The all-cash deal is aimed at enhancing the company’s operations in the island nation, Asian Paints said in a stock-exchange filing. It didn’t disclose the deal value. The Indian company already operates in Sri Lanka through subsidiary Asian Paints (Lanka) Ltd. Asian Paints is buying Causeway through its Singapore-based indirect unit Berger International Pvt Ltd. Causeway Paints began operations in 1994. It makes decorative and refinish paints for automotive and industrial clients, besides other products. Important because Asian Paints is very small in Automotive Paints Business 15 May, 2014 Asian Paints to buy Ess Ess Bathroom’s front-end sales business

15 May, 2014 Asian Paints to buy Ess Ess Bathroom’s front-end sales businessEss is an established player in the bath and wash business segment in India. Founded in 1993, it manufactures bathroom fittings and accessories. It has more than 1,500 dealers in India and eight branch offices. The company’s factory is in Himachal Pradesh. It exports to the UK, the Far East and the Middle East. The front end sales business includes brands, network and sales infrastructure. This move by Asian Paints is in line with its strategy to be a one-stop solution provider in the home décor space. In August last year, Asian Paints had invested Rs 120 crore as part of a deal to buy a 51 per cent stake in Sleek International Pvt Ltd, one of the top modular kitchen solutions firms in India.

April 2014 Asian Paints (International) Ltd (APIL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Asian Paints, agreed to buy 51 per cent equity stake in Ethiopia-based Kadisco Chemical Industry Plc for an undisclosed amount. Buying a Company in Ethiopia Shows There Intention to Go in Africa

March 2013 Asian Paints had hiked its stake in Singapore-headquartered Berger International Ltd (BIL), an investment holding company which manufactures, distributes and sells paint and related products in Bahrain, The United Arab Emirates, Jamaica, Trinidad and Barbados, to around 96.7 per cent.

Last Quarter Results: The quarterly performance of Asian Paints beat expectations, particularly on the topliner front. Decorative volume growth rebounded but this was lower than what was reported by its peer Kansai Nerolac.  Asian Paints Q2 2018 consolidated sales (+15 percent YoY) was ahead of Street expectations Volume growth Though company posted a rebound volume growth (8 percent vs 2 percent in Q1 2018) for the domestic decorative paints business, it is way behind the volume growth posted by its peer Kansai Nerolac (20 percent volume growth in the decorative coatings). International operations The company reported that currency devaluation in Egypt and unavailability of forex in Ethiopia impacted international operations. Home improvement and adhesives businesses The home improvement business of Asian Paints (~ 1 percent of Q2 2018 sales), though a miniscule part of overall business could be an important diversifier in future. However, recent performance has not been encouraging particularly on the EBIT front (loss of Rs 7.8 crore in Q2 FY18 vs. loss of Rs 3.3 crore in Q2 FY17) mainly on account of GST transition. Similarly, its recent foray into adhesives business (effectively pilot level) is another strategic step that needs to be closely monitored. Capacity expansion The company has budgeted Rs 1200 crore for the FY18, of which Rs 1000 crore would be for the greenfield expansion at Mysuru and Vizag. New plants are expected to commission by FY19.

For the Love of Unilever

#1 FMCG employer of choice in 34 of the 60 countries they recruit from, The Mecca of marketing "Hindustan Unilever Limited".

Founded in	1930
Unilever Head Quarter	Co-headquartered in London, United Kingdom and Rotterdam, Netherlands
HUL Headquarter	Mumbai
Unilever CEO	Paul Polman
	https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulpolman/
HUL CEO	Sanjeev Mehata
	https://www.linkedin.com/in/sanjiv-mehta-100b1518/
Indians on UL Board	Harish Manwani COO (JBIMS)
	Leena Nair CHRO XLRI
	https://www.linkedin.com/in/nairleena/
	Nitin Paranjpe (President, Homecare) (JBIMS / COEP)
	https://www.linkedin.com/in/nparanjpe/
Unilever Revenue	€52.7bn (2016)
HUL Revenue	€4.45bn (8.44% of Unilever Revenue)
Presence in	190 Countries
Unilever's Brands with Sales of  1 Billion Euros (*Valuation at which we call startups "Unicorn)
	1. Axe 2. Dove 3. Sunsilk 4. Surf 5. Magnum 6. Magnum 7. Omo 8. Knorr 9. Lipton 10. Rexona/Degree 11. Becel / Flora 12. Heartbrand ice creams 13. Hellmann's, Rama
HUL Brands with 1,000 Crore Sales	1. Lux 2. Dove 3. Clinic Plus 4. Pond’s 5. Vim
HUL Brands with 2,000 Crore	1 Surf excel 2. Brooke Bond 3. Wheel 4. Rin 5. Lifebuoy 6. Fair & Lovely
Recent Acquisition	Dollar Shave Club Dollar Shave Club, Blue Air, Seventh, Generation and Living Proof (2016)
Unilever is Listed on	Euronext Amsterdam and is a constituent of the AEX, London Stock Exchange FTSE 100 Index, Euro Stoxx 50 stock market index
HUL listed on	BSE NSE
Number of Employees	169,000
% of Women Managers	>46%

 Financials

	UL € Bn	% Sales	HUL €Bn	% Sales
Personal Care	20	38.1	2.1	48
Foods	12.5	23.8	0.1	3
Home Care	10	19.0	1.5	33
Refreshment	10	19.0	0.6	14
Total	52.5	100.0	4.4	98

Personal Care is biggest contributor for Unilever & Hindustan Unilever Limited, Globally foods is big business but in HUL Home care is biggest businessSource: UL & HUL annual report

Unilever Media Budget	€ 8bn
Unilever Logo Meaning	The 'U' shape is now made up of 25 distinct symbols, each icon representing one of the company's sub-brands or its corporate values

Unilever Mission

“Meeting everyday demands with brands that make you feel good, look good and get more out of life”, “Through our brands, “Total commitment to exceptional standards and productivity”, “highest standards of corporate behaviour towards everyone we work with, the communities we touch, and the environment on which we have an impact”, “This is our road to sustainable, profitable growth, creating long-term value for our shareholders, our people, and our business partners”

The company is basically organised into 3 divisions

HOMECARE

This category has detergent bars, detergent powders, detergent liquids and scourers, among others. Cif, Comfort, Dove, Lifebuoy, Lux, Wheel, Rin, Surf excel, Vim, and Domex, among others.

HUL FY2016, Soaps and Detergents revenues of INR150,533 million, 45.4%  total revenue. Major Brands

Surf	Rin	Wheel
Vim	Domex	Omo
Cif	Domestos	Brilhante

The Personal Care Oral care, skin care (excluding soaps), hair care, deodorants, talcum powder, color cosmetics, among others. The segment also offers salon services.

Major brands

Fair & Lovely	Pond's	Sunsilk
Clinic Plus	TRESemme	Close-Up
Pepsodent	Lakme	Axe
Indulekha: Recently Acquired Link for News

The company also operates Lakme salons. At the end of FY2015, HUL had 230 salons, of which 56 were company owned/managed and 174 were franchisee salons.  In FY2016, the Personal Products segment reported revenues of INR97,719.5 million, which accounted for 29.5% of the company's total revenue.

Packaged Foods & Beverages Segment offers packaged tea and coffee,branded staples (wheat flour, salt, bread, etc.), culinary products (tomato based products, fruit based products, soups, etc.) and frozen desserts. Major Brands

Tea Coffee                                      .

Brooke Bond	TAJ MAHAL	3 Roses
Red Label	Lipton	Tazza

Ice-cream, Aata

Knoor	Annapurna	Kwality Walls
Magnum	Kissan

In FY2016, the Beverages segment reported revenues of INR38,808.5 million, which accounted for 11.7% of the company's total revenue. The segment consists of In FY2016, the Packaged Foods segment reported revenues of INR21,170.7 million, which accounted for 6.4% of the company's total revenue. History (Source : Business Standard

1956	Hindustan Lever Ltd is formed following the merger of Hindustan Vanaspati Manufacturing Company, Lever Brothers Ltd and United Traders Incorporated
1961	Prakash Tandon appointed as chairman of HLL, the first Indian to be appointed to the position
1963	HLL headquarters at Backbay Reclamation, Mumbai, opened; called Lever House
1975	Ten-year modernisation plan for soaps and detergent plants put in place
1982	Government allows 51 per cent Unilever shareholding in HLL
1993	Brooke Bond India acquires the Kissan brand from UB Group
1994	Tata Oil Mills Company merges with HLL
1996	HLL and Lakme Ltd form 50:50 joint venture
1996	Brooke Bond Lipton India Ltd merges with HLL
1998	HLL acquires Lakme Ltd's 50 per cent stake
2000	HLL acquires 74 per cent stake in Modern Food Industries
2007	Company name changed to Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL)
2008	HUL Completes 75 years

Brands Which Everyone of Us Grew Up With

Lifebuoy

The world's #1 selling germs protection soap and a worldwide leader bringing better health and hygiene to billions. One of the first packaged soaps to be manufactured in 1885. By 2015 the Lifebuoy brand had an aim to change the hygiene behaviour of one billion consumers across Asia, Africa and Latin America, by promoting the benefits of hand washing with soap at 5 key occasions, thereby helping to reduce respiratory infections and diarrhoea disease, the world’s two biggest causes of child mortality. You can read about the whole case study here: "Unilever's Lifebuoy Way of Life"

Theres something unique you need to keep on doing to make the brand #1 even after 132 years of its inception. Lifebuoy brand managers have done campaigns which are beyond imagination of common man.

Leveraging worlds biggest human gathering of "Kumbha Mela"

But only creativity is not enough to sustain the brand in modern times the brand has to have a purpose, throughout the world LifeBuoy has one voice "Reducing Diarrhoea Deaths By Half, By Promoting Hand washing"

Chamki LifeBuoy India Campaign

Gundappa LifeBuoy

Tree of Life South East Asia

Sherry Africa

One Voice One Mission for all Brand Managers Thought the world

Dove

The brand is associated with shampoos, conditioners, baby soaps and being gentle. But there’s a lot more what Unilever is doing with this brand.  As a society, we’re often led to believe in a very limited idea of beauty. And while youthful looks, fair skin, long black flowing hair and a trim figure are some ways to express beauty – they are not the only ways. With your help, we can represent the true diversity of beauty in India and empower every woman to realise her personal beauty potential. Together, we can break the rules and change the face of beauty.

Brand Mission Let’s break the rules of beauty

Vision of Dove Link

Dove USLP Mission: Help women everywhere develop a positive relationship with the way they look, helping them raise their self-esteem and realise their full potential.Dove hopes to fuel a conversation that challenges the beauty stereotypes society hands down to impressionable young girls.

Don’t you need a muscle to break stereotypes which your own brand created since years? But that’s what Unilever stands for.

Axe

I grew up in small village, central Maharashtra. INR 150 was a big amount that time but the brand manager successfully convinced me to buy first deodorant of my life. I still remember this advertisement, though its discontinued since long time.

As dove has a mission of breaking stenotypes females, Axe does the same for Men

Mission:  The brands mission is to help every man break away from the stereotypes set in everyone’s minds.

I still have questions about Axe in my Mind, Like how can one brand appeal to a 14 year boy and a young college going or working male.

Surf Excel “Dag Acche Hain” Thats all what I can say

According to Unilever every time we clean our children's clothes, we're helping them to go back out there, clean, smart, and prepared to take on the world. And every time they come back with dirt and stains, you know they're coming back with experience, too. But for me SurfExcel is always. Really I agree completely, if surf excel was not there, our childhood would have been different. Like who in the world will sell a detergent like this?

Unilever is They are not just selling detergent, They are selling Values to our future generations.

They are teaching us to rise like a Pheonix from failures in life. 

Just a note, Surf excel is equivalent to Omo in other countries.

Rin Rin was launched in India as a bar in 1969. But its still relevant today. You know the reason behind it? The astitute marketing managers at Unilever. Look at the video

I dont want you to see the movie Gangajal, Neither I intend to promote Priyanka Chopra. Still not getting it? This song is from a Movie Gangajal, which came just before the launch of Rin Campaign, notice the sada chamakte rehana and HoHo slogan at the end.

I hope you noticed the poster of Rin in the song at 1.26 seconds. Now that’s why Unilever is called Mica of Marketing

Obviously when its Unilever they are not only selling soaps this brand also has a bigger  USLP mission for Rin is to reduce the amount of water used by half in laundry, for which Unilever recently launched the sapphire variant.

It’s not just a India Specific Campaign, globally all Unilever detergent brands have the same mission.

SouthAfrica | Unilever Detergent Brand SunLight 

The A clear example of marketers at Unilever, killing two birds in one stone.

Closeup

Kya app closeup karte hain? That’s all what I want you to be nostalgic about.

I dont know why do they stop such campaigns? It was soo good....

Knorr USLP Mission is to source all meet & Palm oil sustainable by 2020.Recent

There are few campaigns which go beyond brand, they are initatives about which media has written Toms.

KanKhajura Tasion HUL

KKT is a 'mobile radio', that provides free entertainment to people who live in the 'media dark' regions of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Jharkhand, India's Hindi- and Bhojpuri-speaking belt. The content is interspersed with ads for HUL's brands. KKT claims to have over 12 million users.

Spikes Asia Award: Closeup for reuniting families Link

Current Initiatives at Unilever

A time of unprecedented global change, ‘Connected 4 Growth’ will make Unilever simpler, faster and more connected with our consumers and customers, and we are already starting to see positive results.

Link for Connected 4 Growth Information 

The Unilever Sustainable Living Plan

Unilever Sustainability Living Plan an attempt to decouple its environmental impact from its growth, by: halving the environmental footprint of its products over the next 10 years; helping 1 billion people improve their health and well-being; and sourcing all of its agricultural raw materials sustainably. Under USLP every Unilever brand has a mission. But There are few common goals.

IMPROVING HEALTH AND WELL-BEING	By 2020, Unilever will help more than a billion people globally to improve their health and hygiene. This will help reduce the incidence of life threatening diseases like diarrhoea.
HEALTH AND HYGIENE TARGET NUTRITION	By 2020, Unilever will double the proportion of its portfolio across the globe, that meets the highest nutritional standards, based on globally recognised dietary guidelines. This will help hundreds of millions of people to achieve a healthier diet.
TARGET ENHANCING LIVELIHOODS	By 2020, Unilever will enhance the livelihoods of millions of people as it grows its business
FAIRNESS IN THE WORKPLACE TARGET	By 2020, Unilever will advance human rights across global operations and extended supply chain.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN TARGET	By 2020, Unilever will empower five million women across the globe
INCLUSIVE BUSINESS TARGET	By 2020, Unilever will have a positive impact on the lives of 5.5 million people across the world.
REDUCING ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT	By 2030, Unilever’s goal is to halve the environmental footprint of the making and use of its products as it grows its business
GREENHOUSE GASES TARGET	Halve the greenhouse gas impact of Unilever’s products across the lifecycle by 2030
WATER TARGET	Halve the water associated with the consumer use of Unilever’s products by 2020
WASTE TARGET	Halve the waste associated with the disposal of Unilever’s products by 2020
SUSTAINABLE SOURCING TARGET	By 2020, Unilever will source 100% of its agricultural raw materials for global operations, sustainably.

 Awards

HUL emerges as the No. 1 Employer of Choice

Hindustan Unilever Limited has emerged as the No. 1 Employer of Choice for sixth successive year across all sectors for the 2016 graduating batch of B-School students. As per the latest Nielsen Campus Track-B School Survey, for the sixth year in a row, Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) has emerged as the No. 1 Employer of Choice across all sectors for the 2016 graduating batch of B-School students, across functions. In addition, HUL retains the 'Dream Employer' status for the 8th year running and continues to be the top company considered for application by B-School students. HUL has also been ranked No. 1 for Marketing as well as No. 1 FMCG in Finance.

Fierce Battles from Which Unilever Recovered in India

Source: https://marketingbyvijay.wordpress.com/

Nirma v/s HUL

HUL has served India’s small elite who could afford to buy MNC products. In 1969, Dr. Karsanbhai Patel started selling Nirma in Gujrat and went on to sell it nationally by 1985. Patel was offering detergent products for poor consumers, mostly in rural areas. In fact, Nirma created a new business system that included a new product formulation, low-cost manufacturing process, wide distribution network, special packaging for daily purchasing, and value pricing. HUL, in typical MNC fashion, initially dismissed Nirma’s strategy. However, as Nirma grew rapidly, HUL could see its local competitor was winning in a market it had disregarded. Ultimately, HUL saw its vulnerability and its opportunity: In 1995, the company responded with its own offering for this market, drastically altering its traditional business model. HUL decentralized the production, marketing, and distribution of the product to leverage the abundant labor pool in rural India, quickly creating sales channels through the thousands of small outlets where people at the bottom of the pyramid shop. HUL also changed the cost structure of its detergent business so it could introduce There are few allegations that a lot of Unethical means were adopted to curb Nirma, But no one knows the truth

Like this article in India Today published by accoladed advocate Chandra Uday Singh i 1984

Current Battle of Unilever & Patanjali

And the current Well known Unilever Patanjali or MajorIndian FMCGs v/s Patanjali Battle. Hindustan Times India TV Live Mint

Controversies

Obviously such a big company is not free of controversies, but Unilever is probably a brand which has very less stains on its name.

Kodaikanal India

This is regarding a Thermometer factory owned by Unilever, which was closed down. The mercury laden glass was discarded in nearby lake causing a lot of damage to the ecosystem.

Details Can be Found Here: FirstPost

Unilevers Global CEO had to answer allegations after the issue reached global attention from an Indian rapper’s song “Kodaikanal Won’t” that modified Nicki Minaj tune “Amaconda,” with lyrics addressing the mercury contamination problem.

Discrimination

Dove Dove describes itself as being dedicated to "help ... women develop a positive relationship with the way they look – helping them raise their self-esteem and realize their full potential" Controversy: Dove created an advertisement in which a black woman is shown getting transformed into fair girl, which sparked a big controversy.

The company is also accused of creating a negative image of dark skinned women using its Fair and Lovely brand. And all of us will have to agree that we are influenced by such commercials.

 Press Coverage of the Issue: CBC News

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