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Unilever: Companies
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Unilever's fastest growing market in the early 1990s was in Asia. Although Unilever had been operating in Asia since its earliest days, the company was just beginning to tap into the region's newly acquired wealth. Asian sales of personal products, detergent, and packaged foods were growing more than twice as fast as sales in the United States and Europe. By 1992 Unilever was composed of some 500 companies conducting business in 75 different countries.
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Unilever is one of the world's largest consumer products companies with sales close to $50 billion. It produces and markets a wide range of foods, home and personal care products. Unilever operates in 88 countries around the globe and employs 267,000 people. In the United States, sales exceeded $8 billion in 1998. It employs 21,000 people in the United States and has 66 offices and manufacturing sites in 23 states.
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The multinational consumer product company Unilever "has launched ViveMejor, a multimedia marketing initiative that targets the Hispanic community" in the U.S. The PR firm Edelman's multicultural practice is heading communications for the campaign. grassroots events, and two sub-platforms focusing on beauty and food - Pasa Las Belleza (Spread the Beauty) and Desafio del Sabor (The Flavor Challenge). Television segments created for these sub-platforms, featuring celebrity stylists and a chef, will appear on the popular Spanish morning show Despierta America (Wake Up America)." with the idea that she will share what she has learned with her close family and friends." plan for meals, and be aware of advertised specials than the general population," and are "more open to recipes and tips delivered in Spanish."
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In the 1930s, the business of Unilever grew and new ventures were launched in Latin America. In 1972, Unilever purchased A&W Restaurants A&W_(Canada) Canadian division but sold its shares through a management buyout to former A&W Food Services of Canada CEO Jeffrey Mooney in July 1995 [1]. By 1980, soap and edible fats contributed just 40% of profits, compared with an original 90%. In 1984 the company bought the brands Brooke Bond (maker of PG Tips tea), Fabergé and Elizabeth Arden, but the latter was later sold (in 2000) to FFI Fragrances.
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Before the formation of Unilever, Lever Brothers had coped with overseas expansion by purchasing two factories in the United States, one in Boston and one in Philadelphia. Following World War II, Unilever found that it lacked the scientific resources needed to compete with U.S. companies in research and development. Previously, key concerns for the soap industry revolved around color, scent, lather, and how well the products adapted to changing fabrics. Following the war--to the dismay of Unilever and its U.S. subsidiary, Lever Brothers Company--development efforts in the United States succeeded in creating a nonsoap, synthetic detergent powder (Procter & Gamble Company's Tide), which had superior cleaning powers and did not form insoluble deposits in plumbing systems in hard water. The disappointment spurred Unilever to value research as highly as marketing and sales. Lever Brothers had three detergent plants in production by 1950 but remained behind in the industry for some time.
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By the mid-1970s Unilever's sales and profits performance were flat, and it was underperforming its major competitors. Unilever was sustained by strong positions in the detergents and personal care markets of Asia, Latin America, and Africa. The advantages of decentralization were especially seen in these overseas markets. Unilever proved flexible enough to retain them, fostered by its belief that ultimately consumers worldwide would want its products. Moreover the oil price rises resulted in an extraordinary growth of profitability of the UAC [United Africa Company] stemming from the booming economies of Nigeria and the Arab Gulf.
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