It has won umerous awards, is one of the top three consumer goods companies and is the face of a company which has embellished the new age of digital media. Its products and marketing strategies have become known world-wide because of Unilever''s constant dedication and connection to its consumers through the use of combining marketing tactics of the past, present as well as trying to predict the future. Marketers are always concerned with the future. Marketing agencies ask themselves the question ot what will consumers want tomorrow and e ne day.
Always catering to the needs of others can be an incredibly complex endeavor and ith the emergence of social and digital media, marketers need to be careful of which tool they use to make consumers aware of their products. To much digital media makes completely saturates the selling of the brand, to little does not combat other strategies from other products and companies with no integration of the old marketing strategies like TV and magazines fails to connect with the roots of marketing communication.
Unilever has proven so profoundly that integration of all of these strategies proves to be the new route in connecting with consumers. Unilever creates something with digital media and backs it up with traditional orms of media and vice-versa. Unilever''s path to better grasp consumers attention lies first with always being able to harness the consumers needs and wants and trying to determine what is the best way to achieve that. If Unilever can bring creation and add value to their marketing strategies then it will better connect with the audience.
The question Unilever is asking themselves is how do consumers live their lives and experience there brands as well as figuring out how, through the use of different devices, will consumers interpret advertising. For the future, Unilever eeds to integrate both current and traditional forms of media to connect with the variety of consumers and to further themselves as a company that is continually looking for new ways to improve their value with customers through the use of their branding tactics.
History & Background Unilever has a simple mission, to make people get more out of life through the use of their products. If one was to read through the lines they would see that William Sketcher Lever, founder of Lever brothers was committed to making total well-being a commonality for all, his concerns were about a better lifestyle with his products and his is what Unilever still follows today. Lever took his soap company and began making margarine because of the raw materials which both products needed.
Doing this helped him become competitive with top margarine companies Jurgens and Van Den Burgh. Eventually the competition got so heated that it made sense for Lever brothers, Jurgens and Van Den Burgh to merge and in 1929 it happened. Unilever became what it is today, two companies called Unilever Limited and the other being Unilever N V Ultimately, this merger controlled and bought more then a third ot the world''s commercial oils and fats making it what it is today to producing personal ygiene products, foods and cleaning products.
Unilever has been around for three centuries and opts to give people a better lifestyle through the use of all of their products. Unilever today is considered the second largest consumer goods company in the world. More then half of Unilever''s products are in the food sector. One quarter of sales also come from the personal care and hygiene division and Unilever''s last make-up of products is in cleaning agents designed to make everyone''s lives easier when cleaning. The last few years have been very successful for Unilever as they have targeted every stage of the value chain.
There goals have been linked to their company mission statement in a way that clearly states how Unilever will deliver better to the billions of people that their products reach. Situation: Media 201 5 document company website This document on Unilever''s website is a fundamental approach to how the company will better deal with consumers through the use of media outlets. The document explains Unilever''s partnership with Mindshare and ESPN, as they all seek out to fgure out how in 201 5, marketers will engage with consumers through the use of media.
Media 201 5 uses scenario planning which is a tool that simulates the future. Scenario planning rehearses responses and in-turn is able to view the threats and opportunities that will help with future realities of the company. Unilever, mindshare and ESPN all teamed up together to seek out a common goal of discovering what in the media industries life-span will induce consumers into responding in a way that helps these companies better understand their consumers and how they adapt to different media tactics.
Using third party research, industry experts, media regulation and consumer trend spotting Media 201 5 will give these three companies a better view of the product and how it is perceived by the onsumers through the use of different media avenues. There are 4 scenario planning alternatives which are researched in Media 2015. The first is tons of twitter which deals with the massive growth of social media. Among the alternatives next is portal of me, which states that needs of consumers are becoming more personal and so the need for personalization offered by companies needs to be made.
Third is the media buffet, which focuses on how people may exempt themselves from all the ways that various media outlets try and attract one''s attention. The last alternative is traditional new media. This is the most assive form of all the media outlets. It says that consumers focus on large-scale events and want to be entertained rather then create their own media scene. The two scenario planning alternatives which I find most suitable to be used in the future is the portal of me and traditional new media.
These two outlets will be the best tool to use in the future because personalization makes us feel like the product is our own and because we always want to be entertained. These two ideas never will go out of style and adhere to both of these concepts. Traditional New media is the scenario planning which has been around for quite ome time. This alternative concerns itself with large-scale events which provide one with entertainment. It does not require the individual much to become engaged in the situations, rather they fall into place since everything has a time.
This scenario planning strategy will always be around as there are always events in which individuals will take part in. For example, sporting events like the World cup, Ryder cup or Super Bowl are all examples were traditional media can be used within these events. People will always want to take part in these events because they like seeing alent and things that seem nearly impossible. Using traditional new media to advertise and market to individuals will always be an accessible strategy because individuals are generally always involved.
The next alternative which will be useful is portal of me. This scenario planning tool gives people a sense of control. We all want to feel like we are in control of what we want. Through the use of portal of me it focuses on consumers selection and specialization of the product. Products that have ways to become personal to the consumer will ensure trust is built between the product and the consumer. When trust is built the possibilities for the creator of the product are endless as long as innovation is consistent with personalization.
No person is the same. Sure some of us aspire to be like our favorite sporting fgure or Hollywood icon but we all want to have our own characteristics, needs and personal style be embellished. Portal of me ensures the customer is able to express themselves through the product. Take an automobile of the 1960''s versus the automobile of today. Of course, technology has expanded immensely but so have the variety of options for the buyer. Sure, people an have the same model but the look and feel of that model may change based on the consumers preferences.
This example illustrates why products with customization options better grasp the consumers attention because personalization makes the consumer feel like they were right in the design lab of the product. The same goes for sporting fgures like world super star Tiger Woods. Anything Woods wants Nike to make for him his request is fulfilled. People want to feel like they have a sponsorship from whatever company they are buying a product from because again it builds trust since they are getting exactly what they want while creating an mportant relationship for the customer.
Portal of me illustrates value for both the consumer and creator. I believe that the portal of me scenario creates a fresh approach to what consumers will want in 2 As products become more technologically advanced, consumers will want their own "spin" and specialization of the product in which they desire. I feel that portal of me compared to traditional new media, is more innovative. People like new strategies especially if it concerns them, which of course this scenario planning outline completely focuses on the individual and the needs of that person.
Media Composition Selection In 2012 Unilever was selected as Digital marketer if the year by Advertising Age. This accomplishment shows the innovation and advancement for Unilever and their focus on digital media; however Unilever still encompasses its more traditional forms of media. The blend poses a bright future for Unilever to grasp all sets of audiences. Take for example the new Fruttare marketing tactic, one of Unilever''s many brands. The campaign is designed to use music stars Cher and Ne-yo into collaborating to make a song with the help of the audience through the participation f digital media.
There are so many different realms of traditional and new digital media that the integration of both of these concepts shows Unilever''s grasp of today''s consumers. Fruttare will make its debut this summer in the US and to get audiences involved Fruttare''s Twitter, Instagram and Facebook page will be promoting the "It''s all good" campaign. This campaign will let fans post their input of what lyrics they feel are best for the Ne-yo and Cher''s collaboration onto Fruttare''s social media sites.
The campaign is titled "It''s all good" because fans are literally suppose to contribute lyrics hich gives them the feeling of "good" What Unilever is doing is truly remarkable. They are able to introduce a brand subconsciously as so many fans will take interest in this while also being made aware of Fruttare''s brand introduction into the United States. Unilever is using traditional forms of media such as music and Icon branding with the help of digital social media such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. This collaboration of new and older forms of media is an excellent way to grasp consumer''s attention.
Unilever is promoting this campaign because there message is consistent with Fruttare; they want people everywhere to have a positive outlook on life and feel good Making people aware ot what they teel g about, while in-turn becoming aware of a new brand and feeling like they are part of a song gives fans and consumers an unforgettable venture. This example illustrates the future of Unilever''s media amalgamation; taking new and old forms of media and bringing them together to create the ultimate experience.
Using traditional and advanced forms of media brings forth something for all audiences. Those younger will be more in touch with digital media, however it ecomes saturated at times because of the vast expansion and over-whelming use of digital media which is where the place of traditional media takes place. Younger audiences can be touched in a different way through the brand experience through the use traditional media while the older generation becomes in touch with the new digital media age.
Seeing a marketing tactic through the use of something like Twitter and Facebook is truly remarkable; it gives the older generation amazement with the use of tools like apps while still connecting with them on traditional forms of media that they have always been used to like music. I believe this type of media composition will bring Unilever into the future in a more advanced and polished way since consumers are not bombarded with one side of media. Instead consumers have a much more plentiful landscape as to the way the brand is infiltrating one''s subconscious.
Issues moving forward The digital media age is coming on quickly as there are so many devices which allow us to come in contact with advertisements. The more marketing companies use apps and ads on youtube and other media outlets to promote their products, the more clutter is created. Consumers become over whelmed with advertisements and egin to forget what the ad is selling. Instead, frustration sets in as the content becomes so saturated. Indeed media goes in trends, so, if Unilever can realize which trends and fads are in then they can take advantage of this and utilize their audience.
The issue with this is for Unilever to ensure they are consistent with which trends are "in". For example, right now Unilever is using I-AD''s which is on-par with how big and popular apps are among people at this moment. I-AD takes brands and explains their story through the use of an app into so many people who use the ''phone and iPad. Unilever artnering up with something consumers are constantly in touch with at this moment is a prime example of how Unilever will better connect with their customers in the future. Moving forward, Unilever will have to monitor how consumers are responding to this media tactic.
Perhaps that is Just it, monitoring of current marketing schemes and how consumers are responding. Once response decreases then Unilever will attempt to implement new strategies that will replace the old, this is truly a barrier to connect with consumers since it is difficult to read and sometimes connect with the audience. Unilever''s goals to be reached by 2020 are to help more than a billion people improve their health and well-being, monitor the environmental impact of the making and use of its products, as well as enhance the livelihoods of thousands of people in their supply chain.
For Unilever to reach these goals there are many barriers moving forward. Specifically, the second goal of watching Unilever''s carbon footprint will be very difficult as regulations become more strict since the environment is becoming more and more deteriorated. This is a true challenge in itself and one where Unilever ill have to sink a lot of money in for research in these methods. Putting money in places where there is not a direct return can be difficult for a large corporation since they are used to investing money and seeing it flourish.
Placing money in methods to help sustain and better the environment will pose this problem. Unilever''s mission is consistent with what it is giving consumers right now. Being a company that is constantly improving and winning various awards every year shows its commitment to innovation and constantly looking into the future for new ways to onnect with its consumers. Unilever is asking themselves, " how do consumers live their lives and experience our brands as well as fguring out how, through the use of different devices, will consumers interpret advertising and different marketing schemes ? . Clearly they have been answering these questions in the most efficient manner as they realize that delivering to both the new and older forms of media is what will give them the biggest participation amongst consumers moving forward. Unilever''s goal of wanting to improve the lives of others through the use of their roducts is what propel''s them to look into the future with tools like scenario planning and increase in spending on the digital side of media.
Unilever''s merging of traditional media and more recent digital media gives them an undeniable connection with all age groups of consumers. The persistence of blending these types ot media is what Unilever calls its "superdistribution", this will ultimately bring Unilever to the forefront of being a company that caters to the new tastes and likings of the current generation. Undoubtably the future for Unilever from 2016-2020 is looking bright.
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