SWOT Analysis

                                                   SWOT analysis for Unilever

Internal Factors	Strength         -          Strong portfolio         -          Global brand         -          Product diversity         -          Sustainable living plan         -          Combine global and multidomestic strategy         -          Strong human resources	Weakness         -          Product can be easily replaced         -          Lack focus on non-famous brands
External Factors	Opportunity         -          Emerging market         -          Raising population         -          Globalization         -          Increase consumer concern for      health and environment	Threat         -          Global competitor         -          Local competitor         -          Changing lifestyle         -          Economic downturn

Strength

-          1. Strong portfolio: Unilever has more than 400 brands and their portfolio ranges from nutritionally balanced foods to indulgent ice creams, affordable soaps, luxurious shampoos and everyday household care products.

-         2.  Global brand: Unilever’s products are now sold in 190 countries in the world. Approximately, on any given day, two billion people use Unilever products. They have many famous brands that we all have heard about such as Doves, Omo, Knorr, Lipton, Magnum,…

-         3.  Product diversity: Unilever divide their products into four main segments: Personal care (36% of sales) with Dove, Rexona, Lux, Sunsilk,…; Foods (27% of sales) with Knorr, Hellmann’s, Flora, Rama…; Refreshment (19% of sales) with Lipton, Magnum, Wall’s,…; and Home Care (18% of sales) with Surf, Omo,… The diversity in products and product lines help Unilever reach their customer more easily.

-         4. Sustainable living plan: The Unilever Sustainable Living Plan sets out to decouple growth from environmental impact, while at the same time increasing their positive social impact.

-          5. Combine global and multidomestic strategy: Unilever have both global products that are the same in every country and the differentiate products based on different local preferences.

-          6. Strong human resources: Unilever have many program such as Future Leadership Program in many different countries to attract talented people

Weakness

-         1.  Product can be easily replaced: Many of Unilever products are easily replaced and substituted by local products with cheaper prices.

-         2.  Lack focus on non-famous brands: Having more than 400 brands make it difficult to manage and focus on all of them equally. The core brands are giving much more attention than the less famous brands.

Opportunity

-          1. Emerging market: Many new emerging markets allow the company to expand their business further in these markets.

-         2. Raising population: Raising population, especially in developing countries, leads to increase in demand for consumer’s good which is a good opportunity for Unilever to develop more new products and reach out to new customers.

-          3. Globalization: Globalization makes it easier to do business across countries borders. It can also help with cheaper production cost and supplier.

4

-          4. Increase consumer concern for health and environment

Threat

-           1. Global competitor: Strong global competitor such as Procter & Gamble which offer many similar products and same quality.

-          2. Local competitor: Unilever also have to deal with local competitors who offer the same products but cheaper price because of the small economic scale and cheaper labors.