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Hindustan Unilever is an Indian public ltd company owned by another
company Unilever that holds 67% of its shares. Founded in the year 1932, the
company has its headquarters at Mumbai in India. Hindustan Unilever is one of
the biggest fast moving companies of consumer goods with at least two thirds
of the population using its products at one time or the other. Some of the main
competitors of this company are as follows-
ITC
Dabur India
Nestle India
Cadbury India
Asian Paints
Procter & Gamble
Britania Industries
The company is the leader in consumer goods industry with many brands
under its umbrella. Its brand and product portfolio consists of-
Food Brands-
Magnum (ice cream)
Modern bread
Kwality Walls (frozen dessert)
Knorr soups
Lipton tea
Kissan jams, sauce, juices etc.
Brooke Bond tea
Bru coffee
Annapurna atta and salt
Hindustan Unilever believes in products that are consumer friendly as this
generates huge amount of sales. For this purpose, they have kept
a simple pricing policy of low cost products so that the products could
reach a wider market. They have not compromised with the quality of the
product but have simply cut down on costing because of its wide and far-
reaching distribution policy.
Hindustan Unilever deals in various brands and has many products under
its belt. To handle all this products and brandssuccessfully it has a vast
distribution network that includes at least two million outlets directly and
7.7 million retail shops in every part of the country. The company also has
a direct selling network called Hindustan Unilever network (HUNL) and
under this network, Ayush Therapy markets health products,
Aviance markets beauty products, Lever Home markets home
products, D.I.Y. markets male grooming products.
Hindustan Unilever is a very large company with lots of brands and
products so its promotional policies are varied and extensive. It has taken
the help of advertisements to create consciousness about its products.
Sharing product knowledge through the print media like periodicals and
various newspapers is also a good promotional strategy.
Sometimes coupons are attached with local newspapers to advertise and
promote the products. It has also posted detailed information about its
products along with advertisements on the websites to maintain consumer
awareness.
This Company was earlier known as Imperial Tobacco Company of
India Ltd.
It is Currently headed by Yogesh Chander Deveshwar.
Company mainly operates in the industry like Tobacco, Foods,
Hotels, Stationary and Greeting Cards with the major products
constitutes Cigarettes, packed foods, hotels, and apparels.
For the entire year ending Mar-2009 the turnover of company is at
Rs. 15388 Crore which is 10.3% higher than previous years Rs.
13947.53 Crore, driven mainly by robust 20% growth in non
cigarette FMCG business with net profit stood at Rs. 3324 Crore.
ITC is ranked at first position in terms of branded foods and some of its
food brands are Bingo, Sunfeast, Aashirvaad and Yippee. Its food business
is related to confectionery, juice, ready-to-eats, snack foods and staples
The company sells lifestyle apparel under John Players and Wills Lifestyle
brands.
Products related to personal care include skincare, hair care and perfumes
ITC has an operating income of estimated rupees 15,037 crore at the end of
the fiscal year 2015 and revenues worth rupees 53,748 crores at the end of
the financial year 2015-16. It has several business interests and faces lots of
competition from rival companies. Moreover, it has decided to market its
products in every nook and corner of India and hence has maintained both
competitive and penetration pricing policies to deal with competitors and to
successfully spread its product reach to remotest parts in India.
ITC has been ranked as one of the best companies in the world with an
experienced and strong management and distribution network. It is served
by an efficient workforce that includes services of more than 25,000
employees by the end of the year 2013. ITC has spread its network to
nearly sixty locations in most part of India. Its headquarters base is at
Kolkata in West Bengal.
Its products are available in many global countries. The company has set
up tobacco business in Nepal via a joint venture. Manufacturing plants of
its printing and packaging division are in Chennai and Haridwar.
ITC has a well-built brand presence because of diversified
and extended product portfolio. It has taken help of several promotional
activities to market its products and create positive brand awareness. ITC
has adopted an aggressive marketing strategy and taken help of every
promotional tool like electronic, print and social media at its disposal to
market its products. It has launched several ad campaigns which are shown
via popular television channels, aired on radio and displayed via hoardings.
It has also roped in famous personalities for better visibility like Kareena
Kapoor and Shahrukh Khan.
HUL ITC
Hindustan Unilever (HUL) is ITC is not a pure-play FMCG
the largest pure-play FMCG company, since cigarettes is
company in the country and its primary business.
has one of the widest It is diversifying into non-
portfolio of products sold via tobacco.
a strong distribution channel. FMCG segments like foods,
It owns and markets some of personal care, paper products,
the most popular brands in hotels and agri-business to
the country across various reduce its exposure to
categories, including soaps, cigarettes.
detergents, shampoos, tea and
face creams.
After stagnating between 1999 and 2004, the company is back on
the growth track. In the past three years, till 2008 HULs net sales
have witnessed a CAGR of 11%, while net profit has posted a
CAGR of 17%.
Despite diversification, ITCs reliance on cigarettes is still huge. The
tobacco business contributes 40% to its revenues, and accounts for
over 80% of its profit. This cash-generating business has enabled it
to take ambitious, but expensive bets in new segments and deliver
modest profit growth.
ITC
HUL
Increased regulatory clamps on
Being an MNC operating in tobacco, along with rising tax
India, HUL is more conservative burden, pose a business risk for
in its strategies than its Indian ITC. So, it has started an
counterparts. Moreover, given ambitious diversification plan,
increasing competition, it faces which has its own set of risks.
the risk of being overtaken by With its foray into the
domestic players in various conventional FMCG space, ITC
categories. Prolonged inflation has entered the high-clutter
may lead to margin contraction, branded products market. This
in case HUL is not able to pass will burden its resources in terms
on this burden to consumers. of ad spend and brand-building.
HUL ITC
HUL always believes in ITC is focusing on delivering
customer friendly products with value at competitive prices.
major emphasis on low cost Its tremendous reach through
overall without compromising extensive distribution chain
on the quality of the product. has been a competitive
The entire product portfolio is advantage.
also being tweaked to include Additionally, the company's
premium offerings such as e-choupal model for direct
Ponds Age Miracle and dove procurement is well known
shampoo in skin and hair care. under which ITC partners
with over 100,000 farmers for
spices and wheat procurement
and an even larger number for
oilseeds.
HUL ITC
ITC is eyeing the pie which HUL and other FMCG players
currently enjoy. Though risky, the companies business model
will pay off in the long run. ITC has proved its expertise in
the cigarettes, hotels, paper and agri-businesses. Investors
who want to bank on its execution ability in FMCG can
consider the stock with a long-term horizon.