G.

SUSHMA 10D21E0046

INTRODUCTION TO HUL
Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) is India's largest FMCG Company with a heritage of over 75 years in India HUL was formed in 1933 as Lever Brothers India Limited and came into being in 1956 as Hindustan Lever Limited through a merger of Lever Brothers, Hindustan Vanaspati Mfg. Co. Ltd. and United Traders Ltd and Margarine Unie

William Hesketh Lever and his brother, James Darcy Lever

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HUL has 35 brands spanning 20 distinct categories such as

soaps and detergents shampoos skin care toothpastes deodorants cosmetics

tea
coffee packaged foods ice cream water purifiers Mr. Harish Manwani (57) Non-Executive Chairman of the hul
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 Pureit is the worlds most advanced in-home water purifier launched in 2004. This patented technological breakthrough has been developed by HUL. This state-of the-art engineering developed by a team of over 100 Indian and international

experts from HUL and Unilever Research Centers has made Pureit possible at the consumer
price of just Rs. 2000 Pureit runs with a unique Germkill Battery Kit that typically lasts for 1500 liters* of water. The Germkill Battery Kitis priced at Rs.365. This means consumers will get 4 liters of water that is as safe as boiled water for just

one rupee, which works out to an extremely affordable 24 paise per liter.

Why pureit is introduced?

Indian water-purifier market worth around Rs 1200 crore is evolving, growing at 15%. The marketing of water purifiers were skewed towards urban markets of India. Only 8 % of the Indian consumers use water purifier which indicates the poor penetration of this product category into Indian households. The major hindrance for this being high price, installation difficulties, electricity consumption and lack of awareness. Eureka Forbes pioneered the growth of this category in the Indian market.

 The major players in the electricity -powered water purifier market ignored the mass market focusing more on the margin rather than volume. These products which were priced at Rs 5000 upwards were beyond the reach of the average middleclass customers.

Even though many such consumers were aware of the health benefits of a
water-purifier, it was never in the priority list of high value purchases.

 Sensing the opportunity, HUL launched Pureit range of battery operated storage-type purifiers at a price range of Rs 900- Rs 1250. These purifiers did not necessitated any installations which was a definite advantage

for those who lived in rented houses.

The brand was widely tested in South India before the national launch. According to reports, Pureit has already sold more than 1.3 million units becoming the largest selling water-purifier in India in volume-terms.

Product and service strategy

Different varieties of the product Easy availability nation wise.

Best quality of used plastic / technological parts

Designed and develop to provide as safe as boiled water Very attractive design in three colors. Any time and any where it can do the performance. Very easy to use. Convenience no hassle of boiling, no maintenance cost like plumbing. Cost Rs.1/- for every liters of water.

Top most brand name ( Hindustan Unilever Limited)

Selling Strategy
Direct Selling- Door-to-Door Selling Outreach (Kiosk) Clinic (Hospital)

Price strategy
Penetration strategy. Product price range started from Rs.900-13500. Very low cost of maintenance. Best price for other than the competitors.

Attractive discount on replacement of device for customer.

Attractive allowances for dealers

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Promotional/marketing communication
strategy
Activated subscription immediately. Fast installation of the products. Best repair services.

Life time free services.

Commercial effective TV advertisement. Advertisement in news paper. Broacher Sales force (8000+across country) Marketing surveys.

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 One of the problems that Pureit faced during the launch was the doubt about brand's efficiency in the purifying business. HUL is new to this industry and not an expert so consumers rightly doubted the

effectiveness of its product.

To counter that, Pureit ran a very highly advertised " 1 crore challenge " to convince the consumer that its product is more effective than the competing brands.

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 After establishing its name in the mass market, Pureit targeted the market-creator Eureka Forbes in an aggressive frontal attack by launching the premium brand Pureit Marvella. Marvella is also a non-electric purifier with storage capability priced at Rs 7000. The brand also launched its Reverse Osmosis water purifier Pureit Marvella RO at a price point of Rs 13500.

These sub-brands directly competes with Eureka Forbes's major product-lines.

The entry of HUL into the Eureka Forbe's territory was marked with lot of legal fights between the brands because of advertising claims and counter-claims

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Product range

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Pureit Marvella RO
Pureit Marvella RO with 15 day Advanced Alert System. The USP of the brand is its advanced warning system which alerts the consumer to

change the RO membrane before it stops working.

Farhan Akther and Prachi Desai are the brand ambassador.

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Awards
Pureits performance has been tested by leading international & national medical, scientific & public health institutions and meets the germ-kill criteria of the Environmental Protection Agency, the drinking water regulatory agency in the USA Pureit received the award for outstanding contribution in the field of water in India. The product is available across 21 Indian states and has reached more than 1 million homes in India giving them access to microbiologically safe drinking water.

Pureit water purifier has received the UNESCO Water Digest Water Award 20082009 in the category of best domestic non-electric water purifier.

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Conclusion
The entry of HUL has virtually changed the dynamics of the water-purifier market in India. The market creator was totally out-maneuvered by HUL. In strategic terms , the decision made sense because low priced products tend to affect both margins and brand -equity. But Forbes failed to see the shift in the market and the growth of the non-electric segment

to become the fastest growing segment.

The popularity of the mass market segment also gave confidence for HUL to enter the market of Eureka Forbes.

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