Unilever Has Three Options to Target the Low Income Population- New Brand, Brand Reposition and Brand Extension

Unilever has three options to target the low income population- New Brand, Brand reposition and Brand extension.

New Brand-Unilever could either build a new brand or buy existing brand. Exhibit 10 of the case suggests that all the top brands, except OMO are results of different acquisitions. Lack of historical precedent suggest that building a new detergent brand from scratch could be a monumental task, and acquisition is out of the question as there is nothing left to acquire. New brand would lead to costlier product to due higher promotional cost ad need for a higher spend in “above the line” media advertising.

Brand reposition- Unilever could also think of repositioning Minevera or Camperio. Minerva’s appeal is very emotional and repositioning it to address attributes desired by low income segment could cause confusion. This may threaten both soap ( Minerva soap leverages brand equity its detergent brand) and detergent revenue stream worth $37M. I also feel that Minerva should remained positioned as “Flanker” brand against P&G recently acquired brands ( Ace and Bold). This will insulate OMO from any future insurgent campaign by P&G. Similarly Camperio can be a “ Flanker brand” for the low-cost detergents like invicto.

Brand extention

 I believe that Unilever can create a brand extension of Omo targeting hand  wash segment. Product will offer a high amount of bubbles (negative attribute of machine), nice fragrace in reduced perceived cost. OMO being a “ genericized” brand for the detergent category ( exhibit A), will be easy to bud bond with the new customers. OMO is also known for its stain removing capability with low quantity of product when used in washin machine, thus reducing the need for soap or bleach. This brand equity can be leverage in the “ handwash OMO” product. We will further reduce the cost of the product by eliminating the cardboard box and replacing it with a sachet. Unilever could opt for the new formula ( third formula costing $1.15, half way between Minerva and Camperio) contain extra beach, fragrance, extra foam agent and remove machine specific ingredients ( specific enzymes and builders). Unilever could position this extension as the “premium detergent for hand washing”