An Analysis Of Lipton UK: Marketing Strategy Problems And Solutions Essay.

Carry out a study of a company, of your choice applying the various tools and concepts. Identify marketing strategy problem(s). No organization does everything right, and it is always possible to find areas for improvement? You are required to write a report.

Lipton UK (Unilever Brand), is one of the biggest and popular brand of tea. The company is the leader of the market in both leaf and ready to drink tea. The market share of the company is three time large than its competitors. The company is present in 110 countries and it is popular in Europe, North America and also in Middle East. The company is one of the popular companies who are selling fast moving consumer goods. The purpose is to make sustainable living a common place. The vision of the company is to maintain the long term relation so that business can grow in the competitive market. The financial position of the company is strong on the global platform. It can be stated that the turnover of the company in 2017 was €53.7 billion and the 58% of the business of the company is in emerging markets (Unilever, 2018b).  

The employees who are working in the organization are 161,000 form which 47% of the women are managers.  In 2017, the company maintained the zero nonhazardous waste to landfill. Also, in 2016, the sustainable living brand of the company grew 50% faster if compared with the other businesses. The activities of the company are related with offering quality products in the market and also the company is committed to attain the highest standards of the corporate governance and also behavior with the help of the policies. So, it can be stated that company has the large market share through which it can be easy to attain goals and objectives in the competitive market (Unilever, 2018a).

It has been analyzed that UK government support the fair trading commitment for both the local customers and foreign producers. In 1980, it can be seen that political risks in the countries started rising. Government restricted the overall payment of dividend and service fees. Also, the fear of loss of trademarks is one of the factors which impacted the overall activities of the company. It is important for the company to consider the legal requirement so that activities can be managed (Hasan, 2015).

UK is on the seventh rank in context to the economy on the global platform. At the time of recession in UK, the company is not able to do investment but focusing on the redundancies. This is the major reason due to which the customer market is shrinking and also the customers are losing their buying power. It can be stated that there are various discounters in the European market which is the outcome off the EU free trade policy. It has negatively impact the overall profit of the company (Murphy and Murphy, 2018).

It has been analyzed that company is one of the biggest FMGC Company on the global platform. So, the customer base of the company is large and due to this focus is given on various factors so that market share can be maintained. The company invested in 90 Million Euros in the community programs on the global platform in 2008. Also, the main focus of the company is on maintaining the quality of the product so that growth can be attained (Lipton, 2018).

PESTLE

The company focused on diversification. In 1950, the company adopted the latest technology which boosted the productivity and also maintained quality. In 2008, the company appointed first chief research and development officer and also there are more than 6000 research and development professionals who come together to manage the activities (Shah, 2015).

Now day’s people are conscious about the products offered in the market.  The company focuses on the natural environment for supplying of the raw materials and water.  Also, sustainability is considered as one of the major business issue in the market. In 2008, the company focused to measure the product categories in relation to four indicators. The indicators are related to water waste, sustainable sourcing and also greenhouse gas emission (Thorlakson, Hainmueller and Lambin, 2018).

 In this the first factor is related to high capital as the company who wants to enter the market requires more capital. Also, the company owns the distributor channel in the market and it can be difficult for the other company to enter into the market.

It is high in UK as there is price sensitivity and brand loyalty factor which is enhancing. People are become familiar with the products which are offered in the market.

The bargaining power of the suppliers is low as in UK, as there are many suppliers present in the market and also now the company has its suppliers (Laursen and Andersen, 2016).  

 It can be seen that company does not have threat form the substitute as it has its own unique flavor which is preferred by the customers in the UK market.

It has been analyzed that there are various rivalries present in the market. The competitors present in the market are Nestea and Nescafe. The strategy of the other competitor is to reduce the price of the products so that demand can be enhanced in the market. The direct competitor is tapal and indirect is Coca Cola and Pepsi.

The customer base is large of the company and also Lipton is the product which is more preferred by the senior citizens (Hasan, 2015).

• Core : tea beverage
• Actual product
• Branding : Green color, tin pack
• Trade name : Lipton
• Brand personality : freshness and healthy

It is one of the important factors that Lipton has never compromised on the quality. So, the price values also add with the features. The prices are nominal which can be afforded by the customers.

The company is multinational company and it is one of the elite brands in the world. It has been seen that company distribute the products in the area with the high demand. The product is available in every outlet and malls of UK.

The company focuses on promoting its products with the help of advertisement, paper media and print media. The main emphasis is on grabbing the attention of the customers towards the product.

In UK, it can be analyzed that product is for refreshment and taste. The quality of the product is good and also it is healthy.

Teenagers and young adults are the target for the company as it can help to boost the sales in the competitive market (Alhawsawi, 2016).

Industry and Market Analysis

To position the product, it can be seen that it is important to develop awareness about the nutrients used in the product. So, at the time of positioning it is important to elaborate about the feature related to elimination of the weakness due to deficiency of red blood cells.

Source: Diversifying market, 2014

Lipton product can be accessed in a proper manner. It can be seen that Lipton is the market pioneers and on this profits is not earned by the company. It has been seen that people are not aware about the Lipton product and this only the reason of the less sale.

For Lipton it is important to focus on the product awareness enhancement as it can help to boost the sales. Also, it can be seen that the category lies between the overall growth and maturity stage but the Lipton product can be on the growth stage as the sale is not declined of the product in the market (Nazarova, 2015).

It can be seen that from the last 5 years the company achieve growth in the market. The above picture states that from 2013 t0 2017 the company achieved growth. In 2017, the estimated of 1.5 million people used the product of Lipton in UK. Also, 1.0 million used Lipton green tea in UK. Also, the company achieved large market share in the market (Statista, 2018).

Source: (Statista, 2018).

It can be seen that the strength possessed by the company is related to the extra nutrients offered in the form of natural extracts. It can be seen that the extracts offers additional vitamins, iron and calcium. Also, the best thing is that there are no artificial colors.

The next strength is related with USP which is distinct and also it is a combination of the attributes that are not present in the competing products (Singh, 2016).

It can be analyzed that there are strong direct and indirect competitors present in the market.  In the tea sector there are competitors like Tapal, Tetley and Pepsi who can capture the large market share. Also, in UK the consumption of tea is high so that it is important to differentiate it from the competitors so that growth can be attained (Bull et al., 2016).

The company has an opportunity to enhance the market share. It can be stated that the company should offer the products at the outlets so that growth can be attained. The next factor is related with high degree of adaptability from the young generation. It can be stated the company should promote the products among the teenagers so that large market share can be grabbed (Sim, King and Price, 2016).  

The threat faced by the company is related with government policies. It can be seen that policies of the government like GST can be the threat as it enhances the prices of the products in the market. Also, the policy of importing the tealeaves is another threat for the company. It has also been seen that company has to face the threat in relation to the smuggled products in terms of the small product in the black market (Stack et al., 2015).

Porter five force analysis

Conclusion 

So, by analyzing the report, it can be concluded that Lipton is one of the famous company. It is important for the company to consider the factors evaluated in the report as it can help to boost the overall productivity in the workplace. It will also boost the sale or the demand of the products in the competitive market. It is important to access the strength, weakness, opportunities and strength so that it can be simple to take the right beneficial for the company. So, by seeing overall analysis it can be stated that company can easily enhance its market share in the UK market.

Also, it is recommended for the company to maintain its price according to the price of the competitors as it can help to reduce the threat in the competitive market. If the price is high from the other competitors present in the market, then it can be difficult to accomplish the desired goals and objectives in the market. So, prices should be reasonable so that it can be simple to focus on the target market and also it will boost the demand of the product in the market.

The next recommendation is related with quality that should be maintained so that it can be easy to attract the customers towards the products and services offered in the market by the company. Also, it is the strength that should be maintained by the company. Also, the company should focus on opening outlets so that right opportunity can be grabbed but it should be done by considering the competitors in the market. So, these should be considered by considering the factor related to SWOT analysis.

References 

Alhawsawi, R., 2016. Marketing Mix in FMCG’s leading Companies: Four Ps Analysis. International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research, 7(2), pp.734-737.

Bull, J.W., Jobstvogt, N., Böhnke-Henrichs, A., Mascarenhas, A., Sitas, N., Baulcomb, C., Lambini, C.K., Rawlins, M., Baral, H., Zähringer, J. and Carter-Silk, E., 2016. Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats: A SWOT analysis of the ecosystem services framework. Ecosystem Services, 17(9), pp.99-111.

Hasan, M.M., 2015. Marketing Analysis of Unilever. Total Quality Management, 11(6), p.13.

Laursen, L.N. and Andersen, P.H., 2016. Supplier involvement in NPD: A quasi-experiment at Unilever. Industrial Marketing Management, 58, pp.162-171.

Lipton, 2018.Feel good. [Online] Available from: https://www.lipton.com/us/en/home.html [Accessed on 7^th December 2018].

Murphy, P.E. and Murphy, C.E., 2018. Sustainable Living: Unilever. In Progressive Business Models (pp. 263-286). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.

Nazarova, V., 2015. Corporate Diversification Effect on Firm Value (Unilever Group Case Study). Annals of Economics and Finance, 16(1), pp.173-198.

Shah, M.B., 2015. A financial ratio analysis of Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL). RESEARCH HUB-International Multidisciplinary Research Journal (RHIMRJ), 2(5), pp.1-5.

Sim, S., King, H. and Price, E., 2016. The role of science in shaping sustainable business: unilever case study. In Taking Stock of Industrial Ecology (pp. 291-302). Springer, Cham.

Singh, D.V., 2016. Role of FMCG Companies towards Corporate Social Responsibility (Indian Insight). International Journal of Marketing and Human Resource Management, 7(1),pp.56.

Stack, E.M., Grenville, D., Poole, R., Harnett, H. and Horn, E., 2015. Commissioner for Inland Revenue v Lever Brothers and Unilever Ltd: a practical problem of source. Southern African Business Review, 19(1), pp.161-182.

Statista, 2018. Lipton products ranked by number of users in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2013 to 2017 (in 1,000s). [Online] Available from: https://www.statista.com/statistics/311728/lipton-leading-producs-in-the-uk/ [Accessed on 7^th December 2018].

Thorlakson, T., Hainmueller, J. and Lambin, E.F., 2018. Improving environmental practices in agricultural supply chains: the role of company-led standards. Global Environmental Change, 48(9), pp.32-42.

Unilever, 2018a. Lipton. [Online] Available from: https://www.unilever.co.uk/brands/food-and-drink/lipton.html [Accessed on 7^th December 2018].

Unilever, 2018b.Who are we. [Online] Available from: https://www.unilever.com/about/who-we-are/ [Accessed on 7^th December 2018].