HUL creates 14 consumer clusters to widen market reach

Consumer goods major Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) has embarked on a new strategy, "Winning in Many Indias" to become the market leader in most of the categories it is present in.

It said on Monday it has reorganised its market operations from traditional four sales branches to 14 consumer clusters to service diverse consumers across channels and geographies.

In the process the company has added a fifth branch in Central India, which is considered to be an underpenetrated but highly potential region.

"This model brings us closer to our local consumers and provides us with a more granular understanding of consumers and competitors. It helps us serve our diverse consumer base in more differentiated and relevant ways across the country," HUL chairman Harish Manwani said at the 82nd Annual General Meeting.

''At HUL, we have a simple model to ensure that we leverage the full opportunity that India presents by serving the many Indias within the country. This is essential for the long term growth of the Company and more importantly it also fulfils our commitment to contribute to India's growth and development in an inclusive and sustainable manner,'' Manwani said.

He further added that this model has brought the company closer to the consumers and helped it to strategise its marketing in a more differentiated and relevant manner across the country.

''This has driven us to involve in innovative marketing initiatives to engage with our consumers in the remotest corners of the country," Manwani said, citing an example that while beauty products sold more in West Bengal, fabric conditioners are sold more in Tamil Nadu. 

Meanwhile, during a recent analyst meet, the company had said that the new strategy has helped the company gain market share in 90 per cent of its portfolio.

Société Générale's senior analyst Nitin Mathur said in a report that the 14-cluster strategy was to focus on increasing the quality of distribution and increase be-spoke products and strategies to counter local competition.

In the report, Mathur had added that Pepsodent clove oil and salt toothpaste for South India and small pack tea and unique sampling trade offers in coastal Andhra Pradesh did well.

Similarly, the company manoeuvred at price points in laundry to shift consumers from local brands to Rin brand in Uttar Pradesh, while promoting small refrigerators to push ice-cream sales.