SUBMITTED TO
Submitted to:
Dr. Nazrul Islam Professor Department of Business Administration East West University

SUBMITTED BY
Students of the
Department of Business Administration

| | |
|Name of the students |ID No. |
|Jaheda Sultana |2009-1-10-029 |
|Md. Tanvir Hossain |2009-2-10-344 |
|Md. Towhidur Rahman |2009-1-10-152 |

Principles of Management
Course Code: Mgt101

SUBMISSION DATE: 11August, 2010

East West University

Transmittal Message

16 August 2010
Course Instructor,
Dr. Nazrul Islam,
MGT-101, Sec-2, Principles of Management
East West University.

Subject: Letter of Transmittal.

Dear Sir,
With great pleasure we submit our project report on “Analysis of Planning for Surf Excel in Bangladesh” that you have assigned to us as an important requirement of the MGT-101 course. We have found the study to be quite interesting, beneficial and insightful. We have tried our level best to prepare an effective and creditable report.
We honestly hope that our analysis will help to give idea of management planning of a business in the real world.
We hope you will find this report worth all the labor we have put in it.

Yours Sincerely,
Md. Towhidur Rahman

Jaheda Sultana

Md. Tanvir Hossain

Table of contents:

Acknowledgement …………………………………………………….5
Executive summery……………………………………………………6
Introduction……………………………………………………………7
Objectives……………………………………………………………...8
Research methodology………………………………………………...9
Limitation of the paper……………………………………………….10
History of Unilever…………………………………………………...11
Symbolization of the logo…………………………………………….12
Constitution…………………………………………………………...13
Management committee………………………………………………13
Mission………………………………………………………………..14
Business portfolio……………………………………………………..15
Surf Excel detergent…………………………………………………..18
Mission of Surf Excel…………………………………………………18
Objectives of Surf Excel………………………………………………18
Goals…………………………………………………………………..19
MBO…………………………………………………………………..19
Plans for Surf Excel…………………………………………………...20
Planning for production of Surf Excel………………………………...21
Planning for pricing…………………………………………………...23
Planning for marketing………………………………………………..24
Planning for targeting…………………………………………………26
Planning for positioning………………………………………………27
Choosing competitive advantage……………………………………...29
Planning for distribution……………………………………………....31
Planning for promotion………………………………………………..32
Conclusion…………………………………………………………….35
References…………………………………………………………….36

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

“The hardest steel goes through the hottest furnace.”
The same was the case with us. We faced many problems when we started the work on report but we are greatly thankful to Almighty Allah for enabling us to get successfully through our responsibilities.
Very warm and special thanks to our respected course instructor Dr. Nazrul Islam, whose real dedication and devotion kindled in our hope and light. Sir we thank your ability of extracting the very best out of us, for your patience and perseverance, and also for acknowledging the efforts made by us during the whole semester.
We would like to give thanks especially to our friends and group members, for their enthusiastic encouragements and helps during the preparation of this term paper by sharing ideas regarding this subject and for their assistance in typing and proof reading this manuscript.

Executive Summary

Over the last four decades, Unilever Bangladesh has been constantly bringing new and world-class products for the Bangladeshi people to remove the daily drudgery of life. They work in this country since from 1964; in that time the company was a part of west Pakistan but after liberation war the company continue the business as an independent company.
Unilever’s mission is to add vitality to life. They meet everyday needs for nutrition; hygiene and personal care with brands that help people feel good, look good and get more out of life.
One of their homecare brands is Surf Excel. It was launched in 1993 and since its inception with top clean expertise. It is the highest selling premium washing powder in Bangladesh. It has been a pioneer in the country in encouraging other to let their children explore and discover the world around them and their proposition is “Dirt is Good”
In this paper we have analyzed the overall planning for Surf Excel. Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. set goals for Surf Excel and the band manager and the employees make plans for production, pricing and marketing of the product to reach their mission which is stated by their top management. for that at first we have discussed something about Unilever and then studied the planning for Surf excel. When they plan for the production, pricing and marketing of the product they need to oversee the previous activities and make some suggestion for the plan. Thus they are using the management activity called planning in various sectors.

Introduction
“No matter who you are, or where in the world you are, the chances are that our products are a familiar part of your daily routine. Every day, around the world, people reach for Unilever products”- this is the belief of the management committee of Unilever. The brands of Unilever are trusted everywhere. From the kitchen to the bathroom shelf we are bound to see a Unilever product. In fact, 150 million times a day, someone somewhere chooses a Unilever product. People's lives are changing fast. As the way we all live and work evolves, our needs and tastes change too. At Unilever they aim to help people in their daily lives. So they keep developing products, improving tried and tested brands and promoting better, more efficient ways of working. For that they need to make plans and strategies ad this is done by their brand managers. Surf Excel is a brand of Unilever which is the leader of the laundry market in Bangladesh. The brand itself has no meaning without its parent company. That’s why Unilever sets a goal for Surf Excel and the brand manager of Surf Excel

Objectives
Primary objectives: The analyses of planning for surf excel in Bangladesh.

Secondary objectives: In this report we have tried to show 1. History, mission, objectives of Unilever 2. Their portfolio in Bangladesh 3. Introduction of Surf Excel 4. Their mission, goals and plans 5. Details of the planning

Research Methodology

The research was done based on both primary data and secondary data.

The primary data are 1. Visiting Unilever Head office. 2. Questioning the brand manager.

The secondary data are 1. Internet 2. Newspaper 3. Text book

Limitations of the Paper

Since our study is based on both primary and secondary data, there is a possibility of getting fake information. If the surveyed personnel provide us with any marketing information about their opinion of their organization, then the report findings may be erroneous. Above all, this study is weak in some points. The notable ones are as under:
• The survey was conducted in a very short time so we were not able to collect more information.
• The questionnaire contains some questions that, if answered properly, might damage the company’s image. In this type of questions, the respondents might provide socially acceptable answers. This risk was unavoidable.

History of Unilever

Unilever's roots go back more than a century! Margarine was first produced commercially in the Netherlands in the 1870s and by 1927 two early manufacturers, Jurgens and Van den Bergh, decided to merge their operations to form Margarine Unie.
Meanwhile, in the UK, William Hesketh Lever founded his company, Lever Brothers, in 1885 and soon established soap factories around the world. In 1917, he began to diversify into foods, acquiring fish, ice cream and canned food businesses.
The Unilever Group came together in 1930 through the merger of Margarine Unie and Lever Brothers. Since then Unilever has operated as one. Although there are still two parent companies, Unilever N.V. and Unilever PLC, they operate as one and are linked by a series of agreements, follow common policies and have the same directors.
The origin dates back to 1964, when the first Manufacturing Operations were set up as a part of Lever Brothers Pakistan operations. After independence, it was incorporated as a separate Company under the laws of Bangladesh. Later on the Company diversified into different categories.
Their own manufacturing operations are based in Chittagong where they have soap manufacturing unit and a state of the art Personal Product manufacturing plant. Besides, there is a tea packaging operation in Chittagong and three manufacturing units in Dhaka, which are exclusively dedicated to Unilever Bangladesh.

Symbolization of the logo:

Constitution:

Unilever - 60.75% shares and
Government of Bangladesh - 39.25%

Strategic Business Unit:

1. Beauty & Style 2. Around the house 3. Cooking & eating 4. Healthy living

Management Committee: :

Managing Director & Chairman
Mr. Rakesh Mohan

Finance Director Supply Director
Mr. mahtab Uddin Ahmed Imran Momin

Customer Development HR Director Director Mizanur Rashid Jerry Josh

Brand Director (empty)

Mission:

Unilever's corporate mission – to add vitality to life – shows how clearly the business understands 21st century-consumers and their lives. But the spirit of this mission forms a thread that runs throughout our history, leading right back to the late 19th century.

Objectives:
Unilever’s long-term success requires-
* A total commitment to exceptional standards of performance and productivity,
* To work together effectively
* To a willingness to embrace new ideas and learn continuously.
* To develop its employees by encouraging empowerment and rewarding innovation.
* Establish harmonious relationship with the community and promote greater environmental responsibility within its sphere of influence.
Business portfolio:

Beauty & Style:

|Skin Cleansing |Lux, Dove, Lifeboy |[pic][pic] |
|Skin care |Fair & Lovely, Ponds, Fair & Handsome, | |
| |Lakme | |
|Oral brand |Pepsodent, Close up | |
|Hair Care |Sunsilk, Dove, All Clear, Lifeboy |[pic] |
|Personal grooming |Rexona, Axe | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
|Colors |Lakme | |

Cooking & Eating:

|Foods |Lipton, Tazza | |

Around The House:

|Fabric Cleaning |Wheel, Surf Excel |[pic][pic] |
|House Care |Vim | |

Surf Excel Detergent:

Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. has launched Surf Excel in 1993 and since its inception with top clean expertise; the brand is positioned at the top of the pyramid as one of the most valued Home Care brands in the country. Globally it is one of the old brands of Unilever operating with the names like Omo, Percil and Skip. The brand is market leader in most of the countries it operates in.

Mission of Surf Excel:
The main mission of surf excel is to encourage creativity. When a child creates something using his own imagination, then he may get dirty. No matter how dirty are the clothes, because surf Excel will take care of this.

Objectives:
The main objective of Unilever for Surf Excel is to gain market share. For this they are doing various types of promotional activities and ensure their customers the best laundry services.

Goals:
Unilever’s goal is to add vitality, social value to our life and lessened environmental impact. And Surf Excel aims at washing and caring for clothes which is a constant challenge and which may encourage to creativity. It may work for the purpose of adding more vitality and social value in our lives. And their internal goal is to make Surf Excel best to the bestest brand in this category by managing the overall activities properly.

Management By Objectives (MBO):
To establish these goals Surf Excel use MBO where both the employees and the brand manager work jointly for accomplishing goals. Top management (the management committee) of Unilever sets goals for Surf Excel and brand manager work on that. He gives instructions to the employees and employees can participate in decision making, performance evaluation and feedback. As they don’t face problems for dynamic factors so they can easily use this.

Plans for Surf Excel:
Plans are the documents that outline how goals are to be accomplished. Plans for surf excel is mainly done by the brand manager. But employee can also have the right to participate in decision making. There are two types of plans they use for planning

** Strategic Planning: Here, they told about the overall organization’s goals and its individual goals. Like the corporate goal is to add vitality and brand goal is to encourage creativity by giving scope of doing something with dirt which can add social value to our lives and may not affect the environmental factors.

** Operational Plans: This specifies the details of how the goals are to be achieved.
Unilever divides operational plans for Surf Excel into 3 categories. ⇨ Planning for Production ⇨ Planning for Pricing ⇨ Planning for Marketing

Planning for production of Surf Excel:
Planning for production is one of the most important parts of Surf Excel. An organized planning is needed to produce the perfect product. In production level planning is also important because Surf Excel is a global product and they try to keep their product quality same in all the country they do business. For production related planning they plan about the ingredients used in production, resource allocation, labors, duration for production etc. The detail information is given below-

Ingredients for production:
In production Surf Excel use a specific plan. They use same kind of formula for producing their product all over the world. They try to use same kind of ingredients all over the world as well. For producing a better quality washing powder they plan to use the ingredients for producing Surf Excel, they are: LAS-AD, Sodium Carbonate, STPP, SCMC, Enzyme, Tinopaul CBS X, and Tinopaul DMAX. With the mentioned ingredient they plan to use a specific formula to produce it which they do not reveal.

Machine for production:
Which particular machine they use to produce Surf Excel, they also keep it secret. But they revealed some point. They use highly technologically improved machine. All machines are fully automated. For production in Bangladesh they plan to use the entire machine imported from another country.

Duration period of producing a unit:
To be produced a single unit needs to overcome several steps. Although thousands of units produced in a minute but producing a single unit from first to last takes time. It takes approximately 130 minutes to produce a single unit.
Labor for production:
In production the whole process is done by the fully automated machine. So there is a little labor used in production. Mainly the labors are used to operate machines and load ingredients to the machine. For that they plan to recruit 10/15 labors and give them instruction on their activities.

Allocation:
Surf Excel have strong finance department for production. Surf Excel make special plan for their resource allocation. For production they make a plan to use both local and foreign resources. Most of the ingredients and machine they use are imported from another country but they also try to use some items available in Bangladesh. Their financial department helps them to manage the resource allocation.

Packaging:
Surf Excel always plans to make a unique outlook of the pack. They have a department called packaging department. The employees of packaging department make a plan for how to pack the product, what is the materials used to pack, how colorful will it be etc. While they plan for packaging, they consult 3 models (General Trade, Local Modern Trade and International Modern Trade). And they plan such a way for packaging which symbolizes their proposition, create impulsive desires and stand out among other laundry brands.

These are the things planned in the production period. Besides they also make a plan on how to manage relationship with the suppliers and resource allocators during the production period.

Planning for Pricing:
When they plan for pricing the product, they always try making it reasonable but a little bit more than the other laundry brands. For pricing they always focus on the SKU’s or the quantity or packages of the product. They don’t use the cost based pricing because that will not be much profitable.

After production and packaging they sketch a chart or make a plan for pricing just based on the quantity through assumption. Then they try to get some consultation from their employees and finally by the process MBO they set a price for which consumers can make more purchase and the company can make a healthy profit and gain a large market share.
And the price of their product become the following-

|SL. No. |Product Name |Quantity |Price ( MRP) |
|1. |Surf Excel pack |500 gm |90tk |
|2. |Surf Excel pack |250 gm |50tk |
|3. |Surf excel mini |20 gm |3tk |

Planning for Marketing:
Plans for marketing involve plans for segmentation, targeting, positioning, distribution and promotional activities.
[pic]

Planning For Segmentation:

After producing and pricing the product, manager plans for segmentation. In many company this part is done before production but in Unilever Company for Surf Excel they use this after pricing stage because they never segment the product, they segment the market based upon some variables which is not so much flexible. They always plans to segment the market based on income, benefit sought and social class and thus they make SKU’s.
For segmentation they use the variables those are---
[pic]

|SL. |Segmentation |Reason |Examples |
|1 |Income |Consumers prepare to spend according to their income|Higher income, moderate income. |
| | |scale. | |
|2 |Social Class |Different classes’ people want different quality and|Upper class, Middle class and |
| | |price to purchase. |Lower class |
|3 |Benefits sought |Quality, service, economy and convenience differ |Some want quick wash, some want |
| | |from consumer to consumer. |to care fabric and colour, some |
| | | |want to detergent for washing |
| | | |machine. |

This Segmentation helps to plan for the SKU’s which they will use for selling and marketing.

Stock Keeping Unit (SKU):
This brand has mainly 3 SKU’s.
► 250 gm
► 500 gm
► 20 gm
And there is no variation of product among these three SKU’s.

Planning for Targeting:
Target Market:
When they plan for segmentation, they set up their target market. And the main target market of surf excel is the modern, energetic and outgoing female having two or more kids. Women who are outgoing and get very short time to make up their homes, they often face the problem of dirty clothes. As they stay less time at home and spend few times in washing clothes, Surf Excel is a detergent which can help her in washing clothes easily. With the use of Surf Excel, women can quickly wash their clothes and other things which reduce their time and effort in this work.

Competitors:
After that they plan for overseeing their competitor’s strategies. Actually, the brand manager of Surf Excel believes that they have no competitors in laundry market in Bangladesh. Globally they have competitors, but in Bangladesh they haven’t competitors. So they don’t need to handle their competitors.

Market Share:
After that they try to expand their market share. As we said that they don’t have any competitors in Bangladeshi laundry market, they are getting 100% market share in this category. But they plan for expanding more market share, customer share and also plan for not providing chances to home care other brands of other company to have their customer share.

Planning for Positioning:
For positioning at first they plan for the competitive advantages. For that they indentify the advantages, choose one of them, state a positioning statement and try to promote that.

They always plan to have advantages in 6 P’s because for marketing they use 6 P’s. They are-

1. Product:
For finding advantages from the product they divide the levels of product. Then plan according to the level of product. They are-

Core Benefit: The core benefit, plans for Surf Excel is washing and cleaning.
Actual Product: Surf Excel itself is an actual product. Its name, features has made it more distinctive. Besides, it always offers the product of superior quality. And its packaging has made its outlook attractive to the consumers. The logo of Surf Excel has also made it different from other brands. It is also planned for positioning.

Augmented Product: The production process of surf excel is very unique. And it never compromise with the quality of product. Besides, sometimes to promote their product manager does sometime additional promotional activities. In addition to improve the functional benefits of the product, creative initiatives are taken by understanding the consumer’s needs and serving them appropriately which makes the brand unique.
2. Pricing:
They plan for pricing the product which is always reasonable in premium.
3. Place:
Manager plans that the consumers can easily find Surf Excel in their nearest shops. The company plans for distributing their products through effective channels so that people can easily purchase and they get leverage from these.
4. Promotion:
They mainly plan to use electronic media to make people aware about their product. They also think about to promote the product through rewarding consumers and trade promotion.
5. Proposition:
The proposition of surf excel is “Dirt is Good”. This really seems negative to the general people. While creating something, every child gets dirty. The detergent tells the consumers, let the children get play and dirty. Surf excel will take care of this. So the main purpose of this proposition is to encourage the creativity. They think thoroughly about the hiding fact and made it the proposition. 5. Packaging:
The manager makes a plan for packaging that’s why Surf Excel maintains a unique packaging which makes its look different from other brand.

Choosing Competitive Advantages:
Actually, all the advantages are focused for promotion. But the brand proposition is broadly promoted which tells the brands identity. The proposition “Dirt is Good” is a modern parenting concept that has inspired Surf Excel to make parents understand that dirt is good by shedding concerns about being dirty. This is really a new concept. And this is the USP (Unique Selling Proposition) for Surf Excel. That’s why they plan to make this their main competitive advantage.

Besides, other 5 P’s are supporting for surf excel.

Positioning Statement
After deciding the most competitive advantage they plans to formulate a positioning statement. That is-----
To the modern, energetic and outgoing female having two or more kids who have less time to spend in washing clothes, Surf Excel is a detergent that helps them to wash the clothes within short time and ensures the previous brightness.

Overall Positioning Strategy: Surf excel is the laundry market leader in Bangladesh. The managers of Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. believe that for surf excel, they have no competitors in market. When there is no competitor in the market, no need to follow any positioning strategy, because they provide their customers superior services.

But they plan to follow “More for More” positioning strategy where they provide the best service or highest benefits and charge the higher price to cover the higher cost.

Planning For Distribution:
For the distribution of Surf Excel Unilever always plans to follow indirect process of distribution. That means, they always use different channels to distribute their products. They plan like that, at first, they produce Surf Excel at their own factory. Then they plan to send a sample to their own research centre. After that, they make a plan for packaging and send it to the distributors. Their distributers are supposed to sell the product in a particular area. Then the retailers or the agent of different departmental shops collects Surf-Excel from the distributers. Finally, the consumers get their desired product from their nearest shops what they planned before. Their plan for distribution is like following chart-

1. Production house 2. Research Department/Office 3. Packaging section 4. Distributors 5. Retailers or Departmental Shops ( Agora, Nandan etc)

6. Consumers

The brand manager of Surf Excel believes that their channels are effective for distribution. Because the product can be found almost everywhere in the country as they have planned, even it also found in some remotest area where no other brands have come before.

Planning for Promotion:
For promotion, they plan to use different media to make people known with their product. Like-
Traditional media:
Using traditional Medias Unilever always promotes Surf Excel for better marketing. Such as TV commercial, press, outdoor activities etc. The brand is alive in the electronic media throughout the year 2009 & 2010 with three different TV commercials.

Sales promotion:
To encourage the consumers to purchase Surf Excel, they follow some sales promotion tools. Such as, sometimes they offer price of promotion. For example, suppose previously the price of 250gm Surf Excel was 90tk and now it is 70tk only. That offers 20tk off for each 250gm Surf Excel. This is also called rewarding consumers with value discount. This really works well for sales promotion.

Sometimes they do a bit of sampling for sales promotion. Like they produce a new type of Surf Excel and go to some areas, give some samples of new Surf Excel to the home makers. They use those and if they become satisfied, the marketers influence to make more purchase of the product.

Cross promotion is also a tool for brand promotion for Surf Excel. Sometimes Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. offers the customer some other products of their own company in this detergent category like Wheel Power White, While Lemon etc or some other related goods like Wheel soap, Surf Excel Bar etc at a lower price which may encourage them to purchase more.

Trade Promotion:
For trade promotion they offer discounts to the distribution channel. Sometimes they give discounts to their loyal distributers. That may work as their trade promotion.

Public relation activities:
For making a good relationship with the general people many times Surf Excel has done various activities. They sponsor many programs. They also arrange different programs to create a good relationship with public and establish their proposition and success in their mission.

Besides sometimes they take advantages and make a better plan for promotion from their previous experience. For example-

Surf Excel Protibhar Lorai:
Surf Excel always encourages the activities and creativities of children. That’s why in 2006 they have arranged a program named, “Surf Excel Protibhar Lorai”. It was the inter-school contest among the school going children organized by the Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. The contest is designed to help children express their creativity through a range of exiting and challenging games with the participation of nearly 200 reputed schools from all over Bangladesh.

Surf Excel Daag Utshab:
The concept of “Dirt is Good” has been motioned with activities called the “ Daag Utshab” in 2007 where 1500 children participated in the various outdoor games held on the premises of the Residential Model School. The main purpose of the program was explore, learn and get creative. The only shouts from the parents were those of an encouragement and cheering.

Mask Exhibition:
On this Pahela Baishakh Surf Excel had organized a mask exhibition where 400+ masks were exhibited. All the masks are made by children. And this exhibition was named "Surf Excel Dekhao Protibha Mukhoshey Mukhoshey” . The event aims is to involve school-going children of Dhaka with Baishakhi tradition of mask-making. For this, all the contestants had received training from the students of Faculty of Fine Arts (FFA), DU. And this exhibition was held in front of Hotel Sheraton.

This program will help them to decide the future promotional activities or helps in sponsorship which may be very useful to them.

Conclusion
Planning is the base of all managerial activities. It provides the direction for future activities and set a standard for controlling. All the managerial activities are done according to the direction of planning. And we think regarding making plans for Surf Excel the Brand Manager and the employees do always a great job. They give priority of the employee’s perception which may work as motivation. They set a goal which is really helpful for them as well as the society. The details plans for production, pricing and marketing are so much effective that the labors, employees can easily understand the activities. So, from the study we can observe the overall planning of surf excel. But they need to be more upgraded to remain competitive in this world. Apart from that a stream of innovative and successful planning of Surf Excel increased the value of Unilever’s proposition for consumers.

References:

Md. Rashidul Alam
Brand Manager
Surf Excel
Unilever Bangladesh Ltd
Road no. 8, Z. N. Tower,
2nd floor, Gulshan-1, Dhaka.

Unilever Bangladesh at a Glance, Retrieved 10 April, 2010, from-http://www.unilever.com.bd

Surf Excel, Retrieved 9April,2010, from- http://www.unilever.com.bd/ourbrands/homecare/Surfexcel.asp?linkid=dropdown

Abu Zafour ( April 8,2010), Children of the city making masks for Pahela Baishakh, The Daily Star.

-----------------------
Marketing Planning

Plans for segmentation

Plans for targeting

Plans for positioning

Plans for Promotion

Plans for Distribution

Benefits
Sought

Social Class

Income

Behavioral

Psychographic

Demographic

Segmentation

6. Packaging

5. Proposition

4. Promotion

3. Place

2. Price

1. Product

Core benefit

Actual Product

Augmented Product