HOW HUL TURNED THE TIDE

While the HUL top management refuses to admit competition from Patanjali Ayurved and regional brands did impact growth, key strategic moves indicate the FMCG major is ensuring that it’s not complacent.

Winning In Many Indias (WIMI)

In 2014, HUL decided to slice India into 14 clusters based on consumption habits, income and state of development. As per the WIMI guidelines the company has tried to localise its products, marketing and supply chain strategies. Coffee consumption habits in Karnataka are different from Tamil Nadu. HUL recently launched a variant of Bru instant coffee in Karnataka

Country Category Business Teams (CCBT) Last year, HUL set up 15 CCBTs going by the philosophy that big will not beat small, and the agile and nimble will beat the slow. While it may be India’s largest FMCG company it needs to have the soul, swiftness and agility of a small company. Each CCBT has its own marketing, finance, innovation, customer development and supply chain resources and functions like mini-boards

Digital Focus

HUL has been resorting to data analytics and AI to not just come up with superior products for consumers, but is also using it in its supply chain and retailing. The company is also helping kirana stores go online