Henkel
1.Strongest pressure for the brand harmonization was due to the consolidation of European retailers. Retailers are focusing on internationalizing with increasing activity of acquisition and mergers after getting consolidated at variable rates within markets. For instance: combinations of Carrefour and Promodes, of Intermarche and Spar. Products that those retailers are selling should become international also parallel to their evolution, at least those big(heavy buyer) retailers will have greater preference over international branded products over locally known ones. They gained the awareness of the internationalization which is going to be their future in Europe.
On the other hand, what counts most for the consumer is the local effect of the product because laundry and home cleaning are cultural related activities in which preferences are passed down through generations. The main difference is demographics ; Southern Europeans prefers less powerful detergents combined with bleach washed in low temperatures whereas Northern tradition involved with powerful detergents without bleach combination washed in hotter water. Packaging differs also; north people want compact product but in south people want big boxes. Henkel implemented different strategies for different markets relying on those differences like; ``whiteness with care`` for northern market like Germany and France but to catch the large green customer segment in Netherlands an environmentally friendly label named ``Persil Grune`` is launched.
2. Unilever and P&G did an outstanding job harmonizing their brand portfolio internationally. Unilever was to reduce its portfolio from 1600 brands to 400 which they believed would allow to save on production from reduced stock-keeping units, concentrate their marketing support and the leaner, more powerful portfolio would give the company leverage with retailers. P&G followed suit as they decided to internationalize the management of brands by category.
On the other hand, what counts most for the consumer is the local effect of the product because laundry and home cleaning are cultural related activities in which preferences are passed down through generations. The main difference is demographics ; Southern Europeans prefers less powerful detergents combined with bleach washed in low temperatures whereas Northern tradition involved with powerful detergents without bleach combination washed in hotter water. Packaging differs also; north people want compact product but in south people want big boxes. Henkel implemented different strategies for different markets relying on those differences like; ``whiteness with care`` for northern market like Germany and France but to catch the large green customer segment in Netherlands an environmentally friendly label named ``Persil Grune`` is launched.
2. Unilever and P&G did an outstanding job harmonizing their brand portfolio internationally. Unilever was to reduce its portfolio from 1600 brands to 400 which they believed would allow to save on production from reduced stock-keeping units, concentrate their marketing support and the leaner, more powerful portfolio would give the company leverage with retailers. P&G followed suit as they decided to internationalize the management of brands by category.