Lever Brothers was founded in 1885 by William Hesketh Lever. The company initially started its operations by manufacturing soap. In 1917, the company began to diversify into foods, acquiring fish, ice cream and canned foods businesses in order to apply synergies caused by commonalities in the raw materials required to produce and distribute these products. In 1930, the Dutch company Margarine Unie merged with a British company, Lever Brothers, to form the multinational Unilever.
Unilever has two parent companies: Both companies have the same directors and effectively operate as a single business. 2. Marketing Management Philosophy
Marketing management process undertakes the stages of strategy formulation, implementation and control. Therefore, it is imperative to first identify the adopted marketing management philosophy by the organization. Organisational purpose of Unilever clearly states that organisation’s focal attention is centered towards anticipation and satisfaction of customer needs and wants. Kotler (2000) mentions that marketing concept holds that the key to achieving its organizational goals consists of the company being more effective than competitors in creating, delivering and communicating customer value to its chosen target markets.
Deep insight into organizational purpose reveals that goals and objectives of Unilever depend on determining the needs and wants of target markets and to satisfy the customers efficiently than competitors. The company also considers its role as socially responsible entity by ethical business practices and ongoing welfare projects in many of the South Asian markets. Such adopted marketing management philosophy as a central element of corporate purpose will definitely influence the international/Global strategy of Unilever. Hence, it can be concluded that whole of the business philosophy of Unilever is embedded into marketing oriented organization with the purpose to keep in