Select an existing company of any size, any location which provides any product or service - Essay Example

Unilever does not sell under its own name, instead uses variety of brand names to create feeling of diversity and local touch. According to Jameson (2007), when the company links business task on hand with the cultural factors of the community where it is going to operate; the chances of positive outcome increases manifold. The several components of the cultural identity can be seen in the working of the company across various geographical boundaries. It takes into account the various cultural traits while forming the various business strategies, marketing campaigns to target their users.

The company identifies with different classes of the people in launching its products and communicates clearly that a particular product serves the purpose of a particular class. The company has deep roots in developing countries. An example to be made here is Shakti initiative made by the company in India (HLL Project Shakti…). The word Shakti in native language means strength. The purpose was to reach rural class under the initiative. Sales women were trained to talk to these rural masses in their local dialect to serve their needs through variety of personal care and home products.

Door to door campaign and showing small video to the villagers was their main task. Thus, they got their income by selling the Unilever products. India has wide diversity in cultures and languages. Apart, more than 15 languages are spoken at the state levels and further there are local dialects and it is quite challenging to understand such nitty-gritty of the class and language diversity. The strength of the Unilever lies in meeting those challenges. Shakti initiative is a unique way of dealing with such multicultural class of people forming a large number of linguistic groups across various Indian states.

The vastness of this project can be understood from the involvement of numerous Shakti entrepreneurs (HLL Project Shakti…) who are operating in thousands of villages meeting the needs of nearly 100 million consumers. In fact, the company is communicating to wide cultures, across different linguistic groups in widely spread locations. Such an example of communication cutting across large linguistic groups is hard to find. The Shakti initiative has doubled the reach of Unilever in rural households, which is exemplary in the sense that company’s brands have reached to the difficult terrain of hilly North East States (HLL Project Shakti…).

In another example, Hindustan Unilever (subsidiary in India) greatly takes care of the buying capacity of its rural class who cannot afford large packaging of the product. The company launched for them shampoo in small one-use sachets that is what people in rural India greatly aspired for as they cannot afford big packing as normally bought by their urban counterparts (Unilever and Emerging…). Unilever have mastered the class differentiation while offering the products as it makes Surf Excel for the effluent class; Wheel for the rural folks and for the middle class it is Rin.

(Unilever and Emerging…) Gender is another crucial aspect as noted by Unilever in marketing its products. Hindustan Lever is forefront in launching schemes empowering women. The company tapped over 45,000 women micro-entrepreneurs and motivated them to