In April 2000, Unilever N.V., a multinational consumer products firm, bought Ben & Jerry’s, adding to its portfolio of other famous North American ice cream brands, such as Breyers All Natural, Good-Humor, Klondike, and Popsicle.

As a condition of the buyout, Unilever must continue to donate 7.5 percent of all pretax profits to the Ben & Jerry’s Foundation to fund organizations that engage in socially responsive activities, a critical aspect of Ben & Jerry’s mission.

Ben & Jerry’s mission consists of 3 interrelated parts:

In early 2004, Unilever revised its mission and values in response to its Path to Growth strategy that was launched in February 2000.

Unilever’s Mission: “Unilever's mission is to add vitality to life. We meet everyday needs for nutrition, hygiene, and personal care with brands that help people feel good, look good and get more out of life.”

Unilever’s Values: “As a multi-local multinational we aim to play our part in addressing global environmental and social concerns through our own actions, and working in partnership with stakeholders at local, national and international levels.”

Companies can learn from this example. Alignment of corporate Mission and Values will help acquiring companies to create a Branding that stakeholders (employees, customers and marketplace) value, build loyalty with the company and enable Growth and Profitability.

Cite this as:

YouSigma. (2008). "Unilever Branding Strategy." From http://www.yousigma.com.