Alexandra Gatej, chairperson of Unilever South Central Europe (USCE), one of the leading players on the consumer goods market, has revealed that the company's advertising budget has increased by over 10-15% year-on-year.
Gatej says the expansion of international store networks has had a positive impact on Unilever's domestic business, but their presence will not reduce the importance of traditional retail.
"(...) The reason is simple: a brand cannot be powerful if it is just present in supermarkets. Moreover, Romania is still a country with a large part of its population living in rural areas," explains Gatej.
According to the latest data available, Unilever is the second biggest investor on the domestic advertising market, after Procter & Gamble.
Unilever is present on the domestic laundry detergent market with the Dero, Omo and Bona brands, and accounts for 30.4% of this market, according to the data released for the first half by the Nielsen market research company, as quoted by Unilever. Against the second half of 2006, the company's share of the detergent market registered a slight increase of 1%. Detergents account for a significant amount of Unilever's domestic sales. Apart from detergents, house-cleaning products were one of the most dynamic categories in the company's portfolio this summer. Unilever currently accounts for around 20% of the domestic house cleaning products market in terms of value, according to Nielsen data, as quoted by the company. Gatej explains that one of the specific features of the Romanian market is the tendency for consumers to always try new products out of curiosity.
The company will continue to focus on its established product categories, and does not plan on entering any other market segments in the short term. "There are still a lot of growth opportunities on the segments we are already present on," Gatej explains. As an example, Gatej indicates the low degree of penetration for deodorant products on the domestic market. Margarine, however, has a higher rate of penetration, but there are still opportunities for consumption levels to increase.
Unilever produces margarine in a factory in Ploiesti and holds a share of almost 57% of the market in terms of value, according to company data.
Last year, Unilever decided to transfer margarine production from Targu Mures to Ploiesti and move concentrated soup and spice production from Otopeni to the same location. The consolidation of the entire domestic production on a platform in Prahova county has involved the construction of a food production plant, which is on a site where Unilever has owned a detergent plant since 1995.
Domestic sales currently account for around 70% in USCE's turnover and, in terms of the number of consumers, the Romanian market remains the largest in the Balkan region.
Unilever
The second largest investor on the advertising market
Accounts for 30.4% share of the laundry detergent market
House cleaning products were one of the most dynamic sectors in the company's portfolio this year; Unilever accounts for 20% of this market
Intends to continue to focus on its established product segments
Domestic production accounts for around 70% of turnover generated by the company in Romania; turnover rose by 18% last year to 163m euros
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