Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) is an Indian consumer goods company that was established in 1931. It is headquartered in Mumbai, India, and is a subsidiary of Unilever, a British company. The company has 18000 employees and its portfolio has 35 product brands in 20 different categories. Its products include beverages, foods, cleaning agents, personal care products, water purifiers, and other fast-moving consumer goods. The company has clocked sales of Rs. 34619 crores. It is the market leader in Indian consumer goods with 20 consumer categories which include detergents, soaps, tea, and shampoos amongst others with more than 700 million consumers using its products in India. Out of all HUL’s brands, 16 featured in the ACNielsen Brand Equity list of 100 most trusted brands annual survey.
India’s leading dishwasher brand and dishwashing category creator Vim, a brand of HUL announced its foray into the machine dishwash segment with the launch of Vim Matic. The Indian dishwasher manufacturers witnessed a 250% increase in demand because of an increase in difficulties like managing chores by households during the lockdown. Taking this into consideration, Vim has chosen to extend its category from hand dishwashing to machine dishwashing with this new product. This new product range includes Rinse Aid, detergent powder, salt, and all-in-one tablet which complete the first three tasks and thus adding convenience to the user experience. This new product includes enzymes that help in cutting through touch Indian grease that forms from oil, masala, and tea. Vim is one of the top brands that is trusted by the customers in India the reason being its superior degreasing ability. There was a change in customers’ behavior towards products during the pandemic and many considered adopting a machine dishwasher at home and understanding the situation, the company has decided to upgrade to stay in touch with customers. The new product, Vim Matic is designed by the company to not only address the needs of consumers in India but also to break the myth that machine dishwashers not suitable for customers in India.
The company before the launching of its new product conducted extensive research and found that apprehension of Indian cooking stains being removed is one of the biggest barriers for dishwasher usage. Based on this research, Vim designed Vim Matic that is suitable for removing Indian grease.
