PROJECT SHAKTI

Ali Shahid
Rana Jahanzaib
Sohaib Iftikhar

HUL Introduction
Unilever the world's largest Fast Moving
Consumer Goods (FMCG) company with
a worldwide revenue of $55 billion.

Indian Subsidary

It's Indian subsidiary, (HUL) is the

country's largest FMCG company with
combined volumes of about 4 million
tonnes with 6.4 million retail outlets.

SHAKTI = STRENGTH
Hindustan Unilever Limited to tap
the RURAL market conceived of
Project Shakti.
This project was started in
2001

Tapping the fortune at the

bottom of the Pyramid

What was the reason

behind SHAKTI ?

Increasing Companys rural

distribution reach.
+
Providing rural women with
income generating opportunities.

4,00,000
VILLAGES

Is this is a case where the social

goals are helping to achieve
business goals ??

How the Project started ?

Villages of Andhra Pradesh
with a population of about 20003000 are selected

Personnel from HUL approach

SHGs.

Selection of the Shakti

Amma

HUL vouches for Shakti Ammas with

banks from credit.

One Shakti entrepreneur is appointed for

one village & villages that are about
2km apart from her village

Another interesting point is :

HUL provides some trainings to

Ammas like
Sales
Commercial Knowledge
Bookkeeping

Shakti Amma was really

important ? isn't ?
The recruitment of a Shakti Amma
begins with the executives of HUL
identifying the uncovered village.

The representative of the company

meets the panchayat and the
village head and identify the

After training she is asked to put

up Rs 15000 - 20,000 as
investment which is used to buy
products for selling.

Pricing and Packaging

Rural
consumers
are
price
sensitive
So HUL focused on Sachets and
small packs of premium products.

Price doesnt
sachet.

exceed

Rs.5

per

SOME OF THE PRODUCTS SOLD THROUGH

PROJECT SHAKTI

AT
RS.5

AT
RS.5

AT
RS.2

AT
RS.5

AT
RS.5

AT
RS.5

AT
RS.1.5
0

AT
RS.6

Distribution
It is the combination of the 3 ways:
Door to door selling (11% margin on
sales)
Sells from own home (11% margin on
sales)
Retailers (3% margin)

averages sales :
Rs. 10,000 - Rs. 15,000/month,
profit - Rs.1,000 per month

Companys website says

For those with Husbands who

work in the fields, this typically
doubles the household income.

Results
Sales

increase in AP was 15%

45000+ Shakti Ammas
Project awarded a silver trophy in
EMPI (Indian express Indian
innovation awards)

Some Issues
Low

margins .
Difficulty in acquiring
finance
transportation
Low disposable income
(dependence on monsoon)

Rana Jahanzaib

Shakti Days
A Promotional event with plenty
of Activity , music, games etc.

What can be the Advantages of

these Shakti days to the
company ???

Creating

a BUZZ of the Project

Increased sales of Ammas on
that particular day
Advantage against the
competition with the Rural
retailers
The Hype and excitement
creation in other women for being
Amma
Lucky draws for Rural customers

PROGRAMMES
UNDERTAKEN
SHAKTI

VANI

SHAKTI

ENTREPRENEUR

iSHAKTI

COMMUNITY PORTAL

Shakti Vani
Vani means voice
Village women are recruited as
Vanis and trained to
communicate
health and hygiene
womens empowerment

Hand-wash demo in schools

Shakti Activity
free health Camps

Free Dental Camps

iShakti
IT-enabled community portal
across the state of Andhra
Pradesh.

Internet linked computers run

by entrepreneurs

Appearance of ishakti kiosks

The aim is to have 3000 i-Shakti

kiosks by the end of 2010
covering 9500 villages and 18m
people.

SHAKTI ENTREPRENEUR
PROGRAMME
It helps women in rural India set
up small businesses as direct-toconsumer retailers.

What would be the objectives of

HUL behind this Entrepreneur
program ?????

Creating livelihood opportunities for

underprivileged rural women
Program also works to improve the
quality of life in rural India

Consumption habits of the rural people.

Sohaib Iftikhar

Discussion Points
A win-win for both sides HUL
makes money and also spreads
good. Comments?

Why Women ???

 Women

are the target consumers for most of

HLL products
Rural women were more likely to appreciate
the additional income in urban areas
Women were more likely to access into
homes of potential consumers in villages
Focus on women would have greater impact
on the entire household - leads to
improvements in health, hygiene, and
education levels
Most men would be occupied with other
employment and would not devote as much
time to the activity

Do you think the Shakti Model

can be implemented in Pakistan?
If yes. How??

Modalities,
Modalities, Scope
Scope &
& Scale
Scale
Selling
beauty
services
Selling
Unileve
r
brands
Reward
s
against
sales
900
(2012
)

2500
(2013
)

4000
(2014
)

6500
(2015)

Please Share your learning

and ask questions..

???
Do you think that this project
Shakti is 100% accurate as far as
the Rural Marketing and
Distribution is concerned ??

If NO ? Reasons ?

The End