UNILEVER DIARIES INDIA

Read more about the journey

and experiences of our interns..

UNILEVER

I participated in HUL ‘Lessons in Marketing Excellence’ to dip my toesin the marketing waters! The prompt was thought-provoking and itgot my creative juices flowing. During my primary research, I realizedthat it was important to actively listen to what the consumer wassaying and more importantly what he/she wasn’t saying. My team andI struck an emotional chord with our TG. This helped us build acampaign that we felt was impactful and moreover, it had thepotential to be a driver of social change.

After every round we tried to refine our campaign using insights fromLIME jury, which was a great learning experience. I also learnt how toharness the strengths of an international and diverse team to solve aproblem we cared about. Well, we came up with some whacky ideasand had great fun along the way!

Sagrika Jain, LIME 2020 Winner, London Business School

Throwback to Aug'19 when I was giving my first mock interview to aPlacements’ Committee member at IIM Kozhikode. “What is yourdream company?”, pops the first question. With glistening eyes, Ipromptly reply, “HUL”. Fast forward to September 2019, I had justcome out of the interview room when a Placement Committeemember broke the news to me, I hugged her eyeballs off. I was an HULintern!

Forward to Jan 2020, we had an alumni currently working with HULcome down to the campus and my one and only question to him was,“What are the chances I’ll get to work on something related toadvertising or creatives?”. “Negligible”, he replied, “HUL doesn’t doads, they conceptualize the brief and get an agency to do it”. Forwardto March 2020, we received a mail from the Employer Brand Teamstating the internship would be virtual until further notice. I feltoverwhelmed thinking of all that we were missing on. An amazingoffice experience, bonding with the brightest peers, batch parties andthe Mumbai vibe. But HUL made it a point to deliver all that and more.

Even in these strange times, when conglomerates have deferredinternships or revoked offers; HUL continues to uphold massiverespect for its interns and constantly makes gratifying efforts to makeour virtual journey utmost memorable. From sending welcomehampers, to induction tasks; from holding virtual intern fests, toweekly hackathons; and from onboarding an intern to treating themlike employees; my journey celebrates the spirit of ‘UniquelyUnilever’.

My experience came full circle when I was allotted a unique projectrevolving around creatives and working with the ad agency. Guidance,encouragement and warmth is readily available from all corners. As apart of WhatsApp groups and morning video calls with my team of allbrilliant senior professionals; everyday, I sit in awe of their acronymusage, intense daily hustle, and an enigmatic jugglery of theirpersonal-professional lives. HUL’s professional journey from consumers’ lives to their wallets hasbeen as proficient as its personal journey from the hype in my mind toa feeling in my heart.

Smrutee Ambalkar, ULIP Summer Intern 2020

The last 15 months of UFLP (Unilever Future Leaders Program) havebeen nothing short of phenomenal. I can frankly say I am a differentperson now than what I was when I joined HUL. The amount ofresponsibility and independence handed to us right from Day 1 isstaggering and extremely impactful. You have the freedom to takeyour ideas forward and own the projects completely. I have gone fromworking on Financial Reporting to brainstorming new models ofworking for our sales field force, from working out of a factory inKhamgaon on controls to sitting in the Head Office in Mumbai andcoming up with a business model for one of our new businesses. Thesheer width of experiences I have gained so early on in my career hasgiven me a solid platform to take off from. Recently I took charge inmy very first role as Finance Manager - Zero Based Budgeting. Me andmy team drive the target of delivering 6 Billion Euros of savingsglobally by 2020. There is immense opportunity to unlock, generateand communicate value.

What I have learned in Unilever over the past year is that your opinionmatters in all forums, be it big or small. It is extremely important todevelop a point of view and convey it. Be curious, ask a lot ofquestions and challenge the status quo, it is only then do we addvalue both for ourselves and as well as to the organization.Something I have picked up from Srini (CFO) is to work on an inspiringvision. If the goals are just incremental then the results will also beincremental. In one of our interactions, we were discussing my workplan and it wasn’t audacious enough! I redrafted it and now I ampursuing the plan passionately.

But this is just the beginning, there is so much more to learn anddeliver, and I am super excited.

UFLP Graduate, Aamir Panwala

I always admired the professionalism of HUL through variousinteractions ok campus with some of the leaders. There was a clearpattern I observed in their values and mindset. My interview was amutually enlightening discussion where I was treated not as astudent, but as an equal whose opinions were made to feel valued. Icame out, telling myself that even if I didn’t make it, I’d be takinghome some invaluable lessons! This for me sums up what HUL meantto me as a student. During my internship in 2019, I had an excellent tutor in ChinmayThattey who pushed me to absorb all that I could in 2 months. He putme on to not one, but 5 live challenges and backed me at every stage.I can only look back and reflect on how much this company helped medevelop and hone my skills. Post my internship, I managed to convertthe Pre-Placement interview to join HUL and here I am now as amanagement trainee.

Though we had to be virtually onboarded, HUL ensured that ourexperience remained just the same. I've started my stint in CustomerMarketing where I’m working on two projects; the first involves VWash,a brand that HUL recently acquired and the integration of theirexisting channel structure with ours. The second is on identifyinggrowth avenues for detergent liquids post-Covid, considering thechange in consumer behaviour in the last 3 months with demand forhygiene products skyrocketing. Despite the stint being remote, allresources have been made accessible to us. Whether it is calling mytutor Archna at any point where I'm stuck or requesting teams for datato dwell deeper into my project, everyone has been more than willingto help. I can’t wait to join the forces in person and continue thisfairytale journey! Rohit Ramesh, Sales and Marketing UFLP Management Trainee

Brands have always fascinated me - how they go beyond thephysicality of the products to create an idea, a notion that we buyinto, which is uniquely ours. At IIM-A, HUL stood out as an FMCGpowerhouse with its arsenal of inspiring brands built on thefoundation of values and purpose. That is the idea I bought into andwanted to be a part of. I remember entering the interview room on awheelchair with my fractured ankle (my version of Raju Rastogi) butleaving with an uplifted spirit, pleased with the idea of working at aplace where I will get to combine my pursuits with a sense of purpose!

Fast forward to the internship, I got the opportunity to work on the ‘ohso iconic (err.. Eyeconic)’ Lakmé brand with my tutor, Andrea Raja. Iwas what you could call, a ‘make-up noob’ – relatively untouched andunaware of the vagaries of the beauty world. Andrea guided me onthe nuances of the category while ensuring I don’t lose sight of thebigger picture. During my internship I had a wide array of experiencesranging from crafting concepts, working with creative agencies,attending live ad shoots and market visits to distinguishing betweenthe different shades of red lipsticks ;) I began as a newbie but left asthe ‘Lakmé girl’. That’s the power of HUL brands, you leave a bit of youin the brand, but the brand becomes a part of you forever.

And now, here I am, 3 months into HUL as one of the UFLP trainees. Iam working on Closeup, and just like the brand, my journey so far hasbeen vibrant and exciting. I am working on two workstreams – digitalcontent strategy for core and brand purpose. We are navigating a newterritory on the brand, but the amount of faith my tutor, Saiganu, hasplaced in me is truly empowering. My amazing coach, Ashwini Rao,steps in frequently to take stock of the situation and to guide me withhis words of wisdom. Even though everything’s happening remotely,the kind of support that I am getting from everyone is veryencouraging. I can't wait to continue in person when things getnormal. After all, you can't help but miss the sweet sound of waterfallin HUL's office.

Manisha Yadav, Sales & Marketing UFLP Management Trainee

I still remember me and Aditi (batchmate at ISB and now colleague)were lucky to spend some time with Sanjiv when he came to campusfor a keynote address. I still profoundly remember what he told us “B-School education is important because it teaches you how to learn, asthe work you'll do at HUL will throw plenty of life and business lessonsat you - all you need to do is absorb it." It’s been a month at HUL, andI've come to realize what he meant. I'm not a morning person butwaking up early isn't seeming all that bad since I know I'll get to learnsomething exciting and new every day! Joining vritually comes with its challenges, but the support systemthat HUL provides you with buddies to tutors to coaches to mentors issuper impressive. I was supposed to go to Mexico for an exchangeprogramme had it not been for COVID and in a conversation with anISB alum in HUL, he said now that you are a part of HUL; you'll beseeing more than just Mexico in your time here. This was just music tomy ears. Well for now, my first project has already taken me places albeitvirtually. I am working with the Marketing Finance team and we areevaluating the tea portfolio. This project allowed me to work withteams in London and co-ordinate with people in Supply ChainFinance, Category Finance, Brand teams, etc. I got an opportunity tounderstand and appreciate the journey of tea from China to the restof the world and how it became India's most preferred beverage. I'vealso been working on exciting projects around process automation toimprove control measures and developing frameworks to evaluatenew business models in the direct to consumer space. The patience ofmy tutors - Sita, Shreya, and the whole team to explain the mostbasics of things is so admirable. Having been closer to the tea team atHUL, one of the highlights for me was when Red Label launched itslatest campaign around dropping any biases towards COVID patientsand taking care of everyone around us.

Ayush Sharma, Finance UFLP Management Trainee