business communication unilever vietnam and case study of communication problems

Lessons:...18Table of FiguresFigure 1.1: The advertisement on the fanpage of Unilever Pureit Vietnam...6Figure 1.2: Explanation of Unilever Pureit...7Figure 1.3: Guidelines for Writing O

NATIONAL ECONOMICS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF TRADE AND INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS

-oOo -BUSINESS COMMUNICATION

HA NOI, 5/2022

Vũ Hà Trang Trần Thành Long

Tạ Phương Nhi

UNILEVER VIETNAM

And case study of Communication Problems

Abstract

The goal of this study is to learn how communication issues are depicted in real life Misunderstanding advertisements and non-alignment in the process of addressing communication crises are the two key challenges of Unilever Vietnam's communication system, and both have negative outcomes

Table of Contents

Abstract 2

I Company background : 4

II Case I: Fanpage’s ads of Unilever Pureit VN confused customers: 5

1 Description of the situation 5

2 Purposes of choosing the situation 7

3 Reasons for the situation 8

4 Consequences of the situation 10

5 Suggestion 11

III Case II: Unclear packaging and false advertisement from Knorr: 12

1 Description of the situation: 12

2 Purposes of choosing the situation 14

3 Reasons for the situation 14

4 Consequences of the situation 16

5 Suggestion 17

IV Lessons: 18

Reference 19

Table of Figures Figure 1.1: The advertisement on the fanpage of Unilever Pureit Vietnam 6

Figure 1.2: Explanation of Unilever Pureit 7

Figure 1.3: Guidelines for Writing Online Reviews and Complaints 9

Figure 1.4: Slowing revenue of Unilever quarterly from 2012 to 2018 (%) (Bloomberg) 10

Figure 2.1: Packaging of Knorr’s broth mix 12

Figure 2.2: Advertisement of Knorr on television 13

Figure 2.3: Lack of language skills 15

Figure 2.4: A customer’s reaction after realizing “being fooled” 17 Figure 2.5: Unilever Vietnam’s Marginal Profit through Years (%) (Bloomberg).17

I Company background:

Unilever PLC is a British multinational consumer goods company headquartered in London, United Kingdom Unilever's products are available in around 190 countries and 25 million retailers make up its global network Their business is in FMCG (Fast-moving consumer goods) industry The company wants

to create goods for the planet and society while limiting the harm They take action

to solve the social and environmental problems facing the world, and improve people's lives with their products; therefore, achieving their goals sustainably Officially established in Vietnam in 1995, Unilever Vietnam has become one of the most successful businesses in Vietnam with positive contributions to the sustainable socio-economic development of the country for over 25 years In 2020, they are named among the Top 10 Sustainable Businesses in Vietnam Their actions and campaigns for society show that they are a big enterprise that achieves its CSR (Corporal Social Responsibility)

In our case, among many products, we chose the field of food solutions which

is Knorr, and water purifier which is Unilever Pureit VN

Unilever Pureit - a brand of home water purifiers belonging to Unilever Unilever Pureit water purifier brand was presented in 14 countries and has quickly become the world's best-selling home water purifier brand

Knorr is a German food and beverage brand It has been owned by Unilever since

2000 Nowadays, Knorr is present in 102 countries across continents Introduced to

the Vietnamese market in 2000, Knorr has launched many modern and high-end products with the main purpose to help Vietnamese women have a better life Especially in April 2001, the launch of “Knorr seasoning” is an important milestone in the Vietnamese market

II Case I: Fanpage’s ads of Unilever Pureit VN confused customers

1 Description of the situation

According to the Kien Thuc newspaper, in the field of product advertising, Unilever Vietnam is always committed to complying with the legal regulations on advertising to ensure that consumers do not misunderstand the nature of the goods advertised

In the advertisement for the Unilever Pureit water purifier as well as the Unilever Pureit Vietnam fanpage, Unilever Pureit affirms that the information and images used are all real information and have been verified before being posted However, the survey of Kien Thuc showed that, in fact, in the advertisement on the Unilever Pureit Vietnam fanpage, Unilever Vietnam confirmed: "After 2 hours

of boiling water, let it cool down, it is more toxic than when it is not boiled"

Figure 1.1: The advertisement on the fanpage of Unilever Pureit Vietnam

On the fanpage, Unilever Vietnam: “2 Hours After Boiling, The Water

boiling for 2 hours, water will become twice as toxic as if it was not boiled” Clearly, the message that Unilever wants to convey to readers through this ad is that boiled water after 2 hours is not safe, even more, toxic than before boiling This assertion will surely confuse many consumers that cooled boiled water is not safe

Not stopping there, also on its Fanpage, Unilever Pureit Vietnam continues

to strongly advertise its water purifier with the message: "According to WHO, 200,000 Vietnamese people have cancer every year because of food and water sanitation Protect your family with safe drinking water Are you sure a few

minutes of boiling tap water can remove harmful impurities and heavy metals, lead from rusty pipes? Contaminated water drinking is one of the main causes of long-term cell changes and cancer for many Vietnamese people.”

Figure 1.2: Explanation of Unilever Pureit

This affirmation makes most people implicitly understand: Drinking cooled boiled water, which has been a habit of Vietnamese people for a very long time is still considered the safest - now poses a risk of affecting health, even cancer…

So, is Unilever's commitment to "ensure consumers do not misunderstand or deviate from the nature of the advertised goods" trustworthy?

2 Purposes of choosing the situation

One of the most common mistakes in business communication is lacking clarity, which puts the receiver or the audience into confusion and leads to ineffectiveness in conveying ideas Based on the company issues, we want to highlight the shortage of clearness in business language, and the consequences that did and are likely to happen due to using vague and misunderstood words

3 Reasons for the situation

In this case, external communication of Unilever Pureit Vietnam led to many misunderstandings among customers although it undeniably has a strong impact and influence on them

 Lack of credibility in writing online messages (Chapter 8)

Since there was an exaggeration in the first message to highlight the importance

of a water purifier, it made consumers worried about the misinformation Food such as vegetables, meat, and fish, normally takes 5 hours to be stale, and water can be left for 24 hours after cooling However, the post mentioned that boiled

water is faster than food to be recontaminated, which showed a highly negative bias of Pureit

In response to the Kien Thuc newspaper, UVN quoted the views of some experts who have answered on the Internet However, the original post on Facebook did not give any citations, so there was no basis of knowledge to back up for the company in case of a crisis

Later on June 11th, 2017, Associate Professor Dr Nguyen Duy Thinh - Institute

of Food and Biotechnology, Hanoi University of Science and Technology, whose statement Unilever put its trust on, responded with more details in an interview with Kien Thuc It is true that when boiling water or other foods, when cooled, they are invaded by bacteria causing rancidity But cooled boiled water has a lower organic matter content than foods such as green vegetables, meat, and fish, so it does not go rancid quickly Therefore, water can be up to 24 hours after cooling

Figure 1.3: Guidelines for Writing Online Reviews and Complaints

We could not neglect that the message managed to inform and create goodwill

in raising awareness but created resentment and confusion among consumers Not only does it lack reliability, but also shows the carelessness of the marketing team

in generalizing the source of water In the context when even experts still have to continue to research the safety of boiled water to find the most accurate conclusions, misleading views from Unilever’s ads may be inappropriate

 Misleading promise in Sales Messages (Chapter 10)

When being questioned about the first piece of information, Unilever gave a

misleading promise with new evidence that water is being contaminated The

topic then changed from undermining the role of boiled water to warning about the contamination of water sources They were all marketing strategies of Unilever, which concluded that consumers need to buy the firm’s water purifier From the first look, the message looked normal and informative However, if taking a closer look, Unilever deliberately set aside the fact that water was processed in water plants before people use it Even though UVN later claimed the message to help raise awareness of sanitary conditions in Vietnam, the public still considered it as

“dirty media.”

4 Consequences of the situation

In case 1, Unilever Pureit Vietnam, showing negative bias and purposely misinformation could be considered a deceiving method in business marketing As

a result, the company suffered a fast and remarkable falling down in profit in the third quarter of the year 2017 (which is shown in the diagram below) when releasing the marketing post for Pureit

Figure 1.4: Slowing revenue of Unilever quarterly from 2012 to 2018 (%)

(Bloomberg)

5 Suggestion

This incident must have left many lessons for Unilever

Firstly, the company should be careful when posting warning information, especially health warnings because this kind of information is likely to cause confusion for customers and make things difficult to control The company should have anticipated consumers’ reactions to this information before posting it Besides, when proving their claims, Unilever should have provided evidence, accompanied by a reliable source The examples provided by UVN are articles related to broken water pipes, and unsafe water pipes, which are only a small part but not the general situation of the entire water sources in Vietnam For this, Unilever can survey the situation of water sources and water transmission lines in major cities in Vietnam This will make the information more accurate, comprehensive, and reliable

Finally, “editing” and “cutting” information, and using misleading words to orient public opinion are not allowed Instead of using ambiguous words, the company should use standardized words to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings

III Case II: Unclear packaging and false advertisement from Knorr

1 Description of the situation:

In most seasoning advertisements, the main message of the manufacturer is always "sweetmeat, sweet bones”, little, even no MSG "Ngọt canh xương ống, đậm đà thịt thăn'' is the main message of this seasoning brand All of the above

promotional clips promote Knorr seasoning primarily due to the loin and bone marrow

In the picture of packing, the producer's message states that Knorr has carefully selected loin and tibia ingredients

Figure 2.1: Packaging of Knorr’s broth mix

The other clip explains more about the composition of the seasoning, which emphasizes the element of loin and bone Therefore, consumers will understand that in this seasoning, there is tenderloin and bone marrow that can be substituted for pure meat and bone, which can help mothers overcome the challenge of cooking soup without meat and bones but still delicious Knorr also states: "With the tenderloin and bone marrow stewing for hours, the new Knorr seasoning makes

for a delicious, sweet, rich broth”

Figure 2.2: Advertisement of Knorr on television

But the ingredients of each packet of broth mix are only 2% tenderloin meal, bone marrow extract, and bone marrow According to the test results of the Technical Center for Standards, Metrology and Quality 3, the ingredients of "good Knorr broth mix" include salt (53.8%), sugar (12.8%), and MSG (30%), protein powder (13.7%)

When the VTC News reporter asked to discuss the matter, Ms Nguyen Thi Hong, in charge of the Food Department of Unilever Company, the Knorr seasoning producer, "pushed" the matter to the management agency According to

Ms Hong, advertising has standards, and the management agency is licensed Other issues about flavor enhancers, juiciness are extracted from marrow, bone, and loin, when the interviewer asked, Ms Hong replied that she was at work,

so she was very busy and promised to pay next word However, as the weeks went

by, the reporter never received a reply from Ms Hong or Unilever

2 Purposes of choosing the situation

Unfamiliar words, similar to vagueness, are not rare in business writing However, in this situation for Knorr, Unilever Vietnam had tactfully made use of this through public media channels for gaining profit If analyzed in detail, this case revealed not only the dishonesty in marketing goods but also the ethical problem in modern business

3 Reasons for the situation

 Lack of language skills (Chapter 4)

Using unfamiliar words, jargon, and unrecognizable abbreviations can seriously impede the transmission of meaning In the second situation, Knorr used scientific abbreviations to keep customers from realizing that 30% of the ingredients were actually MSG, Monosodium Glutamate, or soup powder Those abbreviations make many people believe in using broth mix because it is considered to be more nutritious from meat and bone, and not much more expensive than MSG To be precise, Knorr took advantage of this pitfall to deceive customers into believing that its products are “more natural than soup powder”

Figure 2.3: Lack of language skill

They didn’t know that behind the cheap price is because most of the ingredients

in the broth mix are sweeteners, and MSG, and only 2% juice The key ingredients for flavoring E627 and E631 are actually super sweets, 200% sweeter than MSG Another ingredient, the flavor enhancer E621 is MSG

Despite countering that 2% of Knorr's juice is the quintessential, being assured with the quality and then being legally approved on TV Nevertheless, if the quality

is original, why does Knorr sell it at such a low price? Thus, Knorr could not find any reasons to hide its intention to deceive the customers

 Possibility of incurring liability

Such message provided by Knorr on the packaging and advertisements on TV could lead litigation However, luckily, national laws did not indicate this is illegal since the producer did not have to meet the quality with a minimum percentage, as long as there must be that ingredient in the products

Lawyer Bui Quang Hung, Law Office Bui Quang Hung and his associates said that the ingredients are only 1.8 - 2% but are put up as the main ingredients in advertising according to the provisions of the Law on Advertising did not violate The law does not stipulate how much % or more must be guaranteed before using that material to emphasize in advertising

This is a loophole in the advertising law for manufacturers to hit the tastes and beliefs of customers In order for customers to mistakenly believe that they are using pure natural products, in fact, there are many other ingredients and these are the majority of ingredients