Ever struggled to get that last drop out of your shampoo bottle? Frowned at the remnants of a laundry tablet still clinging to your washing machine drawer? Or discovered an ice cream that you can’t get enough of, and wish you could try it in a smorgasbord of flavours? We hear you. And we’re working on it.
We want to know what you think of our products – the good and the bad. What you struggle with, what you’re hooked on, how you’d like things to change, and where we can make a difference for you.
That’s why we have launched a concept called the Digital Voice of the Consumer. It means that we’re constantly reviewing the feedback people kindly provide on our brands – through our consumer engagement centres, product ratings and reviews on social media, for example. And then we act fast.
We’re taking your feedback and making sure it reaches the right people, so we can rapidly respond to any issue you have with our products. It means if there’s a problem with product quality across any of our brands, we can move quickly to put it right.
“I strongly believe that creating a positive experience for consumers every time they interact with our products is a key element to drive business growth,” says Unilever’s Chief Quality Officer Sabina Krzystolik.
“Digital Voice of the Consumer is an opportunity to have instantaneous, real-time consumer feedback available to everyone across the business – from the people who make strategic long-term business decisions to the people who design and make our products.”
How we’re taking action
This year, Digital Voice of the Consumer data helped us discover and shut down online retailers who were selling poor-quality counterfeit imitations of Unilever products in India and Indonesia. Not only does this sort of activity put the reputation of our brands at risk, it also potentially puts consumers in harm’s way as the formulas in counterfeit bottles may look and feel just like the real thing, but they haven’t been through tests for product quality and safety.
Sometimes consumer feedback helps us figure out what products to put on the shelf. Earlier this year Rexona Clinical Aerosol launched in Brazil. Consumers contacted Rexona to say they loved the product, but they wished a fragrance-free version was available. We made their ideas a reality and within weeks we launched a fragrance-free alternative.
In South Africa, we discontinued our Robertsons Pickling Spice condiment at the end of 2016. Hundreds of consumers then tried to track the product down – it seems we had underestimated how popular it really was. This year we’ve brought it back, delighting consumers.
Let’s stay connected
If there’s something you’ve noticed about a Unilever product that you love, hate, or think we could tweak for the better, let us know. Whether your feedback is a post on social media, a comment on a website or a call to a careline – we will work on it.