How I Gained Real Marketing Experience at HUL – Kwality Wall’s

My Core Responsibilities at HUL

My work was divided into modern retail execution and field-level activation.

• Store (Reliance Smart): I tracked daily sales and inspected merchandise by SKU. I developed planogram standards, encouraged sampling programs, addressed product presentation and consumer involvement with store managers, planned promotional activities, and solicited customer feedback.
• B2B Field Operations: I assisted in the opening of new stores, arranged for freezer placement, and ensured that branding materials were properly displayed. I arranged with the sales officers and the supply chain to make sure that supplies were adequate and helped in opening the store.

Key Learnings

• Understanding the Consumer Mindset:- Handling more than 1,000 walk-in clients in a day taught me what impels people to buy— visibility, trust, taste, and cleanliness. I learned that customers like the offer of BOGO (Buy One Get One), and that giving them the opportunity to taste items a second time changed the way they bought.
• Visual Merchandising and Retail Execution:- It was necessary to decide where to place the freezers during the transition. Cash register-side or front entry freezers were significantly improved. I ensured freezers were clean and products were never out of stock.
• Trade Partner Onboarding: When I visited B2B outlets, I had already identified leads for the outlets and subsequently made efforts to follow up on these leads. I was trained on how to sell the value of HUL, negotiate placement opportunities, and help outlets open.
• Marketing Research Application: I conducted more than 90+ consumer surveys and utilized regression analysis to determine the predictors of purchase behavior. The most salient predictor was brand recognition, followed by taste and product quality.

Challenges Faced

• B2B Outlet Reluctance: Most store owners were reluctant to give space to freezers. I addressed this issue by presenting samples of other stores, providing promotional assistance, and highlighting the strong brand appeal of Kwality Wall's.
• Stock Out Issues: There were times when stock shipments would come in late, particularly on weekends. I would coordinate with my reporting manager in maintaining sufficient stock before busy days.
• Technical Limitations: SAP's 24-hour lag in stock information updating rendered real-time observation challenging. To overcome this, I maintained parallel manual accounts for real-time planning of action.

There were also some customers who were not willing to try the better ones when sampling. I overcame this by highlighting the product quality, guarantee of cleanliness, and current promotions

Final Takeaways

• I discovered how to fully understand how current trade, retail exposure, and sampling all work together to help drive consumers to become buyers.
• Consumer Psychology: Price is secondary to store experience, convenience, and trust in the brand—particularly in very impulse-driven categories like ice cream.
• Field Flexibility: Each store, customer, and region was different. Having the ability to respond quickly in the field and learn from error was essential to success.

Conclusion

This HUL – Kwality Wall's internship was not an ordinary job; it was a unique experience. It helped me translate what I learned at college into actual business problems, become more confident to work in the retail sector, and enhance thinking ability. I would like to express my gratitude to my HUL mentors and JIMS Rohini Sec-5, for their support. In my career in marketing, the things I learned in this internship of the PGDM program —customer-centricity, discipline of implementation, and fact-based decision-making—will prove to be of great use.

Vishal

PGDM, Batch 2024-26