Culture, capability and communication are the axis for growth, says HUL’s Sanjiv Mehta

In 1888, a consignment of Sunlight soap embossed with the words Made in England by Lever Brothers arrived at the Calcutta harbour. It was the world's first packaged and branded laundry soap, and so began the era of branded fast-moving consumer goods. In fact, Hindustan Unilever (HUL) was not formed till 1930. Today its products touch 90 percent of Indian households. It is the market leader in 85 percent of its portfolio.

But over the last decade, HUL decided to dump its one-size-fits-all approach and embrace different strategies, with Sanjiv Mehta leading the charge.

In an interaction with CNBC-TV18, Mehta, outgoing Chairman of HUL, said, “The first important bit is what I would call is under the axis of growth is first the mindset. Then we talk about the portfolio that you have and the portfolio that you create. The second important bit is the distinctive capabilities that you build, which are hard to replicate by your competitors. And the third axis is what I call the high-performance anatomy, and in this high-performance anatomy, you have the culture, you have the talent.”