Unilever Increases Sales With Custom E-Learning Courseware from VIS Corporation

January 25, 2001

Waltham, MA - Two new e-Learning programs created for Unilever HPC by VIS Corporation have shown impressive results - generating increased sales and cutting training time and cost.

"The quality of the program speaks for itself," said Ron Edwards, Unilever HPC's Training Manager, "but the proof is in the bottom-line results. "Early results indicate that our salespeople have generated at least $20 million in incremental sales as a direct result of this computer-based workshop. And the new program has enabled us to blend computer-based and classroom learning, cutting classroom time from five days to two." The programs' highly interactive and video-rich design allow Unilever to blend computer-based with classroom training to deliver meaningful results much more quickly.

Unilever PLC (NYSE: UL), one of the world's largest consumer products companies, marketing a wide range of food, home, and personal care products, needed to realign its sales process in North America. The objective was to make Unilever Health and Personal Care (HPC) North America, comprised of the North American operations of Cheeseborough-Ponds, Helene Curtis, and Lever Brothers, more competitive and to enable it to grow faster. One key to achieving that goal was a plan to integrate the three companies' sales organizations into a cohesive team. Unilever selected VIS to create and develop a training program to communicate a common corporate definition of excellence in performance and a talent management process that supported its business strategies.

Before beginning development of the courseware, VIS met with Unilever HPC's management to understand its vision, mission, and organizational principles and then interviewed individual top performers from all three separate sales forces to identify best practices. Unilever's Edwards observed that, "VIS doesn't just build new information into its programs. Part of its strength is taking existing information and retelling it in a compelling way."

"Unilever's commitment to quality gave us the opportunity to push the envelope of e-Learning design and functionality," said Andy Snider, Chairman and CEO of VIS. "The resulting program is sophisticated and high end in terms of presentation, learner engagement, and learning experience. There is a high level of interactivity, effective use of graphics, and a rich employment of video."

About VIS Corporation

VIS helps progressive companies develop learning strategies, create learning solutions and deliver flexible and adaptable Web-based courseware to meet each firm's unique objectives. VIS, one of the industry's most experienced developers of custom e-Learning experiences, produces e-Learning that employees enjoy, retain and use. VIS's comprehensive service package includes strategic consulting and technology integration that assures that each custom e-Learning objective delivers measurable results today and into the future. For nearly ten years, VIS has produced more than 500 e-Learning engagements for clients that include the American Cancer Society, the American Management Association, Cookson Performance Solutions, Dow Corning, DuPont, Estée Lauder, Harvard Business School Publishing, Pfizer, Putnam, State Street Research and Unilever. VIS Corporation may be reached by calling 781-890-7777, e-mail andys@vis.com, on the Web at www.vis.com or by writing to VIS Corporation at 300 Fifth Avenue, Waltham, MA 02451.