Tuesday 13 March 2018

Unilever makes marketing more productive, transparent

How does Unilever make marketing more productive? Unilever has a broad portfolio of products and brands, from Axe/Lynx personal care products and Dove skin care products to Knorr soups and Hellman's condiments. Its overall marketing budget exceeds €7 billion.  

Higher productivity of marketing spend and assets would result in more efficiency and a cost savings that could be put towards more marketing, higher frequency or extended audience reach.

Firstly, the global company has decided to handle some promotional tasks in-house rather than paying agencies to do that work. Because its in-house experts know the products so well and can quickly check with decision-makers for approvals or changes, the company gains a bit more control over the marketing content and saves money at the same time. It also can handle its own pre- and post-implementation analysis, quantifying results quickly to assess marketing performance.

Also, Unilever is reassessing its digital marketing and will invest only in platforms that have a positive societal impact. In other words, it won't tolerate social media platforms that tolerate hate speech or other negativity. Unilever brands have built up consumer trust over the decades and won't risk losing trust due to a negative platform experience. This adds to transparency, as well as the company's blockchain initiative (with IBM) to improve digital ad placement info and combat fraud.

Apparently, Unilever will change its headquarters structure. For many decades, it has been an "Anglo-Dutch" multinational. News reports indicate the company may change to a single HQ in Netherlands. This should slim bureaucracy and speed decision-making, whether or not it's related to Brexit.