How AI is helping drive Desire at Scale across Unilever

AI has become a game-changer for effective marketing.

Thanks to fast-evolving creative tools, content that used to take months to create, now takes weeks or even just hours.

But speed is just the start of the benefits AI is delivering.

Cutting-edge technology is also helping our marketing teams improve the relevance, consistency and impact of our content so that it translates into tangible business benefits.

Better yet, it is doing so without compromising on brand integrity, thanks to smart frameworks and systems like Digital Product Twins and a Brand Safe AI training repository called Brand DNAi that ensures AI models source information only from a data pool of approved brand voices, values, strategies and visual identities.

“AI and technology are reshaping the way we build our sales and marketing machine by fuelling business growth across all business groups,” says Morgan Vawter, CDIO, Personal Care, Home Care and Foods.

But AI is not a ‘one size fits all’ solution. The key to finding AI marketing solutions that really work lies in enabling content ecosystems with the right tools.

Speeding up content creation, quality and impact

A great example of the speed gained is Closeup’s use of the SuperShoots rapid production model during the launch of its White Now whitening toothpaste.

The AI-powered system helped Closeup produce over 100 assets, created across ten distinct modular set-ups, in just three days.

“Speed was critical for us as we were targeting Gen Z who consume content rapidly and expect brands to keep up,” says Gem Laforteza, Global Brand Director, Closeup.

“It also meant we were able to shoot content for India, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines at the same time, which was key for maintaining momentum and consistency.”

In addition to speed, the assets produced by SuperShoots were tailored to meet the needs of specific touchpoints. From social to point-of-sale, the production model delivered content primed to make an impact on every channel and in every market.

Driving Desire at Scale by tapping into culture and trends in real time

AI is also helping teams shape the nature of this impact as Unilever transitions to a Desire at Scale strategy that focuses on connecting emotively with consumers.

This is a significant shift for our Home Care brands which have, until now, traditionally focused on functional rather than emotive product benefits.

Supporting them in this transition are in-house graphic design studios called Sketch Pro that work within brand teams, identifying and implementing the most effective AI tools.

The teams are now producing high-quality assets in dramatically reduced timelines that allow them to engage effectively with trends in real time.

In Indonesia, for example, content that tapped into a lip-synching Ramadan trend went live within a matter of hours, delivering over 6 million organic views and boosting TikTok visibility for brands like Rinso and Sunlight by 22.5%.

And this is not a one-off. Teams in London, São Paulo, Mumbai, Jakarta, Durban, Shanghai and Istanbul are all now creating content that feels more relevant, joyful and desirable, thanks to the streamlined agility delivered by Sketch Pro.

“Sketch Pro is strategic investment that gives us the ability to adapt to whatever the future of design and communication demands of us,” says Mario Dughi, Unilever Home Care Digital, Design & Media Director.

Content that delivers on key performance metrics

Impressive results are also seen in Beauty & Wellbeing where the AI-powered Beauty AI Studio system is accelerating creativity and efficiency across all Beauty & Wellbeing Power Brands, including Dove, Vaseline, POND’S Skin Institute and CLEAR.

Covering the full content lifecycle from ideation to personalisation across priority markets, this AI system enables us to produce assets up to 30% faster than before. What is more, this innovation has more than doubled key performance metrics like Video Completion Rate (VTR) and Click-Through Rate (CTR).

In addition, by enabling agile operations, holistic training and data-driven improvement, the Beauty AI Studio allows teams to quickly double down on what works by optimising assets in real time, guided by the best-performing creatives.

Ultimately, AI is helping to build Desire at Scale, delivering emotionally resonant, brand-authentic storytelling with greater speed, precision and cultural relevance.

Building customer trust with personalised solutions

Tapping into cultural relevance has also been instrumental at Unilever Food Solutions (UFS), where the introduction of the Recipe Intelligence AI tool has helped build consumer trust and loyalty.

“This AI tool provides chefs with recipe inspiration, cooking techniques, ingredient lists and optimised preparation steps to streamline kitchen operations, based on the restaurant type, cuisine and dietary needs ,” explains Angela Klute, UFS Global Chief Marketing Officer.

Unlike other generative AI systems, Recipe Intelligence uses exclusive data generated by the extensive culinary expertise of UFS’s in-house team of 250 professional chefs.

This includes over 30,000 recipes, product applications and insights into industry trends and dining behaviour gathered through UFS’s annual industry-leading Future Menu Trends research.

Recipe Intelligence also delivers value-added services for consumers, including a unique Gen Z compatibility test which optimises existing online menus to attract a younger demographic.

So far the system has generated a 96% satisfaction rate, with 30% of operators returning for repeat visits. User engagement has also surged, with chat duration tripling to 13 minutes.

“This is the human face of AI,” concludes Morgan. “And a brilliant example of the power of human creativity powered by AI that we are seeing delivering results across our business groups.”