How Unilever’s marketing is connecting social to sales at speed

According to Esi Eggleston Bracey, the old rules no longer apply in today’s marketing world. Today, marketing isn’t about one message to many people, it’s about building authentic connections with people in an ‘always-on’ world.

Here Esi, Unilever’s Chief Growth and Marketing Officer, explains how Unilever is navigating this new many-to-many model with brands that drive Desire at Scale.

How do we create Desire at Scale in our marketing at Unilever?

It starts with an irresistible brand, one that goes beyond meeting people’s needs and wants. It’s about creating desire and that feeling of ‘I have to have that’.

We’ve codified what that means through the idea of SASSY brands . A framework that ensures a brand’s desirability and is vital to its success.

• Superior science: Indisputable product superiority and innovation. Superior science builds trust and is a key driver of desire
• Aesthetics: Elevated premium designs that are visually compelling and stand out next to competitors
• Sensorials: Multisensory experiences you remember
• Said by others: A many-to-many content ecosystem, amplified by creators, communities and brands
• Young spirited: Showing up in authentic spaces and being culturally relevant.

SASSY expresses our vision of success: a desirable brand identity embedded in culture, for everyone, by everyone, at every touchpoint.

Why is being culturally relevant important?

Embedding our brands in culture is essentially embedding them into people’s lives, communities and behaviours. To do that successfully, we need to know what people care about and ensure our brands are authentically part of that conversation.

For example, nearly all our business groups are involved in the sports conversation in some way, because the categories we play in, like deodorants or laundry, are relevant to sports. It’s a space where we can show up authentically to connect with people and bring our brands to life.

That might be Dirt is Good’s football partnerships, encouraging play without the fear of stains or building resilience among young girls. Dove’s commitment to getting girls and women into sports. Or Hellmann’s at the SuperBowl, one of the biggest food events in the US.

Another great example is our Cannes Grand Prix & Titanium winning campaign, Vaseline Verified. By authentically participating in conversations people were having about the weird and wonderful ways they were using Vaseline, the campaign generated 136 million views online, delivering a 43% sales uplift.

How can AI help unlock creativity and efficiency without losing authenticity?

The first thing to remember is that AI is not an end. AI is not a substitute for human creativity. It is a tool with which we can enhance creativity and reach more people.

Basically, we start with a business problem, and then we use AI to solve it.

For example, at Unilever we must maintain global brand identity in our marketing while still allowing the brand to resonate locally. AI has offered us a solution by identifying and coding everything that shapes brand identity – from packaging to tone of voice.

We call this Brand DNAI, a solution where AI models source from a data pool of approved brand voices, values, strategies and visual identities. All our local teams can now use access this information to ensure they do not compromise brand identity while still making it relevant to local markets.

How can our brands keep up with the ‘always-on’ demand for content?

In this marketing landscape, we are not broadcasting one message to many people. We are sharing many messages with many other people so that we can build reach, engagement and conversion at scale.

The key is to do this creatively, with impact and without losing brand voice.

AI is powering this always-on content strategy, not only by enabling creative teams to produce more impactful content at incredible speed but also by providing consumer insights that can be acted on in real time.

Take Knorr’s #UnlockYourGreenFlag campaign as an example. This initiative tapped into dating culture by identifying cooking as a desirable trait. By partnering with the world’s biggest social dating app across 23 global markets, AI was used to listen socially, localise content, and optimise in real time. This resulted in content that resonated emotionally and authentically - boosting engagement while staying rooted in culture.

How do brands get consumers from connection to cart?

I truly believe the content funnel is dead – or at least collapsed. And that is because I believe that every single marketing moment is a brand-building moment, and every single marketing moment is a chance to drive conversion to purchase.

Our ambition is to ensure that every brand moment is both meaningful and shoppable, connecting emotional resonance with effortless purchase, whether that’s on our brand.com, a social ad or a social video.

That means ensuring our products are always just one click away from purchase. That’s why we partner with quick commerce platforms like Amazon to meet people in their moment of need, but we also invest in in-store visibility that reflects the digital demand we create.

From premium shelf placement to shoppable media overlays, we connect the dots between inspiration and transaction, both online and offline.