Simply days after changing into CEO of Unilever in March, Fernando Fernandez made waves by discussing plans to maneuver to a social-first promoting technique, shifting 50% of advert spend to the channel and seeking to work with 20 occasions as many influencers. At the same time as social media stays one of many quickest rising advertising and marketing channels throughout the {industry} this 12 months, it was a daring assertion.
“There are 19,000 zip codes in India. There are 5,764 municipalities in Brazil. I would like one influencer in every of them,” Fernandez mentioned in a fireplace chat with Barclays analyst Warren Ackerman. “This is among the issues I’ll drive like hell within the firm within the subsequent few years.”
Dove, Unilever’s largest model, was one of many first on the CPG large to make the most of influencer and creator advertising and marketing. For the model’s management, Fernandez’s assertion was “music to our ears,” mentioned Marcela Melero, chief development officer for Dove Private Care North America and Dove Masterbrand.
“It is reinforcing the trail we’re already going to,” Melero mentioned. “It is all about doubling down on efforts that we had been already doing earlier than.”
Whereas Dove is an early focus of Unilever’s huge social media push, it’s anticipated to increase to the corporate’s different manufacturers.
The expansive method to social media is obvious with Dove’s #ShareTheFirst effort, the model’s first marketing campaign made completely from creator content material with out studios or added manufacturing. Developed with Edelman, #ShareTheFirst has scaled to 13 markets since launch, options content material from international creators and sees the model shifting from a broadcaster mannequin to a many-to-many one.
“It is actually our approach of being nearer [to] and deeper with the communities that we serve,” Melero mentioned.
Perception-driven, creator-led
For greater than 20 years, Dove’s “Actual Magnificence” platform has appeared to construct self-confidence in ladies of all ages. Its evolving efforts have at all times been primarily based in analysis, and #ShareTheFirst is not any totally different. The model discovered that 9 in 10 ladies take as much as 50 pictures earlier than posting one, and that six out of 10 don’t put up their completely happy moments on social media as a result of they are not pleased with their pictures.
“Particularly as a girl, it’s totally straightforward to take a number of pictures, really feel barely self-conscious about your physique — no matter that is likely to be — and never share it,” mentioned Sarah Potter, international Dove PR and social influencer director. “How can we convey that pleasure again to capturing these actual, spontaneous moments?”
Dove has labored to make the most of creators as connectors to communities fairly than only a media channel. #ShareTheFirst goes additional: After conversations with Edelman, Dove determined to maneuver from utilizing creators as effort extenders to the be-all-end-all of marketing campaign creation — a primary for the model.
“Mainly, all the pieces from the course of how we had been going to do it, the tone of voice, the execution, the content material — all the pieces got here from creators. There was no [pre-production meeting], there was no manufacturing, every creator has their very own tales… so what you get is a lot extra wealthy and worthwhile,” mentioned Melero.
Dove started testing the marketing campaign idea with U.Okay.-based creator Lucy Reeves earlier than increasing to greater than 100 influencers. The marketing campaign contains an out-of-home takeover at London’s Liverpool Avenue station that makes use of 64 digital screens to imitate a scrolling digital camera roll. The creator-led method allowed the marketing campaign to go from transient to reside inside 48 hours in some markets, enabling the model to maintain up with the velocity and specificity of social media.
“Should you give three creators the identical transient, you are not going to get again the identical content material,” Potter mentioned. “They know what works for his or her neighborhood, they know what works for his or her followers.”
Dedication to creators — and goal
Dove has labored with a few of its neighborhood of creators since 2017, so #ShareTheFirst labored as a pure extension of earlier efforts and relied on years of built-in belief between model and creator.
“We have moved past simply working with creators because the amplifiers of the story. They’re actually co-creating with us,” Potter mentioned. “They have been a part of our neighborhood for the long run. We’re not contracting somebody inside 24 hours to abruptly put up in regards to the model.”
Dove’s current relationships enable the model to search out creators which might be aligned with its values which have been established with platforms like “No Digital Distortion” and pledges like its announcement final 12 months that it might not use synthetic intelligence to characterize ladies in its promoting and communications.
“It is the creators that inform us, ‘You could do one thing with this,’” Melero mentioned, citing a 2023 effort towards a trending filter for example. “That is how these relationships are being constructed.”
With “Actual Magnificence,” Dove has labored to make magnificence a supply of happiness — not nervousness — for girls in all places. That mantra stays the identical, even because the platform evolves to be related and related to cultural conversations. However regardless of an industry-wide retreat on purpose-driven advertising and marketing — and, in Unilever’s case, activist investor actions — that isn’t taking place at Dove.
“Function is the key sauce of Dove, and goal has been on the middle of the expansion trajectory of this model,” Melero mentioned. “This isn’t being questioned in any respect: We keep true to our north star… It isn’t a query, and we’re very dedicated to it.”
