SINGAPORE: Unilever, the FMCG giant, regards the fragmentation of media channels
as one of its biggest communications challenges as it moves to an "always-on"
marketing approach, according to two senior executives.
"The thing that
keeps me awake at night is integration versus fragmentation," Keith Weed, chief
marketing and communications officer, told
Campaign Asia-Pacific, as he outlined the need "to hold our brands together"
and make them consistent and relevant "in a market and media that's
fragmenting".
He foresaw "some sort of coming together on the agency
side so there is an overall ownership/leadership of our brand idea and
communication".
And he was emphatic on the need for a brand-centric
approach, saying that "optimisation is done for the brand and not for the
channel".
His colleague Luis di Como, senior vice president global
media, agreed on the scale of the task posed by integration, but argued that it
was also an opportunity as brands could use paid, owned and earned media to
achieve personalisation at scale and bring together content and context.
He added that brands were now operating in a more real-time environment
which changed the nature of campaigns, a point echoed by Weed, who said regular
big marketing campaigns were no longer enough as brands had to reach out to
consumers "24/7" via mobile and social media.
This socialisation of
marketing had also led to creativity increasing in importance as brands needed
to break through the growing clutter to earn the right to be noticed or engaged
with.
Weed also observed that while Unilever wanted to be where its
consumers were, whether TV, social or mobile, it also wanted to be ahead of
them. "The role of marketing is to have a point of view on the future," he
noted.
"We want to get to the future first .. [but] it can't be too far
ahead," he added.
He referred to several instances where Unilever was
achieving this, whether by the allocation of budget to digital – 30% in the US,
low single digits in India – or the geographical shift in marketing emphasis –
there are now more staff in the Singapore and Mumbai head offices than in the
global head office.
Data sourced from
Campaign Asia-Pacific; additional content by Warc staff
About Me
- Keith Weed
- I am responsible for the marketing and communication functions at Unilever, a role that also includes leading Unilever's sustainability work, its drinking water business (Pureit) and the Unilever brand. Prior to this I was Executive Vice President for Global Home Care & Hygiene at Unilever, covering Fabric Cleaning, Fabric Conditioning, Household Cleaning Products, Oral Care and Potable Water. Previously I was Chairman of Lever Fabergé and Chairman of Unilever Export. I have worked for Unilever in the UK, France and the United States, as well as in a variety of global and regional management and marketing roles. Outside Unilever, I am a Fellow of The Marketing Society and, as an engineering graduate, a Fellow of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers. I am also a non-Executive Director of Sun Products Corporation.