Unilever CEO says old model of broadcast branding is gone; bets on influencers and professionals

Unilever is moving away from the old model of one-way brand messaging and towards a broader recommendations-led marketing system that blends influencers, professionals, events, in-store visibility and content built for a changing search environment, according to CEO Fernando Fernandez. 

Speaking at a Barclays fireside chat on April 8, Fernandez said that the FMCG giant’s marketing model is being rebuilt around what he called "other people’s recommendations", while also acknowledging that large language models will increasingly shape how consumers discover brands. 

“I really believe the old model of broadcasting messages from brands is gone,” Fernandez said, while outlining Unilever’s SASSY framework and its “desire at scale” marketing approach. 

He said the framework is built around “science, better aesthetics, better packaging, stronger presentation, stronger visibility, stronger sensorial, recommendations by other people, and keeping brands contemporary.” 

That shift is already showing up in how Unilever is using influencers and creators. Asked about his earlier ambition to have “an influencer in every ZIP code in India and Brazil”, Fernandez said influencers are just one part of a broader recommendation engine.

“Influencers are just one way of simplifying what I call other people's recommendations. Some of them are influencers; some are professionals who recommend our brands,” he said. 

He added that Unilever now has “close to 300,000 people recommending our brands”, up from around 10,000 two years ago. 

He cited around 17,000 people recommending Dove in the US, 22,000 for Liquid I.V. in the US, and 17,000 in India. 

Fernandez called it “a significant change in the infrastructure behind our model of consumer reach and engagement.” 

Fernandez said Unilever’s brand and marketing investment has risen from 13.1% of revenue four years ago, a level he described as “consciously uncompetitive”, to 16.1% now, and 18% after excluding Foods. “We are investing competitively now, but we are also investing better — in models of consumer engagement that belong to today, not to the past,” he said. 

The creator and recommendation economy, however, is not the only place where Unilever is reallocating attention. Fernandez said there are two other areas where the company is now investing more “beyond other people’s recommendations”: in-store visibility and events. In a “world where media fragmentation is high”, he said, “the importance of the store becomes greater.” 

He also described FIFA this year as “a very important event” and “the first time we will do something on this scale”, adding that Unilever sees it as “a key driver of growth this year.”