Implications of the latest Influencer Marketing news – Unilever’s plans to 20x Influencer spend
Unilever’s big push with Influencers has been the biggest talking point of the Creator Economy world of late. And whilst it is a powerful testament to the relevance and growth of the industry, is the real takeaway just that brands need to ‘invest more in Influencer Marketing?’
Unilever’s newly appointed CEO, Fernando Fernandez, revealed his plans to scale investment in socials from 30 to 50% of the company’s total marketing spend in his first public appearance in his new role.1
Whilst many are hailing his plans to work with “20 times more influencers” as a sign for more brands to scale their activations with influencers, it’s worth taking a step back and assessing the full context.
One of the key issues Fernandez identified with Unilever’s current strategy was a poor global brand rollout. He also specifically called out growth in key anchor and emerging markets like China, Indonesia, and India as major goals, alongside a wider global reach of their strongest brands.
That’s where the context of the big Influencer push matters.
Unilever isn’t scaling investment in influencers because ‘it’s the trend,’ or ‘everyone else is.’ Rather, there’s a very specific gap in their approach to growth that they’re looking to fill.
Unilever isn’t just eyeing higher reach at scale – they’re eyeing ACCEPTANCE at scale.
When you consider Unilever’s key growth markets – China, India, Indonesia – these are all countries with diverse cultures and socio-economic communities – often even varying drastically from one city or town to the next.
Penetrating markets and encouraging widescale brand adoption in areas with such varying communities at such localised and niche levels is a massive challenge.
Building trust and authority at these niche levels with one unified brand voice isn’t easy. But neither is it possible to adopt your messaging for each and every niche. Besides, even if you could, it wouldn’t matter unless your brand voice could command consumer trust- and trust takes time to build. And particularly in today’s ad saturated environment where purse strings are tightening, that trust is even harder to capture with traditional means.
That’s where influencers come in.
Influencers are pillars of local communities and niche segments. Communities trust these Influencers’ voices more than that of brands and conglomerates – and for good reason.
These influencers are either embedded in these cultures and communities themselves, or represent something desirable or likeable to these communities. In today’s chronically online world, consumers find a resonance in their messaging that traditional channels aren’t quite providing anymore.
Brand owned channels today have nowhere near as much significance and authority in these consumer segments. So if they’re looking to capture these complex markets, they need to leverage the voices that do.
To drive real penetration and ACCEPTANCE, hyperlocalised narratives are key, and Influencers are the quickest, more profitable, and likely impactful means to do that.
Unilever isn’t scaling their influencer spend because ‘everyone else is-’ they’re scaling because an improved global roll-out of their brands is contingent on the quality, relevance, and credibility of the messages consumers at niche levels are being exposed to.
So what does this mean for marketers?
Is this a disruptive statement that ALL brands should exponentially scale their Influencer Marketing reach?
Not exactly.
The more important takeaway is to identify how influencers can align with their business growth goals and work with them more strategically. For some, this may mean scaling investment amongst micro and mid-sized influencers so they can drive reach and conversions at scale. For others, it may mean fostering deeper partnerships with a select few influencers to foster communities and improve retention.
It all comes down to what the brand’s current market looks like, and where they want to go.
At the end of the day, there isn’t a one-size fits all strategy for influencer marketing. But luckily, influencer marketing IS versatile.
That’s where Unilever serves as a brilliant example – that the glamour or aesthetic of a product has nothing to do with its suitability for Influencer Marketing. Marketers should at least explore the possibilities with influencer marketing and see what value it can bring before dismissing it completely. Influencer Marketing doesn’t have to be a massive splurge to be effective – it just has to be strategic.
Some may find it serves as a solid user acquisition channel with a consistent moderate spend across the year, whereas some may find a big push around launches or special events can make a massive difference to the overall mix. The bottom line is, whether it’s gaming, B2B software, lifestyle products, or something else, there are plenty of unexpected ways in which influencers can authentically weave brands into their content and serve as trusted endorsers, driving unmatched sales and brand impact – so it’s definitely worth integrating them into your mix in some way.
Keen to leverage Influencer Marketing in 2025? Book a free consultation with our team today and see how we can make Influencer Marketing work for your unique brand and objectives!