From our marketing to R&D and supply chains, a social-first approach is shaping the future at Unilever. Here, Aaron Rajan, Consumer Technology VP, explains how Unilever is adopting this mindset by leveraging AI and technology to drive growth.

50% of consumers prefer to discover brands and products on social media, while 1 in 2 consumers make an influencer-initiated purchase at least once a month

Technology, AI and data are driving a major cultural shift by listening to demand, responding faster and creating content across more formats and channels than ever before

Our recent digital twin technology creates product imagery two times faster and 100% on-brand

Aaron, can you define a ‘social-first’ approach?
In simple terms, it means thinking about how our brands show up in culture and conversations.

In the past, we at Unilever did most of the talking about our brands. Today, we focus on building new models of reach, engagement and conversion for our brands with an emphasis on what others say about them to drive Desire at Scale.

This could be small groups of people who share common interests or larger groups, like a fandom.

The challenge is to understand how we can contribute authentically to these conversations, communities and cultures.

It is a new mindset that requires a new way of doing business to inspire desirability – from designing packaging to making our supply chains more agile to quickly respond to trends.

What is the role of technology in how we identify the social trends our brands can contribute to?
First of all, by listening – using innovative tools to uncover emerging conversations and cultural shifts. We are adopting an ‘always on’ approach to insights so that we can continuously identify shifts in culture and conversations that will shape our content and keep our brands ahead of the curve.

Truth sources are shifting for consumers. see & read more on
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