Unilever is rapidly embracing artificial intelligence (AI) to transform its content creation process, according to a recent press release. Esi Eggleston Bracey, the Chief Growth and Marketing Officer at Unilever, stated that AI is enabling the company to produce content twice as fast and at half the cost. This strategic shift is a key component of Unilever’s Growth Action Plan (GAP) 2030, designed to boost overall performance.
Unilever is utilizing technologies like Nvidia’s Omniverse platform to create digital twins of its products. These digital twins are accurate 3D replicas that contain various product assets, including different variants, packaging, and language labels, streamlining content creation across various marketing channels. This approach has significantly accelerated the output of product imagery and its adaptability across formats. Unilever has also adopted Nvidia’s Open Universal Scene Description 3D framework, further enhancing its efficiency.
Bracey highlighted Unilever’s AI initiatives at Nvidia’s GTC developer conference. The goal is to reduce the time and resources required for marketing content, so the marketing teams can focus on larger, more creative brand-building projects. “We’ve transformed what was once a complex, slow process into a marketing system that frees up our teams to focus on what they do best — think bigger, be creative, push boundaries and create magic for our brands,” Bracey explained. “This isn’t about pushing out more content — anyone can do that. It’s about starting with a deep understanding of people’s needs and desires, executing our campaigns with creativity and backed by a high-quality content creation machine to deliver desire at scale.”
This efficiency push is impacting several marketing efforts, from TV advertising to e-commerce. The company’s beauty and well-being segment, which includes brands like Tresemmé, Dove, Vaseline, and Clear, was the first to test the AI technology. This segment saw a 55% increase in savings and a 65% improvement in content turnaround speed, with some brands even reporting increased consumer purchase intent.
Unilever is also proceeding with care. Dove, for instance, has reaffirmed its commitment to avoiding AI models substituting real women in its advertising. This approach reflects Unilever’s broader strategy to integrate AI responsibly, while still promoting inclusivity and authentic representation. Unilever is undergoing broader marketing changes as well. Fernando Fernandez succeeded Hein Schumacher as CEO in February. Fernandez recently told a Barclays analyst that the company aims to spend half its marketing budget on social media and expand its collaboration with influencers, as reported by The Drum. Fernandez is tasked with speeding up a turnaround plan that had been slow to gain traction under his predecessor. Meanwhile, Procter & Gamble, a significant competitor, has outperformed Unilever in recent results, according to The Wall Street Journal.
