CASE STUDY: UNILEVER
When Marc Mathieu, SVP marketing at Unilever, called Innate Motion in September 2011, he had two clear ideas: First, Unilever wanted a change. CEO Paul Polman had set a clear vision for the company – to double its business in 10 years, whilst halving its environmental footprint and improving the lives of the people it touches. That growth would have to be achieved by Unilever’s 400 brands. Second, the way Unilever runs its marketing had to change. It had become largely technical and process-oriented, with little greatness coming out of complex brand teams and structures. Marketers thought in terms of market share, innovations, executions; but had largely lost the sense of building brands that change people’s lives. Marc had designed 3 core principles to re-invent the Unilever way of marketing: 1. PEOPLE FIRST – this was about getting back to understand the people who use the brands, as people not just as “consumers”. 2. BUILDING BRAND LOVE – this made clear Unilever was in the business of "brands that people love”. Like Nike or Coca-Cola, Unilever wanted people to connect with its brands, love them, identify with them, as opposed to only buying products that the company marketed. 3. UNLOCK THE MAGIC – this was a call for better, bolder, richer execution. To do great, not good. But Marc needed help to make the change happen, which was the reason for his call.