Unilever’s new CEO bet to increase social channels budget
By Oluwatosin Ajayi
Following the recent exit of former Chief Executive Officer, Hein Schumacher, the consumer goods giant, Unilever, has appointed Fernando Teston Fernandez, an Argentinian businessman as the new Chief Executive Officer.
Fernando took leadership on March 1, 2025, with plans to increase the annual social channel budget and collaborate 20 times more with influencers to globally promote Unilever’s brands.
Fernandez was earlier Unilever’s chief financial officer, promising a great change in the company’s marketing. In the new CEO’s first public statement with Warren Ackerman of Barclays, he said: modern consumers are “suspicious” of messages from traditional corporations, and so the consumer goods giant will shift to a social-first advertising model.
This shift “social-first” is a bet for others to speak for the brand at scale. According to Telegraph, the CEO is 100% set to support desirability at scale and marketing activity systems of ‘others say’.
A fundamental principle for Unilever’s marketing strategy in the coming years. This shift aligns with research by Traackr in 2024, which found that 63% of consumers are more likely to buy a product if it’s recommended to them by a trusted social media influencer.
Revitalising the marketing activities with a bet to shift from the traditional corporate messaging to a social-first approach, Fernandez is increasing social channel budget from 30% to 50% of its annual media spend to prioritise influencer partnerships 20x more across global markets.
The new approach is an ongoing sustainability initiative to build trust and drive sales under the leadership of the new Chief Executive officer, championing progress of the company to improve performance, and steering challenges of the ousted CEO, Hein Schumacher, reducing its “social purpose” mission.
Unilever originally connected its brands to social impact initiatives, like Hellmann’s promoting food waste reduction and Dove soap promoting realistic beauty standards.
However, this approach is losing effectiveness as consumers increasingly trust social media influencers over traditional brand-driven campaigns.
Hence, the future of marketing is not about controlling the message, but it is about letting the right voices tell it.
As organisations make the transition from traditional advertising to influencer-driven marketing, one issue remains: who do you trust more: polished corporate ads or the voices of actual people sharing their experiences online?
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