Unilever’s Social-First Marketing Is Fueled by AI, Real-Time Data

Social-first approaches in marketing are seeing an uptick as consumer goods companies look to cater to digitally savvy consumers, particularly the untapped potential within the Gen Z demographic. 

Among them is Unilever, which in March announced it would spend half of its ad budget on social media in the year ahead, increasing its influencer marketing budget from 30% to 50% of total ad spend. The strategy included working with 20 times more influencers than before.

The Social Media Marketing Landscape

Eighty-seven percent of marketing leaders anticipate increasing their paid social spend, while just over 80% will increase their spend in influencer marketing and organic social, according to the Impact of Social Media Marketing Report from SproutSocial.

Forty-nine percent of consumers have tried a new product after seeing it on social media, and 31% have changed brands based on recommendations from influencers, NielsenIQ reported during a CHFA NOW 2025 presentation on consumer behavior.

Social media overtook television as the most popular source of news in the U.K. and U.S. for the first time last year, and surpassed search in terms of global ad spend, according to MTM Agency.

Now, as Unilever works to spin off its ice cream business, the soon-to-be Magnum Ice Cream Co. sheds light on some of the progress that’s been made, which ultimately spiderwebs out to all of Unilever’s segments.

Julien Barraux, the unit’s chief marketing officer, said Unilever has built a marketing model that is made for today’s world: social-first, AI-enabled and data-driven. 

“Today, the brands that win aren’t just seen. They shape culture. And we’ve learned, people engage most with brands that feel like part of their world — from viral moments to everyday rituals,” she said during a recent investor’s day conference. “This is what we call culture that converts. It’s how we generate demand … because people don’t think in campaigns, they think in moments: a late-night treat, an indulgence after lunch, a birthday surprise.”

Also: Unilever uses social insights for consumer insights platform Ask Yogi