Unilever President/Unilever USA & CEO/Personal Care North America Herrish Patel said that the company’s deal to become the “official personal care sponsor” of the World Cup is “core to his strategy to build ‘desire at scale’ in Unilever’s high-priority U.S. market,” according to Diane Brady of FORTUNE. Patel argues that there is “more trust in legacy brands than institutions,” but Americans want “legacy brands to be relevant.” He thinks about “winning the social shelf, the digital shelf, and the physical shelf.” The company is “giving away tickets and limited-edition products while creating local fandom moments and activations around different tiers of products.” Patel said, “It’s about connecting our brands to major cultural moments.” He also “sees AI as a growth driver.” Patel noted that the “number one currency is still creativity” while AI can “personalize it to cohorts faster.” Unilever has “close to 6,500 creators putting out content,” with invite-only “House of Fresh” physical hubs in Mexico City, N.Y., and Miami for creators and influencers during the World Cup (FORTUNE, 7/8).
OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS: THE ATHLETIC’s Caoimhe O’Neill noted content creators are using the World Cup to “bolster their brand and found their experiences to be wide-ranging as they navigate an ever-changing, competitive sphere.” They said that “opportunity” is the reason why they are at the World Cup. Soccer fans “want to see as much as possible, on and off the pitch.” With that “comes more content, more influencers and more pressure.” O’Neill: “This is the World Cup as we have never seen it before. And over the next four years, the social media takeover will likely continue to grow” (THE ATHLETIC, 7/8).
