Dove

Unilever mobilized 35 brands and 50,000 creators

Rani Al Hajji, chief growth and transformation officer at Unilever Personal Care, describes Unilever’s global activation as the official personal care sponsor of the FIFA World Cup 2026. The company activated more than 35 brands across 120+ markets and engaged over 50,000 creators, combining stadium visibility, creator-led content, physical creator spaces and retail activations. Key brand roles included Rexona, Dove, Dove Men+Care and AXE, with novel placements such as Rexona branding on fourth officials’ armpits and substitution boards. Unilever’s creator hubs (House of Fresh, New York Sweat Club, The Locker Room) generated large reach — the New York Sweat Club delivered more than 1bn reach and creator content added tens of millions more. The campaign also included 180+ limited-edition products in stores. The piece argues sponsorship measurement should go beyond reach to engagement, trial and long-term penetration and that the model should inform future tournaments like the 2027 Women’s World Cup.

Vaseline Tops Mid-Year World Creative Advertiser Rankings

The Drum’s World Creative Rankings Mid-Year reports a reshaped advertiser leaderboard led by Ogilvy Singapore’s 'Vaseline Verified', which propelled Vaseline from 13th to 1st after recognition across major awards. Ikea climbed to 2nd and Apple held 3rd while Heineken fell to 4th and Tecate surged to 5th. At the campaign level LePub Mexico City’s 'Gulf of Mexico (Bar)' for Tecate ranks second and FCB Chicago’s 'Caption with Intention' for Chicago Hearing Society is third. The mid-year analysis covered 1,059 campaigns from 691 advertisers working with 606 agencies. The Drum says standings remain provisional as further awards are decided and plans to publish the full annual World Creative Rankings earlier than usual, targeting late 2026 for the final tables.

We. Communications' Mike Sansom on Agency Crushes

Mike Sansom, director at We. Communications, gives a light, personality-driven profile of his agency for The Drum’s 'Summer of Agency Love' series. He describes We. Communications as purpose-driven, pragmatic and experienced in education, skills and social impact campaigns that prioritise audience outcomes over awards. Sansom names Mother as the agency he most admires for risky, entertaining work (citing Ikea as an example), praises Ogilvy for long-running, behavior-change campaigns like Dove's 'Real Beauty', and compliments Accenture Song's collaborative culture (a partner We. Communications works with). He also says he'd like to have a drink with BBH founder John Hegarty and collaborate with creative thinker Rory Sutherland.