Observed Signal · Jul 9, 2026 · Opinion · Source: The Drum · Impact: 2/5 · Sentiment: Neutral
Unilever's Creator‑First Shift Still Needs a Big Idea
Jo Bromilow argues in The Drum that Unilever’s move to a creator-first approach and heavier reliance on influencer marketing is a correct challenge to legacy agency habits, but warns brands still need an overarching, flexible “big idea” to tie creator activity together. The piece notes The Drum’s interviews with Unilever executives showing the company no longer treats influencers as a pure distribution channel and is elevating creators into core creative conversations. Bromilow cites industry research (WPP Media, System1 and TikTok) showing influencer effectiveness requires consistent, phased storytelling and long-term partnerships, and contends agencies should help brands translate flexible big ideas into ongoing creator-led activations.
Unilever is a major global advertiser; its public shift toward creator-first influencer strategies and the debate over retaining a flexible 'big idea' influence agency workflows, creative strategy, and how brands operationalize influencer partnerships.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- Unilever is leaning heavily into influencer marketing and no longer considers influencers a pure distribution channel.
- The Drum interviewed senior Unilever marketing executives about how influencer marketing fits into creative activation.
- Jo Bromilow argues brands still need a flexible 'big idea' to unify influencer-led creative work.
- Bromilow cites a recent study by WPP Media, System1 and TikTok indicating influencer effectiveness depends on consistent, phased storytelling and long-term partnerships.
Connected Companies & Entities
4 Entities mapped“Last week, The Drum interviewed numerous senior marketing executives at Unilever about how it is reframing where influencer marketing fits i...”
“As evidenced by the revelations in WPP Media, System1 and TikTok’s recent study on influencer marketing effectiveness, what it looks like is...”
“As evidenced by the revelations in WPP Media, System1 and TikTok’s recent study on influencer marketing effectiveness, what it looks like is...”
“As evidenced by the revelations in WPP Media, System1 and TikTok’s recent study on influencer marketing effectiveness, what it looks like is...”
Ontology Mapping & Concepts
Related Market Signals & Shifts
Recent verified developments and strategic activity across this market segment.
Unilever Makes Creators Central to Marketing Strategy
Unilever is restructuring its marketing approach to put online creators at the centre of campaign development rather than treating influencers as post‑production amplifiers. The company — which runs a roughly $9bn marketing operation and has earmarked about 50% of media budgets for creator‑led marketing — is asking agency partners to collaborate with creators from the brief stage. Examples include the Arsenal 'Part of the Game' campaign (MullenLowe) that was reshaped after creators pushed back on the original idea. Unilever says it has grown its creator roster from ~10,000 to ~300,000, is testing outcome‑based creator pay (percentage of sales), and is using an “agentic solution” (AI) to surface user‑generated video content. The company reports creator campaigns delivering up to 17% gains and as much as four‑times view‑through rates when done well.
Creator Economy Still Struggling After Unilever’s Push
One year after Unilever CEO Fernando Fernández's March 2025 declaration to put creators at the centre of its digital strategy — pledging 50% of Unilever's digital budget to social and a major scale-up of creator partnerships — the creator-marketing ecosystem has expanded but still lacks the operational infrastructure to deliver at that scale. Brands and specialist vendors have ramped up activity and investment, and some firms (e.g., Billion Dollar Boy, Reign Maker) saw rapid growth. However, measurement, standardized payments, cross-team workflows and integrated attribution remain fragmented across point solutions (Traackr, Creator IQ, affiliate and paid-media tools), leaving many brands unable to prove creator-driven business results or manage creators like a cohesive paid channel.
Inside Unilever's 300,000-Creator Network
Unilever says it maintains an active global network of approximately 300,000 creators and has leaned into creators as a core part of its marketing strategy, a shift recently referenced by CEO Fernando Fernández on an earnings call. The company used roughly 50,000 creators during the World Cup, which Unilever said reached a combined audience of more than 600 million. Digiday’s reporting and interviews with Unilever and agency executives describe the program as managed via in-house teams, agency partnerships and experiential programs, and note that years of prior investment in creator-first marketing enabled the recent scale. Agency leaders warn the scale requires major operational investment and heavy automation, which can increase efficiency but risks repetitive sourcing, creative homogenization, and missed emergent talent.
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