When a message comes directly from a brand, she is born under suspicion — and I am not the one who claims that. The words that symbolize a change in mindset in advertising logic were spoken by Fernando Fernandez in his first interview as CEO of Unilever. In the conversation with the journalist ofThe Times, the executive made the announcement of a new strategy that has been the subject of debate among brands, agencies and professionals of the market: under Fernandez's command, the multinational consumer goods company will reduce investment in brand-created advertising and increase the influencer budget by 20 times
The subject generated immediate repercussion in the global market because it not only represents a huge transformation in the way to give visibility to a brand, but it is a response to the change in consumer behavior. If they are skeptical about traditional advertising, what's the point of continuing to invest rivers of money in campaigns that the audience has already learned to ignore
I understand that, if people no longer trust brands as much to make their purchasing decisions, it is evident the need to establish this bond in another way. Not by chance, The Unilever CEO named the new strategy "social-first", prioritizing social channels and human voices as the main interface with the audience
That doesn't mean, it's clear, which brands of Unilever's size are only now discovering the power of influencer marketing. It would be completely naive and wrong to analyze the news from this perspective. The question, in fact, it concerns the scale. Instead of concentrating funds on a few highly prominent vehicles or a dozen famous spokespersons, there is a movement to want to be present in different spaces, dialoguing with diverse consumers
In my assessment, Such a change is related to the awareness that that mega celebrity with an exorbitant fee is not really a "universal voice". That is to say, she doesn't build genuine connections with diverse niches, it does not represent the average consumer. An influencer can already communicate with specific audiences because they cultivate a close relationship with their followers, knows your audience and speaks with legitimacy, context and empathy. This is exactly the type of connection that Unilever is seeking by stating that it wants to have at least one influencer in each municipality — and up to 100 in some. It is about activating local voices, micro community leaders, that speak the language of each regional audience. An impossible strategy to be executed with global stars, but completely viable and scalable with creators. And this is an even greater truth regarding micro and nano creators
Those who know me know that I always insist on this point: brand strategies need to value this profile. And this is simply because micro and nano creators demonstrably form much more engaged communities with a close trust relationship. Yes, the so-called confidence that the Unilever CEO wants to restore
Proof of this is in the results of a recent BrandLovers survey: a R$1 million campaign distributed among micro creators achieved an average cost per view of R$0,11 (9,1 million views, while the same budget with macro creators resulted in R$0,31 per view (3,2 million views. That is to say, the reach per real invested was 65% higher using micros
Ignoring these data that show the maximization of a campaign's reach without increasing the budget can only be explained by an attachment to the old model — attachment this one also reveals itself in a certain resistance to using technology
I know there are several success stories of brands that incorporated artificial intelligence and data intelligence into their marketing strategy. However, I used to say that the vast majority still suffer from operational amateurism disguised as tradition, what is a problem considering that well-executed influencer marketing is one that goes beyond the multiplication of influencers. He seeks, before everything, multiply intelligence. The old methods of manual selection and betting on isolated celebrities already show clear signs of exhaustion, with huge inefficiencies, so that the future belongs to those who combine data, technology and human creativity to transform creators into highly effective media
Unilever is signaling to the market that the game has changed. However, the big question is: how many brands will know how to make this move strategically? The increase in investments in creators only makes sense if it is accompanied by operational efficiency, predictability and real-time measurement. Without this, we are just inflating a market with poorly distributed money
Scaling influencer marketing without technology is like trying to buy programmatic media over the phone: unsustainable. Only with platforms that automate selection, activation and measurement — as we have been doing for years in digital advertising — it is that we manage to transform influence into a scalable channel, efficient and with measurable ROI
We need to understand once and for all that the main differentiator is not in who spends more on their marketing strategy. Instead, The standout result comes from a brand's ability to use technology to ensure that every real invested in influence is translated into genuine impact. This requires a new mindset: one that prioritizes data, authenticity and smart strategies
