When a message comes directly from a brand, she is born under suspicion — and I am not the one who claims this. 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, o executivo fez o anúncio de uma nova estratégia que tem sido objeto de debate entre marcas, 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 behaviour. If they are skeptical about traditional advertising, what's the point of continuing to invest rivers of money in campaigns that the public 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 link in another way. Not for nothing, The Unilever CEO named the new strategy "social-first", prioritising social channels and human voices as the main interface with the public
This does not mean, it is clear, quais marcas do porte da Unilever estão a descobrir agora o poder do marketing de influência. Would be completely naive and mistaken to analyse the news from this perspective. The question, in fact, relates to the scale. Instead of concentrating funds on a few high-profile vehicles or a dozen famous spokespersons, existe un movimiento de querer estar presente en diferentes espacios, dialoguing with diverse consumers
In my assessment, Essa mudança está relacionada à conscientização de que aquela mega celebridade com cachê exorbitante não é realmente uma "voz universal". That is to say, she does not build genuine connections with diverse niches, does not represent the average consumer. Já um influencer consegue dialogar com públicos específicos porque cultiva uma relação próxima com os seus seguidores, knows your audience and speaks with legitimacy, context and empathy. It is exactly this type of connection that Unilever is seeking when stating that it wants to have at least one influencer in each municipality — e até 100 em alguns. It is about activating local voices, micro leaders of communities, que falam a língua de cada público regional. An impossible strategy to execute with global stars, but entirely feasible and scalable with creators. And this is an even greater truth regarding micro and nano creators
Anyone who knows me knows that I always insist on this point: brand strategy needs 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 much confidence that the Unilever CEO wants to restore
An evidence 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 milhão de visualizações, while the same budget with macro creators resulted in R$0,31 por vista (3,2 million views. That is to say, the reach per real invested was 65% higher using micros
Ignorar esses dados que mostram a maximização do alcance de uma campanha sem o aumento de orçamento só pode ser explicado por um apego ao modelo antigo — attachment this is also revealed in a certain resistance to using technology
I know there are many success stories of brands that incorporated artificial intelligence and data intelligence into their marketing strategy. However, I often 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 searches, before everything, multiplying 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 — é que conseguimos transformar influência em um canal escalável, 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
