Unilever calls for the eradication of stereotypes through advertising

22 Jun 2018 --- Unilever is calling on content creators and distributors to act now to eliminate outdated stereotypes. The move is the company's latest step in the industry-leading Unstereotype initiative, which launched two years ago with the aim of removing harmful and diminishing portrayals of people through advertising.

As part of its Unstereotype commitment, Unilever is expanding that initiative across all forms of content and branded entertainment. It has announced a three-year multi-million-dollar deal with Rexona, a global deodorant brand, and Simon Fuller's XIX Entertainment. Rexona (also known as Sure, Degree and Shield depending on the country) will partner with Now United, the first ever global pop group comprised of 14 artists from 14 countries including Brazil, China, Germany, India, Philippines, Senegal, US and UK. 

The campaign will reach millions of young people with positive, progressive messages around equality and tolerance and inspire young people that they can proudly be who they are, wherever they are, according to Unilever. 

Aline Santos, EVP Global Marketing and Head of Diversity and Inclusion at Unilever spoke with FoodIngredientsFirst: “We are committed to eradicating stereotypes across our entire portfolio. Across the board, our brands have shifted from targeting mothers and women to targeting people based on criteria other than gender demographics. We have seen this shift prominently on foods brands such as Knorr and Hellman’s as well as in our Homecare portfolio our ‘Dirt is Good’ campaign.”

“Our Consumer Marketing Insights (CMI) team has produced a guide to gathering insights that help our brands ensure that they are Unstereotyping from day one. This lays out new approaches to selecting more progressive respondents and looking for gender-neutral human truths. We have explicitly asked every one of our marketers to challenge their instincts when casting. We have provoked them to ask whether they could challenge traditional roles, and use casting as a way to counter stereotypes. Women driving motorcycles with men on the back (Axe), men cooking dinner for a party (Knorr), and women in professional roles (Sunsilk) are all examples of how we are making this shift,” Santos explains. 
 
An example of this is the global restage of Hellmann’s through the launch of their “On the Side of Food” campaign, where Unilever shifted how they defined their consumers not by their gender, race or simple demographics, but by their culinary capability and their passion for food.

She continues: “We found this to be a much more meaningful approach where we used foodies in the campaign to remind people not to forget about the essence of what food is ultimately about: the pleasure of great taste. Our films and digital assets were created with a multi-generational, multi-ethnic cast of characters who all demonstrated their passion for good food.”
 
“On Knorr, we had a similar shift, moving away from the traditional ‘family nurturer’ casting has seen greater involvement of men in the kitchen, showcasing the more modern family structures across markets that include Europe, Nigeria and Brazil. Despite families being the most profitable target group in the cooking category, Love at First Taste moved away from the showcasing ‘mum’ cooking and being the ‘meal provider.’ Instead, they appealed to millennials on their terms – through a shared love of cooking. This portrayed millennial men and women cooking for each other,” Santos notes.

“Through our ongoing advertising assessment against Unstereotype criteria we already know that progressive advertising creates 25 percent more branded impact and new data now tells us that progressive ads are also 16 percent more relevant, 21 percent more credible and can drive purchase intent by 18 percent. The economic case is just as tangible as the social case for change, which is why we are expanding the Unstereotype initiative to drive unstereotypical content at scale through new partnerships and mainstream content,” says Santos.

Simon Fuller also comments: “As one of the most socially conscious and largest consumer goods companies today, Unilever brands like Rexona continue to cut through the clutter when it comes to making bold statements with real actions. With Now United I also want to embrace this pioneering spirit, defining new ways to interact with entertainment, celebrating diversity and inclusion with a powerful message of unity and positivity. Through the passionate engagement of music and dance, with Rexona as our partner, we will share all of this positive energy and excitement with our audience on a global scale.”

Today, minorities remain underrepresented in film leads (13.9 percent) and female directors are widely overlooked (6.9 percent), despite audiences making it clear they prefer diverse film and television content. Unilever believes progressive collaborations between brands and content creators will, therefore, be key to meeting audience's expectations and tackling harmful stereotypes around gender, race, sexuality and more.

Santos adds: “As marketers, we have talked for decades about reaching as many people as possible; it's time we place equal emphasis on representing as many people as possible. That means prioritizing greater authenticity in our characters and storylines and doing more to accurately capture the richness and diversity of the world we live in. From films and TV programs to web series and podcasts, we have to work with the entertainment industry to co-create content we're proud to support with our media investment.”

By Elizabeth Green