Marketing not runs on broadcast pondering. Modern manufacturers win by behaving like contributors in tradition, not distributors of messages.
In this episode of The Speed of Culture podcast, Matt Britton sits with Selina Sykes, VP of magnificence & wellbeing and international head of digital advertising and social at Unilever, for a deep have a look at the corporate’s advertising transformation.
Selina breaks down how Brand DNAi, AI in content material creation, digital twins, creators, and cultural perception come collectively to construct “desire at scale.” She additionally explains how AI brokers and agentic buying will rewrite the longer term shopper journey, and why authenticity and neighborhood matter greater than ever in international magnificence.
She additionally shares why the “Vaseline Verified” marketing campaign turned a turning level, how the corporate builds for a many-to-many advertising mannequin, and what manufacturers should perceive as AI brokers shopper journey instruments begin shaping actual buy choices.
Selina has spent practically 20 years at Unilever, transferring via roles in model constructing, ecommerce, incubation, and international transformation. Her path consists of serving as advertising director, operating The Uncovery as CEO, entering into a number of VP roles, and now shaping how Unilever competes in international magnificence advertising via tradition, creators, and know-how.
Her work speaks loudly throughout the trade. At Cannes, she shared her imaginative and prescient for an AI-driven Unilever advertising transformation the identical week her staff took house 11 Lions, two Grands Prix, and a Titanium award for “Vaseline Verified.”
Key Takeaways:
[01:27] Global Trends, Local Nuance, and the Forces Beneath Them — Selina explains that traits could floor otherwise in every area, however the true story sits beneath them. What seems like separate cultural waves typically comes from the identical human shift, which is why Unilever seems past aesthetics to know the deeper forces shaping folks. This perspective is crucial for international magnificence advertising, serving to manufacturers keep related with out chasing noise or copying what’s viral in a single market.
[03:12] AI Is Only Useful When It Solves Real Problems — Selina treats AI as a basis, not a headline. Her staff begins with human friction, what slows folks down, what complicates choices, what entrepreneurs can not scale alone. Only then do they resolve how AI ought to assist. This is the core of the Unilever advertising transformation, prioritizing actual outcomes rooted in habits, progress, and readability. It retains the work grounded whereas nonetheless unlocking the facility of change.
[05:38] Building a True AI Content Engine — To attain folks via their passions and communities, Unilever wanted extra content material than conventional programs might ever assist. Selina describes how the corporate constructed an AI content material provide chain able to producing quantity, selection, and pace with out sacrificing inventive intent. This shift permits Unilever to function inside a many-to-many advertising mannequin, the place manufacturers join fluidly throughout cultures, creators, and platforms.