Unilever CMO says company will double digital spending this year

http://www.marketingmag.ca/english/news/cannes/article.jsp?content=20100625_162635_7732

"We are in the middle of a digital revolution,” said Weed, repeating a common refrain this week, though he added: “I think it is even bigger than the most stretchy of visions.”

Sorrell asked what percentage of the Unilever marketing budget is going to digital today. Weed wouldn’t say. “What I can tell you is that this year, we will double our spending on digital.”

However, he also acknowledged there is still more talk than action online. Digital marketing is like high school sex, he said: Everyone is talking about it, fewer are doing it and those that are, aren’t doing it very well.

Sorrell suggested that while digital marketing is good for one-to-one communications, it’s mostly for promotional and tactical purposes.

“Do you think the jury is still out on the effectiveness of digital for brand-building?” he asked.
“I have quite the opposite view,” said Weed.

“The best way to get to a mass audience is through TV,” he said, and that will remain the case for years to come. “I’m going to need fabulous moving picture creative.”

But digital can build brands, he said, citing Ben & Jerry’s one million fans on Facebook. Those are people engaging, sharing comments and talking about your brand. “That is something you can’t do in mass TV.”

Turning to social media, Sorrell again seemed skeptical of some of the excitement. Social media is effectively the modern form of letter-writing, said Sorrell. And because of that users may not want it “bastardized” by marketers.

“When [social media platforms like Facebook] try to monetize it, they have fallen foul of even the most loyal users.”

The letter-writing analogy fits, agreed Weed, suggesting Unilever’s goal is not to insert itself into those conversations, but rather have those conversations include Unilever.

The goal with Axe, for example, is to get guys chatting about the brand and building buzz. “What we are doing in social media is nothing more than that,” he said. “It is word of mouth on steroids.”