Marketing made authentic

Unilever marketing director Ann Esteves

As marketing director of Unilever, Ann Esteves knows how to make brands more relevant to customers to ensure continued sales.

Here, the Mansmith Young Market Masters Awards winner in 2016 talks about Unilever’s experience and shares her thoughts on the changing consumer landscape.

Q: Consumers demand authenticity nowadays. How can a brand show it?

A: Authenticity is achieved when a brand becomes absolutely rooted in the realities of the consumer—where every brand action not only reflects the consumer’s insights, but empowers them to get the benefit they seek, and is delivered in a language they can relate to. It also demands a fundamental shift in communication, where a brand no longer just broadcasts the message it wants to convey, but forms an ongoing, connected conversation between the brand and the consumer.

Q: Marketers like to talk about insights or finding new truths. How are you able to determine if it is the right insight?

A: Strong, meaningful insights tends to draw out a sense of familiarity and relatability to whoever sees it. It may also include a key tension or unmet need that makes one reassess their current thoughts or behavior. Going beyond an observation, the right insight captures an unarticulated truth that leads to new ways of looking at consumer realities and unlocks potential business opportunities.

Q: The consumer journey is no longer linear with omnichannel, what should a marketer watch out for?

A: Consumers’ journeys are becoming increasingly complex due to an ever-changing technology landscape. With that comes new touch points and engagement methods that have the potential to create deeper connections if used properly. A marketer should then know which touch points to prioritize and constantly listen in to look for opportunities to integrate a brand story within contextually relevant situations.

Context, may it be based on one’s location, demographic, interest or behavior, plays a critical role driving brand message relevance. The right context, used in a right touch point, yields a relevant communication that will rise amid fragmented media choices.

Q: Brands try to target a specific occasion to be associated with their brands. How will they know they have chosen the most fitting occasion for their brand?

A: A brand’s proposition ultimately determines the relevant content themes and agile moments that it can capitalize on.

When the brand combines its product offering with what the occasion entails, it creates an authentic conversation with its audience. —CONTRIBUTED

Josiah Go is chair and chief innovation strategist of Mansmith and Fielders Inc. To read the full transcript, as well as his interviews with other thought leaders, follow him at www.josiahgo.com.