Tag: Unilever

Beijing, China – Global beauty brand LUX proudly announces the launch of its new campaign, ‘In Her Name’, aimed at empowering women, as they bring to attention the unconscious bias of naming children in China.

The campaign aims to empower Chinese women and help them rise above their names being treated as sexist labels, with a mission to rewrite the narrative for the next generation.

The ‘In Her Name’ campaign by LUX aims to change the way women are named by creating 100 names reflecting the essence of femininity today, drawing inspiration from classical literature, positive connotations, and the evolving landscape of societal development.

To make this possible, LUX partnered with Dr. Liu Yanchun, a distinguished linguistics scholar from the University of China, to pioneer a movement challenging societal norms and stereotypes. The collaboration with Dr. Liu Yanchun ensured a thoughtful selection process, incorporating unbiased options to emphasise the diverse spectrum of femininity and promote inclusivity.

Speaking on this collaboration, Yanchun said, “In the process of creating these 100 new names, I’ve combined elements from literature, researched terms with positive connotations and took into account present societal norms to craft meaningful names for the women of today.”

Additionally, LUX collaborated with digital artists to showcase each selected name through visually stunning illustrations, with a unique design for every name, enhancing the experience of choosing a name and celebrating the beauty of femininity.

The unveiling of the 100 new names has taken place on Chinese social media platforms Little Red Book, Weibo and Douyin, where women from all walks of life could choose new names for themselves that best represent their spirit and character.

Talking about the campaign, Severine Vauleon, global brand vice president of LUX, said, “Our ambition with the “in Her Name” campaign is to create a movement challenging the status quo that still confines some women to narrow stereotypes today. By collaborating with Dr. Liu Yanchun and harnessing the power of language, we aim to raise awareness about gender bias for Chinese names and inspire women to react to the initiative of adopting powerful names for themselves. By doing this, they will help to foster a more inclusive society where women are celebrated for their strength and resilience.”

Meanwhile, Marco Versolato, chief creative officer – Unilever at VML Singapore, who spearheaded the campaign, commented, “The ‘In Her Name’ campaign represents a shift in how we perceive and celebrate femininity. By reimagining the power of language and visual representation, we have the opportunity to challenge stereotypes and create a more inclusive future for women worldwide.”

Vietnam – In honour of this year’s Tet, the laundry detergent brand OMO, owned by Unilever, collaborated with MullenLowe Mishra to produce a moving music video. The film tries to urge consumers to preserve their perseverance and positivity in the face of the year’s hardships.

This campaign takes place in the context of the recession’s more general economic effects, which include several macro-level issues like increased job losses and limitations on everyday spending. Because many Vietnamese people live far from their hometowns during Tet, OMO tries to bring new life and optimism to the celebration. The brand aims to emphasise that hope flourishes where dedication (and dirt) exist, highlighting the idea that optimism and tenacity triumph even in the face of hardship.

In this five-minute film, two kids live with their grandfather while their mother works in the city to try and support the family during hard times. The kids work hard to care for the apricot trees despite the difficulties, hoping that they will bloom in time for Tet, when their mother can return home to be with them.

The viewer is moved by the children’s use of mud and soil to care for the apricot trees at home, which is a metaphor for their mother’s efforts to work numerous jobs and improve the family’s financial stability.

Singapore – Global multinational fast-moving consumer goods company Unilever has announced a slew of layoffs and role reorganisations across its team in Singapore. It is worth noting, however, that the number of employees affected by this has yet to be disclosed.

A spokesperson for Unilever’s press office in London has confirmed the news to MARKETECH APAC, stating that they are doing everything they can to support their colleagues during these times.

“As we continue to respond to the needs of our consumers faster, we have taken the strategic decision to relocate some Personal Care roles, currently based in Singapore, to our markets across Asia. A number of roles will remain in Singapore, while some roles will be impacted. We are doing everything we can to support our colleagues during this time,” a Unilever spokesperson from its Unilever press office in London told MARKETECH APAC.

Unilever has made significant layoffs in the past years, including 1,500 management jobs around in January 2022 as well as several retrenchments across its plants in New York in November 2023.

The company joins Lazada as one of the companies whose layoffs this year have also affected teams in Singapore.

Singapore – Unilever’s skin care brand POND’S Skin Institute has partnered with advertising and PR agency Ogilvy Singapore for its new product launch campaign to unveil its elevated brand world.

Pond’s new campaign with Ogilvy aims to revive the brand and breathe new life into it while finding ways to connect science with women around the world.

The skincare brand will undergo a complete redesign of its visual identity and brand essence. It will also onboard K-pop star Tzuyu from Twice as its new global ambassador. She will be instrumental in the brand’s reinvention as it invites women to discover how the science of Pond’s Skin Institute can make miracles happen for their skin.

With the tagline ‘Miracles Happen’, the campaign is set to unveil the transformative power of groundbreaking science and what it would mean for millions of Southeast Asian women.

The new campaign comes as POND’S announces the launch of its newest bright miracle product range, which features new formulations and the Nobel Prize-winning science of autophagy to boost skin’s ability to self-repair and achieve ultimate clarity and radiance.

This brand revamp and new campaign will commence in Indonesia and will cascade throughout Southeast Asia and the rest of the world into 2024 through a series of captivating videos, inspiring social media content, and arresting in-store designs.

Aanchal Sethi, global managing partner at Ogilvy Singapore and Unilever, said, “We tapped into the insight that despite their relentless pursuit, 9 out of 10 women struggle to bridge the gap to their desired skin. They believe it would take a miracle to achieve this skin. Today, we have the science to bridge this gap; the science to make miracles happen.”

Speaking on the campaign, Vandana Suri, global brand lead at POND’S Skin Institute, also shared, “At this pivotal moment for Pond’s Skin Institute, we are excited to showcase our longstanding heritage of skincare innovation while introducing the world to our unparalleled new Bright Miracle product range.”

“As we integrate the best of science and beauty, we couldn’t be more thrilled for our partnership with Tzuyu to invite people everywhere to experience the brand. From her unrelenting ambition, diverse talent, and unique craft to her warm personality and inspiring outlook on beauty, she is truly an icon who makes miracles happen,” she added.

Singapore – Unilever’s global beauty brand LUX has been consistent in exercising its platform to rally against sexism, and this time, it augments its support by launching a new global training resource. The Allies e-learning programme is a learning tool targeted at the workplace setting, aiming to impart how to call out and stop bad behaviour in the workplace. 

Led by Wunderman Thompson, the communications are rooted in real-life insights relevant to the audience in developing and emerging markets that LUX serves. The new course called ‘LUX Allies Against Workplace Sexism’ is said to have been designed together with a DE&I behaviour change expert to help counter sexism in the workplace. Furthermore, it was created specifically for emerging markets where patriarchal values and the traditional mindset about gender roles are entrenched in society. 

Severine Vauleon, global brand lead at LUX, said, “Beauty can be a powerful source of strength and self-confidence for women. At the workplace in particular, confidence and self-belief can make a huge difference in a woman’s job satisfaction and career trajectory.” 

“As a brand that touches the lives of millions of women worldwide, we want to be an enabler that supports women’s confidence and authenticity to thrive, rather than see them self-edit and wither. As such, we will continue to help women everywhere fight casual sexism especially related to their experience, at home, in the workplace and in wider society.”

The ‘LUX Allies Against Workplace Sexism’ programme is structured as three module pillars – AWARE, ACT, and ALLY. It confronts participants with everyday scenarios in the workplace where women may face casual sexist remarks from colleagues – whether male or female – and gives simple yet effective actions to call out these belittling comments. 

To further drive home the agenda, LUX worked with organisational and behavioural scientist and indigenous rights advocate, Matthew J Yazzie, who specialises in workplace discrimination. Yazzie played a pivotal role in creating the content schedule for the modules. Part of them is him shedding light on casual sexism. 

The modules use short-form videos to highlight seemingly casual remarks that disempower individuals based on gender stereotypes and share how simple yet effective actions to call out belittling comments can make a difference. 

Nicolas Tran Dinh, global digital & masterbrand lead at LUX, shares, “Women, just like men, want to live in a world where they have equal opportunities to be their best selves. The first step in reducing the pressures of everyday sexism that women face starts with us. We must be more aware of our actions and be allies rather than bystanders to support women to rise above daily judgements. This is how we can build a world where men and women are celebrated equally and why we are providing this training as a free resource for all companies.” 

Echoing his comments, Hinoti Joshi, global business director from Wunderman Thompson, Singapore, who leads LUX communications, adds, “This is the next step in our Purpose journey towards our end goal of putting an end to everyday sexism. WT APAC and Unilever staff will be actively using it as part of our training to help empower and inspire a community of women and allies to speak up and hold their truth for their beliefs.” 

Anyone can access the Allies programme at no charge via LUX’s website and complete the modules to be a certified ‘ally’ against sexism.

Previously, LUX launched campaigns under its social inclusivity advocacy, the “In Her Shoes” and ‘UNSTOPPABLE” campaigns. In the past, the brand also released the ‘Finding Strength in Beauty’ 2021 whitepaper which shared data showing how discrimination against women continues to be prevalent in different forms.

Singapore – POND’s, the skin care brand under Unilever, has teamed up with e-commerce platform Shopee to launch an interactive campaign ‘#PondsGlowStage’ to take Shopee users’ online shopping experience to the next level through interactive games, exclusive promotions and discounts on POND’S products and, for the first-time ever, to win limited edition non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

The #PondsGlowStage NFT is an exclusive, first-of-its-kind digital collectible designed by artist Rifqi Ardiansyah. Fans will have a chance to redeem this exclusive NFT when they purchase POND’S products during the promotions. The NFT will give them access to exclusive benefits such as being the first to receive alerts on POND’S latest product releases and value deals in the future. 

During the special event, consumers can play the interactive POND’S Glow Stage Catch Game and earn points to redeem special giveaways. Players just need to tap and hold the shopping basket to catch as many of the falling POND’S products and elements they can within the time limit – all while avoiding harmful skin spots. 

Jopa Malantic, who was recently named as the global brand director at POND’S, said, “We are always seeking out the most innovative and engaging experiences for our consumers. As such we are thrilled to partner with Shopee once again – this time to offer the #PondsGlowStage, featuring the e-commerce platform’s first ever NFT Gift with Purchase.” 

He added, “In addition to providing the chance to win a limited edition NFT, #PondsGlowStage offers a fantastic interactive experience for our fans to engage with the brand and learn more about how our decades of science-backed expertise can help resolve their skin issues.”

Meanwhile, Pavan Challa, director of regional brand partnerships at Shopee, commented, “We are happy to deepen our long-standing partnership with POND’S through this new campaign, which is Shopee’s first collaboration with a brand for an NFT giveaway. Shopee continues to develop and explore new ways to engage and excite our users, and help our brand partners deepen their engagement with shoppers. As we continue to grow the beauty category on Shopee Mall, we look forward to working closely with brands such as POND’S to bring more innovative and exciting experiences to shoppers.”

Singapore – The Parentinc, the Singapore-headquartered parent-tech company focused on building content, community, and commerce solutions for pregnant women and young mothers in SEA, has appointed ex-Unilever Rahul Welde as Independent Non-Executive Director to its board. 

At Unilever, Welde was formerly the Executive Vice President of Global Digital Transformation where he led digital strategy and execution for the Unilever brands. He brings with him over 30 years of experience in the global fast-moving consumer goods sector. 

Roshni Mahtani Cheung, Group CEO and Founder of The Parentinc, said, “I am absolutely thrilled to welcome Rahul to The Parentinc board. Rahul’s exceptional knowledge in building and growing brands and his expertise at the intersection of content and commerce are highly relevant in our mission to serve the needs of our community of parents and of our clients in the mother and child space. We look forward to Rahul’s invaluable contribution as we continue to realise our mission and drive profitable growth.”

In April 2022, The Parentinc, which owns and operates theAsianparent and Mama’s Choice, content and community platform and D2C brand for parents respectively, closed its Series D fundraising round with new shareholders East Ventures, Central Retail Corp., and LINE SEA Corp.

Welde commented, “I have watched Roshni and the team from the early days when The Parentinc was just a media publisher for young parents in Singapore. Over the years, I have seen its transformation and expansion, now with presence in six countries across Southeast Asia.”

He added, “I am impressed with the progress and how the team continues to leverage technology, growing its community and creating great content. It is an incredible accomplishment that theAsianparent has the largest community of parents in Southeast Asia, now reaching seven out of 10 young digital mothers across the region. Building a fast-growing commerce line, Mama’s Choice is an exciting new frontier. I am delighted to be a part of the next phase of their growth story.” 

West Java, Indonesia – Indonesia-based e-commerce platform Tokopedia, Unilever Indonesia, and the West Java Provincial Government have partnered to hold a Digital Advanced Women’s Class entitled ‘MSMEs Women Empowered and Forward Digital: Inspiration for Women Dare to Bring Change’, which was attended by hundreds of local MSMEs in West Java, a province in Indonesia, and surrounding areas.

The event is a continuation of the signing of the cooperation between Tokopedia and Unilever Indonesia in the series of B20 Indonesia Women in Business Action Council programmes dedicated to empowering women entrepreneurs. Present as a result of the B20 Indonesia presidency, this program also presents the One Global Women Empowerment (OGWE) platform initiative that focuses on expanding access to information, business assistance in the digital era, and technical entrepreneurship training as a preparation to face the challenges ahead.

Emmiryzan, head of the public policy and regional government division of Tokopedia, said, “This is the fourth time that Tokopedia has held a KPMD after being successfully held in Bali and Surabaya. We hope that through KPMD, Tokopedia can help improve the competitiveness of local MSME players, especially female MSMEs so that they are able to become hosts in their own country and become the main choice of Indonesian people.”

Meanwhile, Marini Fabiano, Unilever Indonesia Foundation’s diversity and inclusion lead, noted that in line with the ‘The Unilever Compass’ strategy, Unilever is committed to continuing to contribute to creating a more just and inclusive society which is manifested through their efforts to develop entrepreneurial skills and provide access to mentoring and mentoring for women and MSMEs. 

“Through collaboration with Tokopedia, we hope that women’s MSMEs, especially in West Java, can continue to grow and be competitive,” said Fabiano.

Atalia Praratya, the chairperson of Sekoper Cinta, commented, “We welcome the collaboration of Tokopedia and Unilever Indonesia in presenting KPMD activities in the West Java region. This is also in line with one of our programmes at Sekoper Cinta which provides training in opening up business opportunities so that women can be independent and contribute to the family economy. We hope that through this activity there will be more and more qualified MSMEs from West Java.”

Manila, Philippines – Current head of media at Unilever Philippines Dennis Perez has extended his leadership role as he is appointed as the digital marketing, media and commerce head for beauty and wellbeing for Southeast Asia at Unilever. 

Through the expanded role, Perez will be responsible for driving broader end-to-end digital, media, and commerce strategies across SEA. At the same time, Perez will create deeper category digital expertise in the beauty (hair care, skin care) and wellbeing (vitamins, minerals and supplements) categories.

He has handled some of the world’s biggest brands in the personal care, foods and refreshments, and home care categories, with many of them scoring metal at local and international award shows. In addition, he has served two terms as president of the Internet & Mobile Marketing Association of the Philippines (IMMAP), co-chairman of the Digital Measurement Board (DMB), and as a board member of the Ad Standards Council (ASC).

Perez is also focused on using his new position to drive singular consumer and customer experiences, while creating next-generation marketing and sales practices for beauty and well-being brands.

Speaking on his added role, he said, “Unilever is always at the frontline of digital transformation. We are moving along the pandemic with people using digital differently, and so we need to adapt. With the collapse of the marketing funnel, the ascent of Web 3.0 and the rise of the experience economy, I’m excited to take on this new challenge of driving an integrated marketing approach in Unilever that puts people first and drives value to our brands.”

New Zealand – Consumer brands giant Unilever has elevated Cameron Heath, former general manager at Unilever Baltics, to be its new managing director for New Zealand.

Heath joins the New Zealand team after seven years with Unilever. Aside from his previous role as the general manager in Unilever Baltics, Heath has spent four years as the company’s marketing director of food & beverages in Prague, during which time he built a passion for brands with a purpose such as Hellmans and Lipton. Prior to joining Unilever, he has also spent seven years with Procter and Gamble (P&G), spanning a number of customer development and category strategy roles, including time working in the New Zealand market.

In his new role, Heath will bring his extensive marketing and category management experience, as well as his passion for delivering superior product experiences that generate value for people and business.

Heath, who is originally from Sydney, started the role remotely from Australia in November 2021, and has joined his team on the ground in New Zealand last 20 April 2022.

Commenting on his appointment, Heath said that he is thrilled to take the reins of the New Zealand business, which has consistently delivered strong results under the leadership of Nick Bangs. 

He further shared that beyond their environmental footprint, he is also deeply passionate about the role businesses can play in creating a fair, diverse, and equitable world, and he is looking forward to better understanding the melting pot of cultures that makes up New Zealand and finding opportunities for them to scale change.

“I understand first-hand the pressure retailers and consumers are facing as we deal with supply chain disruption and increased cost of production across the board. I am committed to building constructive relationships with our retail partners and consumers to ensure the grocery sector is fair for all,” he said.

This elevation comes after Heath’s predecessor Nick Bangs moved to Sydney to take on the role of general manager of home, beauty and personal care at Unilever ANZ.