United States – Unilever has appointed SAMY to develop and activate a global influencer strategy for its Foods business group, as the company advances its “many to many” brand-building approach across 13 markets.
The move forms part of Unilever’s broader shift toward a social-first marketing model, which emphasises content rooted in social platforms, driven by creators, and supported by artificial intelligence. The approach is intended to complement existing brand marketing investments while accelerating the company’s pivot toward digital-native channels.
As part of the mandate, SAMY will provide data-driven insights through its proprietary Maia platform, which offers access to more than 120 million influencers globally, alongside performance data to measure effectiveness.
A multi-market team from SAMY will support execution across key regions including the United States, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Brazil, Indonesia, the Philippines, Germany, France, Poland, Pakistan, Argentina, Canada and Turkey. The team is expected to deliver localised insights to guide how Unilever’s brands engage with creators, while maintaining cultural relevance in each market.
The agency will also establish systems and frameworks to ensure consistent brand representation by creators and partners, including measurement models aimed at strengthening audience engagement for brands such as Hellmann’s and Knorr.
Sonsoles Piñeiro Kruik, chief growth officer at SAMY, commented, “Being appointed to support the global pilot of Unilever’s social-first approach within its Foods division is a major milestone for both teams. Being chosen to enable this transformation within Foods is a major endorsement of SAMY’s influencer marketing expertise within the social universe.
“Taking on Unilever’s ambition to deliver a strategy that can be translated across 13 markets, within an organisation operating at that scale, is a complex challenge.
“With teams working across continents, we’ll bring hyper-local intelligence into a shared global system, enabling Unilever to orchestrate influencer activity at scale while ensuring creator partnerships are shaped by the realities of each local market, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.”
Meg Bass, global media manager at Unilever’s Foods, added, “At Unilever, it’s about going where the consumers are and building Desire at Scale — growing our brands by embedding them authentically in culture. This means leaning strongly into creators who can help our stories travel further, feel more authentic and resonate more deeply.
“Working with SAMY will allow us to combine technology and data with deep knowledge of the whole social ecosystem, leading to more informed decisions around where and how we activate creator partnerships across markets.
“This will give our markets a clearer structure for working with creators, while still allowing them to respond to local behaviours, tastes and cultural context in a way that feels credible.”
