Why Unilever’s 50% Social Spend Makes Sense

And how their brands are evolving with It

Unilever’s new CEO, Fernando Fernandez, has announced that half of the company’s global ad spend will now go to social media, with plans to work with 20x more creators. It’s a bold statement, and one that reflects a larger truth about how brand storytelling is changing.

Today’s audiences are savvy, and don’t always trust polished corporate messaging. They respond to creators and content that speaks their language and shows up where conversations are already happening. That shift is precisely what I’ve been working on recently with Radox with the wonderful lot at Paradise.

Elevating the Role of Influencers

I was brought in to lead the pitch strategy for Radox with Paradise, helping the brand become more culturally relevant on social through a new agency partnership. My focus was to elevate influencer content. Not as an add-on, but as the creative engine of the brand’s social presence and development.

That meant building a strategy that:

• Grounded influencer work in cultural insight, not just follower count.

• Defining content pillars that connect everyday emotional wellbeing with real social conversations and deeper storytelling.

• Mapping channel roles to ensure influencer storytelling feels native to each platform.

• Recommending a creator mix that reflects modern wellbeing — from humour to self-expression — to help the brand feel more human and less polished.

  
  

By bridging cultural trends with platform behaviours, I designed a foundational recommendation for influencer storytelling and social ideas that will build community connection and long-term relevance.

Why This Matters

Unilever’s social-first shift proves that the brands winning today are those investing in partnerships that feel human — and giving creators the space to shape narratives authentically.

For Radox, that means showing up in people’s lives not as an advertiser, but as a participant in the culture of self-care, rest, and routine. If Unilever’s 50% social bet signals the future, Radox is already moving in that direction — building stories people actually want to engage with.

Want to shape content that connects culturally? Let's discuss building a strategy rooted in insight, creativity, and cultural relevance.

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