Unilever’s Esi Eggleston Bracey on balancing ‘Real Beauty’ with AI

It cropped up again, of course, during a media roundtable with Unilever’s chief growth and marketing officer, Esi Eggleston Bracey.

Having been in the job for six months but with the company for six years, she says that when she came into the role, a great piece of advice she received was to think of the role of the CMO as ‘chief management officer’ as she needs to ensure everyone is on the same page at all times. This point chimed with a description she previously gave The Drum of role, as more of “a human-centric business leader” than a marketer.

This humanity is at the heart of one of Unilever’s most famous brands, Dove. For the past two decades, it has been on a pioneering mission to spotlight ‘Real Beauty’ in all its communication efforts.

Artificial beauty

“The industry is so dynamic; every day there are new apps, there’s so much happening with AI and we really do think of AI as a tool to help us build our creativity and build and extend our brands,” Eggleston Bracey explains.

“And then we make choices enterprise-wide and make choices that make sense for each brand. As we think about Dove, we’re really committed to Real Beauty and we have a concern, from a Dove point of view, on the impact on women and girls from artificial beauty.”

• To mark 20 years of ‘Real Beauty,’ Dove pledges not to use AI in ads

The marketer goes on to affirm that that’s why there is a policy against the use of AI-generated images, which she likens to previous Dove campaigns that negated the use of retouching.

A positive example of how Dove is utilizing AI, however, is through its ongoing partnership with Pinterest. The initiative, known as ‘Dove Imagined,’ enables users to customize their social media experience by selecting the body types they want to see. This innovative approach aims to provide users with content that proactively resonates with their needs. The collaboration reflects the brand’s commitment to leveraging technology to empower individuals and promote inclusivity.

Overall, Unilever is advocating for the responsible deployment of AI and embracing its potential to drive innovation within the company. According to Eggleston Bracey, Unilever has integrated over 500 applications of generative and machine learning AI technologies to address various business challenges, with 300 actively in use. These technologies are instrumental in enhancing operational efficiency, consumer engagement and sustainability initiatives across Unilever’s global operations. fit.

“We’re using it at scale,” she says. “And we’re looking to scale up even more.” At the moment, Unilever uses AI for product descriptions and customer service, for example.

When it comes to integrating AI within its marketing teams, Eggleston Bracey has observed significant improvements in the content supply chain. She highlights that advertisers can leverage their creative platform and brand guidelines to expand content effectively. By using technology, they ensure a consistent supply chain of content, empowering local marketers to deliver the brand message precisely to the intended audience.

She cites individuality as a huge factor in this. “You want to see someone that you can resonate with. Maybe they look like you, maybe not, or maybe it’s someone who’s a part of your friend group.

“AI helps with that. So, I do think that’s the future of marketing. And we’re not there now, but we’re there in pockets. I would love to see more of that scaling up but we’re still working on the model of what that looks like.”