Unilever will increase marketing and ad investment in 2011

By Loulla-Mae Eleftheriou-Smith, marketingmagazine.co.uk, Friday, 04 February 2011 09:25AM

Mike Polk, president of food, home and personal care at Unilever, said the company will continue to back it brands and invest in marketing and advertising during 2011.

The FMCG giant, which owns brands from Ben and Jerry’s to Persil and Dove, increased its advertising and promotional spend by €300m in 2010, amounting to a €700m increase over the past two years.

Unilever reported revenue growth of 11.1% to €44.3bn for 2010, with underlying sales growth of 4.1%, yesterday. 

Polk said a third of the company's 2010 turnover came from products launched in the past two years.  

He said: "Brands and innovation need the fuel to unlock them and that fuel is advertising and promotion. It’s critical."

Polk said that the way in which a brand is communicated is a "powerful device" which the company intends to "link inextricably" to the Unilever brand.

Polk said that Unilever is facing an exciting time for marketing. He said: "Money flows to ideas. [Advertising and promotion] is at the core of what we do and you should expect us to continue to invest in our brands."

This article was first published on marketingmagazine.co.uk