Alex Brownsell
Dec 09, 2013

Unilever set to cut global marketing headcount by 12%

The effort is to reduce business costs amid slowing growth in emerging markets.

Unilever set to cut global marketing headcount by 12%

Keith Weed, Unilever‘s chief marketing and communication officer, said at an investor presentation in London yesterday that the company would "step up in marketing in the future" by being more efficient and reducing spend on "non-working media" such as agency fees.

The FMCG giant revealed it expects to cut some 12% of its global marketing roles over the coming year, which is expected to result in the axing of around 800 positions. The Flora and Persil-owner will also cut its overall number of product variants by approximately 30% before the end of 2014.

Weed told investors Unilever would streamline its marketing operations into simpler set of processes, as well as helping to reduce costs by shifting more of its budget – currently projected at 15% – towards digital channels.

He added it was his goal to reduce spending on agency and production costs to around 20% of Unilever’s overall annual marketing budget.

Unilever could not be reached for comment at the time of going to press.

The news comes as the company rolls out its biggest Unilever-branded consumer campaign to date. The multimillion-pound initiative, called 'Project Sunlight', aims to promote the firm’s sustainability message to all its global markets.

This article was first published on marketingmagazine.co.uk

Source:
Campaign India

Related Articles

Just Published

19 hours ago

Women Leading Change 2024 shortlist revealed

See the women and companies shortlisted for the eighth annual awards. The winners will be announced at a live presentation on May14th at Marina Bay Sands.

19 hours ago

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy on using AI to win over ...

The e-commerce giant’s CEO revealed fresh insights into the company's future plans on all things consumer behaviour, AI, Amazon Ads and Prime Video.

19 hours ago

Hideous Luxury unpacks the weight of "emotional ...

The film is equal parts visually-striking and bizarre, as it tackles the idea of carrying burdens both literally and metaphorically.

21 hours ago

Goafest 2024 and ABBY Awards to be held in Mumbai ...

The much-anticipated Goafest will now take place at the Westin Powai in Mumbai from May 29 to 31.