Unilever Offers Cash For Consumer Feedback

Unilever is set to launch an online collaborative community to encourage women to contribute ideas for new products. The approach includes offering a cash incentive for consumer feedback. Read about the interesting social approach of Unilever…

Mindbubble targets women aged 25-50 and gives them cash rewards for their contribution. The site enables users that will be asked to give their opinions on products and marketing campaigns through focus groups and polls. In social media marketing we might call it: creating an online “brand ambassador” community.

Unilever hopes the project will result in greater engagement with its range of brands, which include Surf, Dove and Persil. The FMCG giant will involve consumers in forums, blogs, diaries and polls as part of the project, which is consistent with a policy of using digital engagement to increase brand affinity.

Unilever has increased its digital spend in the US from 2% to 3% of its marketing budget to around 15% and intends to make similar changes in the UK.

Babs Rangaiah, Unilever’s global communications planning director said: “The company plans to shift marketing focus away from interruption towards engagement.”

Babs Rangaiah further explained: “We are all about the masses and scale, and interruption is becoming a much tougher proposition. So we have this term: ‘penetrate the culture’. It’s about getting into what people are interested in, what they are engaged in.”

How do we feel about the Unilever approach within the social universe? Mostly two thumbs up! Why? Because we like Unilever’s DNA. It’s open, willing to try and listen.

It at least seems that Unilever brand marketers are capturing the “true power” of social media. And that they dare to go beyond running just interruptive banners at social networks or pushing an intrusive pre-roll commercial before UGC video content. No, Unilever understands it must go beyond “plain advertising” to become successful within in the social space.

I sincerely hope that other brands and their media agencies are paying attention to this social media marketing approach.

For the brand marketers that have doubts, look at the dramatic shift in marketing reality and do believe us: the only constant is change the coming 10 years!

Also see our previous items about Unilever: Dove Onslaught, Unilever Lux and Unilever The Rising Star in Social Media.

Other brands that use social media marketing to gain consumer feedback and new ideas are Dell and Starbucks. Again companies that are unleashing the power of social marketing to transform their brand and business.

Source: Revolution Magazine