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Unilever to debut logo in consumer ads

 

LONDON - Unilever, which owns brands including Flora, Persil and Marmite, plans to feature its logo in consumer advertising for the first time, in a bid to leverage the value of its corporate reputation.

Unilever
Unilever
 

It is understood that the FMCG company's logo will appear in its product advertising across all media later this year in the UK and Ireland. A spokesman for Unilever confirmed the decision.

'Our research tells us that people who already buy one Unilever brand will buy others, if they know they come from the same maker,' he said.

The spokesman declined to comment on whether there were plans to introduce a strapline, in a similar way to SC Johnson ads which carry the line 'A family company'.

Some Unilever ads in Asian and Latin American markets already feature corporate branding, but it has not been applied consistently.

Professor Patrick Barwise, emeritus professor of management and marketing at London Business School, said: 'If consumers do have a positive opinion of the company there could be some sort of endorsement benefit.'

However he warned that the inclusion of the logo could also dilute advertising messages and increased the risk of harm across the portfolio if issues arose on one product.

Unilever has already had some experience of this. Feminist groups claim that Dove's 'Campaign for real beauty' is hypocritical because ads for Lynx, also owned by the company, feature sexist images.

 

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Mark Griffiths

Mark Griffiths - 13 January 2009

I know that Unilever has been thinking about this for years. Why go for it now? Perhaps, in a recession, people are looking for that extra little bit of assurance. But, historically, the 'House of Brands' model has worked because \(a) the marketing emphasis has been on individual product qualities and \(b) the 'House' has used its strengths in the financial and logistics areas and kept well out of the frontline. The Dove/Lynx example is telling - differences in behaviour which pull apart a brand's values. Unilever should look to Nestle, a House of Brands whose logo has appeared on its individual product ranges.

 

Joseph Choe - 14 January 2009

Most brands are looking at how they can reduces their marketing expenses without sacrificing the sales during recession time. By going into the 'House of Brands', Unilever could also enjoy the synergy from their marketing efforts and build a stronger brand in the market. Subsequently, the brand corporate branding can be leverage on integrated product extension strategy. Great achievement comes with very high risk.

Hidayat Greenfield - 24 February 2009

Unilever faces a series of aggressive brand attacks in 2009. The latest attack is on its Lipton branded tea products, where human rights violations and the appalling working conditions of its employees in Pakistan threatens a public backlash. Lipton is one the global brands in Unilever's billion-dollar brands portfolio. More info here: http://www.iuf.org/casualtea/

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