Unilever is reshaping its global marketing approach by placing consumer conversations at the center of brand building. Speaking at Cannes Lions 2026, Leandro Barreto, Global CMO of Unilever, introduced the company’s new “Reality First” strategy, which focuses on what consumers want to say about a brand rather than what the brand wants to communicate.
Barreto described the approach as an operating model rather than a marketing slogan. He clarified that reports describing Unilever’s strategy as “social first” or suggesting it was shifting media budgets solely toward influencers had missed the broader objective.
“It’s not about channels. It never was,” he said, adding, “TV didn’t die. Paid media didn’t die.” According to Barreto, the real shift lies in how brands create demand, as consumers increasingly act on recommendations from trusted communities.
He outlined 3 key principles behind the “Reality First” approach: clear meaning, commitment to co-creation, and a system designed to support execution. Without these, he said, brands become “just noise wearing a creator’s face.”
Barreto shared examples of how Unilever brands are applying this strategy. He said Vaseline embraced unexpected consumer uses of its products by collaborating with creators to turn popular product hacks into new offerings, with creators receiving a share of sales. He also highlighted a South African tradition where parents apply Vaseline to children’s faces before school, inspired by a local phrase meaning “go shine.”
Another example involved Hellmann’s, which partnered with NFL quarterback Will Levis after a viral social media moment featuring mayonnaise in coffee, leading to the creation of a mayonnaise-scented cologne. For Dove Intense Repair Mask, the company built a campaign around publishing the first 50 Reddit reviews without editing them.
Barreto described the strategy as the combination of “poetry and plumbing.” He explained that poetry represents consumer understanding, cultural relevance, and creative courage, while plumbing refers to the systems, tools, and technology needed to scale ideas.
Closing the session, he said, “The creators are our torch barriers. Because the moment nobody carries your fire anymore, the brand might still be visible. You can still buy media, still flood every platform. But something deeper has already disappeared. People stopped caring. And once that happens, no algorithm can save you.”
He added, “If this is what you are going through now, you do not have a media problem. You probably have not built something worth sharing. And no media plan can fix that. So that’s why I insist we must build something worth repeating and trust someone else to repeat it. That’s the only way.”
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