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Unilever CEO warns advertisers that ‘woke-washing’ threatens industry credibility

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Cannes, 19 June 2019: Unilever CEO Alan Jope today warned that woke-washing – brand campaigns promising to improve the world but failing to take real action – is undermining the advertising industry’s credibility and trust.

Alan Jope

Speaking at the 2019 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, he said: “Purpose is one of the most exciting opportunities I’ve seen for this industry in my 35 years of marketing. Done properly, done responsibly, it will help us restore trust in our industry, unlock greater creativity in our work, and grow the brands we love.

“However, purposeful marketing is at an important crossroads. Woke-washing is beginning to infect our industry. It’s polluting purpose. It’s putting in peril the very thing which offers us the opportunity to help tackle many of the world’s issues. What’s more, it threatens to further destroy trust in our industry, when it’s already in short supply.”

There are too many examples of brands undermining purposeful marketing by launching campaigns which aren’t backing up what their brand says with what their brand does. Purpose-led brand communications is not just a matter of ‘make them cry, make them buy’. It’s about action in the world,” Jope added.

Urging advertisers and their agencies to hold each other to account, he called on agencies to reject campaign briefs from brands that don’t “walk the talk” on purpose and promised that agencies with a track record of purpose-washing won’t work on Unilever brands.

“Unilever will not be part of false purpose and will not work with those who are. But – we will celebrate and reward the brilliant work and power of creativity that can be unlocked by putting issues that matter at the centre of what our brands do and what they say.”

He rallied the industry to “Unleash Purpose” with “creative ideas that move people, change perceptions, and inspire action”, inviting advertisers “to work with Unilever in a new way and bring us new ideas that drive the kind of behavioural and cultural change that’s required to fix the big challenges of our time.

Jope noted that consumers are rapidly shifting towards “brands that ‘get it’ and embrace a role in society that goes well beyond what they sell”, noting:

  • 64% of global consumers say they choose brands because of their stand on social issues
  • 91% of millennials would switch brands for one which champions a cause
  • Brands recognised for their strong commitment to purpose have grown twice the rate of others over the last 12 years

He confirmed that “brands without a purpose will have no long-term future with Unilever”. This follows last week’s announcement that the company’s 28 Sustainable Living Brands, including Dove, Knorr, Persil/OMO, and Rexona, grew 69% faster than the rest of the business in 2018, compared to 47% in 2017.

Jope concluded by declaring: “We are ALL IN on Purpose.”

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