The FMCG giant said that the lift in marketing spend would focus on its 30 power brands.
Unilever has grown its marketing investment by nearly 10 per cent to €9.42 billion (A$15.6 billion).
The maker of Dove, Ben & Jerry’s, Magnum, Omo and Lynx said that its marketing investment now accounts for 15.5 per cent of global turnover, which grew by 1.9 per cent to €60.8 billion.
Unilever’s underlying sales grew by 4.2 per cent, led by a lift in volume of 2.9 per cent and and a rise in price of 1.3 per cent.
Unilever’s power brands contributed more than three quarters of turnover, with sales growing by 5.3 per cent.
The group’s Beauty & Wellbeing division grew sales by 6.5 per cent, Personal Care was u[ 5.2 per cent, Home Care sales increased by 2.9 per cent and the Foods business grew 2.6 per cent. Unilever’s Ice Cream business, which is being spun off from the rest of the group, lifted sles by 3.7 per cent.
Unilever CEO Hein Schumacher said the group had reported higher than pre-COVID revenue for all of its divisions except for ice cream.
“This strong gross margin expansion gave us flexibility to both, increase investment in our brands and expand underlying operating margin. We increased brand and marketing investment by 120bps to 15.5 per cent of turnover, an increase of €900 million,” he added.
“All additional investment was concentrated in our top 30 brands behind a much more focused innovation programme. Our brand and marketing investment has been the highest percentage of turnover in over a decade with an increase of 250bps or €1.6 billion over the last two years.”
Unilever’s increase in marketing spend provides optimism after a challenging for marketers with the cost of living crisis and inflation placing pressure on marketing teams and budgets in many parts of the world.
