It is somewhat difficult to look ahead to 2024 when in some respects we are still deep in 2023. But after the shock of the first weeks of the war, and as the weeks pass, we realize that as managers of a large business we have a responsibility towards our people and their well-being, and a responsibility to take care of the business continuity of our company.
And not only ours - as part of the business sector we are committed to the national mission of maintaining a functioning economy and driving the economy.
The meaning of this, among other things, is to produce a kind of emergency routine.
To understand how in a period that is anything but routine we find a correct and proper way to promote our businesses.
When so many people are mobilized and affected by the war, heavy questions arise, sometimes existential ones, which collide with the trivialities of everyday life.
Is it legitimate to post on such days?
Is it legitimate to make money during wartime?
How do we as managers guide and guide our teams?
Is it possible to create guidelines for conduct during such a period?
So there is no instruction book on how to manage such an event.
Even in a company like Unilever, which is rich in resources of knowledge and experience, we could not rely on what was done in the past.
In this sense we find ourselves navigating in unknown territory, and this requires us to proceed cautiously.
To the usual measures of exposure and effectiveness, a new measure was added - public sensitivity
Nega Baner Soari./Rafi Deloya
Every organization has its own DNA, values and I believe, and every marketing man or woman has their own internal compass, according to which they have to act, while constantly examining the changing reality, of the business and public environment in which they operate and of the murmurs of the heart and consumer sentiment.
Since the reality is so dynamic, every campaign, big or small, starts with the question of whether it is worthwhile and right to start with it now.
We consult with our advertising agencies and partners and examine the circumstances, current events and the mood of the public all the time.
Even when the campaign is in the air, we stay on the pulse, attentive to consumer reactions and, if necessary, adjust, freeze or take another action.
In certain situations we may make a decision to postpone the campaign or even take it off the air.
There is no clear formula, and each case is examined on its own merits.
During a war, the emotional range of all of us is different.
People face hardships and challenges, and accordingly also with complex emotions.
In such a situation, they tend to embrace the well-known and the beloved and the marketing managers need to understand this and know which brands and products it is right to give the stage to.
Come up with an emotional or informative campaign?
After we have decided on the brands that will be on the front, we need to think about the right way and the appropriate messages to go with them.
Is it right for the brand to launch a campaign now?
If so, on which platforms?
A product or informational campaign only, or maybe choose a more emotional and narrative creative?
And what is the correct content?
Do we want to talk about the brand itself, or perhaps about an activity it does?
Here at Unilever, some of the brands have a "purpose" activity, which is an activity oriented towards social and value-based action.
The Thelma brand, for example, works to promote an active lifestyle, and maintains a long-standing collaboration with the Society for Experiencers, whose main focus is sports activities for families in community centers.
With the beginning of the war, we realized that there was a need to adapt this activity to the new situation, where entire communities were displaced from their homes and housed in temporary residences, therefore we trained a special mobile that travels between the evacuees' centers and produces sports activities for the children and youth in the hotels where they stay.
We communicated this activity on social networks and in collaboration with the presenter of Cornflex of Champions, Linui Ashram, when the idea was to expose it and give a platform to the participating community as well.
"Champions and Champions on the Road" campaign./Thelma
When is it better not to address the situation?
In contrast, we have decided that brand pages on social networks, especially those aimed at the younger audience, such as Tik Tok, do not necessarily need to properly refer to the situation, and must be careful of forced and incorrect references.
This decision largely depends on the nature of the brand.
In "Pillows", for example, a brand with a young and kicking character that connects to everyday pleasure, we thought it would be more appropriate to provide more light and entertaining content.
This content speaks the familiar language of the brand, but it too has undergone an adjustment of the "volume" and the look and feel, because after all, times are not normal.
In the bottom line
To sum up the period and what it demands from us as marketers in one word, I choose the word sensitivity.
The recent period invites new challenges for us every day, so the most important thing is to maintain sensitivity and optimism, to be very attentive to the environment in which we operate - to the feelings of consumers, to the events that happen around us and to the changing public atmosphere - and to hope for the best, always.
Nega Bener-Suari is the VP of Marketing responsible for the cereal, culinary, and personal and home care categories at Unilever Israel
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