Unilever’s Influencer-First Strategy and What It Means for Marketers

Unilever’s decision to go “influencer-first” is more than a bold line in a Business Insider headline. By scaling collaborations to around 300,000 creators globally and committing roughly 50% of its ad budget to influencer-led channels, the FMCG giant has accelerated a structural shift that was already underway. For brand marketers, this move is a clear signal that creators are no longer a tactical add-on.

What makes Unilever’s approach particularly significant is not just the scale, but the intent. This isn’t about testing influencer marketing on the margins; it’s about re-architecting how brand investment works in a fragmented media landscape where traditional reach is harder to buy and trust is increasingly earned peer-to-peer.

From Experimental to Essential

Influencer marketing has spent the last decade moving from novelty to normality. Unilever’s move effectively completes that transition. When one of the world’s largest advertisers reallocates half its spend into creator ecosystems, it legitimises influencers at boardroom level and resets expectations across the industry.

We are already seeing knock-on effects. Industry spending on influencer marketing is forecast to exceed $35bn globally, growing far faster than overall advertising spend. Many large brands are now following suit, either increasing influencer budgets outright or reclassifying influencer content as a core part of paid media rather than “social”.

For marketers, this changes the planning conversation. Influencer is no longer competing for experimental budget; it is competing directly with TV, online video, and paid social for share of spend.

Influencers as a Cross-Channel Asset

Perhaps the most important implication of Unilever’s strategy is how influencers are being used beyond social feeds. Increasingly, creators are not just media placements, they are creative assets.  It’s something that Altair has always pushed when working with creators, they should be seen as a creative department in their own right.  They know how to talk to their audience, so should be given the freedom to do so. 

We then negotiate to ensure this influencer-led content can be repurposed into paid social, online video, digital out-of-home and even TV.

This approach is now being seen across the industry, influencers are appearing directly in broadcast ads, lending familiarity and credibility to traditionally “polished” formats. For audiences, the distinction between influencer content and advertising is blurring and often that works in brands’ favour.

For marketers, this means influencer planning must sit closer to creative and media strategy, not just social teams. Usage rights, content longevity and cross-channel amplification should be designed in from the outset. Influencer campaigns that are built only for organic reach risk underperforming against those planned as integrated, multi-channel systems.

Measurement Moves Centre Stage

As budgets scale, scrutiny inevitably follows. One of the biggest shifts we’ll see this year and next is a greater focus on measurement and accountability in influencer marketing.

Brands are already moving beyond vanity metrics towards clearer links between creator activity and outcomes such as brand lift, search uplift, consideration and sales. This will accelerate as influencer spend replaces more measurable channels like paid social and search. 

Expect more rigorous frameworks, better use of incrementality testing, and closer alignment between influencer KPIs and broader business objectives. Influencer marketing will increasingly be judged by the same standards as any other major media investment.

What to Expect This Year and Next 

Looking ahead, several trends feel likely:

• Influencer spend will continue to grow, often funded by reallocation from TV and other traditional channels.
• Pricing pressure will increase at the top end of the creator market, making portfolio approaches more important.
• Influencer content will be planned as a reusable creative asset, not a one-off post.
• Media, creative and influencer teams will need to work more closely together.
• Measurement expectations will rise, pushing the channel towards greater maturity.

Unilever’s strategy doesn’t mean every brand should copy its scale. Few can. But it does provide a clear direction that the creator economy is no longer peripheral to brand marketing.

For marketers, the question is no longer whether influencers belong in the mix, but how intelligently they are integrated. Those who treat creators as a core channel, so planned, measured and connected to the wider media ecosystem, will be best placed to benefit from the shift Unilever has just accelerated.