• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, March 2, 2010

Unilever likes a lot of the traditional in the advertising business â€" but also demands much of the new from its agencies.

“I’m a big fan of the AOR relationship,” says Kathy O’Brien, vp of personal care for Unilever, in speaking at the 4A’s media conference. “With our brands teams changing so frequently, it’s nice to have a true partnership. They are the keeper of brand equity.”

What does O’Brien look for in a media agency? “Strong strategic thinking and good channel planning -- and the ability to incorporate digital media that is not silo-ed out,” she says. Recently, Unilever went through an extensive media review which stayed with incumbent Group M agency Mindshare.

With success in many digital and new media platform areas, Unilever for its products is looking aggressively beyond just traditional media platform.

“We hope they move past the 30-second commercial,” she says. “We need to find the next way to talk to consumers.” For example, she notes, that social media “is the fabric that is going through all our communication efforts.”