• Ad Age, Sunday, June 27, 2010 10:56 PM

Unilever will be double spending on digital marketing this year, Chief Marketing Officer Keith Weed told the International Advertising Festival. He says the company is looking to make its digital presence proportionate to the amount of time people spend with digital media, noted Ad Age.  "Now, in the U.S., where people are spending 25% of their time in some sort of digital engagement, then you should be proportionate. ... You will find that we will be in the 20% areas in markets like the U.S. And you will find we'll be in the single [digits] in markets that are less developed."

Measured media spending has lagged Unilever's rhetorical embrace of digital over the years. The company spent only 4% of its $864 million in measured media last year on internet spending, according to Kantar Media, and even doubling wouldn't get it to 20% this year.

"I will drive Unilever to be at the leading edge of digital and digital marketing," Weed said. "This is not because I have a love of digital. What is absolutely clear is that the consumer is spending more and more time engaging in the digital space," he added, reports Brand Republic. "I need to be where the consumer is, but actually, more than that, I need to be ahead of the consumer so that we are there when the consumer arrives."

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