Dove‘s global chief marketing officer (CMO), Alessandro Manfredi, is leaving Unilever after 28 years.
The marketer is one of the architects behind the brand’s pioneering and commercially successful “Campaign for Real Beauty,” which has used advertising to challenge traditional societal beauty standards since 2004.
Manfredi confirmed his departure in a LinkedIn post: “Ending my adventure with the 20th anniversary of Real Beauty is such a beautiful closure of a circle.
“Throughout my career within Unilever, I was allowed to cultivate these incredible assets and inject them into the brands I was lucky to work on, which makes me forever grateful to this company,” he said.
He has held various roles in his tenure including global vp of the Dove master brand, vp of global marketing for haircare and executive vp for Dove. He was appointed as Dove’s CMO in 2022.
“Real Beauty,” still stands as one of the most awarded campaigns of the last few decades, having helped the brand grow its customer reach for 10 years. In 2023, Dove fueled the growth of Unilever’s Personal Care, which noted a sales boost of 8.9% for the year and represented 23% of its $64 million turnover.
Dove has set the standard for purpose-driven marketing that drives the bottom line, pinning its proposition around self-esteem, inclusivity and body positivity for women and kids.
More recent work spearheaded by Manfredi includes Dove’s “Reverse Selfie” push which documented the extent to which people edit their images online and the turmoil of a girl trying to take the perfect selfie.
He also launched a commitment from the brand never to use AI-generated imagery to represent real people in its campaigns.
ADWEEK has reached out to Unilever to confirm how it will fill the role left vacant by Manfredi, at the time of writing it has not yet responded.
Change at Unilever
Manfredi’s decision to step down marks the latest change at the top of Unilever’s marketing team, following the exit of its brand and inclusion chief, Aline Santos, in February.
In late 2023, the Dove and Ben & Jerry’s owner announced Esi Eggleston Bracey, who previously led its U.S. business and oversees the personal care division across North America, was to take on the new position of chief growth and marketing officer (CGMO).
Bracey’s appointment dovetailed with a shift in tone from Unilever’s (then recently appointed) CEO Hein Schumacher, who hinted at plans to dial back on attaching a purpose to each of the CPG’s 400-plus brands; a strategy initiated by predecessor, Allan Jope.
“Not every brand should have a social or environmental purpose. And we don’t want to fit that on brands unnecessarily,” Schumacher told the Financial Times. He said purpose could be an “unwelcome distraction” in his mission to build a “performance” culture.
Now, as it navigates a cost-of-living crisis and tries to reclaim its market share in tough economic conditions, Unilever is focused on its top 30 “power brands” which are growing faster than the company average and generating more than 70% of turnover. These include Dove, Knorr and Paula’s choice.
Speaking at Cannes Lions 2024, Bracey said purpose was still central to this mission, but the company couldn’t take a “one-size-fits-all” approach.
As part of Schumacher’s “action plan,” the group has been shedding brands. In 2023, it sold the DTC razor brand Dollar Shave Club to private equity group Nexus Capital Management, and it plans to spin off or sell its ice cream division.
