News Feature | April 8, 2014

Unilever And Upworthy Leverage Social Media, Connect With Consumers On Sustainability

By Karla Paris

Unilever And Upworthy Social Media

A new partnership is focusing on content strategy, distribution, and reader engagement through a collaborative effort of shared learning

Unilever and its Project Sunlight recently announced a partnership with Upworthy, a social issues driven content site, which matches the aspirations of Project Sunlight to engage the socially conscious consumer.  While Project Sunlight is Unilever’s initiative to inspire sustainable living, this partnership aims to capture social content that shares the spirit and values of Project Sunlight to help inspire and build momentum behind a positive movement for change in our environment that is already happening.

Project Sunlight is designed to appeal to consumers everywhere, and in particular, parents, encouraging consumers to join what Unilever sees as a growing community of people who want to make the world a better place for children and future generations.  The project was launched on Universal Children's Day on November 20, 2013 in Brazil, India, Indonesia, the U.K., and the U.S.

So, how did Unilever establish this partnership?  The roots of the partnership with Upworthy were harvested from Unilever’s Go Global program.  Under the Go Global program, Unilever contributes money, mentorship, goods, and services to digital marketing companies in exchange for a customized digital marketing pilot program in the area of content, mobile, or connected devices.

Through Go Global, Unilever accomplished the following goals:

  • Helping its brands create, curate, and distribute content that informs and inspires consumers
  • Helping its brands to connect with billions of consumers through advanced mobile solutions
  • Helping its brands understand and explore how people can track and leverage their personal data, to improve their life experiences.

For Unilever, this is part of its new marketing strategy, “Crafting Brands for Life.” The Upworthy partnership gives Unilever an opportunity to explore new platforms and marketing insights in a “non-mainstream” way.  Seven Unilever brands — Hellmann’s, Flora, proactiv, Magnum, CLEAR, Surf, Vaseline, and Unilever — were selected for the Go Global program, representing its four product categories: food, homecare, refreshments, and personal care, as well as the company’s corporate brand, Unilever.