Unofficial Partner Podcast
Unofficial Partner Podcast
UP439 The Buy Side - Unilever
The Buy Side is our regular series talking with brand side marketers about sport and sponsorship.
Today's guest is Willem Dinger, global head of sport and entertainment partnerships at Unilever.
The Buy Side is sponsored by KORE Software the global leader in engagement marketing solutions. More than 900 brands, venues, and sports organisations trust KORE’s tools and platforms as a source of truth to manage partnerships, assets and measure impact, with real-time insights. Through Sponsorship Management and Evaluation, Ticketing, Fan Engagement, Data Management and Analytics, KORE unites corporate sponsors, properties, and their fans with solutions that help enhance the fan experience, drive smarter decisions, and enable marketing and operations teams to spend time where it matters.
Learn more at KORESoftware.com or follow them LinkedIn or Twitter.
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Hello, welcome to Unofficial Partner, the sports business podcast. I'm Richard Gillis today. It's the buy-side and our guest is William dinger. Global head of sports partnerships at Unilever.
Richard Gillis Unofficial Partner:The buy-side is sponsored by KORE Software. The global leader in engagement, marketing solutions, more than 900 brands, venues and sports organizations trust cause tools and platforms as a source of truth to manage partnerships, assets, and measure impact with real time insights. Through sponsorship management and evaluation ticketing, fan engagement, data management, and analytics, core unites corporate sponsors properties, and their fans with solutions that help enhance the fan experience. Drive smarter decisions and enable marketing and operations teams to spend time where it matters. Learn more at KORESoftware.com or follow them on LinkedIn or Twitter.
Richard Gillis, Unofficial Partner:you can imagine that I think I know what Unilever is, and it's probably wrong or out of date. So let's just, start with, uh, First of all, what's your job? And then I just want to get into broader company before we start talking about sport and sponsorship and all those things. So what is your role?
Willem Dinger, Unilever:So yeah, hi, hi Richard. And thanks for having me on the podcast. So I'm Willem Dinger. I lead sport and entertainment marketing for Unilever. And I've been at the company for 10 years. Previous to that, I started my kind of sports and entertainment marketing career at Fulham Football Club. So started there in 2003, 2004, uh, worked there for four, four years before moving to an IPG agency called Momentum. And there I kind of worked on different kind of accounts. So worked on the European tour, uh, for UPS and Genworth International. I also worked on the BMW Sauber Intel F1 account as well, which was very interesting. And then that took me to Just Marketing International. So that is Zac Brown's motorsport agency before, yeah, he took the wheel at McLaren. And then I joined Unilever in 2015. So that's been the journey so far.
Richard Gillis, Unofficial Partner:Blimey. There's a lot in there. So I think Juliette Slott would have been at Fulham at
Willem Dinger, Unilever:yes, it was Juliette Slott and Olly Dale. So Olly Dale was running the commercial department at Fulham football club. Those are the days of Chris Coleman and Laurie Sanchez. So quite a long time ago. And yeah, that's where I sort of, built my capability in sports marketing. I was working in the commercial and sponsorship team then. So looking after kind of key partners like Nike, LG Electronics, Vittel Water few betting companies like Lab Brooks as well. So yeah, that's where I kind of really learned my trade. And then also just working agency side as well, really kind of understanding client needs, brand needs. How to really make brands unmissable in a very cluttered environment. So I feel actually, over the last sort of 22 years where I've had You know, the privilege of working in this industry. I've worked across, rights holders at Fulham Football Club, agency environments as well, and now sort of brand and corporate side. So I feel like I've worked all sides of the fence, but now at Unilever over the last 10 years, I'm sort of really kind of building the capability around sports and entertainment marketing. So I work as a capability to the different business groups. So at Unilever, we've got, five different business groups. So we've got ice cream, nutrition, home care, beauty and wellbeing and personal care. So essentially what I do is I help build, partnership strategies. in different kind of cultural spaces, be that music, be that sport, be that entertainment, fashion, film. And I help drive the different programming with the various markets to make sure that we're driving both business and brand impact from our different partnership opportunities.
Richard Gillis, Unofficial Partner:So there's a devolved bit to this. So you've got the individual brands, which are very famous and in the supermarkets and we know who they are. And then you've got the Unilever. brand, which over the years has sort of emerged and become a thing in its own right. What's the relationship now? What's the plan now? Because obviously you see Unilever turning up in various places via sport. Then you've also got that, the product layer.
Willem Dinger, Unilever:So the way, the way that we kind of drive value from our partnerships is very much through the brand lens. Not through the Unilever corporate brand lens. So, that's why when you would have seen us signing deals with the likes of FIFA, we're very much driving that through, brand value creation. So, making sure the likes of Axe, Dove, Dovemen Plus Care, Lifebuoy, Pepcid and Closeup are really driving, brand communication and brand IP through these different relationships. So that's how we generally drive, the value and the impact from our IP and the different partnerships that we have across the different business groups.
Richard Gillis, Unofficial Partner:So let's get into what sponsorship does. What's the, what's the point of sponsorship from your Perspective. Cause you're, you're the guy that sort of, are you negotiating deals then? Are you at the point to which they say, right, okay, the strategy is then worked out and they say, right, okay, we need you to go. And what are you doing? Sourcing opportunities and then working out the value
Willem Dinger, Unilever:Yeah. So we're, we're working very much with the brand teams to kind of identify the needs. So what is the role that partnerships is playing in terms of, aligning to the, to the broader business and brand objectives. We're kind of understanding from the brand idea, how will that resonate inside of the communication and the partnership that we're trying to activate around. So it's really trying to build, creative firepower to make sure that the way That we're driving value from the partnership is really helping to ensure that brands are unmissable in the way that we're kind of activating both through communication out of home, experientially, how we're sort of driving, very kind of fun and relatable messaging around our sort of product superiority. So. We're very much building the strategy audience led, data led, understanding what are the right different cultural spaces for our different brands to play in because where Tresemme might play or where Lux will play is very different to where Rexona and Dovememplus, Careplus play, will play within the different cultural spaces. So we're kind of aligning the different strategies and the different brands to ensure that the way that we show up is very kind of crafted to drive different. Differentiated and ownable swim lanes to make sure that, we're creating that unique proposition for the brand. But I think, overall with partnerships, they give us sort of three main, pillars of driving business and brand impact. There's the scale, I think when you're looking at the likes of FIFA, nothing gives you that universal reach. I think, the female World Cup, for instance, was driving 2 billion, views through broadcasts and through other different channels. You're looking at the FIFA World Cup in 2022, that was around 5 billion. I mean, I think, with FIFA 26, which will be sort of the biggest World Cup in history, you're looking at, 104 matches, 48 teams. That's, that's going to be, the biggest ever cultural temple that I think the world has ever seen. So it gives you that unprecedented scale, but then the ability to kind of co create with FIFA and drive that brand relevance and making sure that we're creating communication that help our brands become unmissable. To drive, into different consumers in different ways through content, through behind the scenes footage, through helping our brands drive their product messaging and fun and relatable ways, I think is really, really important. And I think with FIFA, Our personal care category, which is obviously aligning with this partnership is very well represented geographically in different regions. So, for example, you'll have Lux, Close Up, Pepsodent, that are very, and Lifebuoy, that are very strong in Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia and China. But then you've got the likes of Dove, Dove Men Plus Care, Axe. And and Rexona that, uh, very strong in, North America and Latin America in Europe and also in Africa. So it means that we can flex our portfolio to drive business impact in the strongest markets that we are commercially.
Richard Gillis, Unofficial Partner:so in terms of, first of all, congratulations on ownable swimming channels. That's the first time I've heard that phrase, that's a cracker. The, let's talk about. The Women's World Cup. What do you know about the audience for that? The running assumption is that, women's football, women's football products are different. They have a different audience. Is that what you think? What do you know about that? conundrum because that's where the value resides and people are making a big bet on that. Do you, is that what you think?
Willem Dinger, Unilever:I mean, I think the fact that we were strategically making a decision to partner with FIFA in 23. until the end of 2027 was extremely important So not only did that include two female World Cups, so in 2023 in New Zealand and Australia, 2027 in Brazil, and then we've just completed the under 20 female World Cup that took place in Columbia. So strategically we know that women's football is on a meteoric rise. And this is where we see, A huge amount of, commercial opportunity, but also from an impact perspective to make sure that, female football is, being invested in with the right resource, both from a, funding perspective, but also from a grassroots perspective, if you think about, the Rexona Breaking Limits program, this is all about driving Improved accessibility into women's football and into sport overall. So, for example, we are, the Breaking Limits program operates in seven markets. It engages 11, 000 coaches, teachers, and community leaders around the world. We're partnering with 36 NGOs as well. So it's all about trying to keep girls in sport, to help them playing sport, to make sport more accessible. And it's all centered on the brand idea of celebrating and empowering movement because, Retsona, very much centered in movement. So. We, we know that there are so many different health benefits of keeping everyone active and moving. And that's why, we have this Breaking Limits program to make sure that we are keeping millions of young girls and boys around the world, playing sport, keeping them active, keeping them involved. And this has been a really important program as we kind of focus our relationship with FIFA and how we can integrate inside of their different FIFA development programs. Thank you very much.
Richard Gillis, Unofficial Partner:given that, what's the conversation around Saudi Arabia and in FIFA's relationship with Saudi? Because they're going to be hosting Events, Club World Cup. We're going to be talking about the FIFA Men's World Cup. Was there ever any conversation within Unilever that that is appropriate given your audience?
Willem Dinger, Unilever:We just focus on our partnership, in terms of how we can really drive value and impact with FIFA because I think with FIFA, we have got the ability to innovate. To make sure that we're driving, exclusive content, grassroots development programs, being able to,
Richard Gillis, Unofficial Partner:So is that a no, is that a no, Willem, just to be sure, just because I'm just trying to be clear you've never had a conversation about Saudi Arabia, about its role and the relationship with the FIFA. and therefore
Willem Dinger, Unilever:I don't think it's really appropriate for us to comment on that, Richard. I think what we focus on is our partnership and how we drive value from the relationship across our
Richard Gillis, Unofficial Partner:think it's fair. I mean, the only reason I asked there is I'm pursuing it is that Unilever is making a great, a lot of their marketing or a lot of your marketing is based on brand purpose. So you're, you're saying that actually it's about more than selling cosmetic products or personal care or ice cream. It's actually about something bigger. Activating, particularly around women's football in that area and saying, for example, as you've just articulated very well that you're looking at movement, you're looking at other bigger topics. It's quite difficult to then balance that without questioning the rights holders future direction. So
Willem Dinger, Unilever:overall we, we, we, we use partnerships to drive competitive growth for sure, in terms of making sure that our products have a scent in front of driving their unmissable product superiority and also making a positive impact. And I think, not only of the work that we're doing with Rexone and the Breaking Limits program, but everything that we've been driving around Dove and their body confidence sports mission as well. So it's, it's inside and outside of FIFA really. So, like for example with Dove, they partnered with Nike last year. because they're on a mission to drive, confidence in young girls around their, self esteem platform.
Richard Gillis, Unofficial Partner:you're, you're hoping on one side, you're saying that FIFA, the association with FIFA, you've mentioned that, 5 billion views, 2 billion views, it's going to be the biggest event you're hoping for some association to take place, otherwise you wouldn't have spent the money to become a FIFA partner. When it moves to Saudi, you're saying actually it's about Other than FIFA. You don't want that link to be made too
Willem Dinger, Unilever:No, I'm not saying that at all. I'm just saying that we're focusing our relationship with FIFA and making sure that how we activate at a global level is driving business objectives and driving brand impact. It's the same way, for example, that we partnered with the Esports World Cup, this is very much a global initiative that took place in Saudi Arabia, and we were driving that across our Axe and Clear brands. So this is something that, we were driving, across the two months that the tournament was on. We've seen a terrific amount of, engagement and scale from how we were activating that across, 10, 15 markets. So, I, where, where it takes place. I don't think, for us really, I think, I think it's important just to focus on what our partnership brings to the table and how we activate across many markets, not just one.
Richard Gillis, Unofficial Partner:And you'll have seen that, 106 professional female footballers, 24 countries calling for an end to FIFA's sponsorship deal with Aramco, Saudi oil company, open letter to Infantino. All of that is taking place whilst you're doing a lot of marketing to women. You're letting, you're using women's football as a marketing platform. Again, I'm trying to sort of tally those that you don't really, that, that letter you don't think is important.
Willem Dinger, Unilever:Around the Female World Cup, we partnered with, many female ambassadors. So we partnered with Sam Kerr, Trinity Rodman, Linda Casado, Tamirez, Lauren James. So, we are supporting female football, both at a grassroots level, all the way to the elite level. So, the work that we are doing, both, from a social impact perspective, but how we're trying to inspire the next generation of young girls, to make sure that they are, confident and inspired, and how we can improve their everyday lives, keeping them healthy and confident, is very important. Something that, we are extremely, focused on both kind of inside and outside of the FIFA relationship.
Richard Gillis, Unofficial Partner:Okay. Club World Cup. I saw Hisense sign up this week. Have you, I mean, I imagine you've had the pitch. What, what's your view on that?
Willem Dinger, Unilever:I think it's going to be a brilliant tournament. I think as the inaugural tournament, it's, it's going to be interesting to see how it plays out. I think the, the trajectory of soccer in the U. S. is the fastest growing sport at the moment in, in North America. So I'm very intrigued to see how that plays out. We've just come off the back of Copa America in 2024. So that was again, an extremely, uh, Successful event whereby we we activated across all of our Latin American markets and also our North American markets. So I feel that the energy is there. I, I personally was in the U S quite a few number of times for many matches. And I just thought the energy and the passion of sports fans in North America is growing. I think the Hispanic audience in the U. S. is 25 percent of the population, and you know that it's going to be growing as we gear up, not only to the FIFA Club World Championships next year, but also to the FIFA World Cup in 2026. So, yeah, that for me will be what we're going to be focused on in 2026 and, planning is already underway all the site visits already happening, and they're happening in the next couple of months or so with FIFA, but it's going to be the biggest event and, we are very excited about the opportunity, we are excited Excited about the passion and energy of all the fans and how it will be the biggest ever cultural event in history. So that's, yeah, very much top of the agenda for Unilever Personal Care.
Richard Gillis, Unofficial Partner:So is, is the club event not part of what you've bought? So you signed, when did you sign? You signed up with, in 23? Is that right? With the FIFA relationship. Was it part of the discussion?
Willem Dinger, Unilever:uh, no, not at the time. So we signed in, yeah, we signed in April, 2023. So as I mentioned before, we were very strategic to make sure that we had, we're very much investing and wanting to grow the women's game. So two world cups for women's and an under twenties, which we've just completed in Columbia. And then the men's in 2026, we also have an agreement with CONCACAF that includes the gold cup. And also Nations League. So for next summer, we will be focusing on CONCACAF and the gold cup. So we're really excited about that. The Mexico, Canada US teams, and also our Caribbean markets. So that's going to be a big focus for us in the US. It will be a big, big summer of soccer. And also we've got the women's UA for Euros happening next year. So again, something that, we're very excited about and that comes off a very successful campaign around this. Summers Euro 24.
Richard Gillis, Unofficial Partner:it, a surprise that FIFA then come to market with another event? event. If you've just signed in 23, they then appear in 24 with a brand new, it's an upgrade, but it's obviously he's talking about a new property. It just feels odd that you wouldn't either wouldn't have had the conversation or they're now coming to you for more money with another event, which
Willem Dinger, Unilever:But we've had, we've had the conversation with FIFA.
Richard Gillis, Unofficial Partner:So you said no to the club
Willem Dinger, Unilever:we've said no, because strategically we have already got the Conquer CAF, Gold Cup and Nations League. So in terms of our strategic portfolio that we've built out over the last five years we know what we've already got in place will help us drive, the business and brand objectives that. We, we, uh, we're, we're hoping to drive in the next two years.
Richard Gillis, Unofficial Partner:Okay, so that's okay. That's interesting. you leave her in marketing and brand marketing comes up brand purpose plays a central part of the conversation because it was early advocates of it in terms of it's, it's power and impact. Where is that conversation now within Unilever? Because obviously there has been some criticism of it as a, as a position, but what is it? Because obviously that then, I'm assuming, bleeds into your choices of, in terms of when it comes to sponsorship acquisition.
Willem Dinger, Unilever:I think, I think it always forms part of the overall activity that we're looking to, extract value from the, the various partnership campaign. So, like with FIFA, like with what we have with Chelsea and Man City and with all of, all of our other kind of. Football partnerships or sports partnerships, we're there to, to, to, to do three things in terms of making sure that we are aligning our values with the partner to make sure that they're shared missions, values, and beliefs, to make sure that we are co creating with the partner to ensure that our products come to the forefront and help demonstrate our product superiority. And then there's also how we can drive relevance through, one of a kind campaigns. Creative firepower in our communication, making sure that we're providing these unique, one of a kind, money can't buy experiences. So, again, it's very much co creating with the partner. But social impact plays a huge role as well. So, How I've already explained, how not only Dove and their body confidence mission, how Repsona and their breaking limits program, how Lifebuoy, for example, with their hand washing program, this plays an integral part of how we want to try and. Build, confidence, health in, millions of communities around the world. So it, it plays a role. And it aligns to our broader objectives, but, we're very clear that there are kind of. Business brand and social impact objectives that we want to drive as part of our partnership portfolio. Can
Richard Gillis, Unofficial Partner:Let's just switch then slightly. Let's talk about the Just the, the audience more generally. So not just for sport, for everything, we are now on a scroll, I am addicted. I don't know what your mobile phone habits are, but there is a, it's really hard. The dopamine hit of, iPhones. And I'm just wondering how that plays to reaching people today,
Willem Dinger, Unilever:I don't know if they're always addicted to their phones, but I think, you, you have to build a partnership activation for, in real life and through, physical activations and through different experiences. I actually think that outside of COVID or, after COVID, people are actually craving for live experience. If you're seeing kind of the uptick in music festivals, live events, sports events, I think what you're seeing in terms of attendances, not only at the Female World Cup or different kind of music festivals around the world Super Bowls of this world. I mean, the, the attendance rates at all of these sport and entertainment and music festivals, I think is, is only going one way and that's, and that's more, but I think the way that they're potentially consuming content might be different and will be different in, 2026, like. talking with FIFA, the way that they're going to be building kind of new content, new player profiles, augmented reality initiatives whereby if you're holding the phone up, whilst you're watching the game, player stats, player profiles will come to you, potentially heat map. So there's different ways that, the content will come at you in a year or two's time. So, I think that's where we're really working with FIFA in terms of what can we do in terms of driving these one of a kind experiences, both physical experiences and in real life and through these different access programs that we have that we, we negotiate and partner and work with FIFA very closely, but how do we drive even deeper engagement? How do we drive even deeper emotional connection with our fans to drive that? Brand consideration to drive that brand loyalty. So how do we kind of get on the innovation and technology to make sure that the way that our brands are showing up is is differentiated, we're providing value, we're enhancing their experience. And I think this is where, FIFA 26 will be radically different from, FIFA 22 in terms of how fans will be able to consume live stats. Exclusive content, video replays at an instant, virtual reality overlays on their phones. I think it's going to be incredible. And I think for us as brands and as us as sponsors, this is going to be a seriously exciting time. FIFA also just launched their different digital collectibles around these iconic, World Cup moments. So being able to feed into, this. content hungry and craving community and what role our brand can play as part of that, I think will be really interesting. You can sort of see already, I believe, TikTok's channels social media channels skyrocketed by 448 percent in 2022. Just imagine what that will be in 2026. The, the TikTok video, global video plays around the female world cup was 4. 7 billion. And it was only 230 million before that and at the previous women's world cup in 2019. So culturally there is a huge temple, on, on and around these social platforms. So it's how we kind of embed our brands inside of that through very, powerful, cutting edge creative that's going to drive you know that That fandom, that connection and that deeper immersive experience that hopefully fans around the world will, will want to be a part of
Richard Gillis, Unofficial Partner:Is it more attributable? In terms of the impact of the sponsorship via something like TikTok?
Willem Dinger, Unilever:definitely in terms of reach engagement, how many times people have been seeing your videos or sharing your videos. It's very much kind of a, a social first approach whereby you're building, a network of creators and communities whereby, they would. If your content is strong enough and powerful enough, they'll be sharing that. So there's a lot of media to be generated from, compelling content that drives value, that is shareable, that's on trend based on data and insight. So I think for us, that's, that's incredibly important in terms of how we're going to build, our marketing firepower in the future.
Richard Gillis, Unofficial Partner:How does the brand get pulled along with that? Because I can see that that's, you're completely right in that you've got this world of creators and, channels. Does the consumer want Unilever in that world?
Willem Dinger, Unilever:I think, I think as long as we're driving value and we're not disrupting and we're enhancing their experience, I And it's something that they relate to. That's, that's based on data and insights and 100%. We know that it works. It has worked. Plenty of other brands are doing it and we're doing it as well. So I do feel that, yeah, the power sits in the creative and the power sits with, a lot of the different communities and creators and how you build your, your brand DNA and your proposition to ensure that. It's, it's relatable, it's authentic, and there's a really strong story to tell. I think that's what we at Unilever are, a strong network of marketeers that, we are already building ahead of 2026.
Richard Gillis, Unofficial Partner:how does that work? So you're looking at what is the information you need that allows you to then, I'm just wondering about, I mean we talk about data a lot, and I'm just wondering what the key bits of information are and where you get those from, because presumably the data, the behavioral data resides at the social platform level. They're not sharing that with you, presumably,
Willem Dinger, Unilever:Yeah, but we've also got our own sort of data, data centers that will help us understand kind of fan and community behaviors, what's trending, what's hot, what's not. And then, making sure that we're using that data to inform our creative because I think you have to be in the moment and I think particularly around these big sporting events, be it Rugby World Cup, FIFA World Cup, Super Bowls, lots of different NBA final championships. It's all about being in the moment and creating those exclusive moments and being there for the fans and making sure that it's something that, can relate to them. So, yeah.
Richard Gillis, Unofficial Partner:but in terms of identifying people, because are you building a sort of a walled garden of your own? Is it a subscription idea? Is that where you're moving in terms of, okay, we need to identify in the same way as the platforms do?
Willem Dinger, Unilever:it would be some of that, but we, we, we've got our own kind of data centers and, we've got our own information and insights. So we understand who our cohorts are, depending on what brand it is that we're building the idea for. And yeah, that's how we'll build powerful communication strategies and media plans.
Richard Gillis, Unofficial Partner:the secret source is the behavioral in terms of, and I'm wondering how you get that because I can see that you've got, Unilever, biggest marketing company in the world, so there is demographics and personas and that sort of, research and data, but everything is anonymized. The platforms, TikTok knows what I'm doing. Amazon knows what I'm doing. Retailers know what I'm doing. I'm just wondering how you get to that level of insight.
Willem Dinger, Unilever:Yeah. So we will work with our, as I said, Richard, we work with our own sort of data and insights teams. We'll work with the different social media platforms and then we craft, strategies from there. So,
Richard Gillis, Unofficial Partner:Okay. Listen, just to finish off, when you're looking at the sort of sponsorship, world. And you've, you've been in it a very long time and you've been on the, every, as you said, at the beginning, you've, you've been around each bit of the table. How has it changed in that period? Because it's your career has gone across, 20 years from what were you selling initially at Fulham? And how does that compare to what you're buying now?
Willem Dinger, Unilever:yeah, that's a good question. I think back in 2003, 2004, I think working at Fulham with the likes of, LG electronics, I think Pizza Hut where the shirt sponsor back in
Richard Gillis, Unofficial Partner:Oh yeah. Not hugely
Willem Dinger, Unilever:Uh, no, there was Carlsberg Nike, we had Labbrooks, I feel. I think back then it was very much about, media, brand awareness, making sure that, these, these brands were visible globally to a huge audience around the world. I think right now it's all about not only kind of the salience of the brand, but about sort of the meaningful indifference that you can drive through these one of a kind emotional connections, experiences. Making sure that you're driving that brand loyalty and consideration. And once you do that, then you're going to make sure that, next time that that consumer or fan goes to the shopping aisles that, the first in mind will be Will be Unilever and the first defined on the shelf would also be a Unilever personal care product. So it is more about driving these emotional connections and making sure that, the way that we show up in communication, the way that we're driving value for our fans and communities, and making sure there's a clear role for our partnership, uh, within the broader brand strategy, uh, and ambitions, I think is extremely important. I think technology, like I was just saying, is going to be, the biggest change that will accelerate. You can already see what's happening in the Cosm, in the Sphere, in Vegas, right? The way that you're now experiencing a virtual 3D immersive, live stream. So you're actually feeling that you're inside of the pitch when you're not. So if you're thinking about a world cup experience in 26 and these different sort of pop up cinemas offering this kind of amazing experience, that's going to be everywhere in 26. So you're almost feeling that you're inside of the pitch when you're just sitting there having a bar, at a bar, having a beer with your friends and just enjoying the game. But. The way that you're experiencing is going to be radically different in 26 or is he already happening now? They've done it with the UFC. They've done it for the start of the Premier League season. I think that is incredible, but also now with virtual reality, augmented reality, the way that You'll be able to consume different type of content into your phone via watching games and live streams. I think is also going to be a game changer, being able to get instant replays, understanding, through your phone, what the heat map of the pitch looks like, getting your player profiles, how many kilometers have they been able to run over the course of the first half. I think all of this is going to start feeding inside of different apps. platforms and I think also, in 2003, it was all about, what's the future? In and at the match. I think football fandom has changed radically with the likes of the copper 90s and the football co's and all of these other kind of other, media platforms and content platforms because people want to understand what's away from the game. How do I consume football? 24 7 on tap. And it's not just match highlights and player content, it's everything about your journey, your experience, how you're connecting with fantasy leagues, panini, collectibles, how you're driving the conversation outside of match times. And it's all about that Monday to Thursday when the Premier League isn't on, on a, on a Saturday potentially, or there's no Champions League. So all of this content is now feeding into. Your overall experience of wanting to understand more about the sport and the content and the players. I think also now what's really interesting is the fact that all of these players are now becoming their own media and content partners. So, Ronaldo's YouTube channel. That exploded. It's the fastest growing YouTube channel. He beat Mr. Beast pretty comfortably in launch. His numbers are phenomenal.
Richard Gillis, Unofficial Partner:There was an interesting bit, there was an interesting bit in the release this week of the WSL, the Women's Super League, Sky Deal, and they've given some rights to the players, both in game, but also at the, at various parts, either at the end of the game or the beginning of the game, so which is sort of feels like new territory, and it's a nod to what you're saying there in terms of, well, they, they are now, or the big ones are essentially media players.
Willem Dinger, Unilever:Yeah, definitely. And it also allows more opportunity for brands like, Unilever Personal Care brands to kind of engage and integrate into the storytelling of talent because they're Almost becoming more, more powerful than the, the, the media platforms. They've become their own voice. Harry Kane's done it. Vinny Junior's also got his own channel. We partner with Vinny Junior across, uh, personal care, home care, and also beauty and wellbeing. So he's. He's going to be a future, well, he's already a star of the making, but ahead of 2026, I see him playing a huge role for our brands and the communication that we roll out as a, as a part of that. So I think, yeah, a lot has changed and I think it will continue to accelerate and change in the, in the coming years. I think it's really exciting. I think it opens new opportunities, new doors. new ways to connect with our fans and communities. It's not just TV, it's, it's across the entire spectrum of the, of the channel mix. And I think the more that we kind of embrace technology, the more that we can embrace You know, AI in terms of fueling our content and the way that we kind of distribute that through our creators. I think it will be a, very exciting journey ahead for us.
Richard Gillis, Unofficial Partner:Could you do what you're doing without a sponsorship? I mean, you're given all those channels, you've got the players, as you say, increasingly influential. They're people, they're the, they're the entity that people want to engage with and at a team level. I'm just wondering, is there ever a conversation? Okay, well, we don't need a central FIFA deal or whatever it is.
Willem Dinger, Unilever:I'm sure other companies might have that point of view, but I think at Unilever, we, we're, we're, we're heavily invested in, in, in the cultural space. If you see what we're doing around personal care, the home care division also have signed a deal with Arsenal football club. They've got the Argentinian football association Vinnie jr as well. The nutrition business group also, we're heavily invested in, both the men's and the women's Euros next year. So yeah, it's, it's becoming more popular within Unilever to be able to. As I mentioned, drive the scale and engagement that you need with fans and communities around the world to drive, our product messaging in a fun and relatable way if you get the right creative and firepower behind you. And I think, it's a great way of driving into commerce because being able to provide, tickets and experiences and access to talent through, a huge retail drive, the customers and the retailers are crying out for it. I think, there's some very big players that have been doing it for decades. I think, you know who they are and, there's a good reason why they continue to invest in some of these iconic properties like the Olympics, like FIFA, like Superbowl and NFL. So yeah, it definitely works when you kind of program it and you set it up, you build the right strategy, you have the right creative and communication firepower and, I think it can really drive the competitive growth and that, I mentioned at the top of the call is a very kind of, prior priority led objective for us as we build value and return on investment from these partnerships.
Richard Gillis, Unofficial Partner:You can't be short of people pitching sponsorship ideas to you. How do you deal with it? How many do you get a year? Just to finish off. It's interesting because people must see you and say, right, okay, of the target list, but what happens? How is that process managed?
Willem Dinger, Unilever:Uh, I, I, I do a lot of it. I mean, obviously I get hundreds over the years. So, I, I, I, I try and read as many of them as I can. I'm open to kind of new and emerging sports. I think paddle is on a, on a huge trajectory and an exciting trajectory from a grassroots perspective. Gaming and e sports is something that we take very, very seriously at Unilever. So. In 2018, we actually established our own gaming capability internally called Uplay. So this is a kind of a network of, 25, 30 people around the world. That are gaming experts, uh, one of them is actually an ex gaming professional and we're using gaming as a way to kind of reach new audiences, to reach younger audiences, to, to drive, authentic storytelling, as I was saying, we're not here to disrupt the gameplay or the gamers, we're here to build, the game. Extended brand experiences and extended and elevated ways to engage and to improve their overall gaming environment and gaming experience. So, over the years, we've worked with Roblox we've worked, as I said, with League of Legends in 2019, we've just partnered with the Esports World Cup, which was hugely successful. We had a really strong relationship with EAFC over the Euros. As well. So, we are investing into gaming. It's a, an incredibly vital part of our core marketing mix. And I think it's a, it's a really exciting platform for us to continue building and investing behind.
Richard Gillis, Unofficial Partner:Well, listen thanks so much for your time. Really appreciate it. And uh, and good luck. You're busy. I know. So, uh, thanks. Thanks for carving out, carving out some time for,
Willem Dinger, Unilever:It's been great, Richard. I really thank you for the invitation to speak at the Unofficial Partner podcast, and hopefully I can come on again, maybe after the FIFA World Cup in 26 and tell you all about how successful it was. But I really appreciate your time and to everyone listening. Yeah.
Richard Gillis, Unofficial Partner:Cheers.