TLDR: Unilever has launched Sketch Pro, an in-house graphic design center developed with IPG Studios, leveraging generative AI tools like Adobe Firefly and Google Veo 3. This initiative aims to accelerate content production for its home care brands by up to three times, enabling a rapid shift from traditional TV-first advertising to a dynamic, social-first marketing model. The unit can turn a concept into consumer-testable material in just two hours and is already live in key global markets, showing promising early results in boosting engagement and efficiency.
London, UK – Unilever, the global consumer goods giant, has announced the launch of ‘Sketch Pro,’ a cutting-edge, in-house center of excellence for graphic design. Developed in a strategic partnership with creative production leader IPG Studios, this new unit is set to fundamentally transform how Unilever’s Home Care brands create and deploy content, marking a significant leap towards an AI-driven marketing future.
Sketch Pro’s primary objective is to dramatically accelerate the speed of content production, aiming to deliver high-quality design assets up to three times faster than traditional models. This acceleration is powered by a flexible and diverse toolkit of generative artificial intelligence (AI) platforms, including Adobe Firefly, Google Veo 3, and various Large Language Models (LLMs). This ‘AI-native’ approach ensures the team can adapt quickly to emerging technologies and continuously push creative boundaries, rather than being reliant on a single platform.
One of the most impressive capabilities of Sketch Pro is its ability to turn a creative concept into material ready for consumer testing in as little as two hours. This rapid turnaround enables Unilever’s Home Care division to respond in real-time to micro-trends, cultural moments, and evolving consumer preferences, fostering an insight-driven approach to content creation.
The initiative signifies a pivotal shift for Unilever’s Home Care marketing strategy, moving away from a traditional, linear TV-first production model to a dynamic, social-first storytelling approach. In this new paradigm, content is shaped by culture and consumer engagement rather than being solely dictated by the brand. Unilever is broadly increasing its investment in social media and influencer marketing to keep its brands deeply integrated into contemporary culture.
Mario Dughi, Global Marketing Director at Unilever, emphasized the strategic importance of this collaboration, stating, ‘Our partnership with IPG supercharges our ability to ideate, iterate and deliver high-quality design assets with speed and cultural relevance, reflecting how consumers now engage with the home care category.’
Sketch Pro is already operational in several key markets, including London, São Paulo, Mumbai, and Jakarta, with ambitious plans for expansion to 21 markets by 2026, encompassing cities like Istanbul, Durban, and Shanghai. Early results from these pilot markets are highly encouraging:
Jakarta: Ramadan-themed content produced by Sketch Pro generated over 6 million organic views on TikTok, boosting visibility for brands like Rinso and Sunlight by an impressive 22.5%.
São Paulo: Design assets created to coincide with Brazilian actor Fernanda Torres’s Oscar nomination led to a 4% reduction in Meta advertising costs.
Mumbai: Design workflows have become 2.5 times faster than previous systems.
London: The ‘Comfort’ brand team reported delivering more than 30 concepts at a speed seven times faster than before.
Beyond just speed, Sketch Pro integrates brand strategy, social insights, and creative expertise with advanced AI to build desire at scale for global Home Care brands such as Persil/Omo, Comfort, Cif, and Domestos. This move also allows Unilever to retain greater control over its brand expression by keeping creative development in-house.
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Unilever’s adoption of Sketch Pro is part of a broader organizational embrace of AI, which extends to areas like demand forecasting, inventory optimization, and personalized digital marketing. This strategy mirrors similar moves by other consumer goods giants, with Procter & Gamble, for instance, reporting a 30% reduction in digital production costs through its own AI-powered content engine.
