Marketing leadership lessons from Unilever for SMEs

A big brand changing its CMO isn’t gossip—it’s a signal. When Unilever moved its top marketing role closer to its business groups (and doubled down on creator-led comms), it wasn’t “restructuring for the sake of it”. It was trying to make marketing faster to execute and tighter to commercial outcomes.

For UK small businesses, that’s the real story. You don’t need a Chief Marketing Officer to copy the thinking. You need clear marketing ownership, a simple operating rhythm, and a way to connect your digital marketing to sales and delivery—especially in a cautious 2026 where customers are choosy and budgets feel tighter.

This post is part of our British Small Business Digital Marketing series. We’ll use Unilever’s leadership shift as a case study and translate it into practical steps you can run this week—without enterprise headcount.

What Unilever’s CMO change really tells us

Unilever appointed Leandro Barreto as CMO (while Esi Eggleston Bracey prepares to depart) and described it as the next phase of its marketing transformation: bringing enterprise marketing closer to business groups for “faster execution and impact”.

That’s a fancy way of saying: marketing can’t be a remote function. If the people doing the work aren’t sitting next to the people who own targets, pricing, and customer experience, campaigns get slow and results get fuzzy.

Unilever’s CEO Fernando Fernandez also framed modern brand comms bluntly: consumers are sceptical of big brands, so Unilever plans a heavier tilt toward creator/influencer marketing—“in which others speak about [its] brands”.

Here’s the small-business translation:

• If your marketing is “someone posting on Instagram when they remember”, it won’t compound.
• If it isn’t connected to revenue, you’ll cut it the moment cash gets tight.
• If your customers don’t trust brand claims, you need proof, voices, and stories more than polished slogans.

Aligning marketing with business goals (without the corporate layer)

Answer first: Small businesses grow faster when marketing is run like a commercial system—owned by one person, measured against sales outcomes, and coordinated with operations.

Unilever is trying to make marketing execution faster by embedding it closer to where business decisions are made. In a small business, that “embedding” is simpler: you stop treating marketing as a side project and start treating it like a weekly discipline.

The “single owner” rule

If three people “kind of” own marketing, nobody does. Pick one accountable owner:

• The founder/MD (common early-stage)
• A marketing manager (if you’ve got one)
• A sales/ops lead (if marketing is mostly lead generation)

This isn’t about controlling everything. It’s about having one throat to choke and one person to empower.

Tie your digital marketing to one primary business goal

Most UK SMEs try to hit five targets at once: awareness, followers, traffic, leads, sales. The reality? Focus wins.

Choose one primary goal for the next 90 days:

1. More qualified leads (e.g., “15 discovery calls/month”)
2. More online sales (e.g., “£20k/month Shopify revenue”)
3. Higher retention (e.g., “reduce churn from 6% to 4%”)

Then pick a single “north star” metric and two supporting metrics.

Example (local service business):

• North star: booked consultations
• Support: landing page conversion rate, cost per lead

That’s how you create the small-business version of “enterprise-wide agenda”.

Create a weekly operating rhythm (30 minutes)

One meeting. Same agenda. Every week.

• What shipped last week? (ads, emails, posts, offers)
• What numbers moved? (leads, revenue, conversion rate)
• Where are we stuck? (creative, follow-up, tracking)
• What ships next week? (commitments only)

If you only steal one thing from global brands, steal this: cadence beats inspiration.

“Brands are suspicious”: what to do when trust is the bottleneck

Answer first: When customers don’t trust marketing, the fix is evidence—reviews, demonstrations, third-party voices, and specific claims you can back up.

Unilever’s leadership has been explicit: consumers are more discerning, and corporate messaging is met with scepticism. SMEs see the same behaviour daily: people read reviews, compare quotes, ask neighbours, and check TikTok or Instagram before they commit.

Make proof a core part of your content marketing

If you’re doing UK small business digital marketing in 2026, “content” that’s just tips and vibes is weak. Proof converts.

Build a simple proof library:

• 20 customer reviews you can quote (get permission)
• 10 before/after examples (photos, screenshots, outcomes)
• 5 short case studies (problem → process → result)
• 1 page of FAQs that tackles objections honestly

A good rule: for every one “educational” post, publish one “evidence” post.

Creator marketing for small businesses (the realistic version)

You don’t need 1,000 influencers. You need the right voices.

Three practical options:

1. Customer creators: offer a thank-you gift or discount for a short video review.
2. Micro-creators in your postcode: local food, fitness, home, parenting, trades—often happy with product/service swaps.
3. Professional partners: accountants, estate agents, wedding venues, gyms—co-create content that serves both audiences.

One stance I’ll take: start with creators who can drive sales conversations, not vanity reach. A local creator with 8,000 engaged followers in Leeds can outperform a bigger account with a vague audience.

Be specific or be ignored

Specificity builds credibility.

Replace:

• “High quality service”

With:

• “Same-week call-outs across Bristol, with upfront pricing and photo updates.”

Replace:

• “We’re affordable”

With:

• “Prices start at £79, and you’ll get a fixed quote before we begin.”

This is SEO-friendly too: specific language naturally includes search phrases people actually type.

Build your own “marketing transformation” plan in 30 days

Answer first: A small business marketing transformation is usually three things: better tracking, tighter offers, and a repeatable content + follow-up system.

Unilever talked about transformation built on data, cultural relevance, and modern creativity. For an SME, that can be translated into a month-long reset.

Week 1: Fix measurement (the unglamorous growth lever)

If you can’t see what’s working, you’ll keep guessing.

Do these essentials:

• Make sure your website has GA4 and conversion events for forms/calls
• Add UTM tags to every paid and social campaign link
• Track three numbers weekly: sessions, leads, sales (or revenue)

If you rely on DMs, track:

• inbound DMs
• response time
• DM-to-booked rate

Week 2: Tighten your offer and landing page

Most SMEs don’t have a traffic problem; they have a conversion problem.

Your landing page should answer, in order:

1. Who it’s for
2. What you do (in plain English)
3. What results look like
4. Proof (reviews, examples)
5. Price guidance (or how quotes work)
6. Clear call-to-action

If you only change one thing: put proof above the fold.

Week 3: Build a simple content engine

Content marketing works when it’s repeatable.

Here’s a weekly plan that fits a busy owner:

• 1 proof post (review/case study)
• 1 “how it works” post (process, behind-the-scenes)
• 1 objection handler (price, timing, risk)
• 1 local relevance post (area served, seasonal demand)

Batch it in 90 minutes on a Friday. Schedule it. Done.

Week 4: Improve follow-up (where leads become revenue)

Unilever wants faster execution. For SMEs, “execution” often breaks in follow-up.

Set a basic lead response standard:

• Under 15 minutes during business hours (or an auto-response that sets expectations)
• 3 follow-up touches across 7 days (SMS/email/call)
• A simple qualifying script so you stop wasting time

If you sell services, your CRM doesn’t need to be fancy. A spreadsheet can work—until it doesn’t. The key is consistent follow-up.

People also ask: do small businesses need a CMO?

Answer first: You don’t need a CMO title; you need CMO-level decisions: positioning, budget allocation, measurement, and a disciplined plan.

A “small business CMO” is often:

• A founder with a weekly marketing schedule
• A part-time marketing lead who owns reporting
• An agency partner who’s tied to outcomes, not activity

The mistake is outsourcing responsibility. Get help, absolutely. But keep ownership of:

• your offer
• your customer promise
• your numbers

What to take from Unilever’s move—and apply this quarter

Unilever’s change is about bringing marketing closer to the business so it can execute faster and drive impact. That principle is even more important in a small company because you don’t have slack.

If you’re working on UK small business digital marketing this year, focus on the basics that compound: one accountable owner, one primary goal, proof-led messaging, and a weekly rhythm that forces decisions.

If you want a practical starting point, take your last 30 days of leads and ask one hard question: which part failed—traffic, conversion, or follow-up? Fix the biggest leak first, then scale the thing that’s already working.