On Tmall's Double 11 this year, Unileva will also sell lifestyles and soaps

Laogao Crown Club Editor: For Chinese consumers, the upcoming Double 11 is a simple and pure discount feast, but for Liu Shengxue, vice president of North Asia, an international fast-moving consumer goods company Unilever Digital Marketing and E-commerce, this is not only a large-scale promotion, but an important marketing opportunity for annual consumer insights and consumer interactions.

Last year on Double 11, Unilever attracted about 1 million customers. "The main purpose of our participation in Double 11 is to find target customers and potential customers, and then understand their purchasing behavior." Liu Shengxue said, "This is not a one-time business, but a future business. It is about how to establish an appropriate marketing scenario to retain existing consumers and encourage them to continue to repurchase."

"We should sell lifestyles, not simply sell products," said Liu Shengxue.

In other words, it is selling steaks, not the steak itself - although Unilever actually sells soap and shampoo. But during Double 11, thousands of brands were competing for attention in the e-commerce market. How can Unilever do this?

Do videos and live broadcasts, promote lifestyle

Several Unilever brands, including Lipton, Dove and Lix, have been preparing for war since September this year to reach and attract consumers through social media channels. In order to shape the brand's appeal, Unilever focuses on family and interpersonal relationships and uses videos to promote lifestyle.

For example, Unilever China produced a video showing a mini-game: some blindfolded young people were asked to guess their girlfriends’ favorite scent by smelling different Unilever products. These products include Lavender-flavored hand sanitizer from Rex, Qingyang Sakura Shampoo, and Soothing Fragrance Detergent. This five-minute video was placed on Tmall and Taobao, with the theme of "United Liver products convey the fragrance of home."

In 2009, Unilever opened its first online store on Tmall, and now it has expanded to 6. They also rely on the power of stars and the most popular live broadcast methods in recent times to gain reputation. The company plans to create five celebrity talk shows, with guests invited by actors Song Jia and Chen Xuedong. In one of the live broadcasts that will be launched on the Tmall APP, viewers can see Chen Xuedong introduce the advantages of Lix products in his bathroom, including the silicone-free shampoo and conditioner recommended by Double 11.

"We create scripts to showcase the product," Liu Shengxue explained. "This way we can show the overall solution rather than simply putting on a shelf. Online platforms can directly show how our products are popular with well-known people, which can attract consumers to click 'buy now'," she said.

Innovative applications of digital marketing like live streaming are a great way to attract consumers and create an immersive consumer experience. Liu Shengxue said. To this end, Unilever established a strategic partnership with Alibaba last year to deepen cooperation in village-based shopping, cross-border e-commerce, omni-channel retail and data-driven marketing solutions.

Explore data usage and improve shopping experience

Using data to record consumers' purchasing behavior, expand new consumer groups, and enhance the stickiness of existing consumers is a very promising area. In Double 11 this year, Unilever will use Alibaba's "Thousand People, Thousand Stores" technology for the first time, which allows merchants to identify frequent consumers and show them specific shopping pages.

This marketing tool also provides valuable information for Unilever, such as the gender of customers, spending power, and price sensitivity - all of which can be used to build a more personalized and engaging shopping experience. During the first two weeks of using the technology, Unilever found that the average time customers stayed in their online stores increased by 26%.

Alibaba's "Unified ID" technology can also help Unilever discover potential customers. This technology can track users on multiple media such as Weibo and Youku within the Alibaba ecosystem. For example, if Chen Xuedong endorses Lisboa, those who follow Chen Xuedong on Weibo and those who watch Chen Xuedong’s videos on Youku will be identified as potential consumers and receive advertisements pushed by Unilever. Through Unified ID technology, Unilever has won 100,000 fans for its own brand Lix in just one month through the Tmall Fan Carnival.

Liu Shengxue said that these technologies and other marketing solutions provided by Alibaba have given her company stronger control over Double 11 information and digital marketing. "As a merchant, I feel that there are more opportunities and more tools to let us reach online consumers," said Liu Shengxue. There is no need to be kidnapped by promotions, "You have your own stage," she said.

In fact, using consumer data and market research is a very important part of Unilever’s preparations for Double 11, especially when deciding which products to add to the promotion. For young mothers with babies, they have launched neutral laundry detergent without adding fragrances and whitening agents; and the best-selling Japanese Dove facial cleanser will also be trial-selled through cross-border channels of Tmall International flagship store this year.

"If new products sell well at Tmall International, we will accelerate their regular channel sales in China," said Liu Shengxue.

With the help of rural Taobao, reach thousands of villages

In addition to Tmall, Alibaba's other sales channels will also join Double 11. Unilever will supply it to Tmall Supermarket and Juhuasuan, and expand its consumer group and base through Alibaba's rural e-commerce channels.

Unilever said that on the last Double 11, through Alibaba's "Cuntao", Unilever sold its Myomi laundry detergent to 2,000 villages in 23 provinces, covering more than 500,000 consumers, which also made Unilever the most popular laundry detergent brand among rural consumers. In September this year, Unilever said that their 12 brands of products have been sold to 13,796 villages in China.

"Our main purpose is to build brand awareness among the millions of consumers participating in the grand event of Double 11," said Liu Shengxue. "For us, this is an excellent opportunity to test and promote new products and establish long-term and stable relationships with consumers."

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