Global media director Alan Rutherford is to examine Unilever's use of relationship marketing across its portfolio of FMCG brands, which includes Birds Eye, Persil, Olivio, Lynx, Hellmann's and Dove . He is understood to be considering the creation of a global team, which will co-ordinate all relationship marketing activity and oversee increased investment in CRM.
Under the revised strategy, the company will view relationship marketing as another channel to market.
Unilever is part of the Jigsaw Consortium, the collaborative data-led initiative also backed by Kimberley-Clark and Cadbury Trebor Bassett. The group sent magazines promoting members' brands direct to consumers.
Earlier this year the consortium effectively acknowledged its failure when it said it was making its data available for use by other companies.
Unilever's decision to push CRM to the fore follows news of Procter & Gamble's launch of a customer magazine targeting mothers. P&G distributed 1m copies of its Mustard title with last Saturday's Daily Express.
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