Unilever’s chief marketing and communications officer, Keith Weed is to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at this year’s The Drum Marketing Awards.
Weed, who has held his current post of running the marketing for the Unilever brand for eight years, has also led its sustainability strategy through its many brands, such as Persil, Ben and Jerry’s, Lynx, Dove and Wall’s.
Before leading the communications of the Unilever brand itself, Weed held a number of senior roles internationally, including chairman of Lever Fabergé, now known as Unilever UK Home and Personal Care.
Last year, he was named by Forbes as the world’s most influential marketer,who has openly questioned the digital transparency he was receiving from his media agencies, which made headlines and saw some drive towards change by the industry as a whole. The move to bring its advertising needs in-house led to the creation of its own agency U-Studio, which now operates across 20 countries.
Of learning of the award, Weed said: “It is a great honour to receive this award and I give a big thank you to The Drum and all of the judges”, before talking about his belief that businesses must impact positively on the world.
Stephen Lepitak, editor of The Drum added: “Congratulations to Keith on the award; it is entirely deserved. When he and Unilever make a decision, the entire marketing world sits up and takes notice, and while he has been leading the transparency drive that all other advertisers will also benefit from, he has also been relentless in his drive to ensure that Unilever’s brands give back to the world and their consumers, and he has been a true example of our belief that marketing can change the world.”
Last year’s winner of The Drum Marketing Awards Lifetime Achievement award was Virgin founder, Sir Richard Branson.
Credit: thedrum.com
