Unilever Case Study: 'Your Style Made Simple'
The Path to Purchase Institute for the sixth straight year has teamed up with the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) to share case studies for selected winners of the ANA’s annual REGGIE Awards. Each of these shopper-focused campaigns is worthy of “best in class” designation for the unique ways in which they engaged shoppers and drove results. “REGGIE,” shorthand for “cash register,” is an acknowledgment that the ultimate objective of any brand activation program is to drive sales.
2025 REGGIE AWARD WINNER
- Campaign: Your Style Made Simple
- Client: Unilever
- Agency: Arc Worldwide
- Category (Award): Retailer Media Networks (Gold); Shopper, Commerce, Retailer Specific or Omnichannel Marketing (Bronze)
The post-pandemic boom in the haircare styling category did not benefit all retailers equally. At Walmart, sales grew 5% from 2021 to 2022 (below the overall category growth of 7%), with 90% of Walmart shoppers purchasing shampoo and conditioner yet only 60% purchasing styling products.
Unilever’s challenge was to position the retailer not merely as a place to stock up and save on haircare basics, but as a bonafide styling destination.
Enter "Your Style Made Simple," an omnichannel program led by Unilever brands Tresemme, Dove, Shea Moisture and Nexxus. It inspired Walmart shoppers by giving them more personalized — and practical — styling advice than what they often encountered on digital platforms like TikTok.
Leveraging the machine-learning capabilities of its audience intelligence hub, The Hive, Unilever identified four distinct shopper segments with varying hair types. They ranged from fine and straight to thicker curls and coils.
“We knew each shopper craved styling content that felt exciting and made sense for the texture, condition and needs of their hair,” said Sade Nawrot, associate director of strategy at Arc Worldwide. “Therefore, it couldn’t be a one-size-fits-all approach.”
By pairing Unilever’s audience data with Walmart’s first-party data, the marketing teams were able to not only pinpoint which Unilever products shoppers needed (based on hair type and texture), but they also delivered customizable content — from an online hair quiz to tips from influencer styling experts — through Walmart Connect.
Digital banners drew shoppers into the program, which featured a brand experience page on Walmart.com where shoppers first interacted with the quiz, identifying their hair type, texture and goals to get personalized product recommendations.
Then they were served influencer content categorized by hair type, followed by tips and tricks and additional product recommendations based on those needs.
Arc Worldwide partnered with Mindshare to locate influencers with an affinity for Unilever brands and expertise that could be targeted to each audience cohort.
“When giving the style experts guidance, the main point was ease and making all the hairstyles attainable, which differed from the current content within the space,” Nawrot said.
"Your Style Made Simple" boosted engagement and performance for both Unilever and Walmart. In the first three months of the program, the brand experience page acquired 24 times the typical Unilever brand page visits (241,821) and engaged shoppers for twice the average time spent on page (1 minute and 27 seconds).
Unilever also saw an impressive 8% year-over-year jump in styling category sales growth at Walmart, with $22.5 million in attributed total haircare sales.
