Unilever South Africa is a Bronze Sponsor of this year’s WesBank New Generation Awards. As a proud media sponsor of the awards, Modern Marketing interviewed Tamryn Taylor, Head of Marketing / Demand Generation: Beauty, Well-Being and Personal Care at Unilever, about its support for the awards, how to create the most impactful marketing campaigns, influencer marketing trends, and more.
Why does Unilever continue to be involved as a sponsor for the WesBank New Generation Awards?
At Unilever, we are passionate about pioneering new paths to growth, with a particular focus on social-first marketing. The WesBank New Generation Awards are a fantastic way for us to help recognise excellence in this space as they are performance‑based, independent and known for acknowledging innovative and impactful work across digital and social media marketing and technology.
What value does Unilever bring to the awards?
We bring an exciting mix of purpose, passion and a pioneering spirit. We’ll also bring a bit of magic from our most recent Vaseline launch, Cera Glow, to the awards event.
What does it take to create a truly impactful marketing or influencer marketing campaign?
Sometimes people want to be too clever in this space. The most important factor is still being really specific about whose attention you want to get (don’t be vanilla, don’t be afraid to be spiky…) Then let your chosen influencers/creators and their communities work their magic. Think entertainment first, and brand objectives second. Let them be themselves as they know their audiences best. The sweet spot is when you can combine entertainment, and land the brand objectives while being immersed in popular culture.
What are the top influencer marketing trends for 2025?
One of the most interesting shifts is how losing followers has become a badge of honour. We’re heading into an authentic, extreme, and niche era of influence where losing followers is a sign you’re getting warmer, not colder. I’ve seen countless posts with influencers celebrating this, because they know that with the shift in algorithms to favour content that people really like, and interact with, often the edgier, more authentic and differentiated their content is, the better.
The WesBank New Generation Awards are recognised as the largest independent, performance-based accolades in social-first marketing, digital media, AI, creativity, integrated marketing, and online technology.
The winners will be announced live at the Awards Gala Ceremony on Tuesday, 23 September at the NH Sandton | Arrival time: 18h00 | Event ends: 23h30 / Midnight. To purchase seats and team tables (10 per table), please email natasha@lavello.co.za.
UNILEVER
https://www.unilever.co.za/
WESBANK NEW GENERATION AWARDS 2025
https://www.newgenawards.co.za/pages/awards
