My Best Marketing Tips #22: Unilever / Riley Dunn / Brand Manager, Dove Men+Care
Riley Dunn is the Brand Manager for Dove Men+Care at Unilever, working on the men’s skincare line and focusing on making products “for a better future.” While he’s been on paternity leave, Riley has noticed his focus shifting more and more towards sustainability and influencing a shift in purchasing patterns to align with thinking more about the next generations.
When he thinks about his biggest career screw-ups, Riley acknowledged that, too often, as marketers, “we focus on the fun rather than the fundamentals” and that led him to being embarrassed in front of hundreds of customers and John Legend when a film event organised for re-launching the Axe brand in the US went pear-shaped. A lack of attention to detail led to having to stop the viewing, teaching Riley to “Measure twice, cut once” as the old saying goes.
What is the best marketing tip you’ve ever received and who was it from?
Throughout my career, the one thing I’ve become interested in and really seen the value of is continuing education. People think they need to invest in expensive courses, which isn’t true. The best tip I learnt is: “Do your own MBA” – there is so much free content out there to draw inspiration from.
How have you put this marketing tip to good use?
All the leading professors and authors in marketing produce free content nowadays as they need to define and sustain their personal brand. I follow lots of them on social media and find grains of information on trends and inspiration from them, every day. You can immerse yourself in marketing academia without doing a degree.
What marketing tips does the industry need most right now?
We need to start looking more to the future and acknowledge how marketing can influence buying choices and shifts in consumer behaviour. This is why I make the case for paternity leave: an opportunity not just to have gender equity when it comes to childcare, but also for new dads to take a step back and see the big picture, reassessing their career paths. I always say that “marketing is a balance of logic and magic” but it’s tough to find the magic when you’re in the swing of things.
What is the marketing tip you give most often?
When I speak to young people looking to get into marketing, one thing I realise is how much tougher it is for them and how important it is that they stand out. My advice is to “Define early on what your personal brand is” and use that to create a portfolio of work and to showcase your talents. Think: “If you can’t brand yourself, why would an organisation trust you to brand their product?”
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