Unilever Thailand demonstrated a global-first data-driven audience targeting approach by leveraging Unified ID 2.0 (UID2), which involved activating phone numbers and email addresses. No other global advertisers had leveraged phone number-based UID2 previously. This was made possible by Unilever Thailand’s forward-thinking data collection strategy of collecting their consumers’ phone numbers.

The concurrent campaigns for its Sunlight and Vaseline brands not only embraced the challenges of the impending post-cookie era but also demonstrated how data can powerfully enhance audience engagement and brand positioning while respecting consumer privacy. It’s a pioneering model in data creativity, blending technical innovation with strategic marketing insights.

As an innovation leader, Unilever Thailand sought a solution to future-proof its audience-targeting strategy in preparation for the imminent deprecation of third-party cookies.

The company pioneered the adoption of UID2 as part of its brand campaigns for Sunlight and Vaseline. UID2 is a privacy-centric advertising industry solution that creates universal, pseudonymous identifiers for online users to replace cookies.

The objectives of the Sunlight and Vaseline campaigns were to:

• reach high-intent audiences — skincare enthusiasts for Vaseline’s new serum booster, Vaseline GlutaSmart, and homecare consumers for Sunlight’s dishwashing detergent

• enhance brand awareness and consideration using Unilever Thailand’s CRM data with UID2

• move beyond traditional audience targeting of second-party data (2PD) from publishers and cookie-based first-party data (1PD)

• demonstrate UID2 as a robust alternative to cookies for audience targeting

• validate the scalability of email and phone-number-based UID2 audience targeting with premium over-the-top (OTT) content partners in Thailand.

Thailand's digital environment is distinguished by its high mobile usage and preference for OTT content platforms. These characteristics are pivotal factors in digital marketing strategies, as Thai consumers exhibit strong engagement with digital media and typically use their mobile phone numbers for subscriptions. This trend informed the core strategy of Unilever Thailand’s campaign, which focused on leveraging privacy-centric email address and phone number–based targeting.

Thailand is also experiencing a transformative phase in its advertising landscape. This change is spurred by growing concerns about data privacy and the impending global discontinuation of third-party cookies. These developments have compelled companies, including Unilever, to innovate and adopt privacy-compliant techniques for audience targeting. This evolution is in line with Thailand’s Personal Data Protection Act, which underscores the importance of consumer privacy and consent in digital marketing endeavors.

A key cultural insight into the Thai market is the strong brand loyalty among consumers and their preference for brands that resonate with local tastes and behaviors.

The campaign team recognized that a deep appreciation of local nuances and cultural context was essential for brand success in Thailand and prioritized personalized and relevant messaging throughout the campaign.

Unilever Thailand’s innovative data solution was a pioneering step forward in privacy-centric audience targeting in the post-cookie era. At the heart of its approach was UID2, a cutting-edge technology that creates unique, pseudonymous identifiers for online users. Unilever Thailand also leveraged its extensive CRM database, allowing for precise audience segmentation. This approach maintained privacy standards and enhanced the effectiveness of targeting.

A significant campaign milestone was integrating phone numbers with UID2 for audience targeting, which is a first-of-its-kind initiative globally. In another global first, Unilever Thailand employed a Brand Lift Survey (BLS) to measure the brand impact of a UID2-based campaign.

This initiative positioned Unilever Thailand as a trailblazer – the first company in Thailand to execute a UID2 campaign and the first in Southeast Asia for Unilever. These steps represents a significant leap in data-driven marketing and showcases innovation, originality, and an understanding of the evolving digital landscape.

Using our programmatic demand-side platform (DSP), we helped Unilever Thailand implement four different audience-targeting strategies for the Sunlight and Vaseline campaigns:

1. UID2 targeting (with CRM data) in both open advertising exchange and private marketplace settings

2. UID2 lookalike (LAL) modelling, which was implemented to prove that UID2 audience data is a high-quality seed audience that can increase the scale of targeting

3. 1PD targeting, which used traditional cookies and device IDs on the open exchange

4. 2PD targeting by OTT publishers in the private marketplace (this is Unilever Thailand’s usual method).

Media performance was compared using the following metrics:

• viewable cost per thousand (‘mille’) impressions (vCPM)

• cost per completed view (CPCV)

• cost per thousand impressions (CPM)

• video completion rate (VCR)

• video completion rate (VCR)

• viewability

• click-through rate (CTR).

In addition, a BLS was used to gauge brand impact across the four strategies.

The execution of the Sunlight and Vaseline campaigns included integrating Unilever Thailand’s CRM data — hashed and salted email addresses and phone numbers — into the UID2 system to create unique, pseudonymous UID2 identifiers. This allowed the company to achieve greater audience targeting precision in a privacy-conscious manner. It also helped extend the campaigns’ reach across a variety of devices and channels integrated with UID2 on the open internet.

Unilever Thailand also benefitted from a significant amount of phone number data available through its preferred OTT publishers. This global-first activation demonstrated the scalability and effectiveness of phone numbers for targeting Thai consumers, who commonly use mobile numbers for subscriptions.

By using a BLS via our DSP, Unilever Thailand was able to measure brand impact (awareness, consideration, and attribution) across different strategies.

Continuous monitoring and optimization during both campaigns enabled Unilever Thailand to pivot strategies effectively, ensuring maximum engagement and impact.

The global-first campaigns using UID2 (CRM) targeting outperformed other strategies across key metrics.

Sunlight achieved:

• 37% lower CPM and 30% lower CPCV than other strategies

• 12% higher viewability and 38% lower vCPM than 1PD targeting

• 1.9x higher CTR than 2PD targeting

• 16% increase in awareness, 11% increase in attribution, and 3% increase in consideration.

Vaseline achieved:

• 30% lower CPM and 30% lower CPCV than other strategies

• 15% higher viewability and 39% lower vCPM than 1PD targeting

• 1.2% higher VCR than 2PD targeting

• 8% increase in awareness and 6% increase in consideration.

Targeting audience segments with mobile numbers outperformed email addresses at an average of 13.5% higher viewability and 2.5% higher VCR.

Motivated by this world-first activation, the forward-thinking company implemented UID2 as an always-on strategy for its 2024 campaigns in Thailand, Philippines, and Vietnam, positioning Unilever for success in the post-cookie era.