With 400 brands to sell across 190 countries to millions of consumers, Unilever certainly recognizes the potential generative AI tools such as ChatGPT or Dall-E could play in helping it produce ads that shift products at scale.

At any given time, the Ben & Jerry’s owner has around 300 applications of AI supporting its supply chain, digital and product innovation functions. Lynx (AKA Axe in the U.S.) leaned on machine learning in 2022 to develop a new scent based on 3.5 million potential fragrance combinations. AI satellite imaging lets it detect changes in tree cover on farms that supply its produce.

However, according to its top chief digital and commercial officer Conny Braams, the marketing team is being both “careful” and considerate about how its creative teams are deploying the latest suite of neural networks.

Internally, Unilever has set up a “Generative AI Marketing Collective,” a global cross-functional steering committee that’s helping it figure out the “appropriate use” of generative AI through a marketing lens. The team includes senior employees from its brand, innovation insights, tech, media, consumer engagement, legal and procurement teams.

“We see that different functions play different roles, and [generative AI] has an application across so many different roles,” Braams told Adweek during a press event at Cannes Lions Festival last week.

She said the Dove and Hellmann’s maker was committed to responsible marketing. Braams added her team was “absolutely aware” of the IP, privacy and human bias issues associated with increasingly sophisticated machine learning programs. They have the potential to automate content creation, chew complex data sets and allow creatives to test infinite iterations of a campaign for effectiveness before they even go live.

The veteran marketer recognized this dichotomy: “At the same time, I don’t want to say to anyone in the company, ‘Stop [using it] because we do need to start piloting it, but in a safe space.’”

“We don’t want everybody to go out on ChatGPT and make our assets part of the public domain,” she said, alluding to generative AI’s ability to generate content without human oversight or produce original ads based on existing ones.

To ensure this is the case, instead of banning ChatGPT or similar, Unilever has put in place guidelines and safeguards so colleagues can experiment with these tools in way that’s aligned to the Dutch businesses’ own principles and ethics code.

‘Jury out’ on generative AI

At the outset of 2023, brands’ excitement around the creative potential of generative AI resulted in campaigns including Kraft Heinz’ “AI Ketchup” which asked OpenAI’s Dall-E to draw a ketchup bottle using non-branded prompts. The results underlined a clear preference for Heinz’ classic condiment and delivered a cheeky, eye-catching ad campaign in the process.

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