European consumer market insight manager - Surf
"I joined Unilever two years ago as CMI Manager (research manager) on Surf in the European laundry team. This means managing all the consumer research on innovation and communication projects for the value brands in Europe.
I’ve always worked in research, starting my career agency side, before moving to various client companies covering food, then confectionery and now washing powder!
It’s great to work in research at Unilever as consumer insight is integral to all marketing activity and is rightly given a high profile in the business. The research techniques and methodologies we use are regarded as fairly advanced and sophisticated within the research world – being at the forefront of consumer insight is always reassuring! My role also has the perfect mix of numbers (quantitative research) and touchy-feely (qualitative research).
Work is always busy, but there’s a wide range of projects on the go at any one time – even after two years I’m still experiencing new and different projects and research techniques. The best thing about the job is the people – it’s very much about working as a team on Surf – we all pull together. And as Unilever encourages people to work in different countries with their jobs there are always a variety of nationalities in the team (which has shown up my lack of knowledge on geography!)
This year I had the opportunity to work on a global project, which has taken me to Brazil and South Africa. This opened my eyes to the different cultures around the world and how the washing process differs in distinct countries."
