Unilever’s Esi Eggleston Bracey on being herself, overcoming hair discrimination and standing up for DE&I

Esi Eggleston Bracey knows the packaged goods business like few others. She began her career at Procter & Gamble, followed CoverGirl and other beauty brands when they moved from P&G to Coty, and then joined Unilever in 2018. She also knows the fight against hair discrimination firsthand. Although she was P&G’s first Black female general manager, her biggest impact in terms of social change may have come at Unilever, where she became the first Black president of Unilever USA and CEO of the company’s $5 billion personal care business in North America. Last year, she became the first Black female chief marketer of Unilever globally when she was appointed chief growth and marketing officer. Read about Ad Age’s 2024 Leading Women here At Unilever, she’s been the architect of Dove’s support for the CROWN (Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair) Coalition, which has succeeded in helping pass Crown Act laws against hair discrimination in 24 states. That effort came decades after she defied pressure and left her own permed, chemically straightened look behind forever. Bracey also has been a champion of SheaMoisture’s New Voices Fund for Women of Color Entrepreneurs. Her focus has been on purpose work that not only is closely linked to what brands are about but also has measurable impact socially. Such efforts began for her far earlier, when she led CoverGirl’s work to diversify the face of beauty with talent such as Queen Latifah, Pink, Ellen Degeneres and Janelle Monae. Bracey is the latest recipient of Ad Age’s Vanguard Award, which honors a woman in media and advertising on her overall career achievements, and will appear at Ad Age’s Leading Women and Rising Stars Luncheon on Aug. 7 in New York. Here, in a lightly edited interview, Bracey talks about her career and how she has managed challenges. Ad Age Leading Women Luncheon Join us Aug. 7 in New York as we recognize this year’s honorees Buy your ticket today How would you define your leadership style? I very much like the concept of the ‘business of you.’ This is all about bringing your authentic self to your business for maximum impact and performance. My style is intentional, human and deeply committed to deliver. I believe in bringing my authentic and whole self to the business in service of people—the 3.4 billion people who use our products daily—and our amazing marketing teams and agency partners. There is a lot that makes up my humanity. Beyond being an executive, I’m a mother, a wife, a Black American, a mentor, a community advocate, a problem solver, a foodie, a beauty and wellness enthusiast, a student of life and moreover. I bring my whole self to businesses. Throughout my career, I’ve found that the best leaders inspire others toward breakthrough goals, bringing clarity, focus and empowerment to their teams to deliver. This is what I strive to do day in, day out. Unilever has just been named Cannes Lions Creative Marketer of the Year. In what ways does creativity provide a competitive advantage to Unilever? Our commitment to bold, brave, creative marketing is unwavering. Creativity is the fuel for building brands that are desirable, everlasting, and stand out as unmissably superior. Take Dove, our largest brand. It is celebrating 20 years of the Campaign for Real Beauty this year. The brand has tripled in this time, and the campaign continues to evolve with people with the brand committed to Keep Beauty Real, even in AI. [Also read: How Dove’s Real Beauty changed marketing] We see four key advantages from creativity: It builds uniqueness in a crowded market; supercharges the impact of our marketing investment as a content and media multiplier; converts insights into meaningful and disruptive product innovation and propositions that delight people beyond their imagination; and fosters a pioneering, innovative and growth-oriented culture. We’ve focused on placing human creativity at the heart of our marketing approach. To drive this, our Creative Excellence program delivers an effective education, boosts creative ambition, nurtures talent and removes barriers to creativity. Leadership plays a crucial role. Our chief marketing officers, brand leaders and agency heads form Unilever’s Creative Council—where I have the pleasure of serving as chair. See all of Ad Age’s 2024 Creativity Award winners here As Bill Bernbach once said, “It may well be that creativity is the last unfair advantage.” As we look ahead, everything and nothing is changing. The basics of marketing, understanding people, deep insights, creating differentiated brands propositions and coming up with a creative idea. That won’t change. What has changed is our lives—driven by technology, AI and the rise of individuality, the wellness revolution and other macro forces. All this shapes what people expect from brands and how brands interact with people. Creating endless opportunities for creativity, commerce and impact. However, over time, as technology is further democratized, it may become harder for brands to differentiate. Creativity will be the real advantage and it’s why we are so proud to be recognized as Creative Marketer of the Year. What was it like climbing the ranks of the CPG and beauty business as a Black woman? Earlier in my career, I made a choice to be myself, no matter how uncomfortable that was. My hair has been such a pivotal part of my journey. I remember starting to adopt this idea that “straight hair” is better hair as early as 9 or 10 years old. When I joined corporate America in 1991, I wore what I thought was an appropriate “wrapped” bob-like hairstyle that I worked hard to get as straight and silky as possible. It was the style, and in fact the standard I needed to comply with to fit in, to be socially accepted and be considered professional. It was actually over 25 years ago when I had an “aha moment.” I did the big chop—cut off my permed, chemically straightened hair and went natural. I learned that this conformity of those of us who are different perpetuates the cycle of conformity, and makes it even harder for new non-majority hires to be themselves because we show them to make it, they have to conform. I realized I was complicit in this. So I grew out my relaxed hair, and a couple months later, I cut off my perm, and wore a super short, natural afro. Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs I made a range of other changes too, including being more open about my life and interests that were outside of the norm (casually discussing manicures, soul food dinners and house music). Sharing my life that I had largely withheld. As I look back, this is when my career started taking off. It was like I was Esi unleashed. And from that moment on, I’ve worn a range of natural styles from twists to natural protective hairstyles. Throughout my career, I kept learning that fully bringing your authentic self and your unique superpowers to a business is critical to avoid “groupthink” and blind spots that can get in the way of addressing people’s needs and growing the business. This has helped shape me as a business leader and help inform my leadership principles: 1. Do you. Know yourself, be yourself, share yourself with others, and take good care of yourself. You are your superpower. 2. Manage your energy, not just your time. It’s the fuel of impact. 3. Keep your feet on the ground, eyes on the horizon, and dreams in the clouds. 4. Say yes when you’re scared and no when you’re clear. 5. Help people, not just consumers. There’s more to us than our consumption and helping people can help consumption. As I referenced earlier, there are many elements that make me, me. My experience as a Black American woman is certainly a critical and fundamental one, but not the only one. You’ve been able to make a mark with the work around the Crown Act. Has it been gratifying to be able to make such an impact and focus attention on something that hadn’t been getting much attention? One of my most meaningful accomplishments is being the executive Founder of the CROWN movement and coalition on behalf of Dove. The movement supports Dove’s mission to foster beauty inclusivity and seeks to eradicate race-based hair discrimination through the CROWN Act. Before the CROWN Act, it was legal for people wearing textured hairstyles like braids, locs, twists, and bantu knots, to be sent home from school, or to be denied access to employment, based on their hair. This is particularly heartbreaking for children and has a disproportionate impact on the self-esteem of young girls who often experience race-based discrimination as early as five years old. Understanding how deeply this issue affects young girls and women, and the challenges black women faced in needing to change our hair to fit in, I knew that Dove could do something about it and champion the change. The first CROWN Act that makes race-based hair discrimination illegal was passed into law in 2019, and there are now 24 states with legislation in place. This has resulted in more than 25 million Black Americans being protected from race-based hair discrimination, natural hair styles being normalized with a dramatic acceleration of the presence of natural hair styles in the workplace and schools. There’s been some pushback broadly, particularly in the U.S., against DE&I efforts. What’s the best way to deal with that? We know there is a strong business case for diversity. Having an employee base that reflects the diversity of the people who we serve with our products, helps us serve them better and fosters creativity. It’s clear and well-known that diversity is fundamental to business and society's success. As you begin your time as Unilever’s chief marketer, what do you see as your key priorities? Unilever is a 59.6 billion euro enterprise that serves 3.4 billion people daily in 190 countries with our brands like Dove, Knorr, Ben & Jerry’s and Rexona (Degree in the US). Our unique brand portfolio supports people intimately—inside (food, nutrition and supplements), outside (skin, beauty, personal care and clothing) and at home. Our brands create meaningful impact every day. My role as Unilever’s chief growth and marketing officer is to lead Unilever into the next chapter of growth through our brands. Human insights, creativity, innovation, and growth marketing, play pivotal roles in enhancing brand superiority and accelerating growth. Our focus centers on driving unmissable superiority for our top 30 power brands, which represent over 75% of our turnover. Brands like Dove, Vaseline, Knorr, Hellmann’s, Tresemme, Nutrafol and Liquid IV are well-known in the US, while others like Cif, Sunsilk, and Magnum ice cream have global recognition. These brands offer significant value-creation opportunities.

Unilever’s Esi Eggleston Bracey on being herself, overcoming hair discrimination and standing up for DE&I

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