Unilever has raised its full-year outlook after delivering its strongest quarterly volume growth in more than a decade, strengthening the case for renewed brand investment in global consumer goods.
The group reported underlying sales growth of 5.8% in the second quarter, supported by a 5.5% increase in volume. The performance was ahead of expectations and marked a recovery in demand after a period when much of the sector’s revenue growth came from price rises.
Unilever said full-year underlying sales growth is now expected to be within its multi-year guidance range of 4% to 6%, with volume growth of around 3%. The company’s performance was supported by household and personal care brands including Dove, Vaseline, and Cif.
The result carries weight because large consumer goods groups have been under pressure to prove that they can grow without relying mainly on price increases. Inflation allowed many branded manufacturers to protect revenue while volumes weakened, but that model has become harder to sustain as consumers trade down, retailers push back, and wage growth remains uneven.
Volume growth is therefore a more durable signal of demand. It suggests that shoppers are buying more products, not only paying more for them. In branded goods, that gives management stronger evidence that marketing, product, and distribution decisions are supporting real demand rather than masking weakness through pricing alone.
Unilever has increased marketing investment, with Reuters reporting that spend rose to 16.1% of revenue in the quarter. That shift reflects a broader effort under chief executive Fernando Fernandez to strengthen brand momentum and tighten focus across the portfolio.
Brand-building is regaining prominence as customer acquisition and loyalty become more expensive. Monzo’s global brand platform showed the same dynamic in financial services; Unilever’s results show it at global FMCG scale. When conditions are difficult, brand equity can protect pricing, support volume, and defend shelf position.
The company’s category mix is also changing. Beauty and wellbeing, personal care, and home care have carried much of the momentum, while food has been weaker. The group has been reshaping its portfolio to concentrate on higher-growth categories, with the planned separation of its ice cream business and other portfolio decisions reflecting pressure to simplify and improve returns.
Consumer goods companies are operating in a more disciplined retail environment. Supermarkets and discounters have become tougher on price, private-label competition remains strong, and consumers continue to watch household budgets closely. Branded manufacturers have to justify premiums through innovation, availability, marketing, product performance, and trust.
The results also show the value of geographic balance. Global groups can offset weakness in one region with stronger demand elsewhere, but they remain exposed to currency moves, geopolitical risk, tariffs, commodity costs, and changing consumer sentiment. Energy-price volatility and broader uncertainty continue to affect assumptions across international consumer markets.
The marketing lesson is not simply that higher spend produces growth. Brand investment is being judged against commercial outcomes. Consumer goods companies are expected to connect campaigns, innovation, distribution, and pricing to measurable volume and margin performance.
That is particularly important as digital channels and retail media change how brands reach consumers. Major FMCG companies are using traditional media, influencers, retailer data, social platforms, ecommerce, and in-store activation together. The complexity of the channel mix makes consistent brand assets and disciplined measurement more important.
The outlook upgrade will also be read by investors as evidence that Unilever’s operational reset is gaining traction. The company has faced pressure over growth, margins, portfolio complexity, and category focus. Stronger volumes do not remove those questions, but they provide a more positive base from which management can argue that brand investment and simplification are beginning to work.
Unilever’s quarter points to a consumer market in which familiar brands can still win, provided marketing, price, product, and availability are aligned. After several years dominated by inflation and margin defence, volume growth is becoming the clearer test of whether brand strength is returning.
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