Seymour lathers up Dove branding

Unilever has appointed Seymour Powell partner Richard Seymour as creative director of design for its global Dove brand.

The move paves the way for a commitment to design for the fmcg giant, in its renewed search for top-line growth.

It is the first time that the company has made a global appointment of this kind, allocating a dedicated external design consultant specifically to one of its brands. Seymour will oversee packaging design and graphics strategies for the Dove suite of products.

According to Unilever, Dove is the world’s number one cosmetics brand, retailing to more than 80 countries and generating sales of more than €2.5bn (£1.7bn).

The development extends Seymour’s influence at Unilever, who will continue to act as consultant design director for the company’s UK personal care division, Lever Fabergé.

‘This appointment proves that Unilever is now taking design more seriously. It wanted somebody to help rationalise design globally,’ Seymour explains. ‘[With the work at Lever Fabergé] I have been trying to develop a culture of design in Unilever.’

Seymour declines to specify how much time he will dedicate to the two positions at Unilever, but says that it will not affect his role at product design consultancy Seymour Powell.

Last month Unilever’s incoming group chief executive Patrick Cescau announced the ‘de-layering of top management’ at the UK-owned multinational. It sees ‘executive authority’ passed to three regional presidents who will oversee Europe, Africa and Asia, and the Americas.