Unilever and ad:tech London announce new partnership

Unilever has become the first consumer brand to enter into a partnership with ad:tech London, a digital marketing conference and exhibition that marks its tenth anniversary this year.

The agreement will see Unilever provide support for the trade show's Future Media and Technology Summit and an initiative called The Next Big Thing, which will offer marketing and media tech startups the opportunity to pitch to a panel of leading industry players.

Prominent brand, agency and venture capital professionals will select which of the entrants is worthy of being crowned The Next Big Thing, with shortlisted startups also securing free ad:tech exhibition space in a Unilever Foundry show floor feature.

The deal also sees Unilever become the headline sponsor of the Future Media and Technology Summit, while ad:tech will host guided tours and special networking events designed to connect startups and technology providers with investment decision-makers at Unilever.

Marc Mathieu, senior vice-president for global marketing at Unilever, said: "Startups are pioneering the future of marketing. Our partnership with ad:tech enables us to showcase these technologies to the wider marketing community and challenge our existing partners to collaborate with these innovators."

This comes after the firm last month was named as one of the supporting partners of Launchpad, a UK competition that aims to promote innovation in Internet of Things technology.