Unilever has revealed it is going to spend hundreds of millions more on advertising and marketing as it battles against increasing costs.

Announcing the FMCG giant’s half-year results, its CFO Graeme Pitkethly said the company has “stepped up” the investment in its brands.

“We’re definitely advertising more: we stepped up brand marketing investment by £169.73 million in the first half,” he said.

Pitkethly added that the company is currently trading in a “truly unprecedented cost landscape” as global inflation soars.

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The news comes as the parent company of Marmite, Pot Noodle and Dove soap reported that turnover reached £25.1 billion in the first half of the year, a rise of 14.9%.

This was despite price rises of up to 11% across some of its most popular product ranges.

The company is also expecting to see a £3.9 billion hit from inflation this year.

“Unilever has delivered a first half performance which builds on our momentum of 2021, despite the challenges of high inflation and slower global growth,” Unilever CEO Alan Jope said.

Earlier this year, Unilever announced that it will no longer target children with marketing content for its food and beverage brands.

The multinational’s so-called “enhanced principles” specify that promotional content will not target anyone under 16, and that no data will be stored on customers under 16.  

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