Cleaning Up Culture

When he started planning his professional career, Aalap Sharma expected to enter the world of finance. He was aware of advertising but - maybe because he was more analytical - he saw himself in a different field. He initially trained as an engineer, studying for an MBA at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore. That is where he discovered and fell in love with marketing.

“I was always interested in stories, and hearing from different storytellers in my family,” says Sharma. It was through the stories told by his marketing professor on the MBA that led him to fall in love with the business. “It was his stories about marketing, the opportunity to explore new ideas, and the power of creativity that drew me in."

Sharma took up a trainee role within General Electric in Mumbai before moving to Hindustan Unilever Limited, which he describes as “a leadership factory”.

At Unilever, Sharma has spent more than a decade working in the Home Care division, mainly on Domestos and Cif, while building an appreciation for product development and brand building, and expanding his purview globally. Now, after more than 20 years in Unilever, he is the global brand director for surface cleaning brand Cif, a role he was promoted to at the start of 2025.

The reason why so many marketers spend years within Unilever, believes Sharma, is that, like himself, they can work in different capacities and different countries. He has lived and worked in India, Italy, South Africa, and now the UK.

“Unilever always tends to be at the forefront of marketing. It tends to be a leader, one of the best marketing companies in the world. I'm particularly enjoying how today we are using science to build marketing, making innovations, and how we are using social to create demand in Gen Z,” he says.

60 Years of Cif

Since its development in France as a cream surface cleaner in the 1960s, Cif has evolved as both a product and a brand to meet the needs of modern consumers.

“I’m so impressed by how this iconic brand continues to earn the purchase! It’s a perfect example of embedding in culture and innovating to match people’s needs,” lauded Unilever marketing chief Esi Eggleston Bracey while citing its newly found young audience through the #CleanTok. She added that its use on sneakers had helped it grow by over a third (38 per cent) in Gen Z buyers in the UK alone.

Her comments followed the brand’s latest innovation - the New Cif Infinite Clean spray, which was launched in April.

Sharma cites the use of Cif to clean white trainers as one perhaps surprising use case he has seen trend worldwide through TikTok, and something he is now trying on his own four pairs of sneakers at home.

But beyond marketing, the continuing relevance of Cif across multiple markets is down to its superior cleaning ability, claims Sharma, and its ability to help young consumers make cleaning less of a chore and turn it into content to share on TikTok.

“It's such a joy to find that my product, which has been there in the market for many years - decades actually - is one of the best things that you can use to clean white sneakers. And it's not me saying this, it's Gen Z on TikTok saying so. There's a great joy there, finding that your brand is still relevant, that the technology that you have, that the products that you have are still useful, and are finding fresh life.”

Cleaning with creators

And that new lease of life through social media has seen Cif become an enabler and a muse for creators to capture their own cleaning methods and share them with their followers.

“People are using it for entertainment, but they're also discovering new products. About 70 per cent of people actually discover a new product on TikTok. Many of them, even if they're living in their households with their parents, go to their parents to recommend the product. So it's a great place to get them to understand what our product does, but also discover new users and get some knowledge themselves,” he explains.

Since discovering this trend in 2023, the brand has sought out various creator partnerships to activate across social channels, including working with England footballer Cole Palmer and designers from across the sneaker community.

He admits that, through forming influencer partnerships and developing video content, the business is still learning new things, such as keeping things simple.

“I had a workshop with a few influencers a couple of weeks ago, and one influencer was mentioning the mental load that cleaning has and how people want simplicity, how they want things to be done, but they want things to be done simply. She said, ‘Instead of cleaning the entire kitchen, I show them how to clean the sink first, and my entire video is just about the sink, and then I move to different parts of the kitchen.’ That actually opened up new rounds of thinking for us”, he says.

Unilever has developed a strong global model for influencer collaboration through its ‘Cleaning Up’ platform, working with influencers of all sizes to stay attuned to local trends and cleaning needs, such as those arising from air fryer and microwave use. The approach centres on learning from influencers and immersing in their culture.

He offers the example of the ‘Dirty Mouth’ activation created by Droga5 in Brazil, where Cif partnered with podcasters to replace expletives with brand mentions, avoiding demonetisation and rewarding listeners with vouchers. The campaign boosted sales by 43 per cent, achieved 90 per cent positive intent, and won two creativity awards.

The world of marketing, according to Aalap Sharma...

What advice would you have to get the best out of agency partners? What do you find works best for you?

I find that the more we engage with curiosity and build collaborative relationships, rather than purely transactional ones, the better the outcomes. We’ve always found value in talking not just about creative briefs, but about the brand itself: what we’re doing in different countries, our vision, where we’re heading, and importantly, taking their input on board.

In creative agencies, everyone wants to work on the best ideas - the ones that are bold, disruptive, and reach the widest audience. What I’ve learned is that it’s vital to understand where their passions lie, because that’s often where the most exciting ideas emerge. I wouldn’t have imagined a cleaning brand aligning with podcasts, but it’s our agencies that made that happen.

So yes, that spirit of collaboration, being curious about what drives them, what they want to create, and helping them understand the brand beyond the brief, that’s incredibly important to us.

What advice would you have for anyone who wants to become a marketer?

I’d offer two pieces of advice. First, be curious, not just online, but offline too. Pick up products, explore what they are, and pay attention to what people are saying about them.

Second, put yourself out there. Marketing is all about great conversations, refining your thinking, and understanding others. If you have ideas, share them. Join a WhatsApp group, post on TikTok, and talk to people. Putting your thoughts out there will sharpen your perspective. I love working with people from different backgrounds. Sometimes we’ll walk into a shop together and they’ll take me to the dairy aisle or somewhere unexpected, and we’ll learn something new - something very different from what Unilever does. Supermarkets, whether online or offline, are full of insights. So yes: be curious and communicate your thoughts.

Why is Unilever a place you’ve found a home in as a marketer?

I’ve really enjoyed the atmosphere here, and the leaders I work with have played a big part in that. Cleaning is a category with incredibly strong brands that mean a lot to consumers. The brand I work on, for example, spans 65 countries and has been around for 60 years. It carries real heritage.

That legacy of performance gives us room to stretch. We can take risks, try new things, and innovate, all backed by great research and development, cutting-edge technology, and decades of consumer trust. I’ve loved working across that full spectrum: selling products that solve real problems and discovering new ways people use them.