Brand Specialist

Unilever taps Ball printing tech for Rexona deodorant aluminum cans. 06 Aug 2026 Key takeaways. * Ball has used its Dynamark Pro printing technology to produce six football-themed aerosol can designs for Unilever's Rexona Maximum Protection range in Germany. * Created with the German Football Association, the designs feature stylized portraits of the men's national team while maintaining Rexona's brand identity. * The technology enables multiple graphic variants in one production run, including halftone illustrations, color mixing, and complex design details. (Image credit: Ball). Ball Corporation has supported Unilever's launch of a football-themed Rexona Maximum Protection aerosol range in Germany with its Ball Dynamark Pro print technology. The joint project has created six deodorant can designs with "consistent print quality" that maintain Rexona's recognizable brand identity, Ball highlights. The six can designs were created by Unilever and the German Football Association (DFB) illustrate stylized portraits of the German men's national team, aiming to showcase cohesive visuals rather than individual realistic portraits of the players. "This project shows how close collaboration can turn a strong creative idea into packaging that is visually distinctive and practical to produce at scale," says Victoria Marletta, VP for Personal and Home Care Commercial at Ball. "We are proud to support Unilever on a campaign that combines creative ambition with the production expertise needed to deliver a high-quality result across the Rexona range in Germany." Hannan Mölder, category lead for Deodorant at Rexona and AXE Germany, adds: "This collaboration with Ball and the DFB allows us to connect with our consumers' passion for football in a fresh, visually impactful way." "Dynamark PRO gave us the creative flexibility to represent the collective strength of the national team while maintaining the premium quality and identity our customers expect from Rexona." Unilever's Rexona packaging is not tied to a single event. Instead, it is designed as a longer-term, football-focused offering, the companies outline. "The use of DFB imagery helps extend brand visibility beyond a one campaign moment, keeping the national team theme present on shelf over a longer period," Ball and Unilever explain. Aluminum printing technology. Unilever set out to release a "distinctive" range with multiple design variants in a single production run, and Ball says its Dynamark Pro technology enabled this flexibility. It also adds that the packaging artwork was improved during the trial period in order to facilitate consistent print quality across the range as well as on-shelf presence. Ball's Dynamark Pro technology is said to achieve varying design elements, color mixing, half-tone illustrations, and complex graphic details. "This allows brands to execute multiple designs within a single series while ensuring a consistent brand identity," Ball continues. Earlier, Marletta told Packaging Insights that aluminum packaging for personal care is well-suited to meet upcoming regulatory requirements due to its high recyclability and established processing infrastructure. Predrag Ozmo, sustainability director at Ball, emphasized substantiated sustainability in aluminum packaging, focusing on measurable, verifiable claims, and transparency to combat greenwashing. Recently, Ball also partnered with Meadow, a Swedish packaging technology company, to release the Meadow Kapsul SleeveLock wall-mounted dispenser system for personal care products, and supplied Münsterland J. Lülf with aluminum 250 mL cans for its flavored milks featuring characters from the SpongeBob SquarePants film.

Unilever Africa to expand Radio advertising strategy to Kenya after Kessben FM success. Unilever Africa Business Manager Unis Osono Adjei has revealed that the company plans to begin running radio advertisements in Kenya following the positive results achieved through its partnership with Kessben FM. Discover more Africans & Diaspora Government Speaking on Kessben Sports, Adjei explained that the impact and returns generated from radio advertising on Kessben FM have encouraged Unilever Africa to extend the strategy to other markets. "Because of the mileage we've gotten from radio ads from Kessben FM, we are going to start running radio ads in Kenya," Unis Osono Adjei said. The Unilever executive praised the effectiveness of radio as a marketing tool, highlighting how Kessben FM has helped the company reach its target audience and strengthen brand visibility. The move forms part of Unilever Africa's broader marketing approach as the company seeks to leverage successful advertising platforms across different African markets. WATCH VIDEO BELOW:

Will Drastic Dave live up to his name at Diageo? Retail Reporter Putting the finishing touches to Diageo's annual report, Sir Dave Lewis may be channelling the old slogan of the drinks giant's prize brand, Guinness: 'Good things come to those who wait'. Since Lewis began his tenure as chief executive of the FTSE 100 firm on New Year's Day, investors have heard very little from him. Though the former Tesco boss was nicknamed "Drastic Dave" for his bold approach to management at Britain's biggest grocer, Lewis' regime at Diageo has so far been calmer. The drinks seller, which also owns Johnnie Walker, Smirnoff and Captain Morgan, will attract the attention of the City on Thursday - not for its top-line numbers, but for its strategy review, which is expected to reveal swingeing job cuts worthy of Lewis' moniker. What can investors expect from the Guinness owner's long-awaited update? Lewis took charge of Diageo following a rocky 12 months for the business, marred by a long hangover of waning demand and operational missteps. His predecessor, Debra Crew, abruptly quit after just two years in charge and the company posted a $200m (£153m) hit from US tariffs just weeks before he took the reins. Cautious start for Drastic Dave. In February, Lewis' first outing as chief executive struck a markedly restrained tone. He halved the group's dividend in a bid to shore up its balance sheet but his drastic acts stopped there. Quizzed by analysts on why his next market update was scheduled as late as this year's third quarter, Lewis was careful to lower expectations of a slash-and-burn approach to cost-cutting. News updates. Stay ahead with our three daily briefings delivering all the key market moves, top business and political stories, and incisive analysis straight to your inbox. Lewis had already visited Diageo headquarters in North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and India, but reminded investors he had yet to spend time in Africa and Asia: "I just want to make sure that I've got the firmest of foundations in understanding the business we have today." The drinks group's half-year numbers were dogged by an "increasingly competitive and cautious" consumer environment in the US and slowing sales in China, as many of the problem areas for Crew threatened to haunt her successor. The Diageo boss set out some areas of focus for his reign - including adapting to changing alcohol habits among younger generations and solving the company's "very poor" customer service - but the detail of his vision for the alcohol giant has only begun to emerge in recent weeks. 'Funereal atmosphere' as job cuts loom. Behind the doors of Diageo headquarters in Soho, Lewis has begun rebuilding the firm in his image. Sir Dave told his executives to slash headcount across their divisions, with "non-revenue-generating" teams on the chopping block. The impending redundancies were spreading a "funeral home atmosphere" inside the company's offices, one insider told The Financial Times. Sir Dave has begun building his new top team, recruiting former Unilever colleague Marc Woodward to lead his domestic arm and tapping Procter & Gamble executive Sujay Wasan to head up the Asia-Pacific operation. Beyond headcount, a key headwind that Sir Dave will need to address is the pinch on discretionary spending which is pushing consumers to trade down from up-market products. The chief executive has praised Diageo's "premiumisation" drive towards a stable of high-end brands led by former boss Sir Ivan Menezes. But Lewis has suggested he plans to cut prices and said he will work on the group's offering of smaller pack sizes in a bid to squeeze Diageo products into consumers' rapidly tightening shopping baskets. "There is some evidence of customers trading down to cheaper alternatives, which provides an immediate headwind to Diageo's premiumisation aspirations," said Richard Hunter, Interactive Investor's head of markets. "It remains to be seen whether the concerns overhanging the sector as a whole are cyclical or societal." There are some bright spots for Drastic Dave. Guinness's meteoric market share gains in recent years show no signs of reversing, and the firm's share price ticked up into a year-to-date gain for the first time late last week. Diageo's full-year figures are likely to be boosted by the World Cup, and the drinks maker can hope for a further uplift in the Autumn as punters reach for a pint of the black stuff when temperatures start to drop.