Niall Fitzgerald left Ireland in 1971 to pursue a career in business. After 37 years with the Unilever Group, including a tenure as its CEO, Niall has turned his hand to other efforts. He joined Sean O’Rourke to discuss the highs and lows of his career, including the mistake that cost the company £350m.
There’s speculation that Unilever could be moving its European HQ to the Netherlands amidst Brexit uncertainty. Does Niall think this is a possibility, Sean asked? While he told Sean that he “couldn't comment” on the specifics because he is not involved in that decision, he did point out the company’s history with the Netherlands.
“I think the reality is that if you look back, Unilever grew up in the Netherlands and in the UK. It’s a dual-company. But actually, both countries, in terms of where their business is, are now less and less important. There’s only 5% of Unilever’s business in the UK. So, historically, while it was a good place to have a headquarters, whether it is in the future…you know, circumstances change. And Brexit doesn’t help in that respect.“
Niall did not mince his words when it came to the subject of Brexit and its impact on Britain, where he is still based.
Niall Fitzgerald in conversation with Sean O’Rourke
“It’s about the worst idea that they’ve ever come up with…the referendum result, in my view, came about because politicians on both sides were not taking care of what was happening in terms of the economy and how the benefits of the economy were being spread in the United Kingdom. So, there were a lot of disenchanted people…It was seen by many people, I think, as an opportunity just to kick the government.“
While Niall has enjoyed great success as a businessman, it hasn't all been marketing victories. He recalled the time a story about him appeared on the front page of The Financial Times, accompanied by the headline: “The Man Who Shredded Your Underpants”. It referenced a PR disaster involving a Unilever-brand detergent.
“We launched a product with a wonderful new element in it, which had the capacity to clean clothes better than anything that had ever been seen. Unfortunately, if it wasn’t used in exactly the right spec, it cleaned so well that it cleaned away the clothes as well...I was personally responsible for Unilever’s largest marketing disaster.“
The full effects of using the detergent in imperfect conditions were not known prior to the product’s release, prompting Niall to ask an unexpected question of his team.
“It was only when at one very pivotal meeting I said to everyone at the table, ‘So, can we all raise our hands who washes our own clothes?‘…and there was nobody in the room. And I have to say, in this room, was all of the marketing and research brains of Unilever on the detergent side. So, at that moment I thought, ‘Wait a minute. We’re missing here. There isn't a customer in the room.'”
While he can see the humour in it now, deeming it the “richest learning experience” he had never wanted, he did plan to resign from the company. He quoted his Chairman’s response to this at the time:
“We’ve just invested £350m in your education. If you think you’re going to take that somewhere else, forget it.”
Listen back to the whole interview with Niall Fitzgerald on Today With Sean O’Rourke here.