How Unilever and WPP Unite’s media leads built a powerhouse partnership on trust, risk and ‘Eye of the Tiger’

When Aaron Sobol and Dominick Pace first teamed up in 2022, they were both stepping into new roles — and a new kind of partnership. Sobol was a few months into his position as Unilever’s U.S. head of media investment, while Pace was fresh in his role as the head of investment and activation on the account at Mindshare, part of WPP.

Memorably, Pace ended his first presentation by playing Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger,” made famous by the Rocky franchise. It was a winning move — and the start of a dynamic duo.

That momentum continued into Cannes, where Unilever won big. Among the awards it won was the Media Lions Grand Prix for its Dove "Real Beauty Redefined for the AI Era" campaign with WPP.

WPP, meanwhile, launched WPP Unite, a dedicated bespoke agency unit built in service of Unilever—and expanded its scope to include integrated shopper marketing work. This is a shift Sobol says reflects a larger truth: Commerce is a thought process that underpins everything. In a recent conversation with The Current, Sobol and Pace reflected on how trust, curiosity and a shared appetite for risk have shaped their partnership.

Dominick Pace: Since day one, what’s made the partnership special — and what makes duos dynamic — is when there’s incremental value that each person is bringing into the equation.

And I think we found on day one that we had diverse lived experiences, but also diverse professional experiences. And I think we knew, and we felt confident that as a unit, we were going to be unstoppable.

Aaron Sobol: You have digital-native experience. I was always investment-heavy from a video perspective. When we put it together, [we became] a force in the upfront marketplace.

Pace: Now you can’t tell the difference. I was thinking to myself, if we were to ask people who know us, would they be able to identify who is the “digital native” and who is more of a “linear native.” I mean, I don’t.

Sobol: We talk about all the potential in this media industry. The focus is on digital right now. And that’s really where the attention is and where we continue to push each other to grow that muscle.

Pace: But what’s important is that we don’t lose sight of the strengths of each format and of each platform. There’s much that we learn from the linear experience, be it creativity or strategy that’s been applied through digital. Then the digital benefits of targeting and measurement and buying through a singular source that we’ve applied to linear. So having [that] comprehensive view makes us so much more valuable to Unilever.

Sobol: If you think about year one, do you remember what was a big highlight when we were working together?

Pace: Oh, gosh, year one. I remember that first media strategy and upfront [plan]. I remember these deliverables, just how they looked and felt. And I hoped they were fresh and hungry. And I remember saying it was the “year of the tiger.” And we’re going to win, we’re going to fight. And even playing music as you presented, like “Eye of the Tiger,” stuff to get us amped and really passionate about media.

And I also remember that we were both taking on new roles, and I felt that we could lean on each other a lot. There was a lot of change in both organizations and having each other made all the difference.

Sobol: One thing that we discuss all the time is how imminent change is. If you’re not looking to transform and adapt, the way we work could become obsolete. And that’s a fear of mine. And we talk about it all the time as we don’t want to have any regrets.

We’d rather put it out there and test, learn or fail. Failure actually will grow your muscle.

But really observing what’s happening around us and it’s very dynamic. The role of social. The role of creators. The role of commerce.

Three or four years ago in the early stages of the rise of retail media, everything wasn’t commerce. But now, commerce is a thought process in everything.

Pace: You have to have that commercial lens.

Sobol: How do we build brands and drive frictionless commerce?

Pace: That hasn’t changed in a couple of years. But how we actually approach it, how we build plans to deliver [on it] has changed. One of the learnings is you’re not always going to be the first, but you have to be humble, observe and fast-follow when needed, but also take calculated risks where you can. Those were foundational in the two years. And now we’re at three and a half years, 2026 is going to be a tremendous year. The year of the World Cup.

Pace: We’ve got a lot going on.

Sobol: Big things.

Pace: Yeah.

Sobol: Not just that, but we’ll keep some of those…

Pace: …under wraps.

Sobol: When they hit, they’ll hit hard.

Pace: What makes a dynamic duo strong is really appreciating what the other brings to the table. You know [the saying], “comparison is the thief of joy.”

So in moments when we’re both answering the same question — because we trust each other and know each other so well — I never look at it as, gee, I should’ve answered like Aaron answered. And now I’m less than because I didn’t have the same exact answer.

I’ll take a step back and say, “OK, I contributed a little and Aaron contribute a little.” And in any relationship, you’re drawing differently from each other, the energy or the answer. And some days, it’s 90-10; some days, it’s 50-50.

But what makes the relationship beautiful is I feel like it can be vulnerable. And it’s OK to have different answers. And it’s OK to be wrong with the hypothesis, but we trust each other enough to try and to learn.

Sobol: Well, let’s keep on thinking about it and never stop. Let’s go, Unilever.

Pace: Let’s go, Unilever.