Procter & Gamble Takes Marketing into a New Era
For Tide, that idea is the detergent "works wonders on the fabrics that touch your life," something P&G hopes will resonate emotionally: a key ingredient for winning consumer loyalty. Shortly after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, the company loaded a beverage trailer converted into a laundromat and sent it to New Orleans to wash survivors' clothes. It began selling vintage T-shirts with sayings like "Be Seen, Not Spotted" and handed them to celebrities to promote Tide with Febreze fabric freshener to younger customers. The result: In the past two years, P&G says, Tide had its best sales in a decade.
Coming up with a product's story and feel before a campaign also helps translate a brand's message across borders, something important for P&G, which does business in more than 160 countries, says Bernhard Glock, manager, global media and communications. "We're experimenting with different brands in different regions," he says. "We've made a dramatic effort to better understand consumers" around the world.
In South Korea, P&G has almost completely pulled out of television for Vidal Sassoon hair-care products except for advertising on a few niche channels. Instead, it has opted to spend money on promotions like a huge outdoor display at a Seoul shopping center. In Japan, it has heavily boosted marketing on mobile devices. And in Pakistan, the company created a superhero called Commander Safeguard, with his own television show, music videos, and website, to help sell Safeguard soap.
Still, traditional mass media aren't going away, says Kelley: "This is an evolution, not a revolution." But with better ways to reach customers, spending on more targeted marketing will definitely rise. Kelley points out that marketers spent $160 billion last year on direct mail with minimal response. "There is a lot of waste," he says, "and now they can make marketing more relevant to users."
While P&G bowed out of buying ads at this year's Academy Awards, Boles says that television is still the best way to reach lots of customers. It just doesn't necessarily translate into cultivating repeat buyers. So, companies expert at marketing like P&G are trying to build a relationship with customers, rather than simply chant a message that shoppers will tune out in a cacophony of constant advertising.
At the same time that improved technology is making it easier for customers to fast-forward through television ads, it's also helping marketers reach new audiences. Kelley says that customers, especially younger ones, now are more willing to give up information about themselves in exchange for lifestyle-oriented messages. It's a boon to companies that can figure out how to handle the exchange properly. Even online, people don't like being interrupted by a pop-up ad while browsing, he says. "And people don't want ads on their phones every three seconds."
But if they choose to receive text messages, they may want to hear about a particular promotion or pick up relevant information. In the end, a company may reach fewer people with a certain campaign but get better results. It's a marketer's dream come true "to speak to customers on a one-to-one basis," says Liodice.
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