CINCINNATI -- Procter & Gamble Co. is getting back to basics in its consumer advertising campaigns, simplifying its marketing messages and re-emphasizing the product demonstrations and side-by-side comparisons for which the company is known, according to a report in the Cincinnati Business Courier.
“In order to keep the momentum going in developing markets and strengthen our developed markets, we wanted to really make sure that we were applying the proven model of success,” Marc Pritchard, global brand building officer, told the newspaper. “It’s based on the fact that we get meaningful insights into what consumers really want. We then translate that into noticeably superior products, and then we communicate that superiority into a benefit-driven idea and proof of performance.”
During a recent analyst meeting in Cincinnati, Pritchard said one example of the new approach is with P&G’s Pampers brand, which had as many as eight different marketing messages a few years ago but now uses only two. One of them stresses the importance of a good night’s sleep with the slogan: “Peaceful nights. Playful days.”
Other P&G brands, including Tide, Bounty and Gillette, have also reviewed marketing themes to make sure they emphasize quality superior to rivals.
“So, it is strong claims that tell people what it does,” Pritchard said, “product demonstrations that show the side-by-side superiority or how the product works. The businesses that were doing that consistently were winning. The businesses that were struggling, we needed to apply that.”
BMO Capital Markets analyst Connie Maneaty praised the company’s advertising revisions, saying they will make its $13 billion marketing budget more effective.
“The baby bedhead commercial, that’s spot on,” Maneaty told the newspaper. “It talks less about the technology of making the diaper and more about the effect of everybody sleeping well. If they reach consumers through traditional media and digital and social media with ads that resonate that way, then I think the effort is legitimate and well undertaken.”
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