P&G's title of the world's largest advertiser is not as relevant as it used to be, commented Marc Pritchard, Chief Brand Officer of Procter & Gamble (P&G) in his keynote address at the ANA Media Conference 2023 in Orlando, Florida. "Celebrating a company as the largest spender implies that it is better to spend more and more each year," he said. "It's time for a reset. It's not about who spends the most money. What matters is who reaches the most consumers with the greatest media precision with the highest advertising effectiveness and the optimum efficiency to deliver sustained growth."
Pritchard shared his views on resetting the bar for media and advertising. He prioritized reach over frequency, especially for daily use CPG products, stating that the goal should be no less than 90% reach with a frequency of 1-2x a week per target demo, including multicultural targets.
To reach the most consumers, P&G is resetting the bar in understanding the consumers it serves. The company is transparently gathering consumer data on its own platform, and it is using a vast repository of P&G proprietary consumer research data on habits and practices. P&G is also getting data and insights from panel participants, measurement sensors in connected homes, and predictive analytics and algorithms to build digital solutions for brands. All of these data assets are brought together into P&G's proprietary consumer database, which is called Consumer360.
P&G is also resetting the bar on managing ad frequency. With data analytics and digital technology, P&G can more precisely reach its target audience and cap the frequency at an optimal level for awareness, persuasion and a good consumer experience. Pritchard mentioned that, for consumers (pointing out that this is a major issue in the current OTT environment), it is annoying to see the same ad over and over again, and with ANA's cross-media measurement program, there is no reason to see the same ad multiple times across broadcasters and platforms.
Pritchard discussed how P&G is resetting the bar on working more productively by doing more work in-house. It has built capabilities in data acquisition management, analytics, insights, digital technology, algorithm, AI-development and more. By doing more work in-house, P&G can achieve greater productivity, quality and speed, while also reducing costs. So, what about P&G's ad agency partners? Pritchard emphasized that they are critical in helping P&G "see around corners. To innovate in areas such as stewardship, AI, immersive experiences, multicultural media, ecosystem development, media supply chain and the future of media and advertising." However, media agencies likely won't be thrilled to learn that one of the world's largest advertising spenders is finding in-housing very productive.
In summary, Pritchard's keynote was a clear and precise roadmap of resets that those marketers who look to P&G as a beacon will closely pay attention to and emulate for superior brand communication and to deliver sustained growth.
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