Procter & Gamble’s Digital Media Approach 2012 – GEC Business Review

by Jess Lee

P&G Global CEO has announced they would moderate their ad budget, which increased 8% last year, by moving to a marketing mix that focuses on digital.

Nowadays, one should not underestimate the impact of digital media. Malaysia has about 18 million Internet users and more than 11 million (68%) on Facebook thus far, it makes it Asia's 4^th highest. The Malaysia’s mobile ad market grew 37% in the 3^rd quarter of last year, accounted to over 1 billion mobile ad impressions. There is a statement claims that whoever dominates mobile will be the leader moving forward.

According to technology researcher Gartner Inc., the number of Malaysia's organizations blocking employee access to all social media is dropping by about 10% a year.

The shocker came last month when the Global CEO of Procter & Gamble (P&G) announced that they would moderate their advertising budget, which increased 8% last year, by moving to a marketing mix that focuses on digital.

The world's biggest advertiser has a new message, Marc Pritchard, the P&G Global Marketing and Brand Building Officer now puts a big emphasis on the influx of mobile devices in the market and the pace at which consumers are adopting mobile technology.

“The P&G’s ad spend budget growth had to stop somewhere and it’s true that the cost of a TV ad could produce a hundred online spots”, said Bob McDonald, the Global CEO of P&G.

In this digital always-on age where consumers constantly engage with your brand through the web and social media, fixed-life campaigns have lost much of their influence. Brands can no longer control the message and the 30-second TV spot risks becoming irrelevant.

“Media is now center-stage on brand strategy involving both brand development and brand building. Digital is fast changing marketing thinking. Data has bombarded a lot of science in marketing which mean creative is on the sidelines; Meaningful data and daring creative is the way forward,” according to the Global CEO of P&G.

Therefore, harness the power of data, navigate the digital landscape, build engagement and relationships with customers and leverage the new opportunities presented by data driven by digital marketing.