Article: Procter & Gamble Takes Marketing into a New Era

This article from U.S. News & World Report (3/23/07) is an interesting read. The article describes Procter & Gamble's efforts to utilize unconventional marketing techniques to sell products like... well...toilet paper.

The article says: "In an effort to reach customers who increasingly ignore television commercials and browse YouTube, P&G has been testing out new marketing moves at a frenzied pace over the past two years."

It is interesting to see a well-funded major corporation like P&G utilizing what amount to guerrilla marketing tactics. I believe this demonstrates the increasing complexity of doing business in today's information-saturated marketplace.


More tidbits from the article:

- Spending on alternative advertising rose 16.4 percent in the first half of last year, mostly on mobile and Internet marketing, according to research firm PQ Media.

- While old standbys account for the lion's share of advertising dollars, as companies get savvier, they will spend more on newer avenues such as cellphones and blogs, says Mike Kelley, a partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers Advisory.

- In the end, a company may reach fewer people with a certain campaign but get better results.

- Research site Emarketer predicts that advertising on social-networking sites will rise from 2 percent of total ad spending today to 9 percent by 2010.