The media landscape in which marketers operate continues to transform, approaching an inflection point where decades-long goals appear in reach and bandied-about technologies begin to deliver on promises, according to Proctor & Gamble Chief Brand Officer Marc Pritchard.
The marketing executive discussed how the CPG giant is tackling this transformation, which includes media fragmentation, a shift to digital commerce and the power of artificial intelligence to “exponentially turbocharge” marketing, during a session at the Association of National Advertisers’ Media Conference on March 26.
“There’s these massive shifts that are facing consumers today that we need to deal with in terms of how we build our brands,” Pritchard said, noting that, “The fundamentals still matter… Who your consumer is, what your brand stands for, how you come up with insights, ideas and executions so you can connect with them on product packaging, retail communication and value. But how we do that has completely changed.”
Those fundamentals come into play in establishing a brand that helps consumers build memory structures across channels including TV and social media in both short- and long-form video content. But they are also crucial amid the convergence of commerce and media, the growth of AI in nearly every facet of marketing and the need for simpler cross-media measurement.
Voices united
Along with brand voice, marketers must work to boost expert voices and the consumer’s voice that are both evolving. In the former, celebrities have given way to influencers and creators and soon might be replaced by AI agents; in the latter, the bedrock principle of word-of-mouth can now be scaled in a massive but still organic way.
“Finding that right mix across your brand to build awareness, build memory, keep reminding people to endorse in a way that is genuine, and then connect it directly to commerce, that’s the how those voices all work,” Pritchard said.
To illustrate how these voices work together, Pritchard pointed to Old Spice, a core P&G brand that has seen accelerated growth by turning consumer insights into innovations that are then executed in brand communication and retail execution. Despite the rise of AI in the creation of ad creative, Pritchard noted that the company still works with top creatives at top agencies to generate brand ideas. A recent Old Spice campaign created with agency Wieden+Kennedy tapped into cultural nostalgia.