P&G Tests the Power of Social Media

Nick | 20 Mar 2009, 12:12

Proctor & Gamble recently demonstrated how a large, process driven organisation can “learn to be innovative, work organically and think socially”. At its Digital Hack Night, P&G gathered 40 digital media and agency executives with 100 of its North American marketing directors to learn and share ideas on the power of networks and the impact of the digital world for marketers. 

Taking the format of a reality TV show format aired largely over social media, digital and interactive media luminaries from Facebook, Google, MySpace and P&G agencies were split into four teams and challenged to exploit Twitter, Facebook, and personal websites in their attempts to sell Tide T-shirts for charity.

The event raised thousands of dollars for charity but the real aim of the night was to help “P&G understand the digital space”, according to Bob Gilbreath, the event’s marketing strategist.

Key Learnings from the event reported by Forrester:

- Cause matters - Marketers looking to access people’s personal social networks must think long and hard about what they’re asking those networks to do and whether the influencers have social currency they can provide.

- Personal networks trump paid placements - Cultivating deep relationships with key influencers will reap greater rewards than a one-size-fits-all approach.

- Social media is a full time commitment - Social media isn’t something you turn on and off for a campaign; it’s something you live and breathe every day.

- Building trust is key - Corporate messages and their bearers are often viewed with suspicion and in some cases, derision. Overcoming it takes patience, information and most importantly truly good intentions at the root of your efforts.

- Accept you can’t please everyone - Take time to plan for worst case scenarios and accept you will never be welcomed by all. But with good faith effort, honesty, transparency and a long term commitment you can at least get a chance to tell your side of the story.

As one of the largest advertisers in the world, P&G’s movements have interesting implications for the content generating industries.  The exercise, though certainly successful in generating positive PR for the company (and Tide), does help to illustrate the power of sharing ideas. However, the greatest learning perhaps is that fact that P&G is working so closely with the likes of Google and Facebook in the first place. These workshops are further evidence of the growing role that social media plays in advertisers’ marketing mix. It underlines the need for content producers to work with new channels and distributors, as well as the major advertisers to experiment, share best practice and monetise content in new ways.