Posts Tagged ‘Proctor & Gamble’

Responsible or not? Marketing to tweens and teens

Monday, April 21st, 2008

Eight-year-old cheerleader with free products from marketers.

Katja White, an eight-year-old cheerleader with her arms full of free products she received from marketers at a national cheerleading competition at the Anaheim Convention Center last month.

Want to reach a customer that communicates at hyper speed about your product? Want a loyal customer for life?

Target cheerleaders, football players and other popular teens and tweens and you could get just that.

Using cell phones, text messaging and email, these influencers can (and do) create product buzz overnight.

Marketers are discovering sampling and competitions are powerful ways to reach this market:

  • Procter & Gamble hands out over 300,000 Secret deodorant sticks to cheerleaders
  • Old Spice sends 100 samples of its aptly-named Red Zone body wash to 5,000 high-school football teams(that’s 100 samples per team, or 500,000 samples total
  • Gatorade’s Propel hands out its fitness water at cheerleading camps
  • Skintimate shaving cream sponsors cheerleading camp competitions – the winning team is the “Smooth Moves” champion
  • CoverGirl holds makeover tours, where they give free makeovers and products to tween and teen girls

    • Some of these giveaways can cause a bit of a frenzy. According to CoverGirl company spokesperson Anitra Marsh:

    The girls literally screamed at each camp when they learned they would get free CoverGirl makeovers and samples.

    Of course, word of mouth and can kill a product overnight too, but the risk is worth it: teens and tweens are among the most brand loyal of demographic groups. Two-thirds of teens are brand loyal (Harris Interactive) and 60 percent 15-17 year olds remain with their bank after graduation and recommend it to friends (Forrester Research). And of course, children influence their parents and represent hundreds of billions of dollars in consumer spending.

    So, is this just plain smart marketing—catching a customer when they are beginning to make life choices—or is it predatory?

    Is it responsible or not?

    Comment below to weigh in.

    . . .

    Sources:
    Marketers do backflips to buy kids’ brand loyalty
    Marketing to “Tweens” Going Too Far?

    Photo credit:
    The Seattle Times / Lori Shepler / TPN

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    Posted in marketing to kids, responsible or not?, socially responsible, word of mouth | 6 Comments »

    Pampers math: 1 pack = 1 vaccine

    Wednesday, April 16th, 2008

    Last year, Pampers teamed with Unicef to provide tetanus shots for mothers and children in developing countries. Their campaign was set to last three months, but I saw the above ad last night, so it appears they’ve extended the program.

    Everyone wins: The vaccination recipients–for obvious reason, P&G–because of the goodwill it generates, and the consumer–because they get to feel like they are helping in some small way.

    The actual money involved is only about a nickel per pack, but when you are P&G, that nickel adds up to about $3 million in three months, or about 40 million vaccinations. Not too shabby.

    Here’s a video explaining the vaccine’s journey to the people that need it most:

    Of course, we can’t let Pampers off the hook completely. After all, their diapers aren’t biodegradable and are filling our landfills at an alarming rate. The company recognizes this, and claims their “thinner, lighter, super-absorbent diapers — have reduced Procter & Gamble’s diaper bulk by approximately 40% since 1986.”

    The company goes on to say they are working on reducing the amount of material used per unit, and Pampers bags contain at least 25% post-consumer recycled plastic.

    That’s not dealing with the diaper problem, but it’s a start.

    I applaud Pampers for taking the steps they’ve taken, but I’d like to see P&G do more. While a nickel per pack doesn’t seem like much, considering the fact that the company touches 2 billion lives per day worldwide, imagine the force for good P&G could become if they did something like this with all their brands.

    Now that’s some math I could learn to like.

    So do you think Pampers is doing enough?

    And where have you seen great examples of cause marketing recently?

    Comment below to weigh in.

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    Posted in cause marketing, charitable giving, corporate responsibility, environmentally responsible, socially responsible, videos | No Comments »