Proctor & Gamble: Television Advertising Done Right

I know what you’re thinking: Proctor & Gamble?  Really?  Turns out, they know what they’re doing when it comes to television advertising.

P&G is a huge, giant sized company with many brands stemming out from underneath it.  Many of P&G’s wide variety of products are ones that are frequently purchased and used on an everyday basis, including Cover Girl, Tide, Bounce, Dawn, Cascade, Olay, PUR, and Pantene.  So far, the company’s advertising efforts in 2010 appeal a key demographic for many of these P&G brands: women, especially mothers.

The first ad aired during the Winter Olympics in February and is part of P&G’s “Thanks, Mom” campaign [Agency: Wieden+Kennedy, Portland].

This one is a little obvious.  Anything with little children will most likely appeal to a mother.  They will always remind her of her children, whether or not they are young children or adults.  Especially since the tagline, “Proud Sponsor of Moms,” appears right after a montage of brands that women use.  Even with their wide range of uses, Tide, Pampers, Crest, Olay, etc. are all products that a woman would use during her day.  While the ad itself isn’t selling a specific product or services, per say, P&G takes the time out to honor all mothers out there and just reminding the viewers of the products they use so often.

The second ad started airing on March 29, 2010, and is a part of P&G’s “Future Friendly” campaign, which highlights P&G products that save money, save water, or reduce energy.

This ad appeals to eco-friendly consumers [especially women] who take care of a house and do laundry, which is actually mentioned in the ad.  Brands featured include Tide, Bounty, Cascade, and Dawn.  I don’t know about you, but those brands make me think of housekeeping and, you guessed it, moms.  I also really like the use of green in this ad- the green theme to the copywriting, the green crayon used in the visuals.  And since “about 74 percent of consumers say they would switch to another brand if it helped them conserve resources without having to pay more,” P&G’s emphasis of everyday household products with everyday household names should resonate with the consumer and help make the world a bit more sustainable.

Neither of these television ads are particularly innovative or different, but I feel that Proctor & Gamble understands how important women are to their sales and targeted them well with both of these advertisements.

After watching these ads, how do you think Proctor & Gamble did in targeting women with these spots?  What could P&G have done better?  How are other competitors targeting key demographics in their advertising?