P&G Backs Historic Consumer Event With 40,000 Samples, Digital Blitz

P&G’s recent all-day, multi-brand promotion in New York represented the largest consumer event in the personal-care giant’s history. Part of its “Everyday Effect” campaign, the initiative resonated globally via digital media including Facebook and Twitter pages, while more than 40,000 product samples went out to New Yorkers.

Procter & Gamble held the largest consumer event in its history on June 19, giving away more than 40,000 product samples and enlisting celebrity ambassadors to represent its brands in appearances and activities that took place throughout New York City.

The Cincinnati-based firm carried out the initiative in connection with its larger “Everyday Effect” campaign, which kicked-off in January and highlights the quotidian impact of its brands on consumers’ lives.

“The NYC event marked the launch of [the campaign] to consumers in a physical way,” said P&G Personal Health Care spokesperson Chris Vuturo in a June 28 email.

According to Vuturo, the purpose of the event was twofold. First, it was intended to connect people to P&G brands. “We can help them in their everyday lives – whether it’s the shampoo that gives their hair a healthy shine, the makeup that lets them look their best or the toothpaste that helps give them a confident smile,” the rep explained.

Second, the event served to connect P&G brands to the company behind it. “The average U.S. household uses 10 P&G products. However, the average U.S. consumer can only name three P&G brands and doesn’t understand that P&G is the innovator” behind the products, he said.

The firm promoted its all-day event with live on-the-ground reports and updates on social media sites to involve consumers in other parts of the world, according to a same-day release.

“The average U.S. household uses 10 P&G products. However, the average U.S. consumer can only name three P&G brands and doesn’t understand that P&G is the innovator” behind the products – P&G Spokesperson

Promotions aired on the firm's branded campaign website (PGEveryday.com/EverydayEffect.com) as well as its Twitter and Facebook pages in the U.S., Japan, China, Mexico, Germany and Brazil.

The media blitz – in line with the company's focus on promoting the corporate name behind its well-known brands – shined a light on 25 brands in total, including CoverGirl, Gillette, Old Spice, Crest, Scope, Olay and Febreze.

P&G-branded booths, staffed “beauty boxes” and a “man cave” engaged consumers through presentations, demonstrations and free services involving P&G products, according to the release.

“We're making a deliberate effort to demonstrate to consumers how our brands improve their everyday life,” P&G North America Group President Melanie Healey explains. “By providing innovative solutions to the challenges and needs faced in everyday life, P&G brands can help consumers in so many different but important ways,” she says. “That's why we call [it] the P&G ‘Everyday Effect.’”

The effort represents the more personal approach the company is taking to reach consumers. Under pressure to keep pace with competitor Colgate-Palmolive (which has its own aggressive digital media plan representing about 16% of its global ad spend) and increase profitability, P&G said in June that it is shifting a greater portion of its marketing spending to digital media and to “fewer, bigger creative ideas” in advertising (Also see "Colgate-Palmolive’s Digital-Media Strategy Providing Competitive Edge" - HBW Insight, 17 Jun, 2013.)

Products “At The Moments People Need Them”

For its June 19 convergence on New York, P&G distributed products on a targeted basis “at the moments people need them the most,” it says. For example, the firm distributed Febreze car vent clips to taxis.

“Most of the oral-care products were in-the-street sampling, featuring Crest and Scope, and focused on helping consumers at coffee shops in NYC maintain fresh breath and oral health after their cup of Joe,” Vuturo explained.

P&G brand ambassador Vanessa Lachey attended the kick-off event for Everyday Effects in Herald Square, where she sang the praises of brands including Olay and Gillette. The company is using Lachey in other consumer outreach programs, including a recently launched web page – PGTryIt.com – where Lachey discusses solutions for everyday challenges as well as her favorite P&G products.

“30 Rock” actress Katrina Bowden also helped to host the kick-off event, discussing some of her favorite P&G brands. In video from the event, Bowden speaks glowingly of Pantene, which she says she has used since she was a teenager. She also touts CoverGirl Outlast Lip color, which she says “stays on for hours so you don't even have to think about it.”

P&G set up a number of service stations, or beauty boxes, where women could get beauty, hair or nail touch-ups. A beauty box in Times Square was hosted by “Fast and Furious” actress Jordana Brewster. “CoverGirl, Olay, Vidal Sassoon and Puffs were among the samples given out to folks so they could take the brand experiences home,” noted Vuturo.

The company also set up a beauty box in Harlem, with actress Sanaa Lathan on hand as locals were treated to similar pampering. Lathan also hosted a “My Black is Beautiful” community roundtable, which included a session in which teen girls from local community organizations were invited to discuss “general cultural issues surrounding black beauty and self-esteem, and pinpoint how they could feel beautiful in their everyday lives,” Vuturo said.

New York Jets' player Nick Mangold and actor Laz Alonso hosted a Gillette Man Cave offering free shaves and other grooming services. “Me and my Gillette ProGlide have become very good friends,” Alonso said during the event, touting the five-blade razor’s design that helps him avoid nicks and razor bumps.

Brand ambassadors also canvassed the streets of Manhattan with free pedicab rides, product samples and coupons, according to P&G.

On P&G's Facebook page for “Everyday Effect,” nearly 3,000 people indicated they were going to the event.

Consumers can continue to access coupons – as well as advice and tips for everyday living – on the campaign’s website (PGEveryday.com). Featured articles on the site include “How to throw a closet-cleaning party” and “Traveling with kids.”

The Everyday Effects campaign continues efforts made by P&G in recent years to unite its brands in consumers’ minds under a single corporate nameplate.

For the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, the firm promoted 34 of its brands, and the P&G name behind them, with events, free services and product giveaways. The Olympics sponsorship, which will pick up again with the 2016 Summer Olympics Games in Brazil, was considered a success, with the firm seeing a 50% higher return on investment than it has with single-brand promotions (Also see "P&G Targets $10 Billion In Cost Savings In Four Years" - HBW Insight, 27 Feb, 2012.).

The Everyday Effect is the first major campaign to kick off since A.G. Lafley returned to the company as CEO, replacing former head Bob McDonald (Also see "Lafley Returns To P&G Helm As McDonald’s Tenure Ends After Four Years" - HBW Insight, 27 May, 2013.).