Marc Pritchard, Procter & Gamble’s global brand building officer recently caused a media flurry over comments he made at dmexco. Mr. Pritchard shared some compelling messages about the state of marketing and his perspective, stating: “The era of digital marketing is over. It’s almost dead. It’s now just brand building. It’s what we do.”
Mr. Pritchard, representing the world’s largest advertiser and a company with a massive consumer insights practice, is spot-on with some of his recent thinking around the digital marketing space – challenging the industry and his own employees to shift their mindset when it comes to marketing.
To understand where Mr. Pritchard is coming from, it’s important to think about where we have come from a marketing perspective. In the early days, great brands were formed, based on creative ideas, campaigns, learning and extending those learnings over time using the few channels available to them. Granted, it was much easier to focus and work out ideas then largely due to those few channels available; but it was understood that it was the idea, and execution on that idea that created impact. Now, we’re at a crossroads where the tools and channels we have at our disposal have nearly overwhelmed the process. Mr. Pritchard’s comments remind us that we must return to the essence of brand building where it’s the right ideas and execution on those ideas that matter.
It’s easy to get lost in the weeds of the digital space, focusing on these platforms and tools. Thanks to the shift of the social and mobile customer along with relevant technology, we have the opportunity to activate brands across all platforms and devices at scale.
In addition, we are entering the dawn of the “internet of things” where brands are extending to the devices we touch each and every day. At this point in marketing, it’s a perfect time to refocus around the manifesto of brand building with a holistic marketing lens regardless of your specialty. The divide between traditional and digital marketing is shrinking. It’s all becoming connected.
That said, Mr. Pritchard clarified his remarks, speaking to P&G’s “digital back” approach to marketing, “Start in the digital world, and build your way back to the rest of the marketing mix. It’s an approach that is building our brand equities, our sales and our profits.”
The point is not that digital is always going to make or break your success. It’s the idea, the campaign you are executing, and selecting the appropriate tools and channels to launch that great idea (which may just be digital) that can make the difference. Campaigns launched using digital channels at the onset provide the opportunity to gain quick learnings, instantaneous consumer insights, fast iterations and a launch-pad to extend the brand messaging (sometimes via other channels). P&G has proven this point through their recent successes leveraging their “digital back” approach.
With this frame in mind, when executing in digital, it’s important to work with the right partners who view marketing through the same lens. Digital experiences need to be seamless and connected to the key campaign while the technology it’s applied to harmoniously plays as a conduit to drive engagement with the audience.
So, while Mr. Pritchard’s death of digital marketing message may have alarmed some, I see it as a refreshing wake up call to the marketing profession – challenging us to stop thinking in the world of tools, platforms and fragmentation – and go back to thinking about creating the right ideas based on sound consumer insights and creativity. Then, and only then, should we activate those ideas using the appropriate tools and channels to deliver the brand experience.
