Proctor, Gambled on Conversational Marketing

Proctor & Gamble have been experimenting with social media since 2001 when a plummeting share price led them to conclude that they needed market responsive R&D. They set up their ‘connect and develop’ programme, and detailed a group of ‘technology entrepreneurs’ to search out new ideas, and connect with “the majority of the world’s consumers” – a tall order. They then left them to work out how to do it. The result is now a huge bank of workable social techniques that gives P&G competitive advantage and which, as a by product, has reduced R& D costs by over 20%.

It is, perhaps, prophetic that one of the great 20^th century mass consumption, product marketing brands, is now doing the same with 21^st century relationship marketing for mass innovation. For as manufacturing moves to lower cost economies that is where Western competitive advantage lies. Sustainable business is why socialising with customers in the long term is of enormous value. Rather than the one way ticket of ‘go to market’ channels and communication media, we have to create the return on conversational marketing and web 2.0.