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Learn why P&G adopting digital is a battle that's going nowhere...
...When I wrote about their layoffs last year, I cautioned P&G (because they were obviously reading my blog article) that:
- Digital media is not free
- Not all advertising is inherently bad
- Not all digital advertising is inherently effective.
Apparently, the words of warning did not resonate. This week, Business Insider reported that CEO Bob McDonald actually ended up cutting 6,250 jobs as part of his cost-savings program -- so my 1,600 figure last year fell short of reality -- and that part of that program included "using more social media like Facebook and Google, which deliver 'free' ad impressions."...
So, let's see. P&G fuzzy logic is that laying off 6,250 employees is fine because that will allow marketing to continue it's obscene spending of $10 billion on old school advertising that doesn't work anymore. Oh, and we'll make up the difference on "free" digital marketing.
Of course, theP&G marketing geniuses don't seem to have figured out how to get results in the new world of social media and digital advertising. Yeah, it's Facebook's fault sales never grew! It wasn't because we were jamming old style ads down people's throats instead of talking with customers and engaging them in stories that mattered.
Here's an idea P&G. Take $1 billion of that advertising budget, keep the employees working and put them to work engaging with customers and prospects in social media where it really matters and can deliver results. IF, you can figure out how to do it properly.