TV advertisements, on average, last about 30 seconds. Some of them manage to brilliantly explain the product and entertain audiences as well. Others, however, are less successful with the short-and-sweet format. So what do you do when a product is too complex or too revolutionary to be marketed on television?
Proctor & Gamble’s answer was to turn to bloggers. One of the largest consumer product companies on the planet is testing a new marketing strategy. Though they reportedly spent $236.8 million last year on media exposure, a new Crest toothpaste will not be making the rounds during commercial breaks. Instead, P&G has reached out to bloggers and mothers who spend time online to test and review the product.
The toothpaste is called Crest Weekly Clean, and it contains silica-based crystals like its sister product, Pro-Health. The high amount of crystals supposedly leaves users with the clean feeling that comes from visiting a dentist. As the name suggests, it’s meant to be used just once a week as a supplement to daily brushing, not as a replacement. P&G felt that this message would not come across accurately in traditional advertisements. As spokesperson Allison Yang told AdAge.com, Weekly Clean “is not necessarily intuitive,” meaning that users might be confused by short, 30-second spots. In fact, the top website in Google’s search results for Crest Weekly Clean is a collection of blog posts, articles, and discussion boards about the product.
To market Crest Weekly Clean, P&G tapped into an online community of moms it created called Vocalpoint. In exchange for survey responses and marketing data, P&G gives out free samples and coupons to users of the site. As their website boasts:
As a member, you’ll get:
- To tell big companies what you think.
- Early access to products and samples before your friends.
- Free membership. Always voluntary.
The company is counting on web buzz to bring the product to the public. They distributed samples not only to Vocalpoint members, but also to bloggers who might write it up on their websites. AdAge reports that it may have worked: “P&G began sending the product to bloggers earlier this month, some of whom also have Twittered their interest in Weekly Clean.”
Word-of-mouth marketing has always been a golden ideal for advertisers and consumer product companies, but it’s difficult to foment buzz. The web provides an ideal environment for spreading the word, with individual fans of the product doing the legwork. Not only do companies get to sit back and watch consumers at work, but they also get to save millions of dollars that would otherwise be misspent on TV advertising. Ads reach unknown demographics of customers, but sites like Vocalpoint zero in on moms, who generally do the household shopping for products like toothpaste and toiletries.
With the easy access to consumers and the money-saving possibilities, my guess is that we’ll see more large companies like P&G give internet marketing a try. Targeted audiences, free publicity, and no buy-in make the web an attractive place to build buzz for new products.