Why marketers like Procter & Gamble’s Marc Pritchard see getting back to basics as a path to growth

But when companies do make the investment in longer-term brand building efforts, that ultimately leads to brand growth. That’s something that Marc Pritchard, chief brand officer for Procter & Gamble, highlighted when he took the stage at the Association of National Advertisers’ Masters of Marketing conference in Orlando, Florida, this week. Pritchard, who manages one of the largest advertising budgets in the world, with over $8 billion dedicated to brands like Tide, Pantene and Olay, pitched marketers on simplifying marketing and recognizing the opportunity marketers have to understand consumers’ everyday needs, use inspiration from those needs to come up with creative ideas for ads and use those to grow their brands.

“Marketing can be complex but it doesn’t need to be complicated,” said Pritchard. “Our jobs are to deeply understand who we serve — whether consumers, customers or clients — and what matters to them in their everyday lives so we can serve them with our brands — whether a product, service or business — by finding those everyday moments that matter.”

Pritchard said that, with this approach, P&G’s soap brand Safeguard achieved “30% growth over the last five years” and deodorant brand Native grew “8x in the past five years.” Meanwhile, the company’s laundry detergent brand Ariel’s 2015 campaign, “Share the Load,” aimed to change gender dynamics for laundry duties — another example Pritchard pointed to. “This enduring idea makes these moments matter more — changing attitudes, changing habits and changing business performance with an 11% annual growth rate for the past five years and more than doubling the brand since the campaign began,” noted Pritchard.

Many marketers seemingly recognize that focusing solely on performance marketing and tight budgets won’t lead to long-term, healthy growth for their brands. And the fact that one of the world’s biggest marketers is focusing on creative basics as a path for growth may signal a change in the industry — even as hype related to AI continues. (Pritchard did refer to the need for people to come up with the creative ideas, as “AI doesn’t get the tingles” when it hits on an idea that works.)

“Find what matters, find how your brand matters, find a brand idea that makes moments matter more to build awareness, purchase and growth,” said Pritchard. “It’s not complicated.”

The push to get back to basics and focus on ideas that matter to consumers is a welcome one. While marketers contend with the need to do more with less and to do so in a much more fragmented landscape, creativity can often take a backseat. Refocusing on creativity and recognizing its potential to help long-term growth could be fruitful.

“Creativity is even more critical today,” said Allen Adamson, brand consultant and co-founder of brand consultancy Metaforce. “Understanding customer insights, how they can connect with their customers in relevant, down-to-earth, everyday situations has never been more important for them.”

Rather than “chasing the new shiny object,” be it influencers or TikTok or AI, Adamson believes that marketers getting back to basics to focus on “strategically creative” ideas will be more beneficial for brand growth in the long run.

“An idea is a uniquely human endeavor that comes from and connects with your heart and soul,” said Pritchard. “And those connections embed memories in your mind that lead to awareness, purchase and growth.”