Advertising Campaign for Downy

Advertising Campaign for Downy

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Company Summary- Proctor and Gamble

Proctor and Gamble (P&G) is the Umbrella company name for a host of consumer products. Some of the product brands include Downy, Pampers, Ariel, Gain, Always, Tampax, Gillette, and Oral-B. P&G is a publicly-traded company in the NYSE markets in the consumer goods industry. The company was founded by James Gamble and William Proctor in 1837. The company has its current headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio. Its main brands are mainly cleaning products, and it has led to the development of some of the most widely recognized cleaning consumer brands such as Oral B. The vision statement of the company is to be the best consumer products and services company in the world. Its mission statement is to provide branded products and services of superior quality that improve the lives of the world’s consumers, now and for generations to come.

Marketing Campaign for Downy

As a part of accomplishing the company’s vision, the Downy product was developed as a superior quality fabric softener. Downy is an innovative product that has been developed to condition fabric for the laundry process. At the elemental structure of the fabric is the fiber strands that are stranded to make clothes. The process of laundry involves removing stains from the fabrics. Some of the stains, especially greasy stains, may involve a lot of effort to be removed. As a result, detergents and powerful washing machines are used (Isoda et al., 2010). The disadvantage of using strong detergents and washing machines is that the laundry process becomes tough on the fabric fibers. As a result, the fiber may experience quicker wear and tear, and its characteristics such as color may deteriorate through processes such as fading. In addition. Some of the washing detergents may leave a hard texture on the clothes and an unpleasant smell. Down solves these problems for consumers by conditioning fabric for the tough laundry process.

Market Targeting

Another crucial part of the marketing campaign is ensuring that the marketing message has been specifically developed for a particular audience. Because of various factors such as the pricing of the product, the marketing message might not have good reception if it is delivered to consumers who are not likely to use the product. For the Downy brand, the main audience of the marketing campaign includes individuals who value their clothes and are willing to incur extra costs just to protect their clothes from the rigors of the laundry process. Some of the benefits of the Downy product may also appeal to new mothers since they are very particular about the laundry process of the clothes for newborn babies. Most newborn mothers are very particular about the texture of the clothes for their babies and would therefore appreciate a product such as Downy which softens fabric-fiber even after the laundry process (Isoda et al., 2010). The fragrance is also preferable to new mothers as opposed to the smell of most detergents which is perceived as being too harsh for newborn babies.

Marketing Planning

To effectively carry out an advertisement campaign, a marketing plan has to be established. It is the plan which is later implemented and monitored to determine whether the campaign is performing as expected. This iterated process of implementing a marketing campaign ensures that marketing becomes a competency tool for an organization, through which the organization can achieve a competitive advantage. Marketing can be considered as the tool which is used by the company so that the company can achieve its long-term goals (Abratt & Bendixen, 2018). Therefore, the marketing goals should be developed by considering the context of the long-term goals of a company. In this case, the marketing goals to be pursued should be aligned with the mission and vision statements of P&G. It is through an effective marketing campaign that a company such as P&G can match supply and demand, usually by stimulating the demand for the products or services of the company.

Therefore, the first goal of the advertisement campaign is to ensure that a product is widely recognized. A highly recognized product is likely to be purchased by consumers. Product recognition is usually important for a wide range of consumers. Even if a consumer is an impulse buyers, they are likely to be involved in the purchase of a brand that is recognizable to them. On the other hand, even if a consumer takes their purchasing decision seriously, the starting point of comparing different brands requires that the consumers recognize the various brands so that they can make comparisons on various factors such as quality and price. In addition, product recognition is important for consumers who are considering shifting between brands, especially after recent unsatisfactory experiences with other competing brands (Pitt & Treen, 2019). Brand names, logos, and slogans are good tools for facilitating brand recognition. In the case of Downy, the trick of influencing product recognition is to associate the name of the brand with the logo and the slogan. For example, when an individual hears the "proudly softening fashion" they automatically associate it with the Downy brand.

Whereas brand recognition is important for attracting new customers, the retention of the new customer and the existing customers is facilitated by the awareness of the brand. Product awareness involves an in-depth recognition of a brand in terms of the value it offers to the customers as well as the values of the company producing the brand. As a result, although a brand may be associated with quality products, it might lose its market share when the company associated with the production of the product is involved in various ethical scandals. A good element of brand awareness is the communication of adherence and compliance to corporate social responsibility guidelines and requirements respectively. When a consumer understands that they are contributing to sustainable development by purchasing a product that has been produced by a company that is mindful of its environment and social footprints, they are likely to become loyal customers thus guaranteeing an increase in the market share of a particular brand (Pitt & Treen, 2019). Therefore, a good marketing campaign should ensure that it involves elements that promote both the recognition and awareness of the brand.

Marketing Message

Although the company’s mission and vision, and the marketing goals of improving brand recognition and awareness underlie the marketing campaign, the success of the campaign is ultimately determined by the delivery of the marketing message. The marketing message refers to the aggregate of information and visual stimulations that are delivered to the customers to stimulate demand. The marketing message, therefore, defines what the marketing department intends to tell the pool of prospectus buyers about the product in question to convince them to purchase the particular brand instead of other competing brands as well as to keep buying the brand in the future (Pitt & Treen, 2019). For Downy, most of the marketing message is contained in the packaging of the product. The downy products come in curvy and elegant bottles which communicate a sense of fashion. Since the bottle looks expensive, it makes sense to use the product in the care of expensive clothes of consumers. This taps into the conscious logic of consumers wanting to protect their most fashionable products since they are more valuable, both in terms of monetary value as well as social value. Depending on the purpose of the Downy product being purchased, since there is a variety such as fabric softeners and wrinkle guards, the Downy name is usually printed within a background of bright flowers, bright clothes, soft clothes, and unwrinkled clothes (Pitt & Treen, 2019). These different backgrounds are important aspects of the marketing message since they communicate the value that the consumer obtains from the products. For example, the image of bright spring flowers usually communicates the long-lasting fragrance that the downy products leave on the laundry. The bright clothes signify the protection that the downy product provides against fading. The Soft clothes which appear in the background of the Downy packages signify the protection that Downy provides against the wear and tear of the fabric fibers. Similarly, the protection against wrinkling of clothes is communicated by containing images of smooth and unwrinkled clothes in the background of the Downy packages (Richardson, 2019b). As part of communicating the commitment of P&G to sustainable development, the packaging of the products also contains a recycling icon that encourages the customers to find ways of recycling the packages after use or safely disposing of them in a way that does not harm the environment. The marketing message should echo this intent by ensuring that customers are informed about the efforts of the company to protect clothes from the harsh laundry process, the people who wear the clothes as well as those involved in the development of the downy products, and the environment in which the clothes are worn (Richardson, 2019a).

Marketing Channels

After developing the marketing message, the step that follows is the decision of the advertisement channels through which the marketing message will reach the intended audience. There are various channels for advertising including the mail lists. However, some channels are more effective than others. Since resources available, even for marketing-related activities are always limited, the most efficient advertisement channel should be used. In the recent past, the internet has become ubiquitous in terms of its utility for personal and corporate-level functionalities (Kotler et al., 2020). Consumers are increasingly relying on digital sources of information while making purchasing decisions. Therefore, it makes sense for companies selling consumer goods to provide their target consumers with the information they need through online platforms.

In the modern era of marketing, having an online presence is a must for companies. However, some factors determine the particular form of online presence to set up. The number factor is the likelihood of consumers interacting with the online platform. Currently, social media platforms have very huge traffic which makes them excellent tools to target a wide pool of prospectus customers (Kotler et al., 2020). As people are browsing through social media platforms, paid promotions can be included so brand recognition can be facilitated. Alternatively, a company can maintain a social media page through which it can interact with its customers. Such a page is important for purposes of issuing important updates about a product or responding to issues raised by the customers. The second most viable method of having an online presence is through the development of a webpage dedicated to the company or the brand (Visser, 2021). Such a brand would include all important information about a product that a selective buyer may need to have in-depth awareness about the product.

Monitoring the Success of the Marketing Campaign

The main advantage of using online channels for the distribution of marketing messages is that they provide the ability to utilize analytic tools to measure the effectiveness of the marketing campaign. The number of consumers who visit a website page can be reviewed through tools such as Google Analytics to determine if there is larger traffic that is being redirected to the brand’s website (Visser, 2021). This can be used as a metric to gauge the success of the advertisement campaign. Similarly, the depth and width of discussions that are elicited through updates on a brand’s social media platform page can also be used as a source of feedback for the success of the advertisement campaign. From the feedback and data obtained from the analytic tools of digital marketing platforms, various corrective actions can be implemented to ensure that the campaign performs as intended, lasts for the intended time scope, and fits within the allocated budget.

References

Abratt, R., & Bendixen, M. (2018). Strategic marketing. In Strategic Marketing (pp. 1–16). Routledge. http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780429489327-1

Isoda, K., Takagi, Y., Kitahara, T., Sano, Y., Sugano, I., Umeda-Togami, K., Umeda, K., Yamanaka, K., Yamada, T., & Mizutani, H. (2010). Treatment of cloth with a fabric softener ameliorates skin dryness. The Journal of Dermatology, 38(7), 685–692. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1346-8138.2010.01084.x

Kotler, M., Tiger, C., Sam, W., Collen, Q., & Yuheng, Z. (2020). Upgrading digital marketing strategy: Strategic platform for digital marketing. In Marketing Strategy in the Digital Age (pp. 49–124). WORLD SCIENTIFIC. http://dx.doi.org/10.1142/9789811216985_0002

Pitt, L., & Treen, E. (2019). Special issue of the journal of strategic marketing ‘the state of theory in strategic marketing research – reviews and prospects.’ Journal of Strategic Marketing, 27(2), 97–99. https://doi.org/10.1080/0965254x.2018.1550906

Richardson, N. (2019a). Sustainable marketing planning. In Sustainable Marketing Planning (pp. 133–212). Routledge. http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780429399114-4

Richardson, N. (2019b). Why sustainable marketing? In Sustainable Marketing Planning (pp. 3–83). Routledge. http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780429399114-2

Visser, M. (2021). Digital marketing. In Digital Marketing Fundamentals (pp. 12–28). Routledge. http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781003203650-1