Is the Era of Purpose-Driven Ads (Finally) Over?
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Bob McDonald, chairman of Procter & Gamble, has preached for a few years now that P&G’s calling was to “touch and improve the lives of more customers, in more parts of the world, more completely.” His marketing chief, Marc Pritchard, carried the message to podiums across the world: “Marketing is serving.”
And their lofty words influenced other companies to embrace a higher purpose. Burger King talked about “empowering” consumers to achieve “social connectivity,” and Pepsi devoted much of its advertising firepower to awarding grants for all kinds of worthwhile purposes.
The problem is, none of it worked. Burger King floundered around for years until it got sold and got discipline. And Pepsi’s lack of product promotion enabled Diet Coke to become the No. 2 soft drink in the U.S. The company was forced to put massive amounts of advertising behind Pepsi and its other brands to pull off a turnaround (forget the do-good projects — “Live for Now” is the new Pepsi slogan).
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