Digital CPG Blog

CPG Marketers are smarting up to the face the fact that more women are in the workplace and more men are staying home. P&G just launched a content site, ManOfTheHouse.com that caters not to “the 18 year-old man in the hunt. We’re not the glossy fashion magazine that tells you that you need to have a pair of $3,000 shoes. We’re not one of those magazines you have to hide from your wife or boss.” Instead, Man of the House claims to be for the real man, “a guide for the jack of all trades trying to be better – at work and at home, as a father and as a husband.”

Dave Knox cites a Nielson study that showed “almost one-third of men are now the principal shoppers in the household” and provides Toyota’s “Daddy Likes” campaign for the Sienna Minivan and “Everyman Challenges” from Klondike as proof of marketers capitalizing on the growing trend.

Dad blogs in the social media space are gaining rapid ground and even Alice.com has a newly-minted Dad appearing as one of their guest bloggers every Friday. As Gen X and Gen Y get older and traditional gender roles are turned on their head, CPG marketers will face new, exciting challenges; it’s great to see so many brands ahead of the curve.

Coke aired a :30 spot during the “American Idol” finale in May based on a two-minute-long video originally created for social media and YouTube called the, “Coke Happiness Machine.” The video had already received 2.3 million views on YouTube since being posted in January, reported Media Post.

The viral video caught unsuspecting college students by surprise with small “doses” of happiness – ranging from fresh flowers and piping-hot pizza to balloon animals and a 6-foot sub — that were dispensed from our modified Coke machine, complementing Coke’s global “Open Happiness” advertising campaign.

Considering this generation was recently dubbed the “why-worry” generation by the New York Times, this is a fantastic way to market to Generation Y.

Method has evolved its “Just Say No to Jugs” campaign for its concentrated Method Laundry Detergent with a video of an attractive couple futzing with a big jug of liquid detergent. Never has laundry detergent been so sexy…

With almost a quarter of a million hits on YouTube, the video states, “It’s a well-known fact that big jugs are bad for your back. Method smartclean technology is smarter, easier, greener… and a whole lot less sticky.”

What do you think? Is this the way to catch people’s attention about laundry? It’s certainly different than most laundry commercials which may be enough for consumers to sit up and take notice.

Via BrandFreak.

“Let’s face it – when large companies enter the digital space, they are not always met with the warmest reception. (Translation: they tend to blunder in, mess it up, and get torn a new one.)”

Such honesty isn’t from the latest in the blogosphere, but GE itself who is crowdsourcing their next digital / social media ad blitz. To succeed, GE isn’t turning to the typical expert, but instead the everyday consumer. Tech Crunch’s Robin Wauters reports:

In the spirit of disruption, GE is bypassing the traditional agency model for marketing campaigns. The company has set up both a basic Google Moderator tool and a dedicated email inbox (ad.ideas@ge.com) in order to solicit ideas from anyone (including industry pros).

Got a great idea for an ad campaign? A creative concept for a killer contest? A truly innovative social media program? With your help, we can avoid the lame and embrace the awesome.

The idea is for people like you, our readers, to submit what you think are the best ideas on how to engage online audiences, being the monster company GE is.

Crowdsourcing advertising is certainly the hottest new trend and while it remains to be seen if such campaigns are really that more effective than traditional campaigns, simply stating that they care about what their customers think will likely prop GE up and above other companies. Not to mention that by engaging consumers in not only creating the content, but voting and deciding on the campaign, they will likely increase consumer loyalty, particularly around influencers.

It’s tough for large companies to admit that they don’t know it all, but it’s impressive that while that may be the case, they also trust you as their customer to be great.

Young women in their 20s and 30s are expected to surpass Baby Boomers in their consumer packaged goods spending. A recent report from Information Resources outlines this growing consumer demographic’s key behaviors. Compared to the preceding generation, women born between 1979 and 1989 tend to shop less, buy more during each trip, and frequent supercenters more.

Some key findings from the study:

- Private Label Acceptance is Higher than Gen X. Seventy percent of Millennials perceive store brands to be of “excellent quality,” IRI said, challenging the general belief that private label acceptance evolves over time.

- Gen Y Wants Healthy Products. Millennial women want products that are good for you and have healthy options, but this is less important when purchasing beverages, however.

- Coupon Use Isn’t High With Gen Y. This generation uses coupons and circulars less than their baby boomer parents and are more likely to impulse shop as a result. They are also more likely to shop without a budget and make impulse grocery purchases. They’re also time-strapped and not as budget-savvy.

- Gen Y Feels Emotional Attachment to Shopping. This group of young shoppers value characteristics such as a store’s “value proposition, location, user-friendly layout and variety” when it comes to deciding where they’ll shop, according to IRI.

Many of these findings suggest that traditional advertising media, such as TV and print, may not be as effective as they once were in reaching younger consumers, and marketers should turn to more nontraditional means, said Sean Seitzinger, IRI’s SVP of thought-leadership.

Nabisco Wheat Thins (Kraft Foods) is showing up at the upcoming Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival to roll out a high-visibility platform for the ongoing “The Crunch is Calling” marketing campaign.

The Kraft brand will establish a “Crunch Den” at the event, Media Post reports, “where attendees can relax, sample Wheat Thins snacks and use a digital kiosk to send friends/family video content, as well as both an advance sweepstakes and on-site opportunities to win brand-sponsored prizes.”

Those consumers who like the Wheat Thins Facebook page, currently at 70,000 likes, are given the chance to win the grand prize of a trip to Bonaroo for themselves and their friends.

“The Crunch Den will feature large screens showcasing the user-generated videos and video postcards (all with Wheat Thins branding) that are being created and shared via Facebook and other social media,” continues Media Post.

Combining their online network with in-person interactivity is sure to be a win, especially at such a sensory-rich event like Bonaroo.

General Mills has unveiled a redesigned version of its lifestyle website for Latina women,  QueRicaVida.com. The site now includes health tips, parenting advice and easier navigation tools that allow users to post opinions and upload their recipes.

“QueRicaVida.com has become indispensable for our Latina consumer,” said Rodolfo Rodriguez, General Mills’ multicultural marketing director. “General Mills has invested resources to better understand and serve our Hispanic consumers, and the emotional link we have achieved with our audience has been an amazing result.”