Procter & Gamble – Always case study

Challenge
P&G in the US had invested in a multi-media campaign including TV, print, posters and PR to build the Always brand. The aim was to reframe the period time of month in women’s minds from negative to positive by highlighting the role Always’ superior protection (and women themselves) can play in making periods happier.

Pre-testing of copy had given confidence in a variety of creative executions, but exactly how the different channels and messages were working was not thoroughly understood. This had implications for future copy development and for the weight to be put behind different media options. i to i research was tasked with bringing this understanding.

Insight
The campaign’s effectiveness was clearly demonstrated by the fact that, post the campaign, 5 million more women more women aged 18-49 in Chicago scored Always highly on the 2 key statements ‘makes my period easier and more pleasant’ (rational) and ‘inspires me to want to have a happier period’ (emotional).

The research also showed that the TV campaign was highly effective in delivering the rational benefits of comfort, smells and prevention of leaks, whilst the posters and PR communicated the emotional benefits of treat yourself when you have a period. However, the real insight was the way the emotional messaging strengthened rational take out for those consumers exposed to both TV and posters / PR.

The posters, while reaching significantly less people than the TV, had much deeper and richer message take up than the TV (correct message payback 92% for posters v 73% for TV). The posters and PR were also more cost effective than the TV so the combination of media channels and of rational and emotional messaging worked extremely well.

The upshot was empowered decision making, with a much better basis on which to make key decisions going forward.

“The i to i tracker® tool is an invaluable aid to project evaluation, and importantly project planning, with actionable learnings ensuing.”
Lindsay Williams - Head of External Relations, Procter & Gamble