P&G’s Marc Pritchard thinks businesses should represent all consumers.
When you hear the phrase “pizza pizza,” does a little cartoon Julius Caesar pop into your head? If someone says, “Easy, breezy, beautiful…” is your knee-jerk reaction to whisper, “CoverGirl”? Those brand associations are, of course, thanks to the creative minds in the wonderful world of advertising.
While these catchy (sometimes too earworm-y) slogans and jingles might stick in your head, in recent years advertisers have realized their platforms can be used for more than just brand awareness — they can be a force for good. That’s thanks, in large part, to chief brand officer at Procter & Gamble, Marc Pritchard.
P&G is the company behind dozens of the most recognizable brands on the planet, from Pampers to Tide to Dawn; as one of the world’s biggest advertisers, P&G reaches about five billion people every day. After being recognized as the 2020 Marketer of the Year by the World Federation of Advertisers, Pritchard explained in an interview that when he first reflected on the breadth of P&G’s audience reach, he thought, “Advertisements have a huge impact on how people view the world.” He recognized that if you’re only seeing one type of person in an ad, and that person doesn’t look like you, you might think the product isn’t for you. With this in mind, Pritchard and P&G ensured that all consumers were incorporated in their advertising images and portrayals, including different ages, genders, races and ethnicities, sexual orientations and gender identities, abilities, and other characteristics and preferences. “Advertisements affect bias,” he says. “We have a responsibility to change that.”
Thus began a shift in P&G’s advertising — toward purpose-driven content. These are those ads that make you think, make you cry, and might even inspire you to go out and do some acts of good yourself. In fact, Pritchard’s reimagining of P&G’s advertising strategy can be summed up in two words: growth and good. The company’s approach serves a dual benefit: Promoting inclusivity through advertising is good for both business and society. As Pritchard explained to the WFA: “If you think about your brands as being a force for good, and a way to meet the needs of the people you’re serving, that’s also a force for growth.”
Thanks to Pritchard’s reimagining of how advertising can change hearts and minds, other companies have followed suit, and audiences and consumers have begun thinking more critically about the positive impact of their purchasing power.
To celebrate Pritchard’s myriad contributions to the world of advertising, he was recently inducted into the Advertising Hall of Fame, which celebrates industry legends who’ve distinguished themselves with outstanding globally recognized achievements, remarkable innovations, and exceptional philanthropic work — both within the advertising industry and in their communities.
At his induction ceremony, Pritchard received the David Bell Award, named for the former chairman of Interpublic group and managing partner of Belwether Advisors. Bell explained that in the ad industry, Pritchard “identified what we need, what change had to happen, and then poked and prodded us into action.”
Following Bell’s introduction, Queen Latifah shared how Pritchard’s dedication to equality in advertising personally impacted her: “I met Marc 24 years ago…when the industry still had a pretty narrow view of beauty,” she recalled. “Even then, Marc saw things differently. He imagined a more inclusive, multicultural, empowered perspective on beauty, where all women could feel beautiful. So when he asked me to be a CoverGirl, to bring my take on ‘easy, breezy, beautiful’ to the world, I was like, hell to the yeah.”
Pritchard’s contributions to advertising have been a win for companies and consumers alike, and he’s helped us all see ads not just as a way to sell products, but as a representation of humanity. Because, as Pritchard himself says: “It’s not about me, it’s about we. It’s about others. That’s why I pray, each day, for the strength to be useful to whomever I encounter.”
Want to see some purpose-driven content in action? Check out some of the videos Katie Couric Media has created in partnership with P&G:
- Leading With Love: Stories about people who’ve dedicated their lives to serving others.
- Acts of Good: Meet individuals whose small acts have big impacts in their communities.
- Thank You Notes: Successful women thank their female mentors.
- Raising a Son: Musician John Legend shares his hopes for his son’s future, and lessons he learned from his father.
