P&G: Slashed digital ad spend by $200 million in 2017

Procter & Gamble slashed digital advertising spend by $200 million in 2017

Procter & Gamble Co has stated that they cut last year’s digital advertising spend by $200 million.
This was based on viewership data that showed its ads were not reaching its target audience effectively.
P&G has been at the forefront of a campaign to pressure digital media companies to be transparent with their viewership metrics by telling them how many people see their ads and how ad agencies spend advertising dollars.
These efforts have led tech companies such as Facebook and Alphabet Inc’s YouTube to rework algorithms to check content quality, empower marketers with more control on their ads and protect them from being associated with unrelated or inappropriate content.
“Transparency shined a spotlight on reality and we learned valuable lessons which are driving profound change,” Marc Pritchard, P&G’s chief brand officer said at the Association of National Advertisers’ media conference in Orlando, Florida on Thursday.
Pritchard explained that thanks to transparent viewability data, they learned that the average view time for an ad on a mobile newsfeed is 1.7 seconds – little more than a glance, thus pushing them to innovate.
P&G, however, has not cut overall media spending. Funds have been reinvested to increase media reach, including in areas such as TV, audio and e-commerce media, a company spokeswoman told Reuters.