P&G Rethinks Its Targeting On Facebook; Randy Cohen On Why Marketers Should Share Their Data

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P&G <3 Mass Messaging

Procter & Gamble will take a step back from personalized ads on Facebook after recent targeted campaigns failed to deliver, CMO Marc Pritchard tells Suzanne Vranica of The Wall Street Journal. “We targeted too much and we went too narrow and now we’re looking at: What is the best way to get the most reach but also the right precision?” It’s an acknowledgement that huge CPG brands like Tide and Bounty often don’t need to hypersegment their buys for awareness-building campaigns. P&G will keep targeting ads in some categories like diaper ads aimed at moms-to-be (Pampers) and men (Gillette razors). Read on.

Sharing Is Caring

If marketers want transparency, they’ll have to share their data, writes Advertiser Perceptions CEO Randy Cohen in an Ad Age column. Agencies, on the other hand, need to move past the lure of new business pitches and put their resources toward gaining measurable insights. But to do that, they need to see marketer data. “Agencies cannot possibly make a top-to-bottom measurable difference for a brand without the facts,” he writes. “It’s really about … the ability of the account team to bring a sophisticated understanding of the business to bear every day.” More.

Brexit Aftershock

Ogilvy has shut down its London-based R&D arm, Ogilvy Labs, as part of a cost-cutting measure related to Brexit, The Drum reports. In April, Paul O’Donnell, Ogilvy’s worldwide executive director, said the agency would decrease investment in the UK if the Brexit vote went through. Ogilvy Labs worked on innovation projects for clients including IBM, Crime Stoppers and JD Wetherspoon. “If you’re not attached to revenue you’re always in a precarious position. From Ogilvy’s point of view they were incredible to have [Labs] going for as long as they did,” said Nicole Yershon, director of innovative solutions at Ogilvy Group UK. More at Campaign.

I Want It “Now”

Google is testing ways to personalize its voice search assistant, Google Now, as part of the company’s stated desire to answer queries before they’re given. The blog Android Police first identified the changes, which let users input their interests (such as local weather, sports, celebrities or news topics). It’s part of a heated race to be the hardware search intent-and-discovery feature of choice: Apple’s Siri is limited by privacy policies, Window’s Cortana is limited by Microsoft’s weak smartphone market share and Amazon’s Alexa is, well, pulling ahead. More at TechCrunch.

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