PR innovation

P&G takes two consistent approaches to its operation in China: never take the initiative to communicate with the media; and never take the initiative to communicate with consumers.

SK-II products are now back on the shelves, but it is apparent that P&G only bothered to ramp up its public relations efforts with the government, virtually ignoring customers and the media.

Eliminating arrogance is important for P&G to rebuild the brand.

Ads innovation

It is clear that P&G will spend big on rebranding SK-II this year. TV commercials have always been a major means of advertising the brand. A large investment in advertising may help the brand recover. But how long the process will take and what cost will be involved remains uncertain.

An increasing number of personal care and cosmetics firms are using the Internet and direct selling to build their profiles. Johnson & Johnson bought ads on portals such as Sohu.com, for example. SK-II should adopt a cross-media approach to its ad campaigns and scale back its TV and magazine ads.

The author has almost 10 years' experience in marketing and works in the cosmetics unit of Acorn International, a TV shopping company.

(China Daily 02/01/2007 page15)

1

2

3

(For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)