March 15, 2010

P&G Expands ‘Future Friendly’ Marketing Effort

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Procter & Gamble is expanding its Future Friendly marketing effort that promotes environmental responsibility under the guise of consumer education.

P&G, which owns Tide, Pampers, PUR and Duracell, among other brands, first introduced Future Friendly at the 2009 Clinton Global Initiative in September of 2009.

Now, with a full marketing launch kicking off the week of March 29, P&G hopes to reach or exceed its original pledge of providing conservation education to at least 50 million U.S. households by the end of 2010.

In addition to television advertising and an extensive social networking and consumer engagement component, more than 15,000 retail locations will participate in the initial phase of Future Friendly.

Future Friendly-labeled products will begin to hit the shelves in early April.

Tide laundry detergent provides an example of how P&G intends to market its items under the plan.

P&G says that about 80 percent of the energy consumed in a typical load of laundry comes from heating water. So, Tide will urge consumers to wash in cold water, using Tide Coldwater, of course.

Tide Coldwater products will carry the Future Friendly seal.

Television ads start March 29, and P&G’s April edition of its brandSaver newspaper supplement, will be delivered to more than 50 million households. The coupon insert will feature information about and coupons for Future Friendly products.

Also in support of the national launch of the marketing program, P&G and Ipsos Public Affairs have released findings from theĀ  “Consumer Conservation Survey.”

- About 74 percent of consumers say they would switch to another brand if it helped them conserve resources without having to pay more.

- About 37 percent say the reason they don’t lead a more environmentally-friendly lifestyle is a lack of enough information about what to do.

- About 58 percentĀ  say they would be at least very likely to change the way they perform daily chores if it helped them reduce waste, save energy and save water at home.

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Reader Comments

If a product is to be considered as “earth-friendly”, then it should include being environmentally SUSTAINABILE… produced in such a way that it does not damage the environment (like rainforests) or cause species extinction.

I wonder… does P&G consider their contribution to the rampant deforestation of precious rainforests and the brutal, mass slaughter of orangutans (& other wildlife) “future-friendly”?

Sure, why not? Many other companies do. Thousands of products are labeled or certified with the following: “cruelty-free” or “animal-friendly”
and the horribly disgraceful “no animal-testing on this finished product” (this admits that 1 or more ingredients WERE ANIMAL TESTED before being added to final product).
For information about P&G’s connection, please visit this site – http://www.greenthefilm.com/
Be sure to check out the menu list. Other, more shocking companies (believe me, if you are an animal or earth lover, you will be outraged) are also to blame.

I think this is a great initiative for P&G. Sure, they still have a long way to go, but any step towards environmental sustainability is a step in the right direction. As long this represents an actual shift on P&G’s stand regarding the environment (and not just a marketing stunt), I believe we should applaud this kind of initiatives. After all, we do need big corporations on board if we’re serious about climate change.

So if other big CPG companies all start coming up with their own versions of so-called eco-friendly brand labeling we’ll end up with such labels confusing customers and meaning nothing at all. There should be one (or two?) labels that CPG brands can earn from an independent testing source that has strict requirements for approval. Not some made up effort backed by millions of dollars in advertising spending.

Proctor & Gamble promotes disposable products to the utmost. need i say more?

P & G promotes disposables.

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