7/4/2023

The Next Reset: Creativity That Grows Markets

P&G executives joined creatives from around the world in France at the 70th Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. The annual event honors creative excellence across advertising, marketing and communications, bringing the industry together to inspire, learn and celebrate creativity. This made it the perfect place to unveil and explore how we can unlock creative expansion through the next reset – creativity that grows markets.

P&G leaders shared this message throughout the week during engaging panel sessions, fireside chats and interactive presentations. Our brands and valued agency partners were also recognized for their collaborative efforts that are resetting the bar on creative ambition, winning several Lion Awards.

But what happens in Cannes, shouldn’t stay in Cannes... read on for highlights:

A tall, white male with short gray hear, wearing a grey suit and collared shirt, stands on a stage with a backdrop of colorful taglines about Procter & Gamble's approach to creativity.

Setting the Tone

Chief Brand Officer Marc Pritchard’s keynote speech was a highlight of the festival as he shared the industry’s next reset — creativity that grows markets. Growing markets is good for business and society, but it’s hard work that requires resetting the bar across every aspect of creativity — creative insights, creative inclusion and creative impact.

This includes:

  • Creative Insight — calls for deep, accurate and empathic understanding of people by engaging with them in their homes, at stores and digitally, while also learning about their habits through behavioral research and product studies. Combining analytics with human intuition yields insights that elevate brand experiences.
  • Creative Inclusion — resets the bar to serve all people and each person. Close to 100% of people are potential consumers of our daily products, yet today P&G reaches 50-70% of them with media and advertising — there’s a lot of room for growth. At the same time, every consumer has different needs, so it’s important to serve them with precision in ways relevant to them.
  • Creative Impact — achieves the greatest effectiveness, but the degree of creative difficulty is very high. Through our Creative Most Valuable Partners (MVPs) and an ever-expanding canvas, there are endless possibilities to clear the highest bar of effectiveness — market growth.

This is the creative ambition we’re setting for our brands, and here are several examples from our brands demonstrating how insight, inclusion and impact are growing markets.

  • Gillette understands that some men like a clean shave, while others prefer facial hair. By pitting them against each other in its Bomber vs. King campaign in Italy, the brand is attracting and serving Bombers, Kings and every face in between.
Four images are placed in a four by four grid. They feature seven women with a wide range of hair colors and textures. A white Pantene text logo is centered in the bottom left image.
  • Through its Power of Hair campaign in Europe, Pantene aims to serve all people and each person, reinforcing how hair is an expression of who we are and celebrating its unique beauty across ethnicity, age, ability and gender.
  • Cascade’s Do it Every Night campaign drove impact in several ways — by busting the myth that automatic dishwashers waste water and by encouraging an increase of usage, growing the market and helping people save water.

Inspiring Conversations

During the Festival, P&G leaders participated in a variety of sessions that focused on inclusion, innovation and impact. Two of these sessions stood out:

Large block letters are set against a dark blue backdrop. They feature the word Inclusion, and images of black men and women are cut into several of the letters.
Two black women, two black men and one white man dressed in business attire sit together on a stage. Rows of people in the audience are watching.

P&G’s Journey to Step Up Inclusion. We discussed deliberate actions we’ve taken to improve our organization’s diversity at every level, how we’ve evolved our approach to serve Black consumers and meet their unique needs and the strategic partnerships we’ve forged for meaningful action leading to lasting systemic change.

One black woman and two white women dressed in business dresses sit together on an outdoor stage, while rows of people in the audience watch.

Cannes Changemakers Discussion: Alex Keith, CEO, P&G Beauty, and Monica Turner, President, P&G North America, shared their personal journeys to inspire inclusion and the next generation of female leaders. Through mentorship support and investing in talent as our legacy, we help open doors and create new possibilities for women. Today nearly 50% of our leaders are female, but there is always more we must do as a company and an industry to help lift up women.

Recognizing Creativity

This year, there were almost 27,000 entries for the Cannes Lions Awards — a 6% increase from 2022. Given the increasingly competitive nature of the awards, being shortlisted is an honor, so it's noteworthy to see our brands and partners well-recognized by being shortlisted for 26 awards and winning six:

A collage of five images feature some of Procter & Gamble's laundry and personal care products, as well as as several people in three advertisements.
  • Tide and Saatchi & Saatchi scored a Silver Lion in the Brand Experience and Activation category for Tide Lucky Jersey.
  • Ariel and Landor & Fitch took home a Silver Innovation Lion for Ariel’s ECOCLIC®.
  • A Silver Lion for Film went to Native, VCCP and O Positive Films for Traffic Stop.
  • Whisper’s The Missing Chapter received two Bronze Lions and This is L’s Long Line of Ladies received one.

The biggest wins come when we work with partners, and our network of Creative MVPs around the world are truly best in class. We congratulate all teams and agencies who collaborate to produce creative, award-worthy campaigns and those whose work was recognized at Cannes.

This year has made it even more clear that it’s time to accelerate efforts to grow markets by resetting the bar on creativity. It may not be easy, but by doubling down on creative insight, inclusion and impact — together, we can unlock the full potential of creative excellence.

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