P&G's Stengel - Stop Telling and Selling

Every so often, P&G senior executives tend to make a big splash at the AAAA conference. Years ago, they had forecasted the advance of the web and created a panic about agencies not being ready for it --all of a sudden, up popped interactive departments in large traditional agencies. Years before that, their short-lived CEO Dirk Jager railed about the need for performance-based agency compensation - not too many took up the cause but it became a headline stealer for two years.

With Global Marketing Officer James Stengel's recent comment about "Stop Telling and Selling", P&G has done it again.

As a former P&G alumnus, I have an immense respect  for the strategic discipline P&G exercises and and even greater reverence for how much it actually still influences industry marketing opinion.  They speak, people listen.

"It's not about telling and selling," said the global marketing officer of the company that once lived by that simple mantra. "It's about bringing a relationship mind-set to everything we do. Marketers need to forge bonds with consumers by opening two-way dialogues. Marketers can no longer control the relationship. "

To hear its key senior marketing voice state that more important than any singular media or tactical ad approach is a major cultural shift that needs to happen where brands are seen and believed to be  authentic, trustworthy and generous, was sweet music to my ears. The fact that he is from a data-driven organization and chose to make that speech in front of an advertising trade association, is ballsy and just the right audience to hear it. I look forward to consumer engagement and cause marketing departments to start popping up in large agencies soon.

Some other choice quotes:
"complete irrelevance of what we call traditional media." (did a P&Ger really say that)
"market share is trust materialized."
the concept of generous brands - using Folgers, Starbucks and Project Red brands as key examples

Ad Age summarizes that the implications of P&G's direction is clearly focused on conversational two-way technologies (in particular mobile), word-of-mouth, and building real brand experiences with -- not just for -- customers.