Marketing 101: P&G’s Impactful “The Choice” Campaign

How the consumer giant used powerful messaging to stand behind a social issue

World-class brands have often conveyed their support for a cause by using the most powerful and creative marketing campaigns.

While this may be a clever way of reaching out to people and spread awareness for your brand, there is absolutely nothing wrong with responsibly conveying a socially relevant message. In fact, it is probably a great way for a large organization to stand behind a cause in a manner that they know best.

There is also a very fine line between supporting a cause and being perceived to be taking advantage of a social issue. Hence, this effort wasn’t a win-win situation from the outset but came with its own huge risks.

However, Procter & Gamble, as it often does through its illustrious history of marketing campaigns, did manage to do it the right way.

Here is an analysis of the multitude of things that the campaign subtly achieved keeping the “emotion” as the connection between their audience and their message.

Procter & Gamble — The Choice

Racial inequality is the inescapable reality of America. It didn’t begin with us, but it can end with us. If we choose to act.

The official page of the P&G campaign starts with these profound words. As the Black Lives Matter revolution picked up in the U.S., following the tragic killing of George Floyd, P&G released their “The Choice” ad to express their take on the topic of race.

Doing What They Do Best

Being a global consumer giant, P&G has always been a top branding and marketing firm. Having created market-leading brands across categories — 22 of P&G’s brands have over $1bn in annual sales — they do know a thing or two about understanding their consumer and choosing the right medium to reach the masses.

So it was no surprise when P&G chose to show their support for the Black Lives Matter campaign via an ad commercial. They simply chose to do it via something they know and do best.

The Right Messaging & The Right Emotion

In tackling a sensitive issue such as racism, at a time when public sentiment is running high, there is a huge risk of having the right intention, but conveying it in a controversial or inappropriate manner.

This is a risk that P&G not only handled very well but also created a narrative that while conveying a message, leaves the audience with a “choice” to act, and a compelling narrative on why they should.

Below is the text that shows up in the commercial with moving background imagery of faces/skin of varying skin tones depending on the message, and a deeply engaging background score.

The campaign is largely about the text and the message it conveys — so I’ll analyze each subtle but powerful point that every section of the text is designed to put across.

Where Are We To Go? How Are We to Respond When We Are Shown Over and Over and Over That Our Lives Do Not Matter?

Step 1 — Context Setting — This first bit of the ad sets the context of the recent events. The killing of George Floyd was yet another incident in a series of many where an African-American life was lost to racism. This left the public of America and the world in anger and outrage, and often with no outlet. The above lines do perfect justice to express this context and the emotion associated with it — the emotion of unvented frustration and anger.

Being White in America Is Not Needing To State Our Life Matters. And When Your Life Matters, You Have Power. Now Is The Time To Use It.

Step 2 — Why You Should Care? Bringing in The Majority — Often a struggle for one section of the society gets limited to just that section and fails to achieve its purpose because true equality can only be achieved by the participation of all sections. Especially, the majority. Whites are the majority in America. Being part of the majority may not have been something they had control over, but it is in a way a privilege, and with it also comes power. This next part of the ad calls upon this majority to stand behind the cause, and truly exercise their power to fight the injustice for the minority i.e. the black community.

Not Being Racist Is Not Enough. Now Is Time To Be Anti-Racist.

Step 3 — Tackling the “That’s Not My Business” — Most of us shy away from our social responsibility towards a cause by reassuring ourselves that as long as I am not doing any injustice, I don’t need to care. And to this very point, this next part brings in accountability.

“If I were to remain silent, I’d be guilty of complicity.”

— Albert Einstein

The above quote by Einstein fully encompasses the sentiment behind this message.

Words & Feelings Are Not Enough. Now Is The Time To Take Action.

Read. Listen. Donate. Plan. March. Vote. Speak Out. Step In. Step Up.

How You Use Your Power Is A Choice.

Choose Action Over Observation.

Choose Progress Over Perfection.

Final Step — The Call-To-Action & The Platform — In the closing stages, the ad not just urges the audience to take action, but very smartly also provides them a platform and a solution on HOW they can take action. Support for a cause can be shown in a variety of ways, some requiring external help, others not. This last bit introduces the audience to the platform that P&G has provided for a variety of resources that can allow everyone to participate and stand behind the cause in various ways. Providing this platform means P&G delivers on their own message by not just showing intent, but putting it into an actionable pool of resources.

On the whole, P&G has shown tremendous marketing acumen and social awareness, to skillfully tackle a very sensitive issue. They’ve not just shown that they care as a firm, but have also managed to stir global audiences into thinking and acting to show their support for the cause.

For any successful brand — big or small, the very core of good marketing remains knowing and understanding your customer’s mindset and appealing to it via the appropriate channel and carefully crafted messaging.