If you've ever had a teen with a burgeoning pimple, you know how effective Proactiv's direct-response television advertising can be. But now, Stuart Elliot reports, while mainstream consumer product
companies such as Procter & Gamble toy with direct response, Proactiv's parent, Guthy-Renker Corp., is experimenting with traditional advertising.
The campaign, which includes TV,
magazine ads, billboards, signs and online, takes an image approach to compete against blue-chip brands in the skin care category. An upbeat theme -- "Be Proactiv" -- is voiced by celebrities such as
Mandy Moore, Avril Lavigne, Katy Perry, Jenna Fischer and Julianne Hough.
"This is scary territory for direct-response marketers," admits Greg Renker, co-chairman of Guthy-Renker, but
he says that the brand is prepared to fight on quality instead of price.
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