• by June 22, 2004

P&G's HIRED GUNN - In case you hadn't gotten it yet, Procter & Gamble wants to change how ad agencies handle media. It made that clear when global marketing officer Jim Stengel made his rallying cry during the American Association of Advertising Agencies media conference in February. A cry that invoked a similar rallying cry ten years earlier by former P&G chairman Ed Artzt to get Madison Avenue on the Internet bandwagon. That got a lot of people's attention. Only months later, P&G got the industry all worked up again, inviting a bunch of shops to pitch its "communication planning" account and saying it wanted to change how agencies plan media and to become less reliant on traditional strategies like TV advertising. Now, in another symbolic gesture, P&G has announced plans to sponsor a new publication dedicated to tracking creativity in media.

The Gunn Report for Media, a spin-off of the The Gunn Report, which essentially compiles the winners from all the major ad award shows worldwide, was launched in 1999. The spin-off, which will be distributed in October, will utilize the same format utilized by the original Gunn Report, but focused on media.

"Everyday, consumers are bombarded by marketers who are vying for their attention," said Bernhard Glock, managing of global media and communication at P&G during a press briefing today at the Cannes advertising awards festival. "As an industry, we need to better understand how to reach our consumers when and where they are most receptive. In order to do this, we have to elevate the importance and quality of our media efforts globally."

So how will hiring Gunn do that? Glock wasn't specific, but implied that sponsorship of the directory would send a signal that P&G is serious about creativity in media at a time when media is fragmenting and consumers are gaining control over marketing messages.

Meanwhile, all of Madison Avenue is abuzz about the implications for the outcome of P&G's communications planning review, which is expected to be decided in a matter of weeks. One top executive at a non-competing agency just this morning told the Riff that it has two possible implications: one negative; the other positive.

"If it ends up consolidating media planning and divorcing it from the rest of the process, that could be a very bad thing," said the exec, adding, "On the other hand, if it's truly a strategic move that ties marketing mix modeling and account planning and consumer insights together with media, then it might be the kind of thing that really changes the ballgame."