• Forbes/AP, Tuesday, July 17, 2007 10:30 AM

In an era when consumers have so many choices, major consumer products companies are focusing on relating to real lives over ad glitz. Procter & Gamble marketing chief Jim Stengel, for example, has focused on increased consumer research, including "immersion" in which marketers spend hours at a time visiting, shopping, and talking with people.

Delia Passi, a consultant and author who specializes in marketing to women, sees results of that thinking in such consumer products as Kimberly-Clark Corp.'s Kleenex, which has been adding decorative boxes and such features as nose-soothing aloe vera.

P&G and other consumer companies have also been focusing on advertising with daily-life themes that offer advice and useful information aside from product promotion. Home Depot, for example, has a "True Stories" campaign in which customers share sometimes-poignant tales recounting their home-improvement projects.

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