P&G: taking matters into their own hands

Food and consumer goods giant, Proctor & Gamble, is going back to days of old.

They’re actually USING their consumer mailing lists gathered from rebates, in-store specials, mail order, etc., to market their line of products directly to consumers, driving them into local stores.

This is an old direct response strategy from the 50s and 60s, and even into the 70s, where P&G and other manufacturers would take the bull by the horns in the distribution aspect of their products and literally drive consumers into stores to purchase their products. They’d place clever direct response ads in different magazines, newspapers, etc. – this was the day of some of the best direct response advertising ever written…

My wife just received a 24-page catalog from them featuring everything from batteries to Olay Regenerist (one of their top-selling products). Inside, over $42 in coupons on different products.

What’s more, and this is very smart on their part, the inside cover of the last page is dedicated to what is called, “P&G Everyday Savings.” They’re asking for an email and name to sign up for their monthly e-newsletter, and in exchange, give you $110 worth of P&G coupon savings with the purchase of $50 worth of P&G products.

Here’s a scan of the back side of their shiny “black” mailer: