Research findings showing that consumers respond better to brands that promote social causes has motivated many global brands to adopt social advertising as a marketing strategy. One such company that has successfully implemented social advertising in its marketing campaigns is Proctor and Gamble. Examples of their social advertising campaigns include the #LikeAGirl and #WeSeeEqual social media advertisements. The concepts of social advertising are introduced and discussed in the description and interpretation sections. The evaluation section examines the impact and success of this marketing technique on the campaigns by Proctor and Gamble.
Social advertising is the process of an organization promoting a specific cause in its advertisements (Romani et al., 2015). These advertisements may be conveyed through social media or traditional media. In social advertising, a company first identifies a cause that aligns with its brand or product. The company then promotes the selected cause through its advertisements, consequently raising its own brand awareness. Through social advertising, brands can emotionally appeal to customers’ interest in the chosen cause (Mulcahy, 2019). Social advertising is especially suited for social causes that are associated with a global concern such as women empowerment, immigration, civil rights, poverty, and equality. However, caution should be exercised when selecting a social cause because wrong decisions may lead to a considerable backlash from the public.
Proctor and Gamble is a brand that is already known for its support for female empowerment. Proctor and Gamble has consistently run advertisements that promote female empowerment and gender equality across its social media pages. The #LikeAGirl campaign advocates for the empowerment of girls and markets the Always brand by P&G (Balch, 2014). Additionally, the #WeSeeEqual advertisement promotes gender equality and highlights P&G’s overall mission statement (Gilliland, 2018). The two marketing campaigns expertly implement the social advertising model by focusing on a social cause that attracts considerable public participation. Consequently, these advertisements generate substantial brand awareness. The 68 million YouTube views for the #LikeAGirl advert are evidence of the success of the social advertising campaign (Balch, 2014). Furthermore, social media provides an excellent platform for the implementation of social advertising.
The identification of the appropriate social cause is essential to the success of social advertising. In this regard, Proctor and Gamble excel in the promotion of women empowerment and gender equality. The company is now synonymous with genuine activism related to women empowerment. Their dedication to gender equality is also evident in the company structure, where 45 percent of managers and a third of the board comprises of women (Gilliland, 2018). Therefore, its customers and the public view the dedication of P&G to the two social causes to be authentic. According to Romani et al. (2015), consumers are not naïve and will always recognize when a brand dishonestly tries to pretend to care for a cause. Inauthentic social advertising usually leads to a public backlash and boycott of the associated product or brand. Therefore, caution must be exercised in social advertising because it deals with highly sensitive and emotive topics.
Overall, evidence shows that when used correctly, social advertising offers numerous benefits to a company’s brand or product. The #LikeAGirl and #WeSeeEqual campaigns by Proctor and Gamble are prime examples of effective implementation of social advertising. Genuine and authentic interest and investment into a selected social cause play a vital role in determining the success of social advertising campaigns. Therefore, while companies are encouraged to engage in social advertising, caution must be exercised to avoid negative outcomes