Trendsetters: P&G's Marc Pritchard Talks Creativity & Advocacy in Role as ANA Chair

When the world's largest advertiser talks, the entire marketing community listens. Procter & Gamble's Chief Brand Officer, Marc S. Pritchard, not only shared his thoughts about raising the bar on creativity at the ANA's annual Masters of Marketing conference in Orlando last week, but he is taking on an additional leadership role as the new ANA Chairman. He outlined his agenda for marketers last week, and also offered his perspective on creativity and today's hot-button issues like "content," "media transparency," and "agency relationships."

As incoming Chairman of the ANA, Marc Pritchard will emphasize three key areas:

1. Higher-quality advertising
2. Advertising that makes a difference
3. Media transparency

In both his opening keynote address and his Chairman's speech, Marc Pritchard referred to the industry maxim that "clients get the advertising they deserve." As a result, "Job one," he said, "is to be the absolute best at our craft." He encouraged marketers to "create the very best advertising the world has seen," and added that in the midst of so many negative headlines, it is critical today "to invest in our creative agencies and all the agencies we work with."

Priority #2 for Marc Pritchard is to create advertising that makes a difference. Ultimately, this means work that has the potential to make the world better. "Our voice can be used to step up on important matters such as gender equality, racial bias, diversity and inclusion, and environment and sustainability."

His third area of focus is media transparency, and he stressed that this is a subject to which the entire industry is accountable. "We have spent too much time and money on nonstandard and faulty measurements, and on a media supply chain that is murky at best, and in some cases, even fraudulent. If we can create driverless cards and VR experiences, surely we can find a way to track and verify media accurately. It's time we come together to solve these problems," he said.

There's no question that Marc Pritchard believes in the enormous potential of advertising at its best. In fact, much of his address on raising the bar on creativity focused on what he described as "the craft of advertising." And while he offered a clearer definition of advertising and examples of strong creative work, he also joked, "Let's face it, advertising has a bad reputation. I guess that's why we've been trying to rename it 'content.' "

He made clear that the difference between what he termed "craft" and "crap," and lightheartedly showed how Procter & Gamble was lured into the "content crap trap" by showing an abbreviated version of a 4-minute video for Pepto-Bismol about a boy raised by goats. (The brand message for those who endured the full video was that Pepto-Bismol can help a human digestive system even fit into a "herbivorous lifestyle" when your loving parents are goats.)

In tremendous contrast to the "content crap trap," Marc Pritchard showed examples of well-crafted P&G advertising that was inspiring, emotional and unforgettable, like the SKII execution for China's "leftover women." He described these examples as "brand masterpieces on a creative canvas," and emphasized that great work is the result of "an authentic idea that uniquely finds and delivers advertising that expresses the essence of the brand."

He acknowledged that technology provides marketers with some exciting new tools, like virtual reality and artificial intelligence and a "larger creative canvas for advertising messages with more choices and the ability to create longer pieces of advertising." However, he felt that good work is rarely the outcome in "the race to be everywhere." He made the point: "Craft or crap, that's our creative challenge. Technology enables both," and added, "It's really no wonder we're seeing ad blocking."

According to Marc Pritchard, "All of us in the marketing community have a choice, and we can set standards for the industry for years to come." His parting message to the ANA audience? "Raise the bar to be the best… then whole industry will rise."

The ANA (Association of National Advertisers) elected 15 new members to its board of directors, as well as a new chair, vice-chair and treasurer at its annual conference held in Orlando from October 19–22.

The new members are:

Newly Elected Officers

• Chair: Marc Pritchard, Chief Brand Officer, The Procter & Gamble Co.
• Vice Chair: Deborah Wahl, U.S. Chief Marketing Officer, McDonald's Corp.
• Treasurer: Paul Alexander, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, Eastern Bank Corp.

Newly Elected Directors

• Paul Alexander, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, Eastern Bank Corp.
• Maryam Banikarim, Global Chief Marketing Officer, Hyatt Corp.
• Robert Case, Chief Marketing Officer, Nestlé USA
• Suzy Deering, Chief Marketing Officer, North America, eBay
• Melisa Goldie, Chief Marketing Officer, Calvin Klein
• Maggie Chan Jones, Chief Marketing Officer, SAP SE
• Denise Karkos, Chief Marketing Officer, TD Ameritrade
• Nadine McHugh, SVP OmniMedia, Strategic Investments and Creative Solutions, L'Oréal USA
• Susan Popper, SVP, Experience Marketing, Hewlett-Packard
• Raja Rajamannar, Chief Marketing Officer, MasterCard
• Tony Rogers, SVP and Chief Marketing Officer, Walmart U.S.
• Megan Stooke, Chief Marketing Officer of Maven, General Motors Co.
• Marc S. Strachan, VP, Corporate Relations, Constituent Affairs, Diageo North America
• Nuno Teles, Chief Marketing Officer, Heineken USA
• Karen Walker, SVP, Chief Marketing Officer, Cisco Systems.

The ANA (Association of National Advertisers) makes a difference for individuals, brands, and the industry by advancing the interests of marketers and promoting and protecting the well-being of the marketing community. Founded in 1910, the ANA provides leadership that advances marketing excellence and shapes the future of the industry. The ANA's membership includes nearly 1,000 companies with 15,000 brands that collectively spend or support more than $300 billion in marketing and advertising annually. The membership is comprised of more than 700 client-side marketers and nearly 250 Associate Members, which include leading agencies, law firms, suppliers, consultants, and vendors. Further enriching the ecosystem is the work of the nonprofit Advertising Educational Foundation (AEF), an ANA subsidiary. The AEF's mission is to enhance the understanding of advertising and marketing within the academic and marketing communities.