Words by Jamie Tolentino-Deludet
P&G Chief Brand Officer Marc Pritchard shares the genre-expanding creative partnership between P&G and John Legend, one of the most beloved artists of our time, in conversation with Katie Couric, Yahoo’s Global News Anchor.
Marc Pritchard tells us that people are expecting companies to take up a social cause. Black men face a look which we don’t know about, so P&G created “The Look”. The conversation we are having now is the conversation that we want others to have. This is meant to be introspective as well. The first cut of “The Look” was very intense so they lost everybody, but the point is that this becomes a talking point. Let’s talk about the looks so that you can see beyond it.
Marc Pritchard also shares a personal account of suppressing his half-Mexican heritage until a couple of years ago. His own dad advised him to put Caucasian even if he was just half-Caucasian for better job prospects. As a result, he was not bringing his whole self to work. Now, he claims that P&G wants to provide a level of emotional safety for people to have these conversations.
His advice for advertisers? Take a point of view on a brand, make sure it’s a good message and you are doing the right thing. When you get heat, stand up, keep going but listen. All creativity can be a force for good and a force for growth.
Katie Couric is working with P&G because the media landscape has changed dramatically. She claims that people are consuming it in different ways and she wants it to evolve with the times after having worked in mainstream media for decades. “America’s sweetheart” was demeaning term to her because it implies that she wasn’t as capable as her male counterparts.
She claims that increasingly people are looking to companies and CEOs to change the world. Companies are filling a very important void. We need more storytelling to tackle thorny social issues. Our hearts are in the same place when it comes to enlightening people and brands have to stand for something else than just the bottom line.
John Legend comments on “The Look”, saying that these are our values, this is our world: “I want to align with a brand that makes a more just and fair world. Black people in my predominantly white school were treated differently to white people, as if we don’t belong there. What all of us need to acknowledge is that sometimes we don’t realise that these implicit biases are there. It should be fine to have a conversation without feeling attacked.” Meanwhile, he also advocates home parity via his Stinky booty song with Pampers, bringing the conversation of sharing the workload at home to the next level.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RKNm8balSs
