P&G's Pritchard Looks to Market in Digital Space

Marc Pritchard, head of advertising for Proctor & Gamble, is looking to slash money from his company's marketing budget by leaning heavily on digital marketing, reports The Wall Street Journal.

The report states that the consumer giant aims to save $10 billion by 2016, cutting $1 billion from its marketing budget. According to Pritchard, those cuts will come by thinning the ranks of marketing executives and spending more efficiently, for example by focusing more on lower-cost digital marketing and easing up somewhat on pricey broadcast ads, the report states.

Pritchard, in an interview with WSJ, said that less expensive digital advertising can be more creative than more expensive TV ads, and that he would like to see all of the company's brands embrace the strategy. He said that Pampers, Old Spice and Secret are farthest along, the report states.

Pritchard also said he wants P&G to craft campaigns for multiple brands around the same event, such as the upcoming 2012 Olympics this summer, the story said. He told the Journal that he has over 30 brands doing Olympic activities and consumers should expect to see "heavy-duty" digital activity for their Olympics program, which will include Twitter, Google, YouTube and Yahoo.