P&G To Lay Off 1,600 After Discovering It's Free To Advertise On Facebook

“Reality appears to have finally arrived at Procter & Gamble, the world’s largest marketer, whose $10 billion annual ad budget has hurt the company’s margins. P&G said it would lay off 1,600 staffers, including marketers, as part of a cost-cutting exercise. More interestingly, CEO Robert McDonald finally seems to have woken up to the fact that he cannot keep increasing P&G’s ad budget forever, regardless of what happens to its sales”.

Talk about a reality check!

For those that may not be aware, P&G is world renowned as arguably the #1 consumer goods marketer in the world. To think they have “just woken up” to the power of Facebook and potentially other social media is mind-boggling.

The shift in emphasis has been coming for more than just a couple of years, and even the business to business marketing world has been debating and testing the social media waters for quite a while.

So, if the world’s leading marketers don’t get it, how do we expect non-marketers to deal with the social media issue? While some people are flocking to social media for any and all (not always well thought out) reasons, others seem to be somewhat gun shy. It is clear that one can rationalize use of social media in B2C environments much more easily than in B2B environments, simply because the avarage consumer is more engaged with it as an active means of communication and interaction. While the B2B consumer is headed that way, it is much less significant and important to them.

One of the most important issues for people adopting a new marketing approach is to have a really well thought out reason why they feel that adopting social media is better than their traditional approaches. The FREE and EASY philosophy of social media is a fallacy. $ and cents is not the only limited resource that people have. Time, focus and energy are just a few of the other resources that need to be taken into consideration, and they are often forgotten or ignored.

So don’t fall into the trap – think it through properly and try to get ahead of the game. The front of the line is a much safer and more advantageous place to be. Just ask P&G who now have to plat catch-up. Inevitably they will succeed becasue they are really good and have tons of money to throw at it. But for the average Joe out there – think first (very carefully) before you leap (or decide not to leap) into the social media world that will inevitably become an important part of your future.

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Neville Pokroy from the marketing agency Mastermind Solutions consults in the area of strategic marketing planning, as well as in the development and execution of marketing strategies and plans. He assists companies who require marketing expertise to plan and fully execute marketing programs. If you want to have more choice in marketing your business and in setting yourself apart, and increase the odds of improving company performance, visit our website.