P&G Opens Virtual Clubhouse for Men to Figure Out What Women Want
Posted by Sheila Shayon on January 14, 2011 04:00 PM
Procter & Gamble is offering men tips on relationships, parenting, cooking, cleaning and health in Man of the House, a digital marketing initiative centered around a microsite that subtly promotes its brands in a "Girls Keep Out!" setting.
Promotions and "house ads" for its brands such as Gillette are found alongside original content, including frank videos (such as the "Ask a Pregnant Lady" series, above), blog posts, articles organized by channel (such as money and career) and other guy-to-guy subjects.
With the tagline "It's like duct tape, but online," the site is also raising eyebrows by offering advice on relationships and sex, which the brand sees as necessary in order to address its target audience as it aims to create a web destination targeted serving a largely untapped market: Dads.
“What we are trying to do is speak to the whole man,” commented Jeannie Tharrington, P&G spokeswoman, to the New York Times. “Certainly, relationships and sex are part of an adult man’s life…For us, it’s part of it, but it’s not the whole thing. What we try to do is be tasteful.”
P&G’s research had showed men turning to female-oriented websites for tips on home care and cooking. While traditional publications such as GQ and Maxim continue to skew towards younger single men, Man of the House offers practical advice to the family man. The site promises, “We’ll make men out of you yet,” while proffering its products like Gillette razors and Head & Shoulders shampoo.
Mirroring online conversations – but men helping men, Jeremiah Owyang, of the Altimeter Group commented about the site’s attempt to reach and establish a community around P&G's brands, “All of these discussions on this page are already happening on Facebook. The reason these things do work is that consumers are already having these discussions, having a healthy breakfast, talking about their wives in relationships.”
The site, which also connects with consumers via a Twitter and Facebook presence, launched in June and had over half a million monthly unique visitors by December. One commenter on its Facebook page quipped, "Finally a website for men that I can read with my wife in the room!"
While P&G would never use the moniker "Mr. Mom," it's certainly in keeping with that demographic shift, articulated by ESPN VP of multimedia sales research Peter Leimbach in a an article for NielsenWire as: “The past two decades has seen a role reversal of sorts taking place: the traditional roles of men and women are being redefined to better reflect today’s social norms. Today’s American households are looking less like Donna Reed—the paradigm for the ideal 1950’s family—and more like Mr. Mom.”
P&G, of course, is a veteran at out-of-the box marketing, creating the earliest radio soap operas as product vehicles, and eventually producing its very own, As the World Turns. Moving into producing its own branded content like this is a natural, digitally-savvy move. It also, interestingly, is open to accepting other advertising on the MOTH website.
“Man of the House is the real man’s magazine, a guide for the jack of all trades trying to be better – at work and at home, as a father and as a husband,” said Craig J. Heimbuch, the site's editor, to the Times.
In his most recent blog post, "Legacy and Potential: The Jeep Story," Heimbuch writes: “Few are the brands that can define your personality and not the other way around. I think about Nike people - fit, lithe, quiet and driven. Apple people - connected and hip. You can count on maybe one hand the number of brands that evoke such a clear image of defining characteristics - physical, emotional, aspirational. Jeep is one of them.”
Time will tell if Man of The House becomes another.
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