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Procter & Gamble and the Long Tail

www.forbes.com/sites/pamdanziger/2017/10/24/can-pg-be-so-clueless-about-what-customers-want/#411c0053762e

This article discusses the reasons Procter & Gamble has had issues with increasing sales, giving the impression that they no longer understand consumer culture in the U.S. Currently their marketing challenges include: a preference shift for small and local brands, a preference for purpose led brands rather than big brands, the digital ecosystem downplaying the importance of owning shelf space in physical stores, and the growth of interest in natural and organic products. Many of these challenges are due to the millennial consumers. The article then brings up the Long Tail theory, stating that today’s market is much more diverse and information is much more accessible thus, there is a shift from focusing on a small number of hit mainstream products at the head of the demand curve to the niches at the tail. At the same time, they also believe the consumer market is now shaped like a barbell with more high-end premium products on one end and lower-end cheaper products on the other. P&G has attempted to shift some of its products such as Tide detergent and Pampers diapers to creating new premium versions, but they have not found great success.

 

Overall, the article argues that in the current consumer culture, the long tail has become more important than the head. They argue that millennial preference for niche and individualistic brands, and the more premium prices attached to them, is a growing market and that much of P&G’s stagnation is due to an inability to make the shift to these new types of products. They believe the distribution of popularity itself has shifted and that there is much more of an emphasis on a large number of distinct items that fulfill different needs rather than P&G’s every-household products.

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