An article in NMA today caught my eye.
The article reported that P&G recently launched product rating and review functions on its Head & Shoulders and Ariel (clothes washing detergent) brand websites as part of a strategy to engage consumers with its brands.
Users can now submit a review of a product with a star rating with P&G among the first of a major FMCG company to go down the ‘review’ path.
Interested to see how many people have the time or inclination! to review washing detergent I was surprised to see over 6000 reviews on the site – and predominantly positive.
The site itself was well executed apart from the exceedingly long download time (but then again if you have time to review washing products maybe you have time to kill).
P&G have been innovators for quite some time in the marketing space. Back in 2001 they took their market research online and this year they have been utilising predictive analytics to get a greater understanding of their customer. Incorporating a review component to their product websites may seem like a logical step. But will it engage consumers?
Research over the past two years has shown that consumers are spending more and more time researching products online before purchase. This makes sense in a tight economy and particularly for items such as cars, house insurance, mortgages etc – but does it hold true of smaller FMCG items?
Will consumers spend time researching the less expensive items? or will only a Stepford Wife care enough to review her washing detergent?