P&G and Excite to launch promotion-led teenage site

Procter & Gamble is teaming up with Excite UK to develop a youth-oriented Website to promote P&G goods to UK teenagers.

Procter & Gamble is teaming up with Excite UK to develop a youth-oriented Website to promote P&G goods to UK teenagers.

The site, as yet unnamed, will provide community, chat and other interactive services alongside content secured through third-party deals. It will have a budget of several million pounds.

James Eadie, P&G brand manager for interactive marketing Europe, says: “This site is a great opportunity for P&G to increase the relevance of our brands to the teenage audience.”

Among P&G’s youth-focused brands are Clearasil, Sunny Delight and Pringles. The company also owns a large number of personal care products – such as Max Factor, Secret, Pantene, Tampax and Always – which could be targeted at a young female online audience.

The company ranks as a major online advertiser and Website content sponsor in the US, and has already established an extensive portfolio of consumer Websites which could be exploited in overseas markets.

P&G, which has followed a strategy of “taking ownership” of health and personal care issues on the Net, has developed online information sites such as the Pampers Parent Institute in the US, and registered generic domain names such as www.badbreath.com, which lead surfers through to P&G online content.

The UK teenage site is expected to launch later this year.

Excite Europe managing director Evan Rudowski says: “P&G’s decision to partner us confirms Excite’s position as Europe’s most sophisticated portal player.”

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