P&G plans to “renegotiate” media spend

Procter & Gamble is planning to “renegotiate” its media spend across the world, according to chairman and chief executive A G Lafley. Speaking to analysts, he said the company was looking to increase its “share of voice”, while buying media at a lower cost.

Lafley told the conference that the current media environment was a “big opportunity” because it is often a country’s biggest advertisers. He said: “Whole industries have walked away. So everything is getting renegotiated, and we want to be ahead of the curve.”

It is reported that Jon Moeller, the company’s incoming financial director, has hinted that organic sales for second quarter of its financial year will be about 3%, below its long-term target for 4% to 6%. The company has seen a year of 5% organic sales growth.

It says that its value-growth has slowed, and that its market shares are about even with this time last year. The slowdown is attributed to the growth it has seen in other quarters.

P&G has cut media spend over recent quarters, but it is expected to grow marketing spend at the same rate as sales growth over the long term.

Lafley added that he sees P&G as “recession resistant”. He claims smaller numbers of consumers plan to cut spend on health and beauty or household products, compared to other categories.