Corporate reporting gives Reckitt and P&G advantage
Industry body says marketers fail to make their voice heard in the boardroom.
Reckitt Benckiser in the UK and Procter & Gamble in the US are the only two companies that take marketing seriously in corporate reporting, according to a new survey by the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising.
The industry body looked at 50 big consumer marketing spenders in the US, Europe and Asia in its “Best practice in narrative reporting: an international perspective” report, which focuses on the 2008/09 financial period.
It found that while most of the companies stated the importance of their brand, they failed to provide enough information or analysis on why their brands were successful. The IPA says it highlights a relatively untapped resource for marketers to show their credentials.
Reckitt Benckiser, which owns brands including Nurofen, Dettol and Vanish, was found to have provided a great deal of coverage to its brand outlook and the strategy it had adopted to exploit its numerous brands, all of which linked into the company’s overall business strategy.
P&G, which owns brands including Braun, Pantene and Oral B, made sure its marketing strategy was incorporated into the chairman’s message and throughout the report into the overall strategy.
P&G also explained how it focused on innovation on a brand-by-brand basis and how an understanding of consumers’ needs delivers value.
IPA director general Hamish Pringle says: “We hope [the report] will inspire more chief marketing officers to engage with financial reporting practices and to ensure their voice is heard in the boardroom.”
