Black-ish X Procter & Gamble
ABC’s critically acclaimed sitcom and my favorite show Black-ish has grabbed the attention of the advertising industry once again with their Procter and Gamble (P&G) partnership. Following the success of their season long partnership with Microsoft, Black-ish’s Stevens and Lido has opened the doors of their fictional agency to work with one of the world's most respected family brands.
What makes this partnership truly standout is the parallel between Black-ish and P&G’s brand values.The shared brand identity of authentic family values allowed both brands to stay true to themselves, something becoming increasingly more important to today’s educated media consumers. This authentic partnership consist of Black-ish’s fictional agency Stevens and Lido acquiring a Procter and Gamble account with the intentions of tackling “The Talk”.
Procter and Gamble’s current “The Talk” campaign highlights the conversations African American parents are forced to have with their children about racial bias in the world. P&G does a great job of infiltrating the Black-ish story line by forcing the lead character Andre Johnson to reflect on “The Talk” he had with his parents as a young child.
P&G takes the plot one step further by forcing all members of the agency to reflect on what version of “The Talk” they received from their parents. The episode ends with the characters within the agency realizing that “The Talk” happens in many walks of life, and the burdens society puts on parents due to bias’.
To achieve a brand partnership this effective P&G tapped into some valuable insights and strategy. Media buyers and strategist are able to establish Black-ish’s reach in the 18-49 viewer demographic. Nielsen reports a viewership of over 4 million per week for Black-ish.What is interesting about the insights of this partnership is Black-ish’s demographic break down. With a cast of predominantly black actors IndieWire.com reports that Black-ish’s viewer demographic is over 70% non-black. This allowed P&G the opportunity to reach multiple segments within their primary target market of families.The innovative media buying strategy used by P&G was equally as important to the success of this partnership.
With the collaborative effort of Rita Ferro, advertising sales president at Disney/ABC Television, BBDO and P&G’s communications agency of record Egami Consulting Group P&G successfully pulled of an innovative media buy known as “plot buying”. This new media buying concept that includes purchasing a spot within a programs storyline is a direct response to the rapidly changing media landscape.With the rise of non traditional media platforms such as Netflix and DVR features, advertisers are being forced to get around the increase of commercial zapping. P&G has managed to do just that with their partnership with Black-ish.