JEDDAH, 10 November 2006 — Procter & Gamble (P&G), a leading maker of household products, presented a lecture entitled “Commercial Innovation” to students at the College of Business Administration (CBA) on Wednesday.

Ahmed Al-Kuhlani, brand manager of Downy fabric softener, spoke about ways of creating and executing new for commercial adverts and campaigns to give a perspective on how P&G operates. Speaking to CBA students, he said that the first step is to understand the consumer. “Customers buy ideas and it is the power of the idea that creates innovation,” he said.

Al-Kuhlani presented three case studies. The first case mentioned was Tide washing - the first Saudi washing powder brand. When marketing the powder, according to Al-Kuhlani, P&G thought about what is different in Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries. “We thought that Ramadan is an annual occasion that makes the Arabian Peninsula and the Arab Countries special. We wanted to present the product differently in Ramadan,” he said.

P&G carried out market research to decide which scent to use in the Ramadan version that would give the product a Ramadan feeling. For this P&G presented samples of Oud and white musk for people to smell. Most people preferred white musk and so the washing powder was given a white-musk smell and the package also included a tola (small bottle) of white musk as a Ramadan gift.

“The idea succeeded and earned a global award as the best commercial advert. The product was sold more than we expected. The local idea was also implemented in other Arab countries like Morocco, Lebanon and Egypt,” said Al-Kuhlani.

The brand manager then presented examples of adverts that had been shown in other Arab countries. The idea has been applied for two years running - 2004 and 2005. This Ramadan, the idea was further developed to include two more products - Fairy washing up liquid and Downy fabric softener - with the same white musk scent and a free bottle of scent inside.

“The product that was supposed to be sold throughout the holy month sold out within two weeks and the machines did not stop producing to suffice the high demand,” he said.

The second case study Al-Kuhlani discussed was Downy fabric softener. “When we were doing research for Downy, a housewife said that she does not use Downy or any fabric softener because she is afraid that her baby’s sensitive skin would be affected by it,” he said. “We then thought of making a special Downy product that suits the sensitiveness and softness of baby skin,” he added.

The third case study discussed was diapers brand Pampers. “Some people call all diapers Pampers. I was once in the UAE doing a marketing research for Pampers. When I asked a mother, what kind of diapers do you use for your baby, she said I use pampers Bambi,” said Al-Kuhlani, who says he was then puzzled and asked her if she uses one in the morning and the other at night. “She was repeating, ‘No I use pampers Bambi,’” he said, adding that it was then he realized that people use the word “Pampers” to refer to all diapers.

Al-Kuhlani presented some video clippings to show the Pampers advert campaign that they carried out. They thought of what would make parents understand their children if they did not try to act and live like them.

The train was divided into three coaches, inside which there were tables and chairs of extra large sizes to make people feel how babies see the normal size of the things we use. “That way, we made parents closer to their children and know how they think,” he said, adding that the idea received a global award.

As children like to imitate their parents when they are toddlers, they want to be independent and let be allowed to put on their own diapers. “We designed three stages of Pampers each according to a baby’s age. The third is for toddlers and we called it ‘Let’s go!’ The toddler in this stage wear his diapers as pull-up underwear just like his father and his older brother to feel more independent.”

The one-hour lecture was extended to an hour and 40 minutes, as students were eager to ask questions involving their studies.