The Big CPG Opportunity

Here’s a prediction: One of the non-stories of 2009 will be a big story for 2010. That story involves consumer packaged goods companies and their use of social media. If you noticed a few weeks ago, eMarketer reported that consumer packaged goods companies and social media are “not an easy mix. CPGs have legacy marketing techniques that focus on reaching mass audiences, and the ways they measure marketing and sales success simply do not mesh with the types of measurements that social media can offer,” eMarketer wrote.

That will change in a hurry. I’m not just talking about the obvious involvements with Twitter and Facebook. The digital marketing industry seems to have forgotten that there’s a lot of branded content opportunity and innovation still available on MySpace and YouTube. In fact, I think CPG companies will further embrace MySpace and YouTube next year because they are better fits for their branded content opportunities. It’s easier to be innovative with a longer form “palette” if you will, to stretch out and tell a brand story that can then be spread virally. If you’ll remember it’s where CPG companies started on social media, and they wont forget the opportunities and successes that they found there.


The disconnect that has been well documented presents an opportunity. Social media, like any network of websites worth their salt, represents a unique conduit to a targeted audience at an efficient price. CPG companies have been after that since the early days of soap operas.