P&G Seeks Startups in ​Imagining a World Without Ads: The Future of Data and Advertising in Europe

If you would like to submit a solution, please go to the P&G Innovation Brief Response Form at ​http://bit.ly/3bvEpu3 to complete their form with the requested information, AND submit here and we'll try to to help you get status on your application.

Business Background:

Major CPG brands are beginning to envision the future of advertising, wherein they need to develop more experiential and seamless ways of engaging consumers. Today, over 70% of TV viewers indicate that they fast forward through ads. Over 40% of millennials use ad blockers and an increasing number of consumers are subscribing to OTT streaming services that have no advertising. At the same time, consumer privacy demands are at an all-time high as new regulations in Europe, such as GDPR will eliminate advertising cookies and force brands to rethink their data strategies.

Business Challenge / Needs Definition:

P&G’s brands would like to ​explore the future of advertising to rethink how our company engages consumers to keep our brands top of mind and in consumers’ hearts. How might we reach the right consumer at the right time with relevant, interesting and helpful messages from our brands? We are seeking new advertising and engagement methods, new ways of working without cookies, and ways to create novel brand experiences. We want to partner with new technologies and solutions that can help us navigate the future of a world without ads.

There are 4 key areas where we would like to focus on finding innovative solutions:

• Data-driven personalization in a cookie-less world – How can we continue to grow our relationship with consumers, capture data, and deliver personalized experiences without reliance on third-party cookies?
• Gaming & eSports – With over 2.8 billion gamers around the world, how can brands tap into this massive audience through creative partnerships and integrated advertising models? We would like to consider both casual / mobile gaming all the way through console gaming and esports.
• Social Commerce – How can we reach customers on the social platforms they use every day and create fun and seamless shopping experiences?
• New Ad Models – How can we find new/better/interesting/useful ways to reach customers that theywill embrace and find valuable instead of interruptive and irritating?

The regional focus of this brief is Europe and pilot activations will initially be focused on the UK, France and Germany. ​Startups applying must have a presence or the ability to immediately activate in at least one of these countries, but ideally across Europe​.

Relevant technology domains may include, but are not limited to:

The Ask:

If you have ideas and supporting technologies that you believe can deliver disruptive services & solutions to this challenge, we want to hear/partner with you. Where there is a good fit, we are looking to drive agile in-market pilots in Europe with the goal of scaling successful services & solutions. All ideas and submissions will be fully reviewed by our team.