Incubating the Next Tide
Procter & Gamble Ventures
P&G Ventures is a startup studio within Procter & Gamble that partners with startups, entrepreneurs, and innovators to create new businesses that solve everyday problems in product categories new to P&G.
The Challenge
Despite P&G’s world-class branding and chemistry expertise, the 180-year-old brand has been viewed by the tech industry as too big to innovate. At CES 2019, our goal was to prove to skeptical tech media and influencers that P&G could go toe-to-toe with tech industry elites. As this was P&G’s first appearance at the world’s largest consumer technology trade show, there was immense pressure to validate P&G’s investments and position the brand as an innovation hub. We were tasked with launching P&G Ventures’ first technology, Opté, the first-ever precision at-home skincare device.
The Formula
Opté is truly a “see it to believe it” device, so we coordinated a media-only pre-show event to allow reporters to see and try the device in person and secured “booth stops” with key tech and beauty publications. To highlight the success of P&G’s unique approach to corporate innovation, we worked with the PGV team to create the “Innovation Challenge,” an idea contest held during CES that drew reporters and attendees alike.
Media
Events
The Results
PGV’s presence at CES was covered in a wide range of technology (The Verge, Gizmodo, VentureBeat), business (USA Today, CNN), and lifestyle (PopSugar, WWD) outlets as well as broadcast news (CNET, BBC, Las Vegas Review-Journal). Such far-reaching coverage has helped rebrand P&G as an innovative technology company backed by almost two centuries of research and development. Thanks to the success of our CES strategy, PGV has expanded its event program and now consistently speaks about the company’s expertise in building unique partnerships and creating new categories at top-tier events.
“The future of skincare and makeup could be brushless, if tech like the Opté Precision Skincare System catches on. This handheld device acts like a thermal inkjet printer to apply tiny dots of makeup or skincare serum with pinpoint accuracy.”
“Procter & Gamble’s startup studio P&G Ventures has launched a dual skincare-beauty solution unlike anything we’ve seen before. While traditional cover-up applicators and dark spot correctors target wide swathes of the face, Opté Precision Skincare combines an LED scanner, camera, minicomputer, and micro-printer in one device that’s incredibly precise.”
“At CES this year, there were plenty of beauty offerings to get excited about. A smart store executed by SK-II might be the future of shopping for skin care; a new heated razor is on tap from Gillette. But the product that easily garnered the most attention in the beauty space was the Opté Precision Skincare System.”
“The result looks more like those skin-smoothing beauty filters in your camera app than traditional makeup — only here, people in the real world get to see the effect on your actual face as well. Journalists at the BBC and VentureBeat applied it to their own faces and seemed impressed with the results.”
