Yahoo!, P&G Expand Marketing Relationship

Yahoo Inc. and The Procter & Gamble Company expanded their marketing relationship to “develop innovative marketing programs designed to reach consumers in new ways beyond traditional advertising.”

Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Procter & Gamble and Yahoo said they are working together to leverage Yahoo’s recently introduced Fusion Marketing Online (FMO) programs. The FMO approach to online marketing provides one-stop shopping for companies seeking to secure a measurable presence on the Internet.

The Procter & Gamble FMO programs are interactive marketing approaches designed to help connect Yahoo’s global audience with P&G’s brands. Yahoo said it reaches more than 60 million unique users each month worldwide, as of March 1999.

“Because we are both focused first and foremost on meeting the needs of our consumers, this alliance really makes sense,” said Denis Beausejour, vice president of advertising, Procter & Gamble Worldwide. “Yahoo has developed several innovative marketing programs for our brands which truly enable us to reach consumers in new ways that become a relevant and integrated part of their lives.”

P&G’s Pringles chips brand is featured in Yahoo Games as Pringles Ladders, offering users 12 classic card, board and tile games. Players can redeem points for a chance to win Pringles prizes.

The Pepto-Bismol brand is featured on Yahoo as Hot Summer Relief, a hub page that connects users to areas of interest such as Yahoo Travel, Yahoo Movies and Yahoo Net Events.

Hot Summer Relief also includes Hot Summer School, an interactive adventure involving five fictitious college students visiting five countries in one summer. The story lines include travel tips as well as product benefits related to Pepto-Bismol’s ability to treat various stomach aliments.

P&G and Yahoo also developed a multi-brand sampling program featured in Welcome Home from Yahoo, a direct marketing program featured in Yahoo Real Estate and Yahoo Loans.