Behind Church & Dwight's approach to digital growth and value pricing

Surabhi Pokhriyal came to Church & Dwight Co. 13 months ago as the marketing world around the company was changing fast, and prices were rising even faster. That presents her company—heavily focused on value brands—with a chance to gain some ground. As chief digital growth officer, Pokhriyal is largely doing what chief marketing officers traditionally do. But her title reflects that digital is now 70% of Church & Dwight’s media mix and that the company is in the midst of continuous digital and business transformation where the top marketer is expected to play a vital role in growth. The New Jersey-based company's portfolio includes fabric care brands such as Arm & Hammer and OxiClean, cleaning products such as Orange Glo, as well as health/wellness brands such as Trojan condoms, First Response pregnancy tests and Mighty Patch acne treatments. Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, check us out on Spotify and hear us on Stitcher. This is our RSS feed. Tell a friend! Subscribe to Ad Age Sign up now for the latest industry news and analysis Click here “We are making sure that digital and growth and transformation is at the center of the conversation,” Pokhriyal said on the latest edition of Ad Age's Marketer's Brief podcast. “So I am part of the CEO leadership team.” In that role, Pokhriyal was part of a team that in January did what should be natural at times of high inflation—launch a campaign focused on value for the money. She cited a report from Moody’s showing U.S. families are paying on average $371 more a month now for the same goods they were buying a year ago. “There are a ton of TikTok videos and other data where people are feeling the pinch of pricing,” Pokhriyal said. “It’s sapping the consumers’ spirits and really causing anxiety. So our brand leaders came for forward to say some of our brands really stand for [value] and this is core to who we are.” But while competitors largely have stayed away from messages about prices and value, Church & Dwight dove right in with its “Give It the Hammer” campaign for Arm & Hammer from Via Agency, with media support from WPP’s Wavemaker. It helps that Church & Dwight’s biggest brand—Arm & Hammer—is a value brand, and that 40% of the company’s sales are value brands, a much higher mix than competitors have. Strong consumer response, including outperforming expected response benchmarks on Meta properties and TikTok, shows the ad “speaks to what the consumer needs,” she said. The company has acquired seven brands in the past 20 years, including TheraBreath two years ago and Mighty Patch acne treatments last year. “It takes a different muscle to be so good at M&A,” Pokhriyal said. And the brands Church & Dwight goes after tend to be “digitally savvy and native,” which means the rest of the company can learn from them. Like other marketers, Church & Dwight is spending more on connected TV and retail media, and looking to take advantage of the convergence of the two in using retail data to help shape buys on CTV and outside retailer properties. All of that is reshaping how both Church & Dwight and retailers work, Pokhriyal said. “We have sales and marketing share objectives,” she said. “That’s a new way of thinking: How do we make sure that these silos go away, so we don’t get sort of nickeled and dimed for every single transaction we are doing with the retailer.” Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs

Behind Church & Dwight's approach to digital growth and value pricing

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