With the Gillette acquisition, Procter & Gamble plans to emphasize its marketing efforts in the sports marketing arena, and has created a sports marketing "center of expertise" to explore new opportunities.

The center of expertise is based on an initiative first explored by Gillette, which had conducted a best practices review of sports marketing before it merged with P&G, writes MediaPost (via MediaBuyerPlanner). The results of that review have been transferred to P&G, which has now identified sports marketing as one of three areas with a high ROI.

Interactive and "influencer marketing" were the other two tactics that have consistently delivered financial returns above traditional TV and print advertising, according to Susan Arnold, P&G's vice-chair for beauty and health.

While TV and print still go hand-in-hand with new media, P&G acknowledges its shift in spending, which is increasingly focusing on the two-way interaction that is available with consumers via interactive media. Arnold pointed out that high-speed internet access will be in 300 million homes worldwide by 2008, which will speed the two-way process.