P&G breaks advertising tradition in Asia with emotional pre-Olympics campaign

Depicting mothers as the unsung heroes behind athletes, the global 'Thank You Mom' campaign launched on Tuesday as part of P&G's partnership with the International Olympic Committee (IOC). It is the biggest campaign in P&G’s 174-year history and will run from now through the end of the Olympic Games.

The campaign aims to highlight that P&G is the parent company behind brands such as Pampers, Tide, Gillette, Ariel, Crest, Duracell, Gillette, Head & Shoulders, Olay, Pantene, Tide and Whisper.

Driving the concept is the fact that mothers are the major purchase decision-makers for the FMCG category. "Each athlete's journey to the Olympics begins at childhood with one person cheering louder than anyone—the mom," Pritchard said. "P&G is using our voice at the Games to thank moms everywhere."

Released simultaneously around the world is a TVC titled “Best Job”, that recognises the role mothers play in raising Olympians. P&G recruited Oscar-nominated director Alejandro González Iñárritu to create the film, which is the foundation of the whole campaign. It was shot on four locations, London, Rio de Janeiro, Los Angeles and Beijing featuring local athletes.

The commercial, run globally with the strapline, “The hardest job is the best job”, features mothers from all over the world supporting child athletes, culminating in them winning medals.

To further associate itself with the Olympics, P&G's portfolio of brands will back Asian athletes, specifically through Gillette's sponsorship of Chinese badminton player Lin Dan and Australian swimmer Eamon Sullivan, as well as Pantene's sponsorship of Chinese diver Wu Minxia and Korean rhythmic gymnast Yeon-jae Son, to list a few.

In Asia, the short film will run online on social media, TV and print. Within Mainland China, 60-second and 30-second localised versions will be deployed on digital platforms including Sina Weibo, QQ, Baidu and Taobao, depending on the length of media buys.

A Facebook app (right) on the same campaign theme also allows people to thank their mothers by uploading personalised content in the form of a video, still image with caption or text-based message, with a separate adaptation for China.

In-store displays (below) will reinforce the campaign at the retail level.

P&G will continue its sponsorship of the Olympic Games through 2020, which includes London 2012, Sochi 2014, Rio 2016, Pyeongchang 2018 and the Nanjing Youth Olympic Games. The entire deal is estimated to be worth up to US$200 million.

Pritchard said each of the sporting events represents relevant windows to link P&G's corporate reputation with the raft of products that Asian consumers are already familiar with. Korea and Vietnam have room for improvement in terms of awareness, though levels are "generally higher in Asia than in the rest of the world, especially Europe", he said.

Another strategy that helps P&G boost corporate-brand awareness is celebrating the company's anniversary in a country. "For example, during our 20th anniversary in China and 75th in the Philippines, we saw a strong increase in awareness," Pritchard said. "Korea is getting close to its 25th and Vietnam its 20th year soon thereafter, so we expect solid improvements in those countries."

Credits:

Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu via Anonymous Content

Executive producers: Dave Morrison, Eric Stern and Jeff Baron

Head of production: Sue Ellen Clair

Line producer: John Benet

Director of photography: Rodrigo Prieto

First assistant directors: Peter Kohn and Javier Soto

Production designer: Jeremy Hindle

Costume designer: Jeremy Hindle

Associate producer: Chris Gallagher

Production supervisor: Natalie Jacobson