1. Procter & Gamble “Thank you, Mom” Campaign
In 2012 before the London Olympic Games, Procter & Gamble launched its global “Thank you,
Mom” Campaign.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SwFso7NeuA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JH2dGVAFXgM
“Thank you, Mom” Campaign is a great example of a unified marketing program of P&G that
appeared to be a huge success and is having a significant impact on consumers and theirs brand
perception. That is why I consider it relevant to Integrated Marketing Communications course and
an interesting example to look at as well.
It is known that some of the factors of the successful campaign for the company are to target the
right audience, understand it, establish emotional connection and create the content that easy to
share. And this is exactly what P&G did (Roberts, n.d.).
The target market of the campaign is mothers. And this is a good choice because P&G owns a lot of
household brands that are commonly associated with mothers as well as moms are usually featured
in the advertisements of such products. Moreover, the campaign is tied up with the Olympic Games.
P&G products are not directly related to the Olympics but the company understands that family
support is one of the greatest feelings at such events and here is where the connection comes:
“At P&G we know that getting to the Olympic Games begins at childhood and that on each of these athletes’ journeys
to London 2012, there was one person cheering for them louder than anyone…their moms. P&G is in the business of
helping moms, not just moms of Olympians, all moms, all around the world. So we’re using our voice at the Olympic
Games to thank moms everywhere” (“Procter & Gamble Launches Global Thank You Mom Campaign | P&G News |
Events, Multimedia, Public Relations,” 2012).
P&G used positive and emotional appeal in its campaign. Love to mothers is an emotion that
everyone in the world feels and understands. The company was able to use the unified message
across the world and grab attention to their brands in different countries. I think P&G has chosen
one of the most touching themes and it explains the impact the campaign has. Their first videos
were featuring mothers of the athletes supporting their children from the very childhood. But the
idea of the campaign is to say “thank you” to each and every mom in the world and it made the
campaign inclusive to everyone.
The campaign does not feature the product itself, it is not aimed at selling a particular product. It is
about emotional connection with the company in general (“P&G aims for moms’ heart with latest
‘Thank you’ ad,” n.d.). The campaign unified a number of company’s brands altogether. And when
people feel personally associated with the company or brand, it increases the brand recognition;
customers become more loyal and even act as advocates for the company/brand.
Another key point about the campaign is that it is ubiquitous. P&G has used a variety of media:
TV/radio, newspapers/magazines, outdoor advertising, Internet (including Facebook and Youtube),
and in-store advertising. The campaign has gone viral online. Moreover, the company created an
2. app where anyone can create a customized message in the form of video, image or text to thank you
his/her mom, share it with the friends and family and spread the word (“Procter & Gamble
Launches Global Thank You Mom Campaign | P&G News | Events, Multimedia, Public Relations,”
2012).
I personally think that the campaign appeals to the strongest relationship people have and there is no
way that this campaign will not stay in mind of the consumers what is actually the aim of any
advertising campaign. In addition, there is one more thing that caught my attention towards it: P&G
was actually sponsoring a number of athletes’ mothers to come to the Olympics and support their
children. This is what definitely creates a positive image of the company. Also after the launch of
this campaign P&G has become associated with the major sport event in the world in the mind of
the consumers. Isn’t it a great way to attract a huge attention to the company?
