P&G launched the "Thank You, Mom" campaign during the 2012 and 2016 Olympics to increase brand awareness and sales. The campaign featured real stories of Olympians and their mothers to connect emotionally with audiences. It proved very successful, driving billions in earned media impressions and over $200 million in incremental sales. P&G's use of storytelling helped establish trust in their brand and integrity in honoring mothers.

1. TOUCHING HEARTS ONE THANK YOU AT A TIME
P&G’S “THANK YOU, MOM” CAMPAIGN

2. ORGANIZATION BACKGROUND
▪ American consumer goods company
▪ 105,000 employees
▪ 65 brands make up portfolio
▪ Organized into 10 categories
▪ Baby care, feminine care, grooming, oral care, personal health care, hair care, skin care, personal
care, fabric care and home care
▪ Examples of P&G brands: Tide, Always, Dawn, Crest and Bounty
▪ Sold in 180 countries and territories and can be found in 98% households
▪ Net sales in 2016 = $65 Billion
▪ Competitors: Johnson & Johnson, Unilever and Kimberly-Clark Corporation
▪ Brand position: “Touching lives, improving life”

3. SITUATION
▪ Great Recession of 2007-2009
▪ Decline in amount of goods and services sold and produced
▪ Lacked relevance as a single brand unit
▪ Led P&G to strategically rethink how to better manage its relationship with
customers

4. OLYMPIC PARTNERSHIP
▪ 2010, mid-tier sponsor
▪ 2012, IOC TOP sponsor
▪ IOC: International Olympic Committee
▪ TOP: The Olympic Partner
▪ Not in the business of athletics but, in the business of helping mom’s with their trusted brands
for over 175 years.
▪ Utilized in making campaign relevant to mission and values

5. FORMATIVE AUDIENCE RESEARCH
▪ P&G & Wieden + Kennedy Portland
Advertising Agency
▪ Globally distributed survey (2015) to
14,000+ mothers
▪ Result: “The Global Mom Report”

6. GOAL & OBJECTIVES
GOAL: TO GENERATE AND MAINTAIN A POSITIVE CONSUMER RELATIONSHIP WITH THE BRAND
Objectives
1. Awareness: Gain/maximize visibility of their Olympic Sponsorship
2. Acceptance: Motivate mothers to become loyal to P&G
3. Action: Initiate $100 million in incremental sales

7. MESSAGING
▪ Audience insight drove strategy and tactics
▪ “The Global Mom Report”
▪ Reality drives curiosity
▪ Real life stories of Olympians and their mothers
▪ Reach customers where they are
▪ Distributed across multiple channels, enhanced viewing and sharing capacity

8. ▪ 100 days before Opening Ceremony
▪ “Best Job” released via social media
▪ Mothers Day
▪ “Best Job” aired live on television and was integrated with
Today Show during commercial breaks
▪ Strategically aired during season finales of NBC shows such as
The Voice and American Idol
▪ “Thank You, Mom” app
▪ Sharing personal stories about moms
▪ Helping youth sports programs around the world
▪ For every “like” on their Facebook page, P&G donates a dollar
to the P&G/Team USA Youth Sports Fund
CHANNELS

9. CHANNELS CONTINUED…
▪ During the Olympics
▪ “Kids”
▪ Children performing Olympic athletic events
▪ “Raising an Olympian”
▪ Documentary-style commercials
▪ Real Olympians and their mothers
▪ Timely: When an athlete won a medal, the
commercial would tell their story
▪ Example: Simone Biles
▪ “Reactions”
▪ Commercial aired last few days of games
▪ “Pick Them Back Up”
▪ Featured four athletes, ice skater, hockey player,
snowboarder and skier
▪ Followed their stories from when they were
babies to now, as Olympic Athletes
▪ “Strong”
▪ Most recent (Rio 2016)
▪ Demonstrates the moments when a mothers
strength is passed down to her child
▪ 18 P&G brands in more than 35 different
countries joined the campaign
▪ TV and digital content, in-store displays, public
relations and social media
▪ Twitter
▪ Hashtags (#BecauseOfMom) & (#ThankYouMom)
▪ Currently
▪ Active YouTube channel, Facebook page and
Twitter page

10. RESULTS
▪ ”Best Job”, “Pick Them Back Up” and “Kids” are the three most
viewed Olympic advertisement videos of all time
▪ “Best Job”, “Kids” and “Raising an Olympian” were viewed over
17 million times online
▪ 33.6 billion earned media impressions
▪ Most successful campaign in P&G history delivering $200MM+ in
incremental sales in the USA
▪ Brand recall for P&G’s first corporate campaign was the best
among long-standing Olympic partners such as Coca-Cola and
McDonald’s, at 40%
▪ P&G familiarity expanded by 22%, favorability by 13% and trust
by 10%

11. SUMMARY/PAGE PRINCIPLES
▪ Storytelling tactic brings P&G to life by connecting their brand to the brand stories
of Olympic Athletes and their moms
▪ Maintains two core values throughout campaign
▪ Trust
▪ Install trust in P&G as a brand and what they stand for through creating emotional experiences
▪ Integrity
▪ Displaying sincerity and honor for not only Olympic moms, but all moms
▪ Page Principles
▪ Manage for Tomorrow
▪ Campaign did not stem from a substantial issue, mainly wanted to promote P&G as a single brand
unit from then on
▪ Prove it with action
▪ For every like on Facebook, P&G donated to Youth Sports Programs

13. QUESTIONS
▪ Do you think P&G made a mistake not to include Dad’s in their campaign?
▪ How do you think P&G handled “going live” with these advertisements?
▪ Do you think they were smart to start with social media?
▪ Do you think that any other page principles are at play in this campaign?
▪ For you, does this campaign increase brand awareness for P&G?
▪ If so, how?
▪ If not, why?
▪ What was the most essential tactic used by P&G throughout this campaign?
▪ Any suggestions on how they could expand the reach of their campaign?