Procter & Gamble Takes Olympic Gold With ‘Love Over Bias’
The core principal that drives Greenwich Melts is marketing to melt the heart. It sounds obvious, but the idea is seldom discussed in meetings. Then every so often a brand attaches its key to a kite and flies it high in the air hoping for lightning to strike. When it does, it sends an electric shock through your entire body. That’s what it must have felt like to Procter & Gamble’s Chief Branding Officer Marc Pritchard when Weiden+Kennedy pitched its “Love Over Bias” (#LoveOverBias) campaign to reignite the “Proud Sponsor of Moms.”
Moms have always been the target audience for every brand in P&G’s portfolio. Tide, Charmin, Dawn, Pampers and Always need Mom’s loyalty when she is pushing a cart down the supermarket aisle or pushing a button on Amazon. She’s responsible for more than $65 billion in sales for P&G each year. So how do you sustain Mom’s loyalty? First, you have to get in front of her.
P&G has long been a sponsor of the Olympics and for good reason. According to NBC, the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi had 21.4 million views per night and over 61 million unique visitors to its digital content with a heavy concentration in the 18 – 49 demographic. The 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang is likely to reach even more viewers and more moms all over the world. The platform also aligns well to P&G wanting to put the brand behind anti-bias messaging. “We want to be a force for good and a force for growth,” says Pritchard.
Will P&G Win Gold With “Love Over Bias?”
From the minute you hear the “Ooh Child” cover by MILCK, you are pulled into the world of Mom. She stands watch over her children to protect what is most fragile to them: their dreams. From the speed skater, to the figure skater, to the hockey player, we follow a young downhill skier as she races through the slalom to the finish line. The audience erupts in applause and we look to Mom and breathe a sigh of relief with her. She made it!
I shared the commercial with two moms whom I cherish. After viewing it, one had tears in her eyes and the other said “this is everything.”
“Love Over Bias” represents the best in marketing. It truly melts the heart.