Cannes 2012: P&G chooses Olympics to thank moms

P&G, the official sponsor for the London Olympics, launched several creatives for its various brands. What was required was a common thread to unify all the brand communication. The design cell thus created Thank you mom.

Procter & Gamble, the 175-year old, world's largest fast moving consumer goods company - is older than many countries of the world and the official sponsor for the London Olympics, which is to be held in July this year.

P&G owns more than 600 different products and created several creatives for its various brands especially for the games. But what was required was a common thread to unify all the brand communication designed for its different brands. So, the company's design cell created a special band - Thank you mom.

Olympic Games athletes and hopefuls Ashton Eaton, Sarah Robles and Diana Lopez share how their moms' love and support fuelled their dreams. The films were showcased at the International Festival of Creativity, Cannes. These creatives will be aired for 15 days across four continents.

Marc Pritchard, global marketing and brand building officer, P&G,, says, "Millions of people advocated these films - watch this film. It has moved me; it will move you as well."

Pritchard says, "It has been possible because we had the guts to say 'yes' to the idea."

Putting forward the three rules that P&G follows, Pritchard comments, "The three principles are -Find the fruits in the roots, fight for freedom and have the courage to say yes."

Explaining further, he says, "At P&G,, we do not make passionate products like cars. The consumers do not think about us. But they use our products every day and judge our products every day. A slight change in the product can switch the consumer's preferences."

"They do not think about us but change very fast."

Pritchard believes in getting to the origination of the brand, it's DNA, its packaging cycles, a history of when the brand floundered and when it flourished. And, the entire exercise provides the insight for the brand. This is P&G's way of finding the fruits in the roots.

Pritchard says, "When I joined P&G, the first lesson that my boss gave me was - we do not believe in lifecycles for brands. At P&G, we are obsessed with innovation."

Explaining the next principle, 'fight for freedom', Pritchard says, "Clients get the advertising they deserve."

"We have found out that advertising agencies tend to ignore all creative briefs," he opines.

This is why at P&G, they prefer to kill the old brief and give the agencies a business challenge.