A core part of the IOC TOP global partner’s at-Games plan for London 2012 was P&G’s Family Home – a hospitality and experiential initiative that the brand itself describes as a ‘home-away-from-home’ for athletes and families during the Olympic Games.
Mums and families of many Olympians (including the 150 sponsored by P&G itself) were invited to the venue throughout the Olympic Games.
The venue was designed by P&G’s Global Design Officer Philip Duncan and aimed to provide a refuge from the world’s media for athletes and their families, as well as a location for impromptu celebration.
Those 60 mothers lucky enough to attend the Family Home’s launch opening were even given tickets to the Opening Ceremony itself.
Attending the venue, which was created within the vast vaults of the temporarily closed Vinopolis restaurant on London’s South Bank and was developed with Landor Associates, were the mothers of some of the Games’ outstanding athletes including US swimmer Ryan Lochte and British cyclist Sir Chris Hoy.
Not only were they able to benefit from the impressive array of entertainment, hospitality and utilities on show (which ranged from big screens, food and drink, to a laundry service and beauty treatments), but they could also rub shoulders with P&G’s top brass (such as Chairman and CEO Bob McDonald) and IOC heavyweights (including President Jacques Rogge).
Entertainment was provided by UK singer Rebecca Ferguson.
Most of the services and benefits provided were linked directly to various P&G products including Ariel/Tide and Pampers. The salon section alone provided 25,000 beauty treatments during the Games.
London’s Family Home is actually a revamp of a similar P&G initiative in Vancouver during the 2010 Winter Olympics.
The Family Home, part of the brand’s huge umbrella ‘Thank You Mum’s big Olympic idea which focuses on the role of mums in each and every athlete’s life journey to the Games.
The largest campaign in P&G’s 175-year history was brought to life across multiple channels, events, as well as in four million stores around the world.
Towards the end of the Games P&G also announced plans to raise a further $25m for Youth Sport at an event attended by P&G ambassadors such as Tyson Gay and Paula Radcliffe.
The initiative will see the FMCH giant establish and sustain youth sport programs around the world, as part of its 10-year partnership with the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Indeed, purchases of P&G brands have already raised more than $5m to help fund youth sports programs.
Comment:
This direct, physical element of P&G’s Olympic work not only connects the marketing to the underlying ideas behind the campaign, but also ensures that its Olympic advertising and marketing also has a distinctly direct and human side.
During Activative’s own venue visit to the venue (right beside our offices) we were certainly impressed not only by the vast array of hospitality and services, but also by the clever way the space offered both open/social and private/intimate spaces for athletes’ families.
Links:
www.PGThankYouMomMediaCenter.com.
www.thankyoumom.pg.com/news-events
http://www.youtube.com/proctergamble
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