Pampers has launched a nationwide #ThankYouMidwife TV and social media campaign aiming to deliver a ‘thank you’ to each of the nation’s 40,000 midwives for everything they do for expecting families. The campaign will also raise money for the Benevolent Fund of the Royal College of Midwives.

For every ‘thank you’ shared on social media with the hashtag #ThankYouMidwife, Pampers will donate £1 to the charity. In its first week, the campaign delivered 777,242,956 impressions, with nearly 14,000 ‘thank yous’ (7664 on Instagram, 5111 on Twitter and 1134 on Facebook).

Pampers points out that while the rest of the UK will be tucking into thei turkey, midwives will be delivering 1,400 babies. Whilst 80% of UK mums say it is important to thank their midwife, only 58% admit they actually do so. As a result, one in three midwives feel underappreciated despite putting new life into the arms of parents every day.

The festive 60” TVC was developed by Saatchi & Saatchi London. It features the maternity wards at the Princess Anne Hospital in Southampton and New Forest Birth Centre and showcases the diverse tasks midwives undertake, with passion and care, in order to help bring the most precious gift into the world: babies. It features real footage of midwives going about their daily duties with real families and is set to the Christmas carol, “The 12 Days of Christmas” with a wry twist on the lyrics.

The TV and VOD campaign, with media planning and buying executed by Publicis Media, will run until December 31^st 2017 and is also being amplified across social media channels including 5” GIFs and conversation cards on Twitter. A targeted consumer PR and influencer outreach campaign will be executed by MSL featuring Katie Piper as Pampers Brand Ambassador.

Earlier this year, Pampers released the campaign ‘Little Fighters’, which launched its Preemie Protection nappies for premature babies. The emotive TVC followed nine real families, their premature babies, and the hospital staff at the Neonatal Unit at the same Southampton hospital.

Caroline Gorrie, Pampers Brand Manager, says: “Pampers want to support the UK’s midwives for their important role in the happy, healthy development of every baby. After working so closely with midwives on our Preemie campaign, we’ve seen how much they give. In return, we want to give midwives a national celebration this Christmas, and all year round.”

Gill Walton, Chief Executive and General Secretary at the Royal College of Midwives (RCM), comments: “The RCM is delighted that Pampers have designed a campaign to thank midwives for the incredible work they do. Midwives and Maternity Support Workers (MSWs) work tirelessly to deliver the very best care and support to women and their babies and often in difficult circumstances.

Walton adds: “The RCM now has over 47,000 members and some of our members do fall into financial difficulty. The Benevolent Fund of the RCM Trust is a charity that supports our members in times of financial need. The Benevolent Fund has little income compared to the need and there is always a need for additional funds in order for the fund to help more midwives in need. That is why every single hashtag used during this campaign can really make a big difference.”

Pampers is a part of The Procter & Gamble Company and is the #1-selling nappy worldwide. Every day, more than 25 million babies in 100 countries around the world wear Pampers. P&G serves consumers around the world with a brand portfolio including Always, Ambi Pur, Ariel, Fairy, Febreze, Gillette, Head & Shoulders, Lenor, Olay, Oral-B, Pampers, Pantene and SK-II. P&G operates in approximately 70 countries worldwide.

The Royal College of Midwives’ Trust Benevolent Fund is a charity whose main aim is to support midwives and maternity support workers in times of financial need, helping to get lives and careers back on track. It works in partnership with the Cavell Nurses’ Trust to meet this aim.

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Brands need to assume a people-first approach and stop using stereotypes in their advertising not just because it’s the ethical thing to do: there’s also a growing commercial imperative, says Sally McLaren, director at Sense.

In the past few months several gender-related stories have hit the national headlines. Jodie Whittaker was announced as the first ever female Dr. Who, the BBC revealed its huge gender pay gap, John Lewis made its children’s clothing ‘gender neutral’, and it was refreshing to see the Advertising Standards Association (ASA) announce that it is working on tougher standards for what it called harmful gender stereotypes in advertisements.

The ASA’s stance hasn’t come a moment too soon. The issue has been bubbling under the surface since Procter & Gamble’s #unstereotyping speech at last year’s Cannes Lions Festival, where the brand pledged to end gender stereotyping across its brand advertising.

While this was welcomed wholeheartedly, it’s a touch ironic since P&G has done so much to promote stereotypes in its Fairy Liquid commercials over the years – they still featured a woman washing up as late as the Noughties! Only in the 2015 version did they first show a man doing the dishes. But let’s give credit where it’s due.

Although a lot of ad stereotyping these days is subtle, you can always find a jaw-dropping example, such as Uber’s French promotional marketing campaign a couple of years ago offering a 20-minute ride with an “incredibly hot chick”. Before it, and the related video, were taken down due to the public outcry, the blog post started off by asking readers: “Who said women don’t know how to drive?”

Around the same time a UK newspaper ran a promotion offering a chance to “Win a date with a Daily Star Page 3 babe.” The ASA ruled that newspaper campaign sexist and offensive. Its argument is that persistent stereotyping, which has built up over the years, can be harmful, as it restricts the choices, aspirations and opportunities for young adults. This was supported by research released recently by Universal McCann, which found 49% of women surveyed “felt pressure from ads to be a certain way” and 44% agreed that ads had made them feel “not good enough”.

So, what will the ASA’s new regulations mean for brands?

Hopefully, naming and shaming those that transgress will encourage them to clean up their acts. The question is, though, whether that will stop companies creating products that reinforce gender stereotypes. Perhaps the backlash by the general public will be enough to stop this, as Clarks found out recently. The shoe maker was accused of “everyday sexism” for calling a girls’ school shoe “Dolly Babe,” while the boys’ equivalent was named “Leader.” The girls’ shoes carry a heart-patterned insole, while the boys’ insoles are decorated with footballs.

Having been widely condemned across social media from the general public and prominent politicians, Dolly Babe was taken off sale.

Rather than hindering brands’ ability to promote themselves, unstereotyping should actually make their campaigns more engaging and effective.

Why? Because gender stereotyping is simply lazy marketing.

There is no denying that stereotypes can be effective. In this era of ‘audio-off’ video content, stereotypical behaviour portrayals are an easy way to get across a product benefit or brand’s message. But looking beyond gender stereotypes demands more creativity, resulting in campaigns that are more original and have greater impact.

Furthermore, stereotypical campaigns don’t reflect the real world, where – with the exception of pay it would seem – men’s and women’s roles have been becoming increasingly blurred over the past couple of decades. By falling back on gender stereotypes in their advertising, brands are no longer depicting a world that consumers recognise, so they are less likely to resonate or engage.

This lazy approach smacks of putting products before people. By thinking people first, and acknowledging, for example, the changing role of women within society that’s currently taking place, brands will create far more effective advertising. And this has been proved by the few brands that have made the leap.

It’s no fluke that Always’ Like a Girl Emojis US campaign was ruled the second most effective ad in 2016 by WARC research. This was one of a number of highly creative and pioneering campaigns under the Like a Girl banner that address the impact of gender stereotyping head on rather than depending on stereotypes to sell stuff like so many other brands do. The result has been highly effective marketing that has worked wonders for brand affinity, but also transformed the phrase ‘like a girl’ from an insult into an empowering message.

Meanwhile, Sport London’s This Girl Can campaign addressed not only gender stereotypes, but age ones too – and it was one of the most successful government campaigns ever run, resulting in a massive increase in British women playing sport. And Twitter got in on the act with the release of the latest ad in the powerful and empowering #SheInspiresMe campaign.

The 2016 Maltesers ads took things one step further, featuring female characters making light of their disabilities as an extension of the brand’s ‘Look on the Light Side’ campaign (see picture above). This was part of Channel 4’s diversity initiative in which it offered brands the chance to get £1 million’s worth of airtime for free in return for ads that featured disability. While this was a tremendous step forward, we do have to question if Mars would have made the ad without the airtime offer.

The main thing, however, is that Channel 4 inspired Mars to do this; and hopefully the fact that the resulting campaign was not only seen as pioneering but also highly successful will encourage the confectionery giant to continue to keep up the good work.

Looking at gender stereotyping from a different perspective, EDF Energy’s Pretty Curious campaign toured schools across the UK recently inspiring teenage girls to pursue science, technology, engineering and maths subjects. The aim was to tackle the gender imbalance in these subjects, which is threatening to cause a major skills gap in these key areas that are increasingly vital to the UK economy – and of course to EDF itself.

By fighting for gender equality, EDF is also helping secure its own future success. But so is Mars and the other brands that are ‘unstereotyping’, because they’re actually doing what consumers want.

Returning to the Universal McCann study, the research underlined the business benefits of pushing traditional gender boundaries, with 65% of women and 59% of men saying they like it when brands use traditional media to challenge stereotypes.

It’s not just what women want, but also what men want – so doesn’t it make commercial sense for brands to want it too?

Sally McLaren is a director at real world marketing agency Sense.

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Procter & Gamble-owned toilet paper brand Charmin offered New Yorkers their own private and personal toilet facilities last week, with the launch of Charmin Van-GO, the first-ever on-demand mobile bathroom service.

With US actor Anthony Anderson, star of popular sit-com black-ish, onboard, the Charmin Van-GO will travel through some of NYC’s busiest neighborhoods to bring bathrooms to those in need, while surprising and delighting people with bathroom humour along the route.

New Yorkers in select NYC neighbourhoods were invited to go online to CharminVanGo.com and follow simple directions to request a visit from the Charmin Van-GO. With just a few clicks, they could ask for a totally private and super clean bathroom to visit the location they requested. They could also download electronic coupons for money-off their next purchase of Charmin.

The experiential marketing activation was piloted on June 21 and June 22

“At Charmin, we’re always looking to bring people the best bathroom experience, both at home with our tissue and in new and unexpected ways,” said Janette Yauch, Associate Brand Director, Charmin. “With the Charmin Van-GO, we are providing one of the largest, most-trafficked cities in the world a new way to Enjoy the Go… on the go.”

The on-demand bathroom service was available from 8.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time in New York City neighbourhoods including: Columbus Circle, Lincoln Center, Herald Square, Rockefeller Plaza, Bryant Park, Union Square and the High Line Elevated Park.

Charmin was launched in 1928 by the Hoberg Paper Company of Wisconsin. Hoberg changed its name to Charmin Paper Company in 1950 before bought by P&G in 1957. P&G sold the rights to the brand in Europe to SCA in 2008 and SCA changed the name to Cushelle.

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Shaving brand Gillette is celebrating its partnership with the British & Irish Lions rugby team with a new film featuring international rugby player George North plus a promotion offering the chance to win an ‘ultimate’ trip to New Zealand to watch the Lions in action during their upcoming tour.

The film, ‘The Honest Player’ (which can be viewed on Gillette’s YouTube channel), features North and historic moments from previous Lions Tours and celebrates the importance of preparation and precision for men to be their best – a common value shared by both Gillette and the Lions, the brand says.

The film features the Gillette Fusion range, with five high-performance blades on the front for a close, comfortable shave and a precision trimmer on the back to help men shape their own style.

Gillette & Venus Brand Manager Matt Thomas says: “The sponsorship of the British & Irish Lions is something we’re very proud of.  At Gillette, we aim to help men look, feel and be their best by preparing them for what lies ahead. The idea of preparation is synonymous to both Gillette and the famous rugby team, and this is something we wanted to portray in our film with George.”

Gillette will bring the partnership to life in all major retailers across the UK through a competition offering consumers the chance to win the ultimate trip to New Zealand to watch the Lions.

Gillette is owned by Procter & Gamble, which operates in around 70 countries worldwide. In addition to Gillette, the P&G portfolio includes Always, Ambi Pur, Ariel, Fairy, Febreze, Gillette, Head & Shoulders, Lenor, Olay, Oral-B, Pampers, Pantene, SK-II and Vicks.

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Procter & Gamble has launched its latest Gillette razor in Australia with an in-store virtual reality (VR) experiential activation at supermarkets and pharmacies across the country.

Designed by international brand experience agency BEcause, the Gillette ProShield VR Experience aims to give Australian men an entertaining and immersive insight into the new razor, which features dual lubricating strips before and after the blades.

It is one of the first times Procter & Gamble has used VR to promote the Gillette brand globally.

Participants in the VR experience find themselves on a virtual roller-coaster ride along a yellow lubrication strip, flying around a man shaving in his bathroom, before diving into his bristles in the path of a smooth close-up shave.

The campaign launched mid-February, and is touring hundreds of Coles stores nationwide over the coming months, before being rolled out to pharmacies across the country. Up to 40 Gillette ProShield VR experiences will be live in store at any one time.

Ryan Edwards, Assistant Brand Manager for Gillette at P&G, comments: “A lot of Australian men still don’t give much thought to their choice of razor or quality of shave, often just opting for lower priced disposable razors. We wanted to find an original way to really stand out and disrupt their shopping auto-pilot. Virtual reality delivers that in abundance. It’s a brilliant way to entertain and educate our target audience with something totally different in the market.”

Meredith Cranmer, Founder and Managing Director of BEcause Australia, adds: “Research shows 55% of men and 40% of women express a strong interest in experiencing VR. People are always curious about what they’re going to discover, and intensely focused on the brand experience whilst taking part. It’s a fun, unexpected and contemporary way of engaging consumers – and ideal for the kind of modern cutting-edge male audience Gillette is trying to reach with this campaign.”

Because is an international brand experience agency with offices in the UK, Ireland and Australia. Clients include Procter & Gamble, British Gas, Groupe Bel and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

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Former Girls Aloud singer Kimberley Walsh has launched Pampers’ latest ‘Amazing Babies’ UK campaign, with the brand partnering with UNICEF for the 11th consecutive year in the drive to eliminate Maternal and Newborn Tetanus (MNT) from the Third World countries where it is most common.

Special packs of Pampers are available across a selection of Pampers nappies and wipes, carrying the ‘Amazing Babies’ campaign message, “1 Pack = 1 Vaccine”. So far, Pampers has helped UNICEF, national governments and local organisations to eliminate MNT in 19 countries, saving an estimated 500,000 newborn babies so far. However, the two partners want to get rid of the disease in another 19 countries, and warn that MNT still claims the lives of 49,000 newborns every year, one baby every 11 minutes.

MNT, which affects families in some of the poorest areas of the world, occurs when newborns are infected as a direct result of unhygienic birthing practices, such as cutting the umbilical cord with unsterile instruments. Once MNT has been contracted there is no real cure.

This year, Indonesia and Niger joined the list of countries where Pampers funding has helped to eliminate MNT, in an effort that involves working with governments and partnering with organizations on the ground to expand access to life saving vaccine.

Pampers brand manager at P&G, Paolo Haeusermann, says: “By simply buying packs of Pampers with the UNICEF logo or by engaging with campaign content online, UK parents can make a genuine difference and continue to support our wish to eliminate Maternal and Newborn Tetanus everywhere.”

Campaign ambassador Kimberley Walsh adds: “I feel hugely honoured to be supporting the Pampers-UNICEF campaign in its 11th year. As a mum to Bobby, and expecting my second child later this year, I feel great empathy with other mothers around the world who, just as I do, want nothing more than to deliver a happy, healthy baby. The reason I’m so passionate about this campaign is that mums and dads here in the UK can make a very real difference by doing nothing more than buying the Pampers that they need for their little ones. By simply buying packs of Pampers with the UNICEF logo or by engaging with campaign content online, UK parents can make a genuine difference and continue to support our wish to eliminate Maternal and Newborn Tetanus everywhere.”

For each purchase of a Pampers pack with the UNICEF logo, Pampers will donate the cost of one dose of vaccine. For every parent who shares a photo of their baby, Pampers will donate another vaccine. Finally, Pampers and UNICEF are encouraging consumers to sign Pampers UNICEF Pledge Donations and become monthly donors to UNICEF.

The Pampers brand is owned by Procter & Gamble. To find out more, visit pampers.co.uk.

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Procter & Gamble (P&G) is boosting consumer awareness of its Herbal Essences brand with a ‘Free Haircut’ promotion this summer. Running from now until October 31st, the initiative enables shoppers to claim a free haircut, including a wash and blow-dry, when they buy any two 400ml bottles of Herbal Essences shampoo or conditioner in one transaction.

All they need to do is upload their receipts online at www.herbalessences-freehaircut.co.uk within 14 days to receive a voucher to use at participating salons nationwide.

The initiative forms part of Herbal Essences’ new 360° support campaign which includes TV and print advertisements, PR, plus in-store, digital and social media activations. Designed to amplify the brand’s powerful scents messaging, the new advert will increase consumer awareness, whilst the standout POS material will ensure strong impact at point of purchase and drive trial.

Herbal Essences will run the free haircut promotion across its full 400ml portfolio including.

The offer is open to UK & Ireland residents aged 18 years and over.

Participants must purchase two 400ml bottles of Herbal Essences in the same transaction. They then have 14 days from purchase to visit www.herbalessences-freehaircut.co.uk to upload their proof of purchase and register for the promotion. Once registered, they will receive an email within 14 days containing a URL and unique code that will give them access to the listings of participating salons. They then have another 14 days in which to enter their unique code and postcode or county.

Once successfully logged in, they will be able to browse listings, choose their preferred salon and download and print a voucher. Once downloaded the voucher will be valid for 120 days.

Participants will need to call the number on the voucher to book an appointment for their free haircut, quoting ‘Herbal Essences Free Hair Cut Promotion’.

The promotion has been organised for P&G by TLC Marketing.

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P&G has teamed up with celebrity performer and TV presenter Kimberly Wyatt to create a series of spring cleaning-inspired dance moves for each room of the house, and is running a series of dance-related competitions with Magic Radio.

In association with P&G’s household brands Fairy, Flash, Viakal and Febreze, the campaign aims to inspire the nation to dance their way through dirt, grease and grime during the year’s spring clean. P&G’s Dance Your Place Clean with Kimberly Wyatt video can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXskTvuQbDE

Mariella Mariotti, Surface Care Assistant Brand Manager at P&G UK & Ireland, says: “With the spring cleaning season now in full swing, we’re encouraging consumers to follow Kimberly’s easy dance moves to make household chores a more enjoyable task. We have conducted a study which reveals that Brits will go to great lengths to make cleaning more fun, and the spring cleaning-inspired dance moves do just that.”

All campaign images and videos featuring Kimberly Wyatt can be viewed on P&G’s online consumer platform www.supersavvyme.co.uk.

The campaign is supported by a Magic Radio competition to win a selection of music-themed prizes such as a seven night family Flamenco holiday to Madrid, tickets to a London West End musical or £150 in music vouchers. Consumers enter the competition via http://creative.bauermedia.co.uk/pg/.

There will be eight weekly draws with three names selected at random each week to win the three prizes – the holiday, the musical tickets and the vouchers.

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Procter & Gamble’s leading dishwash brand Fairy is partnering the Make-A-Wish Foundation for the 12^th year running, and has teamed up with The Saturdays’ Rochelle Humes to raise funds through the charity’s annual Bake-A-Wish competition.

Humes headed the judging panel for the baking challenge, which culminated in a giant bake sale taking place at Westfield, London (Shepherd’s Bush) last weekend (November 20^th to November 22^nd).

The fundraising campaign called for passionate bakers from across the country to submit the recipes for their favourite festive cake.  The entries were whittled down to five finalists. The winner was unveiled at Westfield on Saturday, with the winning recipe used to make cakes which were then sold at the bake sale, fronted by Humes, to shoppers in return for a £1 donation.

Fairy matched every plate washed over the weekend as a result of the bake sale with a £10 donation, and was aiming to serve 12,000 slices, with all the plates being washed with just one 780ml bottle of Fairy liquid.

The funds raised will go towards Make-a-Wish, the charity that grants magical wishes to enrich the lives of children and young people fighting life-threatening conditions.

Rochelle Humes says: “I’m so glad that I get to be involved in such a great charity initiative. Make-A-Wish UK do fantastic work.”

Emily Williams, Brand Manager for Fairy UK, adds: “We’ve been working with Make-A-Wish UK for 12 years now. The aim of the event in Westfield is to not only raise funds for Make-A-Wish UK but demonstrate the power of the bake sale and encourage people up and down the country to host their own Bake-A-Wish event.”

Fairy, P&G’s signpost brand, has just been announced as one of the 10 most trusted brands in a report published by the British Brands Group.

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Pampers and UNICEF have marked the landmark 10^th year of their on-pack vaccine partnership by announcing the elimination of maternal and newborn tetanus (MNT) in 17 countries*.

Supported by celebrity mum of two Emma Bunton, the ‘1 pack = 1 vaccine’ campaign will run until end of December 2015 with special marked packs available across a selection of Pampers nappies and wipes. For every pack purchased and each video viewed or shared, the brand will donate the cost of one vaccine to help UNICEF continue its fight against tetanus.

Since the Pampers UNICEF partnership began in 2006, the brand’s funding has already helped to eliminate maternal and newborn tetanus in 17 countries, with an estimated 500,000 newborn babies saved and a vaccine reaching a mother and her baby every second. However there are still 21 countries where the disease remains a threat.

Through the continuation of its simple “1 pack = 1 life-saving vaccine” campaign, Pampers funding is supporting vaccination activities in 20 of these countries and UNICEF’s work with the many partners involved in the elimination effort.

John Drake, Head of Convenience at P&G, says: “The sad truth is that maternal and newborn tetanus is still claiming lives even though it is easily preventable with a vaccine, which is why it is so important that together with UNICEF, we continue in our joint efforts to eliminate the disease everywhere. By simply buying packs of Pampers with the UNICEF logo or by engaging with the campaign’s online content, UK parents can make a genuine difference. We’re urging retailers to support the campaign by stocking up on special UNICEF packs.”

Emma Bunton, Pampers’ ambassador, comments: “Over the last 10 years this programme has helped save the lives of 500,000 newborns around the world; something I believe is an incredible achievement and something that parents in the UK should feel proud to have contributed to.”

UNICEF is the world’s leading organisation for children, promoting the rights and wellbeing of every child. Together with its partners, it works in 190 countries and territories to translate that commitment into practical action, focusing special effort on reaching the most vulnerable and excluded children, to the benefit of all children, everywhere.

Unicef UK raises funds to protect children in danger, transform their lives and build a safer world for tomorrow’s children.

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