Like Meryl Davis and Charlie White, Procter & Gamble ’s latest ad in their “Thank You, Mom” campaign scored gold. The “Pick Them Back Up” spot is filled with beautiful music, beautiful imagery, and poignant moments, but more importantly, it is grounded in great customer insight, the common narrative of mom as nurse, cheerleader, and nurturer of dreams.
The ad taps into a universal emotion, best summarized by Jodi Allen, Procter & Gamble’s vice president of North American marketing and brand operations. “Mom’s contributions to their kids’ lives are full of incredible sacrifices. We’re so moved by these moms and the way they help their children overcome obstacles to achieve their dreams. We celebrate the person that helped get each athlete there and who picked them up each time they fell — mom!”
In our book Tuning into Mom: Understanding America’s Most Powerful Consumer, Michal Clements and I note that many moms are personally involved in their child’s extracurricular activities, including sports and other forms of physical exercise such as dance. It is common to hear moms of elementary school children joking about how their lives are governed by their child’s sports, and that they spend hours getting their children to events. Beyond chauffeuring, many moms stay to watch the game (often) or practice. Our book’s research, culled from the Marketing to Moms Coalition’s State of the American Mom (SOAM) report, noted that 40% of moms spend more than three hours per week attending their child’s extracurricular activities, while another 38% spend up to three hours a week. Anecdotally, in the Evanston, Illinois, American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO) league, it is not uncommon for at least one or both parents to attend every soccer game of their elementary school child. Evanston AYSO soccer games are typically held on the weekends. Attending weekend games becomes part of the family lifestyle, and mom begins to think of herself as the parent of a “sporty” child. One mother’s observations are a good illustration of this dynamic.
“Sports are a physical necessity for him. It’s also important for leadership, and emotional stability. There is the physical chemistry of what happens when you are competing. He has to stay focused for teammates and himself and support the goals. There is a discipline transfer. My role is to ‘support his passion.’ I see myself as ‘football mom’ because I feel his desires and support them. I am not a mom who is really afraid of injury—if this is his passion, part of it is that he will get an injury. There are many arenas to be involved in the sports world with your child. The child feels your total focus; you want the parent involved.”
The Evanston, Illinois scenario plays out across the country as many moms are highly involved in their children’s sports programs. The evidence for this can be found on any Saturday or Sunday morning by observing local sports fields, which are full of moms watching their children play sports. Our research finds that physical exercise and fitness are a top priority for moms of children of all ages. In addition to physical exercise and fitness, sports programs for their children are also important to moms, especially for moms of children ages 7-17. Moms’ involvement in their children’s extracurriculars typically means sports. Forty-nine percent of moms report that their children participate in sports as an extracurricular, well ahead of other extracurricular areas like music (21%), art (15%), dance (15%) or theater (7%).
Our SOAM research also finds that 60% of moms of children aged 7-12 report their child participates in sports, well ahead of total moms at 49%, high school moms (53%), or moms of children under 6 (46%). Sports are increasingly available for players of all talent levels, and mom/parent involvement is emphasized by leagues, and sometimes required for the children to participate. Mom can directly be a coach or an assistant coach of the team , or contribute as the “Team Mom” responsible for coordinating snacks, the coach’s thank-you gift, and other duties.
The combination of prioritizing sports as an extracurricular activity and moms’ acceptance of sports as an important part of the family lifestyle is a major trend in today’s family life. Savvy marketers understand the importance of mining this reality. Brands that focus on sports have long made sponsoring youth teams a priority, often to build a relationship with the child. For example, Nike supports both moms and their child athletes by offering customized equipment to both enhance performance (for the child) and promote safety (for the mom).
This family lifestyle sports trend in the elementary school years presents a unique opportunity to speak with mom and help support her with her child’s extracurricular activities. P&G has done this beautifully through both their equity advertising, as well as through complementary product-specific messaging through social media and other channels.
If you haven’t seen the spot yet, it’s worth grabbing a Puff and enjoying:
