Dive Brief:

• Pampers on Sunday (Sept. 7) unveiled a new ad campaign and refreshed brand ethos that will underpin the marketing creative and products for the Procter & Gamble-owned diaper brand moving forward, per details shared with Marketing Dive. 
• “Behind Every Baby” launched with a 60-second anthem spot around the NFL’s opening weekend. The commercial aims to tug on the heartstrings as a rendition of “Stand By Me” shows the key role diapers play in every babies’ growth journey, concluding on a shot of a baby standing up and walking, presumably for the first time. 
• Pampers is supporting the campaign by partnering with influencers and content creators, including “Love is Blind” couple Lauren Speed-Hamilton and Cameron Hamilton, as well as running social activations targeted at parents to broaden its impact.

Dive Insight:

Pampers is embracing more cinematic, emotionally driven ads to better stand out from rivals that lean on product-led marketing. The P&G brand launched its latest effort, part of a larger revamp of its brand ethos, around NFL season kickoff, capitalizing on a destination TV viewing occasion for families. 

The anthem spot for “Behind Every Baby” tracks tots in Pampers through several stages of growth and emotional ups and downs, from being born to sleeping soundly in a crib and finally taking first steps. The ad underscores Pamper’s legacy of more than six decades in diaper innovation while spotlighting product offerings centered on comfort. PG One, Publicis Groupe’s bespoke unit for P&G, is behind the tear-jerking campaign, with creative spearheaded by Saatchi & Saatchi New York and PR headed up by MSL. 

Pampers is extending the platform through influencers in another sign of how social-first strategies are becoming more important to legacy CPG brands. In Pampers’ case, it is angling to reach millennial and older Gen Z parents who are more digitally native and on the cusp of parenthood. Influencer content will focus on a mix of entertainment and how-to videos sharing practical advice. The Hamiltons, a couple who met on the Netflix reality TV hit “Love is Blind,” are expecting their first child soon.

On Sept. 9, Pampers will try to orchestrate the World’s Biggest Birth Announcement, asking parents of newborns to post photos of their child to TikTok for the chance to win a year’s supply of diapers. The sweepstakes, which will select 100 winning families, is timed to the day that sees the most births, on average, in the U.S.

In addition, Pampers hosted photo experiences for newborns at Wellspan Health in York, Pennsylvania, and The Christ Hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio, to kick off the campaign’s social push.