• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, February 12, 2010

Spurred by research that consumers are more responsive to brands advertised in family-friendly programming, Procter & Gamble and Walmart say they are teaming up to produce "Secrets of The Mountain," a movie set to debut on NBC in April.

Walmart cites research from the Association of National Advertisers' Alliance for Family Entertainment, and found that only 23% of respondents say they are satisfied with the amount of family-oriented programming currently available. "We know that parents hate to have to run for the clicker when they're watching TV with their kids," an ANA spokesperson tells Marketing Daily. And research done jointly by Walmart and P&G finds that 85% of respondents said they would go out of their way to find such shows.

For advertisers, "both studies reinforced the importance of family-friendly ads appearing in the context of family-friendly TV content and the degree to which consumer perceptions of a company are shaped by the TV shows, events or activities that it sponsors," Walmart says in its announcement.

The Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer also says it is launching its Family Moments campaign, a marketing, in-store and digital initiative designed to promote family entertainment options. The campaign is an extension of the Walmart Family Moments effort introduced last fall, which included a push for Family Game Night. The company says additional Family Moments initiatives will be announced in the months ahead.

The ANA's Alliance for Family Entertainment now includes about 40 major national advertisers, and while it started more than a decade ago, has recently begun to expand its efforts in family-friendly script development for both TV and digital media, and has played a role in bringing such programs as "The Gilmore Girls," "Chuck," "Everybody Hates Chris" and "Friday Night Lights" to the small screen. The spokesperson says the group expects to have more programming announcements in June.