• by Karl Greenberg , October 5, 2011

Procter & Gamble's Julie Eddleman, marketing director of North American media and shopper marketing for the company, was on Tuesday's NBC Universal "Power of the Purse" panel at Gotham Hall. It is perhaps apropos that she was in attendance at this third annual event, as P&G is repackaging its oldest brand, Ivory, and touting it in a new mom-focused campaign whose creative and strategy seems to mirror findings from the NBCU's latest data on contemporary moms.

The study, "Doing the Family Shuffle" -- based on a survey of 3,224 moms and 403 dads, plus in-home ethnographic research and focus groups -- found that while "traditionalism" was formerly the bedrock of families and culture, it is now only an aspiration for today's moms, since they feel they don't have it in their households.

Whereas only 4% of today's families fall into the U.S. Census' definition of "traditional" (stay-at-home mom, kids under 18) homes, 49% of moms say it is the No. 1 parenting style they aspire to, per the study. For instance, 77% of moms said they would rather have children with good manners than ones with good grades.

"There's a backlash to the complexity of current conditions like the economy and fragmented families," said Melissa Lavigne-Delville, VP of trends and strategic insights at NBCU. "Brands with strong "roots" have an opportunity to play up their heritage or consider resurrecting brand assets from this past."

The study also found that the advertising poster-parent -- the soccer mom -- represents a slim piece of the demographic pie, as only 11% of women identified as white, stay-at-home, helicoptering, and kids-before-me-style moms. "Power of the Purse" panelist Linda Sawyer, the CEO of Deutsch, North America, said moms are still portrayed in an idealistic way. "Motherhood is constantly juggling and balancing. Advertisers who can reach them in a real way will say their products won't make them 'super mom,' but will fill needs they have; that will go a long way."

Lavigne-Delville said women want products that are versatile, versus merely affordable. "Everything has sped up, and moms' lives are no exception. In the past, women and moms tried to achieve perfection. Perfection now is a moving target, and it's okay to be in 'beta' -- to be adaptable."

Procter & Gamble's new campaign for Ivory seems to be honing in on that desire for simplicity/traditionalism. Created by Portland, Ore.-based Wieden + Kennedy, the campaign uses humor to focus on the "value and simplicity of Ivory" with "Ivoryisms" -- simple truths about soap and life in general.

Five TV spots break this month. One spotlights personal soap dishes with the message, "A soap for every dish." Another does the same thing with the soap itself, which becomes sculptured over time. "At what point does soap stop being soap?" it asks.

Ivory's print and online campaign has "Ivoryisms" like "When dirt changes its formula so will we," "Just add water," and "Cleanliness needn't involve costliness." Print ads will appear in national women's and lifestyle publications, as well as select online destinations, beginning this month.

Said Eddleman: "When we think about brands, we think brand purpose; it's a high-level, deeply emotional thing. Each brand has a purpose that leads to a big idea that has to be transferred across all screens -- social, the printed page, and mobile devices -- inviting participation with our brands."

Karl Lieberman, creative director at Wieden + Kennedy, stated that the inspiration for this campaign came from the observation of "how, over the years, in an effort to make life simpler, we have somehow made life more complicated. Ivory has stayed true to its equity. It has remained the antithesis of the overly complicated -- it's a throwback to an era where there wasn't time for such things."

In addition to the television, print and online executions, Ivory will begin running a number of out-of-home ads in select cities and engaging fans/followers through the brand's Facebook and Twitter channels.

"It's understanding those deep human insights that are most important to market our brands," said Eddleman, noting the company's corporate advertising during the Vancouver Olympics that focused on the mothers of athletes. "Those are based on deep human insights that moms will do whatever they can to make lives better for their kids."