Cannes Creative Effectiveness Case: Bounty ʻLet The Spills Begin (Anthem)ʼ

Bounty goes to the Olympics and breaks the brandʼs records Summary:

This is the story of how a paper towel brand broke records in driving volume, by going someplace that it didnʼt seem to fit – the Olympics.

As Bounty prepped for 2012, the brand faced both increased pressure from private label and consumers readily switching products. So, communication needed to both: 1) reestablish functional superiority, and 2) build an emotional connection.

At the same time, Bounty needed communication dedicated to the P&G Olympics sponsorship. This wasnʼt an easy task since paper towels arenʼt typically associated with athletics.

To bridge the gap, the team tapped into an insight about how moms of athletes viewed messes. These moms cleaned a lot of messes, because kids that play sports play everywhere they go, leaving knocked-over cups and muddy footprints in their wake. But, surprisingly, these moms werenʼt trying to stop them. They loved to see their kids having fun and getting better at their sports. They were dealing with the frustration of spills and messes for the benefit of their kids.

This insight allowed the communication to do two things to answer its challenge: 1) show her that Bounty could tackle tough messes caused by sports in the house, and 2) speak to our targetʼs hearts by showing her we understood what mattered to her as a mom.

This campaign could have been small. Officially all that was needed were Olympics- themed packaging and a TV tag. But, the work went way beyond that. In addition to ʻSpills,ʼ a product-focused TV spot, and a robust digital program, the creative team planned something more audacious. Without budget, they scripted and shot another film called ʻLet The Spills Begin (Anthem),ʼ celebrating unsung efforts of moms that dealt with messes so kids could follow their dreams.

ʻLet the Spills Begin (Anthem)ʼ earned one of only two coveted places purchased by P&G during the Olympic opening ceremonies. It also got views and interaction far beyond expectation, and even far beyond high-engagement brands.1

And while athletes were breaking records in London, the work broke records of its own. The ʻSpillsʼ TV spot drove more volume than any other Bounty spot in history, and achieved the third highest-ever ROI calculated for the brand2. In the end, it showed that Bounty won the battle for consumersʼ hearts and minds against private label.

1 AdAge, 2012 and YouTube leaderboard, 2012

2 Nielsen, Bounty RTMMM and METT Results. 2013