The NFL’s official detergent brand Tide is keeping a valued post-game tradition alive – despite the pandemic – through a clean ‘Jersey Swap’ programme.
Ahead of its new season kick-off, back in July the NFL announced that opposing teams could not exchange jerseys after games due to related Covid-19 health risks.
The long sports tradition of players swapping jerseys, often with signatures, has grown in popularity in recent years and it reflects intra athlete respect as well fuelling their support for cause-related initiatives and players were upset and quick to criticise the decision.
Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson called the decision “damn silly”, while DSan Francisco 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman said: “This is a perfect example of NFL thinking in a nutshell.Players can go engage in a full contact game and do it safely. However, it is deemed unsafe for them to exchange jerseys after said game.”
So Tide came up with a solution.
The Procter & Gamble cleaning brand and official detergent of the NFL, worked with the league and agreed to carry out a clean jersey swap program. This saw a branded SwapBot and club equipment managers collect game jerseys, wash them (with Tide of course) and then mail them to their intended recipients.
The ‘Jersey Swap – powered by the deep clean of new Tide Hygienic Clean’ initiative
The initiative, of course, spurned a marketing campaign based around a central digital microsite launched in early September at the start of the 20/21 season which was supported by social content.
The brand is encouraging participating players to post about the exchange on social media and some of the latest swaps powered by Tide Hygienic Clean are promoted via Twitter and Instagram using the #JerseySwap hashtag and accompanied by some behind the scenes footage.
Sources say we’re swapping this season. #JerseySwap pic.twitter.com/i9qCg5N8TC
— Tide (@tide) September 8, 2020
For the fastest GOAT I’ve seen on the field. @A_kamara6 this one’s for you. #JerseySwap #ad pic.twitter.com/NfugoPie2O
— Josh Jacobs (@iAM_JoshJacobs) September 22, 2020
This Clean #JerseySwap goes to the Champ @Sammywatkins -good game bro! Thanks to @Tide for the assist. #ad pic.twitter.com/RNbP2P4aDp
— Randall Cobb (@rcobb18) September 11, 2020
To help promote the project, Tide worked with ESPN to produce a five-minute segment that touches on the history of jersey swapping and explains why the tradition matters to NFL players (eg admiration, friendship, man cave memorabilia) with a Tide bottle and branded Tide box containing a just-washed jersey making brief appearances.
The clip first aired 11 October on ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown program.
On 25 October Tide also debuted a ‘SwapBot’ TV commercial starring brand spokesman and legendary quarterback Peyton Manning appearing alongside a robot version of Peyton).
In the 30-second spot created by P&G’s multi-agency Woven Collaborative, the former quarterback struggles to operate a robot while providing an overview of the initiative and touting Tide’s latest product innovation, Tide Hygienic Clean, which is designed to remove dirt and soil that you may not even be able to see on clothes.
Tide plans to continue its clean jersey swap campaign with an ad starring Quinnen Williams of the New York Jets and another with Mark Ingram of the Baltimore Ravens.
The two 30-second spots are scheduled to roll out in the coming weeks.
“The best idea always starts with an amazing insight,” said Jenny Maxwell, senior brand director at P&G’s fabric care division, which oversees Tide. “And if you can partner that with a culturally relevant moment, that makes it just pure gold for us.”
Outcome:
So far, according to Tide, more than 300 NFL players have signed up for and swapped tops through the initiative.
Comment:
The NFL and its stars had a problem and league sponsor Tide helped solve it.
Well, not really. Because it’s not just sports stars washing their clothes more regularly due to Covid-19. People around the world have been washing their clothes (as well as their hands) more frequently since the outbreak began and this has seen major laundry product manufacturers such as Unilever, Church & Dwight and The Clorox Company, all report revenue rises in recent months.
“People’s habits and practices have changed quite a bit,” said Tide Senior Director Jenny Maxwell, who adds that shoppers aren’t rewearing the same clothing items as often as they used to without washing them first.
P&G’s fabric care division – which includes Tide, Downy fabric softener and Bounce dryer sheets – grew by high single digits for the quarter ending 30 September and overall the Cincinnati-based company’s year-over-year net sales climbed 9% to $19.3bn (surpassing Wall Street’s expectations).
During the past three months P&G has increased marketing spend by more than $100m compared to the same period time last year.
Amongst Tide’s other standout and award winning NFL activations are ‘2019’s ‘When Is Laundry Night’ (see case study) and 2018’s ‘Thursday Night Tide Ads (see case study) and 2018’s award-winning ‘It’s a Tide Ad’ (see case study).
Links:
Tide:
https://www.youtube.com/c/tidelaundry
Woven Collaborative
https://www.woven-collaborative.com/
NFL
http://www.nflshop.com/source/bm-nflc…
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