The FMBE awards – my personal top100, number 5
Posted by
5. Gigunda, Tide (2006, International)
Tsunami devastation in Japan adds a further layer of relevance to my selection as the 5th best FMBE award entry ever.
In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, how brave was P&G brand Tide to become part of the clean up operation, taking the risk of using P&G’s enormous power to help people without being perceived to be making commercial gain out of tragedy and distress?
The massive mobile launderette, ‘Clean Start’ was a great idea, and it was mobilised as fast as any emergency relief service. It needed perfect brand ambassadors to make it work and Gigunda put the right people in the right place on the same NOW time scale. And it so obviously did work, giving homeless survivors their dignity back. Tide provided its full service wash and fold when people were at breaking point and in so doing the brand actually started to become a part of people’s lives.
Can any brand really claim to be a part of someone’s life? When you look at the legacy here, I think you can because Tide became a part of the fabric of certain communities in New Orleans. Tide’s next move, ‘Loads of Hope’ was to become engaged in rebuilding people’s homes and inspiring neighbours to help each other to piece their lives back together. Tide funded building projects whilst it also got paint brushes into the hands of its brand ambassadors, and put some victim’s homes back together again.
If you haven’t seen the videos before, watch them now. It will make you proud to be in the same industry.
