Pampers was an important brand in our P&G portfolio, but soon after our appointment we realized that all the brand’s account team had been raised in an environment where mothers dreaded the routine of cleaning dirty diapers, which they had to do daily for the sake of their newborns. At the time of the portfolio orientation, we were all under the impression that the promise of Pampers would be addressed to mothers, highlighting relief from the ugly task of washing. However, we failed to realize that in 1962 P&G engineers had learnt about a paper-making process from Japan that helped them re-invent the paper production business, making it overwhelmingly more absorbent, softer and, most importantly, affordable. Hence, when we sat down to agree on the Pampers copy strategy, we realized that P&G had drafted it in such a way as to target the comfort of newborn babies rather than the convenience provided by Pampers to their mothers. Pampers would keep babies dry and comfortable more than any other diaper, due to its absorbency, allowing babies and parents to sleep through the night.
Then came the need to produce new copy for Pampers and here the agency’s challenge was not in developing the storyline and drawing the storyboard, but in ensuring the production quality was up to P&G’s standards. We were extremely honest in admitting our wish to learn, so a team flew in from Geneva to guide us. Khalil Ghammache was adamant that no production companies in Lebanon had a director that had shot a film with babies before, so a French director was needed. After slight hesitation, the local production company agreed and contracted one for our project. Then came the time for casting, and here we failed to hide our surprise when we realized that the search was underway for two real mothers and their two diaper-age babies, as well as two actresses, so one of them could play the role of the mother in our commercial. When asked, we were told that rarely does a real mother and her baby can act and complete a TV commercial, therefore we had to hire actresses to play the role. The learning did not stop there. When we questioned why we were asked to hire two babies and their mothers, P&G explained that in many instances the baby becomes tired as the shooting day is approaching a wrap and begins crying non-stop. At that stage, the director may decide to cancel all that had been shot with the tired baby and start a fresh shoot with a new baby (who might be called from home where they had been resting all day). We also realized that each of the real mothers was being asked about the eau de toilette they used. These were ordered to be made available on set and the explanation we received was another insightful lesson. The first few minutes when the baby changes hands from his real mother to the actress are crucial to the success of the production. The baby should not face any change that might antagonize him, and this is why the actress is asked to wear the same fragrance as the real mother. Before she takes the baby into her hands, the temperature of the real mother’s hands is checked, then the production crew warm the actress’ hands to get them to the same temperature. We also found out that P&G insists on having a pediatrician on set the entire time. Also, an ambulance needs to be parked in front of the studio with its crew on standby. This in addition to warm blankets, dress change, thermometers, milk, baby cereal, gripe water and other usual baby pacifiers.
Finally, after a long and tiring day, the director announced, “This is a wrap!” and the cameras, sound recorders and lights were switched off. At that moment, we all huddled around the film crew and the cast, congratulating them and ourselves on completing the shoot with the same baby and one mother. According to the P&G people on set, this was a real feat we had been lucky to achieve on our first Pampers production.
Then came the results of the DAR study, which gave this commercial a score that had never been achieved on a Pampers commercial in the Middle East. As Bill Bowld later explained, before this local production all previous Pampers campaigns had used international films dubbed into Arabic. They often featured scenes alien to the audience, like blonde mothers, American home interiors, fathers changing diapers and more. This was the first Pampers copy that featured an Arab mother and her baby in an Arab home setting. Another feather in the cap of our new agency.