Cause Marketing to Santa Babies

Huggies is back with another too cute version of their flagship brand of disposable diapers, this time based around Father Christmas. When you buy Huggies limited-edition ‘jeans’ or Santa diapers or baby wipes, Kimberly-Clark will donate as many as 21 million diapers to causes in the United States and Canada on the basis of one diaper per specially-marked package of diapers sold.

Certain social media interactions will also trigger a donation.

Huggies has run much the same promotion with their faux-denim 'jeans' diaper. As many as 17 million diapers will go to Feeding America, the large food bank, and as many as 2 million will go to Food Banks Canada. As many as another 2 million diapers will be spread amongst local diaper banks nationwide.

The promotion ends December 31, 2011.

As I noted back in May 2011, Huggies developed the basic campaign after conducting a survey in 2010 of mothers and their diaper needs. The study, called ‘Every Little Bottom’ was released in June 2010.

The study of more than 2,500 mothers included questions like “Keeping your child in a clean diaper is one of the most important things you can do for them as a mother.” And, “Changing you child’s diaper is a wonderful way of showing how much you love them.” And, “Have you ever done any of the following to ensure you could afford enough diapers for your child?” followed by a list of economizing measures mothers might make to keep diapers in their family budget.

Mothers overwhelming said yes to all three questions.

Needless to say, certain findings in the study represent something of a tightrope walk for Huggies, which carry a premium price. If disposable diapers are taking too big a chunk out of the family budget, why not shift to cloth diapers or cheaper competing brands?

Other questions in the survey address those very issues.

Not surprisingly, rather than dwell on any potential negatives for Huggies, the survey instead turns up the following facts that in turn inform the cause marketing campaign as it stands.

1 in 3 American moms have to “choose between diapers and other basic needs like food.”

Moms struggling with diaper need are more likely to miss school or work.

Babies that aren’t changed regularly “are more likely to experience signs of irritation and discomfort, cry more, and suffer from worse diaper rash.”

Sponsors don't often declare what lead them to a specific cause marketing campaign. But this Thanksgiving season, we can be glad that Kimberly-Clark showed its hand.

Comments

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