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Goal

鈥淲e鈥檙e in a crowded category. We鈥檙e 鈥╪ot a huge brand. We don鈥檛 have 鈥�$10 million to spend on media, so we have to grab attention.鈥� 

That鈥檚 the unvarnished rationale offered by , director of brand strategy and mission at baby food company , to justify the company鈥檚 latest eyebrow-raising campaign, 鈥淒o Your Part(ner).鈥� Equal parts shocking and suggestive, the campaign delves into the very real issues of stress and fatigue that plague new parents. It also happens to embrace a line of thinking that Fiore finds deeply funny.

鈥淎 baby food brand wants you to 鈥╤ave more sex to have more babies to help the bottom line. I think that鈥檚 hilarious,鈥� she says.

The seeds for 鈥淒o Your Part(ner)鈥� were planted two years ago when Plum Organics launched a separate initiative, 鈥�,鈥� which was meant to reflect the raw reality of raising a newborn. The campaign conveyed that it鈥檚 an amazing time to grow as a person and a family, but there are also many challenges that create a lot of negative feelings people are often afraid to express. Plus, there鈥檚 a ton of messaging about parenthood that can make first-timers feel like poor providers.

The insight that Plum Organics gained with 鈥淧arenting Unfiltered鈥� was that new parents are guilt-ridden, Fiore says. 鈥淭here鈥檚 this constant sense of falling short because of our Instagram culture and everything that鈥檚 out there.鈥� 

The resounding success of 鈥淧arenting Unfiltered鈥� convinced Fiore鈥檚 team to continue with the theme for their next big campaign. They decided to go where no baby food company had gone before: the bedroom.

It was a big risk, but one that suggested the possibility of a big reward. Or, as Fiore says, 鈥淚f we do this tastefully, tactfully and in a way that is really insight-driven, we definitely have a green light to start this conversation. And it鈥檚 great for the brand. It鈥檚 memorable. It鈥檚 ownable. It鈥檚 quote-unquote emote-able.鈥�

Action

The project began by polling parents about their relationships through a survey developed on the advice of their PR firm, . What they found confirmed their suspicions that, for many new parents, intimacy is a concern. Seventy percent of millennial parents, for instance, said they feel guilty when they鈥檙e away from their child for a night out with their partner, while nearly 70% of all parents with a significant other talk about their kids the majority of the time they鈥檙e alone together. More than one-third of parents reported the thing they do most in their bed besides sleeping is catching up on news or social media.

Using that data, Plum Organics patterned a digital campaign to address these pent-up feelings.

鈥淭he idea was to have a celebrity go from room to room narrating an experience that we鈥檙e all so familiar with of what really happens behind closed doors when you鈥檙e a parent in the evening,鈥� with a playful non-shaming tone, Fiore says. 

Through their agency of record, , they were able to bring aboard actress

鈥淥n the long list of what your 鈥╟hildren need, parents who attend to 鈥╰heir relationship as adults and as a 鈥╟ouple should feature prominently,鈥� she says in the video. 鈥淭his is not about adding another thing to your list. This is about giving yourself the permission to care about yourself.鈥�

After going through all the campaign content, viewers were asked to take a pledge affirming they would prioritize their own well-being and relationship health. Visitors who click the pledge are then directed through a series of prompts that help them carve out personal time in their life before contacting their significant others via e-mail to make a similar commitment.  

Finally, Plum Organics enlisted a network of influencers, including mommy bloggers and relationship experts to personalize the experiences shown to be common in the survey 鈥╝nd reflected in the campaign content. This brought a deeper layer of realness to the message that was lacking at the brand level.

Result

Timed to launch around Valentine鈥檚 Day, the campaign went live on Feb. 7. Surpassing the team鈥檚 expectations, it generated 11.8 million total video views, widespread industry recognition and overwhelmingly positive feedback from parents on social media. Sample comments ranged from, 鈥渢his is so us!鈥� to, 鈥渂est ad ever, I鈥檒l be sure to remember it in six months when I start buying my now-newborn food.鈥� 

The pledge, which took several 鈥╯teps to finish, had 鈥渋ncredible completion rates,鈥� Fiore says. More 鈥╰han two-thirds of visitors who started 鈥╥t completed it, and more than 鈥╫ne-third of all pledge-takers finished 鈥╥t more than once.

鈥淭here are obviously lots of conversion statistics, but it鈥檚 also nice to use your marketing dollars to make somebody鈥檚 life a tiny bit better as opposed to just sell a product,鈥� Fiore says. 

The provocative campaign also proved to be largely free from controversy. While 鈥淒o Your Part(ner)鈥� was being developed, Fiore鈥檚 team agonized over how to present the content in a way that was suggestive without being offensive.

鈥淚 was worried about striking the 鈥╮ight balance,鈥� Fiore says. 鈥淭he truth 鈥╥s we were constantly stressed about it. 鈥╓e knew we wanted to be real, but sometimes in being real, you can say things people aren鈥檛 ready to hear.鈥�

To that end, they largely succeeded, according to , chief insights and planning officer and director of branding at PR agency M Booth.

鈥淚 tip my hat to the brand鈥檚 courage and commitment to expanding the conversation with parents beyond 鈥╦ust baby food,鈥� Ulman says. 鈥淭hey 鈥╤ave boldly gone beyond messaging 鈥╝bout organics and nutrition by addressing a pain point for parents 鈥╳holly unrelated to food. 

鈥淭he balance is always that line between how far we can push creative to disrupt and engage without leaning so far over the line that the consumer loses the thread and can鈥檛 find their way back to the product or brand.鈥�