Tide’s association with the NFL runs nearly as deep as the stains its products claim to eliminate. Some of the 78-year-old CPG brand’s most iconic marketing has been crafted for events like the Super Bowl, including the memorable “It’s a Tide Ad” campaign from 2018. The laundry detergent marketed by Procter & Gamble (P&G) is changing up strategy for the 2024-2025 football season in ways that recognize the rising importance of social media, local marketing and athlete ambassadors who can be leveraged as content creators.
The latest football blitz, titled “#TideTackles,” follows former NFL stars Mark Ingram, Jamaal Charles and Anthony “Spice” Adams as they travel to tailgates around the country and interact with fans, chowing down on regional gameday fare that makes a mess along the way. The effort, which debuted last month, is largely unscripted — a first for Tide’s NFL marketing — and billed as the company’s most content-rich push around the league to date.
Tide is producing over 100 unique assets to support #TideTackles, which has already toured cities like New Orleans and P&G’s hometown of Cincinnati, with sights now set on the coasts. Media spans TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and online video for Tide’s owned socials, as well as influencer partner channels and a buy around Amazon’s “Thursday Night Football.” The Woven Collaborative, a unit comprised of various external agencies and Tide’s internal creative team, is behind #TideTackles.
“We had broad ideas, but it was relatively unscripted once we got there. We didn’t know what consumers were going to do,” said Alex Perez, senior brand director for North America laundry at P&G. “Usually, when we make a commercial, we know what stain we’re going to get. This one, we were like: ‘I don’t know what’s coming. We need a hundred of them.’”
A changing playbook
The concept behind #TideTackles is rooted in data that found half of tailgate attendees show up for the food, with different areas of the country specializing in what are often messy dishes. Perez also acknowledged that fan passion stems more from following specific teams than the NFL as a national organization. Tide has been an official league sponsor since 2012 but wants to better prioritize what makes individual fandoms unique with #TideTackles.
The first installment of #TideTackles sees former NFL player, TV personality and internet meme fixture Spice Adams visit Buffalo, New York, wiping a chicken wing across his face to apply Buffalo sauce as if it were warpaint before mingling with a crowd of Bills diehards. Adams, who chose his own wardrobe for the occasion, is amplifying the visit on his personal social media, providing a bit of influencer marketing on top of Tide’s story driven content.
“It’s targeting certain fanbases or ZIP codes but we’re finding, broadly, the messaging is appealing,” Perez said. “If you’re posting through the Cincinnati Bengals or the New York Giants, you get some regionality just by the people who are following those accounts and who are interested in that content. We found that’s a good way to make sure that the message is reaching people where they want to be reached.”
Producing #TideTackles comes with more moving parts than shooting on a conventional set. Tailgates are rife with waivers to sign for those who appear on camera while Tide is hauling around a mobile trailer equipped with washing machines to show how products like Tide Power Pods can eliminate stains on the go.
Tide is also paying closer attention to spontaneous moments that fit with the larger #TideTackles narrative. A Philadelphia Eagles fan who got a red drink spilled on her a few weeks ago after a player dove into the stands wouldn’t have caught the brand’s eye in the “old world,” according to Perez, but was a point of inspiration for #TideTackles.
“We’ve definitely amplified the amount of listening we’re doing with consumers, the amount of research we’re able to do with consumers,” said Perez.
Focusing on smaller, emergent moments and social content may resonate with pockets of the football faithful, but Perez doesn’t see a trade-off with past marketing strategies that carried a unified national focus and honed in on a single star or iconic tagline. #TideTackles also features some wider-scale media buys, such as the streaming spots running around “Thursday Night Football.”
“You have to be able to be relevant in the places where consumers see you and also raise the bar across all of the national pieces,” said Perez. “As the media has evolved, we have to do both, and our consumers are demanding that we’re there for them in all the places where they’re consuming content or looking for information.”
