Video viral: Pantene‘ Dad Do’ challenges NFL players style to daughters’ hair

This heart-warming video series from P&G’s Pantene hair care brand captured the hearts of many Americans during the Superbowl 2016. This case study shows how the Dad-Do campaign got 7 million YouTube views to become on eof the viral videos of the year.

Case study summary

• Hair brand used novel approach of getting NFLs to style daughters hair

• TV ad aired during Superbowl with hashtag #DadDo

• Main video viewed over 7 million times, while 30-second slots got over 500,000 views each

The challenge

Pantene wanted to position the brand as empowering to women. In this case, kids are the focus because “We know strength and self-esteem start by building confidence in girls at a young age,” says P&G vice president of hair care and color Jodi Allen.

“When we discovered research done by Dr. Linda Nielsen from Wake Forest University revealing that quality time spent with dads is key in raising daughters who are more self-confident, self-reliant and more successful in school and in their careers, we wanted to do something to encourage dads to do with their daughters,” Allen says.

“We didn’t want to just say, ‘Spend time with your daughter.’ Pantene wanted to give them a tangible thing they could do: style their hair. We wanted to give them the tools to do it, with how-to’s and tips. So many empowerment campaigns just tell you to be empowered. Pantene wanted to show them.”

The solution

DeAngelo Williams of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Jason Witten of the Dallas Cowboys and Benjamin Watson of the New Orleans Saints appear in separate web videos with their little girls. The 30-second spot below, featuring all three fathers, aired in select regional markets during the 2016 Super Bowl:

Entitled “Pantene Dad-Do,” the spot shows NFL stars doing their daughters hair. “My dad’s giving me a dad-do,” says Williams daughter near the opening of the spot, with a look of concern on her face. The message “Girls who spend quality time with their dads grow up to be stronger women” appears onscreen, tying the approach to the brand’s broader campaign. At the end of the spot, all the daughters’ hair preparation is complete and they all seem relatively pleased with the results, and with having spent some quality time with dad.
In addition to the 30-second broadcast spot, there’s also a series of online ads featuring each father demonstrating his own “dad-do” on his daughter.

See an example below:

The work extends the shampoo brand’s “Strong is beautiful” positioning and emphasizes that “Girls who spend quality time with their dads grow up to be stronger women.”

The results

The main video was viewed over 7 million times, while the 30-second individual slots e ach got over 500,000 views.

“When we discovered research done by Dr. Linda Nielsen from Wake Forest University revealing that quality time spent with dads is key in raising daughters who are more self-confident, self-reliant and more successful in school and in their careers, we wanted to do something to encourage dads to do with their daughters,” P&G vice president of hair care and color Jodi Allen told Adweek. “We didn’t want to just say, ‘Spend time with your daughter.’ Pantene wanted to give them a tangible thing they could do: style their hair. We wanted to give them the tools to do it, with how-to’s and tips. So many empowerment campaigns just tell you to be empowered. Pantene wanted to show them.”