Maltesers is a long-time champion of mums’ struggles. Its campaigns have used humour to show the brand’s understanding of the challenges mums face since International Women’s Day 2021, when it launched a campaign focussing on maternal mental health issues.
Its new campaign by AMV BBDO takes that support further. Motherlover uses the brand’s cheeky, intimate and honest tone of voice to highlight the challenges faced by mums in the workplace and the ways that those around them – colleagues, employers, partners or friends and family – can help.
The campaign is built on research commissioned by Maltesers, which shows that mothers still bear the brunt of the workload of combining work and home life. 55% of mums in the UK stated that they need more help from employers and colleagues to be the working mum they want to be.
Motherlover is the fourth instalment in a series of Maltesers campaigns and forms part of the brand’s multi-year partnership with Comic Relief, working towards a future where women no longer face injustice and can thrive.
The campaign contains 10 targeted messages, produced by Bangerz&Nash, all designed to give different communities around mums a role to play in supporting them. Each message has been inspired by the real stories and experiences shared by mums.
The campaign was created by AMV creatives, Julia Merino and Ricardo Porto. Julia Merino commented, “We needed to ensure that the campaign was rooted in real experiences, advisory and research. We worked with The Outsiders to develop a thought-provoking white paper that highlighted the realities of being a working mum. Leveraging the iconic Maltesers tone of voice, we turned these stories into celebrations of the everyday heroes who lighten the load of working mums. Humour is an under-utilised emotion that has the power to reach those who might not otherwise engage with a topic like this. As a working mum myself, I hope this campaign inspires people to think how they can better support the working mums in their lives.”
Leah Dyckes, Maltesers brand director UK, added, “While becoming a parent drastically changes a woman’s life, the expectations and structures at work and home aren’t changing quickly enough – and too often the onus is on the women to fix ‘women’s issues’. We must, therefore, shift this dynamic by asking everyone around women to step up, to show empathy, and do what they can as allies to lighten their load.”
The Motherlover campaign is running across social, OLV, OOH and audio. In in-store over 10 million Maltesers packs which will carry messaging from real mums, bringing to life ways to lighten the load.
The Mars Wrigley brand has also teamed up with The Guardian and Peanut App, the first online community to connect women through all stages of motherhood. With Peanut, Maltesers has created a new content hub, Work & Motherhood, that provides actionable tips, tools, and real-life advice from real mothers.
With The Guardian, the brand has produced a series of positive and helpful articles and content, bringing to life the allyship around and experience of working mums. As part of The Guardian partnership, a private comedy tour will be held across select UK workplaces with comedian and mum, Jess Fostekew. Mars Wrigley is also donating £500,000 in 2023 to Comic Relief.
