P&G and Asda join forces for safe drinking water campaign
Asda has partnered with Procter & Gamble to launch a sustainability initiative that will see clean drinking water donated to developing communities when P&G products are purchased at the supermarket, as it dials up its consumer facing sustainability agenda.
Asda will sell exclusive packs of P&G products bearing the ‘1 pack = 1 day’s clean water’ logo. For every participating pack purchased, the FMCG firm will donate a day’s worth of clean water to communities in developing countries using its water purification sachets.
The supermarket has not been as vocal as rivals such as Sainsbury’s or Waitrose about sustainability and the move reflects a shift towards highlighting values beyond its low price rhetoric.
For P&G the move to partner with the UK’s second largest supermarket marks a new effort to put its sustainability efforts in front of more consumers.
Brands involved in the scheme include Pampers, Pantene, Ariel and Gillette. The initiative is part of P&G’s global Children’s Safe Drinking Water Programme, and aims to drive awareness of it in the UK. Asda customers can also contribute without making purchases through P&G’s Facebook page where ‘1Like = 1 day’ of safe drinking water.
A co-branded marketing campaign including digital and social activity will support the activity.
The partnership aims to provide 25 million days of clean water over the next year and claims contaminated water kills 2,000 children every day.
Since developing its water purification product, which turns dirty water into clean, drinkable water in just 30 minutes, P&G claims to have helped save more than 29,000 lives and prevent more than 220 million days of illness.
P&G works with more than 100 NGOs, charities and governments on its Children’s Safe Drinking Water Programme to raise awareness and deliver clean water.
Unilever partnered with Sainsbury’s on a number of sustainability initiatives including the development of a toolkit to help other retailers, brands and manufacturers to develop sustainable initiatives that generate profit.
