Ovaltine’s Quotagraph, Old Things New Again

A new app from Nestlé USA’s Ovaltine, “Quotagraph,” cherishes your child’s wisdom as digital art. Moms are being asked to reconsider the chocolatey, fortified vitamin and mineral milk modifier they may have consumed as a child, and use their offspring’s verbal gems to contemporize the classic “More Ovaltine, please” old-school brand.

In the brand’s first social media effort, Quotagraph lets moms save and share youth-filled gems on Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter. It’s clear from eons of research that moms love to show off the smarts and social growth of their children, and by default their own parenting acumen in examples like these from the mouths of babes:

“this is test to the emergency ice cream system. this is only a test.” (Timmy, 5)

“My tummy hurts because it wants to keep playing.” (Max, 3)

“Dad, will there be hot dogs when I grow up?” (Jessica, 4)

“When I grow up I don’t want to be rich…I want to be like you guys.” (Rose, 5)

Targeting moms 25-44 with kids 2-6, the campaign from Marcus Thomas, Cleveland, includes AoD (audience on demand) flash banners on mom sites (the media buy is handled by Zenith, New York). It leverages eight promotional partnerships with mom bloggers, each including a pre-launch app review, sponsored posts and blog giveaways. 

Ovaltine was developed in Berne, Switzerland, in 1904, and its original name, Ovomaltine (from ovum, Latin for "egg", and malt, originally its main ingredients), was misspelled when exported to Britain in 1909, resulting in that trademark and its new name.

Early US children's radio series Little Orphan Annie (1931–1940) and Captain Midnight (1938–1949), as well as the Captain Midnight TV series (1954–1956), were sponsored by Ovaltine. In promotions that were harbingers of things to come, audiences were encouraged to save proofs-of-purchase from Ovaltine jars to obtain radio premiums, like "secret decoder ring" badges or pins.

This Captain Midnight commercial is from 1951.

Anyone who was a kid back then may recall that that "Ovaltine" is an anagram for "Vital One,” and Nestlé USA is betting that still holds true when this 21st century tool launches mid-August for moms who continue to cherish their kids’ every word.