Dreft, Procter & Gamble?s line of detergent products for baby clothing, is holding a contest in which parents can unabashedly post photos of their baby?s messy moments to social media. 

The contest offers the winning baby an opportunity to feature on the cover of Parents magazine, and also the opportunity for parents to share photos of their child on a wider scale. With parents so eager to share photos of their loved ones, it makes sense that Procter & Gamble?s latest campaign would leverage this natural inclination. 

Dreft rang in the campaign?s launch with an event in New York, featuring actress and mother of two Molly Sims. America?s Messiest Baby Play Date was held at Maman Bakery, and it afforded Ms. Sims the opportunity to play with some of the youngest guests to help encourage parents to embrace mess in anticipation of the contest.

Parents will be able to enter their child in the contest through submitting their favorite photo of their baby?s messiest moment through the contest?s mobile-optimized Web site or posting the photo on Twitter or Instagram with the hasthtag #messiestbabycontest. The submission deadline is November 30.

Dreft?s America?s Messiest Baby Contest comes on the heels of research in favor of allowing babies to make a mess, claiming that it aids in their cognitive growth. The information could be important news to the 87 percent of mothers who frequently encourage their children to pick activities that are unlikely to get them messy, according to a survey done by Dreft. 

The survey also revealed that 72 percent of mothers have felt embarrassed about their child making messes in public, 50 percent have a specific room in the house where the child is allowed to make a mess and 73 percent say their favorite picture of their child is one of their messy moments. The latter figure, combined with parents? proclivity towards social sharing of their young child?s moments, play well into Dreft?s brand strategy.

Allowing a sponsored outlet for that impulse will be sure to increase brand awareness for both Dreft and parent company Procter & Gamble. 

If a brand can achieve some level of penetration, the childcare sector can be a particularly fruitful one to invest in, particularly if it markets effectively to a consumer that is especially susceptible to sentimental displays. 

Parental counsel is also an effective way to reach this consumer. Pregnancy and parenting digital resource BabyCenter rolled out an app designed to provide mothers with bite-sized ideas on child-rearing, expert advice and peer guidance as their children move beyond the infancy years (see story). 

The brand then went on to roll out its first My Pregnancy skill for the Amazon Alexa application, allowing expectant parents to leverage the voice-activated technology to count down to their baby?s delivery date and receive medically reviewed child development updates (see story).