Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
Comm483
Oct. 18, 2015
The U by Kotex brand, known for its bold attitude and unconventional
style, used this knowledge as an opportunity. With the help of public relations
agency Marina Maher Communications LLC and marketing research firm
Harris Interactive, U by Kotex set out to end the cycle of misinformation by
inspiring young women ages 14-22 to adopt a fearless attitude and change
the way they think about vaginal health and their bodies. U by Kotex
encouraged these women to join Generation Know, a new generation of
women armed with facts about their bodies and comfortable with their
periods and vaginal health.
To be successful, U by Kotex had to create an environment where
women could access information and ask questions without shame,
embarrassment or judgment. However, instead of the brand encouraging
women to get involved itself, it turned the challenge over to real women, and
leveraged social media and word of mouth to spread its key messages to
young women.
The integrated campaign spun with an angle that shouted real. This
approach was effective, because the target publics, aka real young women,
could trust a transparent campaign that didnt sugar coat information for the
sake of maintaining a societal status quo. The messaging and branding of
the campaign, with its bold colors and blunt messages, was fearless in itself,
Key Messages:
o Although the campaign never explicitly states key messages,
these are the messages they seem to be projecting:
Young women should feel confident discussing and
seeking information about their vaginal health and bodies.
Learning about the body empowers young women to
make healthier decisions.
Young women should shamelessly share and pass on
their knowledge and experiences to other young women.
o These messages are compelling because they establish an
inspiring group identity, which makes women feel like they are
not alone in feeling bashful and confused about their vaginal
health. The messages go further to inspire women to form a
coalition and inspire action by helping other women realize that
they too, are not alone, and can take control over their vaginal
health.
Campaign Objectives:
o The campaign only had two explicit objectives, which were NOT
SMART:
Campaign Strategies
o The campaign mostly utilized a digital grassroots strategy, in
which it let young women spread the word about vaginal
health to their peers organically. This was designed to increase
comfort and relevance of the topic among young women, and
reworked to avoid the use of the word vagina. The campaign also faced
trouble securing a permit to film in Manhattan, New York, after being told it
could not shoot that particular content in a public space (OLeary, 2013).
Ironically, these hurdles confirmed U by Kotexs research findings: that
vaginal health is seen as a societal taboo meant to be kept private. This
ultimately worked somewhat in favor for the brand, because its dedication
and persistency to the cause demonstrated to consumers that it was
committed to providing transparency.
Although the campaign was effective, it may have been more effective
by supplementing online efforts with targeted media relations at popular
teen publications, such as Seventeen Magazine, Teen Vogue and
Cosmopolitan. Since many of the readers of these publications are the target
public of the Generation Know campaign, media placements in these outlets
may have increased the awareness and effectiveness of the campaign.
Evaluation
Because the campaign did not have strong objectives, it was difficult
for U by Kotex to measure the actual success of the campaign. This
was a downfall of the campaign.
However, the evaluation did reveal the following campaign successes:
Engagement and Word of Mouth:
This was an output evaluation.
o A 200 percent increase in U by Kotex social mentions
o A record number of website visits (nearly three
million), including:
438,000+ bracelet requests
260,000+ asked questions
Nearly 100,000 watched Generation Know videos
online
o It educated 2,000 North American young women
during 10 training sessions.
o It generated more than 770 million earned media
impressions/
Boost Product Sales:
This was an outcome evaluation.
o In Q1 2013, U by Kotex experienced a nearly 18 percent
sales increase versus Q1 2012 and an increase in
positive brand sentiment.
I was very disappointed with the evaluation of this campaign,
especially considering how successful its implementation was. Like the
objectives, the evaluation criteria were too vague. It did not specify the time
frame of the campaign, or give any indication of the specific actions taken by
women who participated in the Generation Know projects.