Results and Effectiveness

The activity spanning across ‘discreet media’, helped break through multiple cultural,social challenges to help achieve objectives. Spontaneous awareness of Ultra variant shot up to 70% among girls exposed to the campaign, which was over twice as much as among girls who were unaware of the campaign. Purchase intent rose by 40% among girls who heard about the campaign Key equity scores (keeps me feeling clean and dry, is for girls like me) showed a 20% jump! Most importantly, girls got a chance to learn about Whisper Ultra and went onto recommend it to all their friends (increased by 21%)

Creative Execution

Our lead medium was FM radio- which they were always hooked onto through their mobile phones. We supplemented this medium with a handful of other ‘discreet touchpoints’ through a multimedia approach. In 19 cities, girls were invited to share how their girl ‘dosti’ helped them surpass difficult situations and to write-in one ‘sisterhood’ wish, which, if selected, would be fulfilled by Whisper. On radio, female DJs shared their sisterhood stories and encouraged call-ins for the girl’s ‘Girl Dosti Magic Moment’. Youth supplements on dailies were used and women’s magazines carried ‘girl dosti’ stories from readers. Unique and discreet branding spaces, like women’s washrooms, women’s trial rooms in malls were used. On television, we aired vignettes on women and youth channels showcasing influencers who have strong sisterhoods that (along with Whisper) have been their support system. These were popular youth icons with a ‘girl-next-door’ image, which young girls could relate to.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

Feminine hygiene is a taboo topic in the conservative social fabric of India, where the sanitary napkin penetration stands at a dismal 15%. Having been in the market with continuous presence on television (medium with highest reach) for over 4 years, Whisper enjoyed high brand awareness but registered low on equity scores and variant level awareness. Further research revealed the reasons for this: although television has the highest reach, given most households in India are single TV homes, television viewing is a family affair, and hence girls actively avoided sanitary napkin advertising due to embarrassment, choosing to look away from the screen. This led to low variant awareness and low equity scores. Using an unusual category strategy, we had to use media that were consumed by the target audience ‘discreetly’, in her own space and thus launched ‘Girl Dosti magic’, a platform for girls to celebrate and show-off their sisterhood.