Brief Explanation

This case study described how Canesten, a vaginal yeast infection treatment in Hong Kong, transformed an unspeakable social taboo into a hot topic in town. Canesten, an over-the-counter medication available from any local pharmacy, is an effective solution for vaginal yeast infection, a common condition for women. Yet we faced a big barrier – Chinese women are embarrassed to discuss the topic, let alone to mention it to a pharmacist in a public area. Thus we had two clear objectives: to remove the taboo on the subject, and to empower women to ‘speak up’ to get help. We decided to clear this big cultural hurdle by leveraging an even bigger pop culture trend. While women in Hong Kong refuse to open up about their personal health condition even to their closest girlfriends, they make no secret of their K-pop and K-drama obsession. So we developed a code word by twisting the word for vaginal yeast infection, ‘Yum Tou-Yim’ into a hunky Korean-sounding name ‘Kum Tou-Yin’ to pique interest and to eliminate the discomfort about saying the word out loud. We then created an online Korean-style drama series, revolving around a woman with a secret she was hiding from her friends, to help lift the taboo and get people talking – all with minimal paid support. Within just one week, our webisodes ranked in the top 15 most-viewed YouTube videos in Hong Kong. Not only did ‘Kum Tou-Yin’ become a hot topic of conversation, it also triggered a +50% jump in online searches of the term ‘vaginal yeast infection’, boosting category awareness. Moreover, our campaign marked a +41% increase in enquiries at pharmacies and +25% sales growth in just one month. We have successfully erased the embarrassment surrounding the subject and revolutionized communication of the pharmaceutical industry with one single code word.