Creative Execution

We first released a film titled #WhispersBreakSilence on our social media and in theaters to get the conversation on periods started. We then used our biggest asset, our Health and Hygiene program to take our campaign on-ground in over 40,000 schools across India. We educated 35 million girls on periods and the importance of using hygienic sanitary protection such that the right menstrual hygiene habits were inculcated in them from a young age. The school girls experienced the benefit of the whisper sanitary brand, and our teachers who were mothers conducted these classes to break fertility myths arounds sanitary napkins. We taught young girls hitting puberty about periods and hygienic sanitary protection methods. To tackle the superstition of ‘baanjh’ (infertility), we handpicked teachers who were both mothers and pad users. We then maximized our campaign through Humans of Bombay, which posted testimonials of girls and educators from our on-ground activity.

Results: • 35 million girls across 40,000 schools impacted. We’re aiming to reach another 10 million girls in the next 2 years. • Our digital results were as follows: o Total Impressions: 37 million o Post Engagement: 4.3 million o Total Video Views: 2 million • There was a strong uplift of 17 points on purchase intent for sanitary napkins amongst those who had viewed the campaign. • Sanitary napkin penetration increased by 0.6% during the campaign period- a small but significant beginning of a slow but steady race towards driving conversion.

For our campaign #WhispersBreakSilence, we made use of our largest asset – our Health and Hygiene program present in over 40,000 schools to break the silence on periods on-ground. We educated 35 million girls on periods and the importance of using hygienic sanitary protection such that the right menstrual hygiene habits were inculcated in them from a young age. The school girls experienced the benefit of the whisper sanitary brand, and our teachers who were mothers conducted these classes to break fertility myths arounds sanitary napkins.

Our research suggested that women in India were not using sanitary napkins due to an age-old superstition, that should an animal touch a used pad, the woman will turn ‘baanjh’ (infertile). Infertility is considered a curse in the Indian society, and as such, women resorted to using archaic methods of sanitary protection, such as ash, sand, leaves and dust instead. We discovered that superstitions like these cultivated in girls’ minds only after they got their first period, and cemented, as they got older. We hence decided to reach out to them before they got their first period and educate them on the right menstrual hygiene methods, so they would not fall prey to this conditioning.