In an effort to recruit new customers, O.B. tampons is asking women to “Give us one period” — the first marketing push from the brand since being acquired by Energizer Canada in 2013.
The campaign, which is running in English Canada, was developed in partnership with the brand’s creative agency of record JWT. Elements include social, digital, out of home, and a blogger outreach program.
Though the brand already has a loyal following, education was needed to sell non-users on the brand’s benefits. O.B. tampons differ from other brands in that they don’t have an applicator. As a result, there are several barriers to usage and misconceptions surrounding the brand, explained Christine Jew, brand manager, Energizer personal care. Research conducted by O.B. revealed the most common concerns were; “How do I use it? Is it messy? And, “Isn’t it too small?
“We really wanted to disprove these myths and reveal the facts about O.B so the real benefit of using it becomes the new truth,” Jew said. “Basically we’ve used humour to ask women to give this non applicator tampon a try and we’re revealing truths to the myths in kind of a fun, cheeky way.”
O.B. has been relatively quiet since Energizer Canada bought the brand from Johnson & Johnson last year. Jew said because the brand was eager to dispel these myths, it took the necessary time to develop a solid campaign that would put women’s minds at ease.
“We wanted to make sure our campaign was based on a very strong consumer insight before rolling out the elements,” she said. “We spent a lot of time making sure we got the insight right and [JWT] developed a really great campaign.”
“Give us one period” kicked off in September with a pilot program developed by Boom Marketing. The brand installed Twitter-activated O.B. tampon vending machines in high- traffic university campus bathrooms across the country. The machines, which dispense free samples to women who tweet @ob_Canada, will be in bathrooms until the end of November.
To harness the influence of loyal brand advocates and encourage new users, the brand is running a rate and review program with influential Canadian bloggers and has also created a microsite, GiveUsOnePeriod.ca. Features include an interactive flowchart that addresses three types of consumers: those uneasy about using a non-applicator tampon, women who are a bit unsure, but are eager to try and those who are fully on board. Visitors to the site can find information about O.B. tampons, rate and review the product and download a coupon for a free box.
Developed by 6Degrees and sent exclusively through Shoppers Drug Mart, the brand also experimented with a direct mail program, which saw women receive a coupon for a free pack of tampons. Out-of-home ads in campus bathrooms are also currently running.
O.B. worked with a number of agencies on the campaign including, MEC (media buy), Paradigm Public Relations (PR) and Real Interactive (digital). “Give us one period” runs until November 30.
