Nature of campaign

“Cut to the Chase” is a guerrilla marketing effort that aims to induce shock while being cost-effective.

 

Objectives: 

Using an innovative and out-of-the-box method, we hope to bring out the tension between “letting it out versus keeping it in”. The idea is to encourage females to stop hiding because the time of the month is a natural and noble part of a woman’s life; much like eating and breathing. We advocate natural glow, which can be achieved by being yourself. The campaign aims also to increase brand salience, imagery, feelings, judgment, resonance of Kotex.

 

Strategy:

“Cut to the Chase” consists of 3 parts – (i) Shock (ii) Take (iii) Talk. Part 1 serves as an attention-grabber to start off the campaign. The focus here is to create hype and encourage women to cut to the chase - approach the topic of menstruation and sanitary pads directly and openly! We will do this through a guerrilla marketing campaign at male toilets. Part 2 and 3 serve to create awareness and change women's perception about sanitary pads. This strategy addresses gaps #2 and #7 from assignment 4; to link Kotex’s brand image to its emotional attributes, as well as to invoke a sense of pride and social approval for women when using Kotex. On a whole, “Cut to the Chase” builds on the emotional attributes of the Kotex brand, and closely links that to the revamped brand image, “Glow with the Flow”.

 

Part 1: "Shock"

In this campaign, we will place hand towels in 200 gents’ toilets around Singapore taking the shape of sanitary pads. On the each hand towel would be an imprint stating, “All You Need to Know About Her” and "Men's Toolkit" with Kotex's brand logo. Here's a prototype of the hand towel dispenser: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The bold and attention-grabbing stunt fills gap #7 from assignment 4, stating that pride & social approval are lacking in the Kotex brand. We want to drive home the message that a sanitary pad is just another hygiene tool, just as hand towels are used to wipe our hands clean – there is nothing to be ashamed about!

 

As the hand towel and dispenser would not have any indication of the “Kotex” brand and the origin of the hand towels, interests would be sparked. By capturing guys' interest with the idea of knowing more about a girl with regards to pads and menstruation, we induce desire in them to google Kotex Men's Toolkit to find out more. The “Men’s Toolkit” page (shown below) would be a unique webpage on Kotex’s current website, albeit distinctively different from the rest of the Kotex website, as this page would have a dark-color masculine theme. The objective here is to enlighten these men about how this campaign came about, the meaningful rationale behind the campaign, and also provide them with information on menstruation, sanitary pads, and even ways to treat a woman well during the time of the month.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Part 2: "Take"

Two weeks after the launch of Kotex’ new packaging, part 2 would be launched. This segment involves female passersby “taking” Kotex’s newly revamped pads from sensitive new age guys (SNAG) hired by us – for free. The free sanitary pads would be packaged in sample “dual-packs”, with a tagline “Supporting Women since 1920” to establish credibility with their brand heritage. The man giving out Kotex pads would then pose a question for the lady to answer. The question would go “Could you tell me if you are having your period now?” This act would increase trials, and at the same time, spark the pride in women to openly receive and talk about the sanitary pads, hence tackling gap #7.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The new age urban males would then note down the statistics of the number of women who answered his question. This would be done using a simple clicking device. The new age urban male would end off the interaction with this female by asking if she would like a photo, to be entitled to receive “Kotex Facebook Credits” (more details below). This is how it works: Within the free Kotex dual-pack would be two sanitary pads, with a tiny insert informing the female to check out Kotex’s revamped Facebook page. This would lead the ladies to get involved in the Facebook conversation, which is part 3 of the “Cut to the Chase” campaign. To incentivize these women to join in the conversation, women can take a picture with the giver of the Kotex dual-pack, and post it on Kotex’ official Facebook page. The number of likes and shares received would translate into “Kotex Facebook Credits”. Participants would then be entitled to redeem Kotex pads with the credits earned. The venue of this campaign could be at several locations around Singapore, including the 3 local Universities (targeting young adults), and along Orchard Road (where there is high human traffic). Licensing not required for both places, as the SNAGS would be walking around solo and not in a large group. They would also not be wearing sandwich boards or any obstructing props or gears. For campaigns held in the local Universities such as the Singapore Management University, tie-ups with student clubs advocating feminism is possible (E.g. SMU’s Women’s Connection). This could help reduce marketing and manpower costs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Part 3: "Talk"

Part 3 “Talk” would be launched concurrently with part 2. This involves a wave of conversation on Facebook with regard to “Did you answer the man?” As a continuation from the previous segment, photos of females with the SNAG would be uploaded onto the Facebook page. Each photo upload would be hashtagged “#IAnsweredTheMan”. Likes, shares and comments would be monitored for each uploaded photo. The public can also engage in commenting or even debating on a topic posted on the Facebook page, which can also be translated to credits. Regular updates of statistics would be revealed on Facebook, where Kotex’s Facebook fans can follow the trend in statistics. Whether or not the increase in number of women “answering the man” could also be a measurement of effectiveness of this campaign. Reactions of the participants from “Take” would be filmed down, and compiled into a YouTube advertisement in the later part of the campaign. 

 

Since visual photos of the campaign would be uploaded online, and women engaging in comments on each others’ photos, this strategy would fill gap #8, since it builds a sense of community amongst Kotex users.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Link to CBBE:

The three parts of “Cut to the Chase” would increase brand salience, as the shock factor, if memorable, may likely increase the ability of customers to strengthen brand recall. The involvement of the males, and confident expression of “IAnsweredTheMan” reinforces the image of cutting to the chase, and speaking outrightly about the natural part of a girl’s life. Therefore, this strengthens Kotex’ brand image. At the same time, also invoking feelings of pride, and social approval in girls. The tagline "Supporting Women since 1920" will also enhance credilibity of Kotex as a brand. This would improve the brand judgement of Kotex. Most importantly, this campaign creates resonance by extensively involving both men and women to the Kotex online community.

 

Link to Segments:

The guerrilla marketing efforts are expected to increase reach beyond our 4 segments, but also the males. We feel that the independent stockpilers, cycle buyers and urgent needs segments, as they are heavier uses of social media, and may be more receptive to interesting and out-of-the-world marketing campaigns.