Always: A Superplus Campaign Message that Overshadowed UbyKotex

UbyKotex has consistently taken a comedic stance with its audience. It has utilized its advertisements to position itself as the practical tampon who rolls its eyes at glorified interpretations of female menstruation that ads of other brands tend to identify with. Their 2010 campaign manifested as a social experiment and shop-along called “Help Me Choose”, where a UbyKotex-employed actor is portrayed shopping for tampons for his girlfriend. Puzzled and helpless, he calls upon random shoppers for help. He holds a box in his hand, turning to a helping customer, “maybe this one is for going out, and this one’s for around the house.” Another customer reads different size options along a row of boxes, “regular, regular, regular, long… is your girlfriend tall?” Through humor, the ad cleverly discloses that more than half the population of shoppers are confused when buying tampon products.

Target consumers consisting of women between the ages of 12 to 60 who buy menstrual products, can differentiate UbyKotex from other competitive brands because they take the confusion out of the purchase. They don’t attempt to exaggerate the functionality of their product. Their ad strategy uses humor to appeal to their audience in order to deglamorize their tampons; their boxes don’t come with a toy in it, they are not scented, they aren’t made of cardboard, and they don’t have products that are specified for activewear. Their brand strategy lies not in the communication of the creativity of their product, but in the lack-thereof. Their brief is simple: UbyKotex is a tampon that works.

Always takes a different approach to reaching their audience through their 2014 #LikeAGirl campaign, which highlights the stereotypes placed on girls in comparison to boys during puberty, and how their inferiority to boys can lower confidence. Like UbyKotex, Always’ advertisement also took the form of a social experiment, as an interviewer asked older girls and women- seemingly between the ages of 15 to 30- what it means to “run like a girl”. These young women perform the action, and do so awkwardly and mockingly, to demonstrate girls’ incompetence to run correctly. When asking young girls between the ages of 6 to 12, however, the girls pump their arms and breath heavily, displaying great effort and determination. Always asks their audience, “When did doing something ‘like a girl’ become an insult?”

Always’ positions itself as a compassionate brand concerned with the wellbeing of its target audience. It’s campaign message: “A girl’s confidence plummets during puberty. Always wants to help change that”. Their ad strategy allows them to build a connection with their audience at the perfect time: while puberty is a time in girls’ lives when they feel most vulnerable, it is also a time for their audience to begin buying their products. This was a brilliant way for Always’ brand strategy to establish a meaningful relationship with a young consumer demographic that then has the potential to stay loyal to their products for many years to come.

In addition to supporting girls during the most vulnerable time of their life, Always also connects with women of all ages by encouraging feminism. Declaring, “to fight like a girl” should not be any different than fighting like a boy. Without ever actually saying the word, Always affirms that feminism is a progressive social issue they feel is important in our society. This works to their benefit, because the general consensus among women of all ages and all backgrounds are united in their backing of women empowerment. In this way, Always establishes a connection with women, by encouraging their audience to support a topic that is already so near and dear to their hearts.

Always’ #LikeAGirl campaign was ultimately more effective than UbyKotex’s “Help me choose” experiment, due to the motivation the target audience experienced while watching the Always’ ad, in comparison to the lack of inspiration felt as a consequence of UbyKotex’s commercial. It is no doubt that the “Help me Choose” campaign was entertaining. It was humorous enough to be memorable, which is an effective strategy for brands who want to drive sales. That being said, it is up for debate about whether or not UbyKotex’s Campaign was built on truth. Their tagline, “62% of people are confused when buying period products. Break the cycle”, paired with their saturized shop-along plot, creates the impression that UbyKotex has a very straightforward and simple inventory in comparison to other brands. When visiting their website however, a multitude of items are depicted, all with differing unclear descriptions, that leave consumers just as confused as their shop-along actor. “Security”, “cleanwear”, “sleek”, “click” and “tween” all makeup their catalog, along with “fitness”, which is a description for tampons they mocked in their commercial.

Furthermore, Always’ #LikeAGirl campaign was extremely influential as they aroused a sense of pride and empowerment in their female audience. An emotional connection was established, and respect was earned as they touched upon a topic that is so relevant to their target demographic. This emotional relationship is something that UbyKotex cannot cultivate through humor. It is probable that when walking down the aisle shopping for which brand of period products to buy, consumers will gravitate towards Always as opposed to UbyKotex because they personally relate to the significant message that Always is offering.