Okay, I love the U by Kotex campaign - I think Kotex does an awesome job of confronting the conventions of tampon/ maxi pad ads, and I think women get a kick out of its sly self-mockery. In my opinion, the campaign is really well-aligned with the way women actually do react to those conventional ads, which is "Yeah, right."
But Kotex has taken the concept of marketing to women's periods to the next (and I would say crazy) level. Elaine Wong of Brandweek describes their new campaign in her article, "Kotex Push Targets 'Period Panties'" writing,
Kotex is targeting a secondary effect of periods-drab panty collections-with a promotion called "Kotex Project Makeunder" that aims to take such assortments from "drab to fab."...[Kotex] encourages women to submit videos detailing how their lingerie drawers became so dull.
If you read the full article, you find that the dubious winners of this contest get to have celebrities rifle through their unmentionables and receive a complete "Makeunder" of their lingerie. However free-stylin' today's young women may be, I just can't see them wanting to write about their panty problems, and I was quoted in the article saying pretty much that:
Marti Barletta, CEO of The TrendSight Group, said Kotex's overall strategy is a smart one, but she's not sure the current effort will work. "It's really smart to recognize that young women and men these days just aren't anywhere near as ‘mortifiable' as previous generations were about feminine hygiene," she wrote in an e-mail. But, to "lay my lingerie drawer open for criticism" by fashion experts and to win a prize based on that? "Are you kidding me?" she asked.
I have a lot of respect for the work that Kimberley Clark has done with the Kotex TV campaign above, and they've done some terrific stuff with Kleenex. They make an effort to really understand their consumers, and it would be unlike them to do something as out on a limb as I perceive this to be.
So I think this is nuts. But maybe that's just me...
I understand the concept of differentiating themselves (as they do in the video). It seems like a great strategy to me, especially, (and I could be wrong here, not being a woman, so please forgive me) for such a utilitarian product. But I do agree with you Marti, that they may be taking it a bit too far.
It would be interesting to see how many women actually participate in their "Make-Under Project."
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