In this piece from Sookio Bootcamp attendee Victoria Jama, find out how the Bodyform #wombstories campaign represents a huge leap forward in promoting sanitary products from the days of rollerskating women dressed all in white.

In July 2020, Bodyform, along with sister brand Libresse, advertised the #wombstories campaign, which boldly portrays the hidden and untold stories of women’s wombs. How has it made such an impact in fighting the stigma surrounding women’s bodies?

Who was behind the campaign?

Nisha Ganatra (Golden Globe-winning and Emmy-nominated director) alongside an all-woman team, used live-action and different styles of animation to illustrate the life of wombs. The campaign brilliantly displays the emotional, intricate and sometimes painful realities of women’s womb stories.

From an older woman going through menopause to a couple struggling to conceive using IVF treatment and suffers a miscarriage, a woman who has endometriosis, to a woman that has decided to be child-free to the girl who gets her period for the first time.

Creative Director, Sharon Lock said: “We worked with animators who had wonderful storytelling abilities and whose work was unique and handmade and could communicate a range of tone and emotion to audiences in a short amount of time on-screen”.

The #wombstories campaign was created by Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO, who produces campaigns surrounding taboos and shame surrounding women’s bodies and health. For example, in 2017, the ‘Blood normal’ campaign was created to normalise real depictions of menstrual blood and 2019’s ‘Viva la vulva’ campaign, celebrated the various shapes and sizes of vulvas.

What were the key messages in #wombstories?

The campaign gives a voice to the hidden and untold stories about women’s wombs, periods and vulvas. Furthermore, to encourage women to openly share their womb stories without fear of being judged or believed by others.

In reality, society does not encourage women to speak out about their experiences concerning their intimate health, so some may feel shame that they are less than what they were taught to be.

Research by Essity, owners of Bodyform show that:

• 62% of people agree women’s health and intimate experiences are not talked about openly

• 40% of women felt that their mental wellbeing was negatively impacted as a result of not being able to openly share their experiences

• A third of women tried to keep their menopause/perimenopause a secret and suffered in silence   

For example, the current Covid-19 situation has increased the isolation women feel and the complications they experience, as women are now giving birth alone, fertility treatments and surgeries are being delayed. So, now more than ever is the time for women to speak up about their bodies and experiences, so, they can receive the right support.

What was the impact of #wombstories?

It creatively illustrates through live-action and different styles of animation, the emotional, complex and painful realities of women’s bodies that have not been explored by other brands.

Instead of a TV advert, Bodyform advertised the #wombstories campaign, a three-minute video, across their social media channels on YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook as well as on their website. As a result, the campaign gained media attention, and there were positive engagements from women across Bodyform’s social media channels.

How did audiences engage on social media?

• YouTube: Over 500k views, 10k likes

• Facebook: 19k likes, 1.2k comments and 14,000 reshares

• Twitter: 1.2K Retweets, 1K Quote Tweets and 3.4K Likes

• Instagram: Over 1.1 million views, 54.6k likes, 1.7k comments

The results show that overall, the #wombstories campaign had a positive response from women all over the world. However, the campaign had the best performance on the Instagram platform (IGTV), gaining over 1.1 million views!

What was the call to action?

Bodyform wants women to share the film and their story and post on their social media channels using the #wombstories to help raise awareness and increase engagement surrounding women’s wombs.

In addition, Bodyform has a survey on its website that women can use to tell their womb stories.

Nicola Coronado (Marketing Director at Bodyform): “#wombstories reveals the narrative inside and out and we hope to put these topics on the table for all to talk about. We believe that only once we understand women’s bodies and everything they go through; can we care for them with our period and daily intimate care products.”

The #wombstories campaign allows women to openly share their womb experiences using the hashtag #wombstories on social media, in the hope to change the stigmas surrounding women’s bodies.

This piece was written by one of the students on our first Sookio Bootcamp, a week of remote work experience for 20 young marketers. Read the other pieces in the series about Nike and Iceland.