The 2010 Jay Chiat Awards for Strategic Excellence Winners

Campaign for New Brand—Silver
JWT, New York
"U By Kotex"

This is a story about how planning's ability to see fault in category communication conventions created a strategic idea that led to a truly powerful creative expression of that idea. An idea that not only engaged a new audience for the brand, delivered sales beyond expectation but also brought excitement and buzz to a category that had been buzz-less.

For the launch of UbyKotex we broke free from decades old feminine hygiene advertising conventions and created a new conversation in the category for 21st century women.

When Kotex approached us to develop and launch a line of tampons, pads and liners for 14- to 25-year-old women, Planning knew it would take bravery to win.

Kotex invented the disposable feminine hygiene category. They started it around World War I when Kimberly-Clark had the bright idea of using special bandages they'd developed for soldiers as disposable pads for women. Before that we were reusing cloth rags. Pretty ground breaking stuff. So we knew our client was brave.

Now, with this new line, Kotex wanted to grow their aging business, which was exactly our problem. Kotex today was generally perceived to be a dusty old brand catering to a traditional no-frills older woman.

Our challenge was to transform a brand created in our grandmother's youth into one that could appeal to today's millennial women.

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