Period care brand Joni is raising awareness through personal, rather than product-based, storytelling.
The brand, which makes organic bamboo pads and organic cotton tampons, is opting for a social-first integrated campaign that includes a physical book based on submissions and personal accounts. The campaign will roll out in two phases. The first is a call for submissions and the second will be the promotion of the book’s release.
“There has been a rise over the last few years of more empowering and inclusive messaging around menstruation,” Marta Hooper, group creative director at agency partner AntiSocial tells strategy. “We wanted to build on this momentum with a campaign that puts the menstruator – not the product – at the center of the campaign.”
It’s rare to see a campaign highlighting real people’s stories, especially ones that are this personal, Hooper says. “We rarely see campaigns that focus on the wide experiences of everyone who menstruate, and we see a powerful message of unity by combining all our stories together.”
The coffee table book was created because menstruation has been taboo for so long, Hooper says, adding “we wish to present a wonderful dichotomy in the aesthetic of the book and the (sometimes gory and definitely bloody) stories inside.”
As Hooper tells strategy, it was vital for the shop to have the book stand out not just through the stories, but also the design aesthetic, and a title that felt “beautifully representative in the design itself.”
Campaign elements also include a video calling for submissions, a microsite, social (organic and paid) and wild postings in Toronto and Vancouver, which are currently live. OOH wild postings media was handled by the client.
“Technically we aren’t targeting Toronto and Vancouver, we are actively wanting stories from beyond these major cities to expand the narrative,” Hooper says. “So yes, we have activated in those places, but only really because Joni is very much a Canadian startup with limited funds. We are trying to be mindful of budget and making sure we are using it as effectively as we can, [which is why we are] concentrating OOH dollars in those two markets.”
The social media buy was handled by AntiSocial.
