Sanitary branding

Below is an exert from my essay in which i have explored the ways in which sanitary products are branded and advertised. Within the essay i explored the issues with the advertising of women's products and found ways in which realistic representations of femininity could be portrayed, i took a particular focus on the advertising of women's sanitary pads; closely looking in to the mainstream brand Bodyform. Bodyform released what can be considered as a groundbreaking advert addressing the taboos around periods in a way which accurately presented what it's like to be a menstruating female, in an empowering, uplifting and above all realistic way. 

"within sanitary pad advertising, the dominant point of view is that period blood is dirty, the ads in a way shame women who menstruate and push the unrealistic expectation that women are going to continue with their everyday routines as normal, no complaints, with no cramps no indication that they’re menstruating. The bodyform ad, which was the first uk advert to show period blood came about after findings from their ‘period taboo’ survey found that one in five women had suffered knocks to their confidence as a result of periods not being discussed openly with them, however due to the success of their ad and their devotion to continue to break down taboos and make blood normal the brand are presenting realistic ideas of modern day femininity, and in doing so can lead the change for other brands to stop shaming menstruation, spreading the message of periods being a natural thing that should be openly discussed. The body form branding on the other hand needs to change in order to be visually and politically cohesive to the blood normal ad campaign. A subtle but noticeable change to make to the design of the brand would be to use red, and to stop trying to do what every other sanitary brand does; hide what the product is for, in an overtly feminine way. In order for the bodyform branding to represent the brands new taboo breaking message, the feminine typeface and use of colour need to change in order to not only be visually cohesive to the brands message but also to lead the way for other leading brands to stop avoiding the topic of menstruation and treating it as something that should be hidden."

For my practical project i will be redesigning body form sanitary pads (image below) inspired by their 2017 advertisement. Although bodyform are leading the way for change through breaking down the taboos around menstruation, their packaging does the opposite; they still using bright, unnecessary colours in order to distract from what the product really is, the use of overtly feminine type, the use lace and love heart imagery, the use of feminine language and above all the fact that they, and all mainstream sanitary brands refuse to use red or have any indication of red or blood on their packaging. 

I aim to rebrand Bodyform sanitary pads inspired by their 2017 blood normal campaign, the design should be uplifting and encouraging, it should be modern and something that people aren't ashamed to carry, it should break down the taboos surrounding periods and not hide on the shelves of supermarkets and above all the packaging should be realistic, using tones of colour, language and overall just be designed in a way which women can relate to. 

Key Ideas To Communicate: 

• inspired by the campaign 
• uplifting 
• encouraging 
• modern 
• REAL 
• break taboos 
• modern 
• stylish