Title	#LIKEAGIRL
Brand	P&G
Product/Service	FEMCARE PRODUCT
Category	A10. BRAND VOICE (INCL. STRATEGIC STORYTELLING)
Advertising Agency	LEO BURNETT TORONTO, CANADA
Advertising Agency 2	LEO BURNETT LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
Media Agency	STARCOM MEDIAVEST GROUP Chicago, USA
PR Agency	MSLGROUP London, UNITED KINGDOM
PR Agency 2	MSLGROUP New York, USA
Production Company	CHELSEA PICTURES Los Angeles, USA
Entrant Company	MSLGROUP London, UNITED KINGDOM

Name	Company	Position
Carolyn Samuel	MSLGROUP	Senior Vice President/Global Client Engagement Director
Katie Stevens	MSLGROUP	Senior Vice President
Matt Dickman	MSLGROUP	Svp/Global Digital/Social Strategy Director
Amy Smith	MSLGROUP	Senior Vice President
Louise Thach	MSLGROUP	Vice President
Melinda Zurich	MSLGROUP	Account Supervisor
Nicole Scull	MSLGROUP	Senior Vice President
Heather Dewald	MSLGROUP	Vice President
Michelle Meisten	MSLGROUP	Senior Account Executive
Sarah List	MSLGROUP	Account Executive
Elizabeth Antonelli	MSLGROUP	Account Associate
Sydney Slater	MSLGROUP	Account Associate
Jamie Harris	MSLGROUP	Account Executive/Digital/Social
Alayna Anderson	MSLGROUP	Account Supervisor
Allan Dib	MSLGROUP	Senior Vice President/Planning And Analytics
Judy John	Leo Burnett Toronto	Chief Creative Officer/Creative Director
Becky Swanson	Leo Burnett Toronto	Creative Director
Anette Sally	Leo Burnett Toronto	Account Lead
Adine Becker	Leo Burnett Toronto	Agency Producer
Edgar Sandoval	Procter/Gamble	Brand Franchise Leader

The Campaign

In 2013, the FemCare category was primed for a movement. Always, the P&G feminine care brand, held the position of global leader, but competitors were gaining traction by connecting with millennial girls on social platforms in more emotional ways. Despite a 30-year commitment to empowering girls through puberty education, including a UN initiative, Always’ brand purpose wasn’t apparent to the new generation of consumers: the brand was still talking about pads. The new path to relevancy was to become part of a girl's existing conversation while remaining authentic to the brand. While Always historically focused on confidence based on superior product performance, the opportunity was to reinterpret confidence in a more meaningful way. Our insight was that at puberty, a girl’s confidence drops significantly: more than half of women claimed they experienced a decline in confidence. Empowering girls during puberty when their confidence is lowest would give the brand a powerful, relevant and purposeful role. Always charged us with creating a global campaign to drive an emotional brand connection. Based on a powerful research-driven insight, the team created a provocative social experiment and viral video to transform "Like A Girl" from an insult to a meaningful statement about confidence. P&G launched #LikeAGirl campaign in over 20 global markets and achieved 4.5 billion impressions globally. Through smart media and influencer strategies, #LikeAGirl become #1 viral video in the world. A monumental shift in the conversation turned "Like A Girl" into an inspiring statement.

The Brief

Objectives: Drive emotional brand connection/popularity/loyalty. Target Audience: To create a change in the social understanding of girls at puberty, Always enlisted millennial women (connected, could relate, want to make a difference). Research: We worked with Research Now to understand confidence at puberty and define an insight to shape the campaign: •56% of girls claimed drop in confidence at puberty. •Lowest confidence moments -- at start of puberty/first period -- leave a lasting effect. •89% of females (16-24) think words are harmful to girls. Insults like "like a girl" cast lifelong doubt on how powerful a girl can be.

Results

Our social experiment sparked one of the top viral videos of the year and a monumental shift in the conversation: Output/Awareness Goals: +76MM video views on YouTube +4.5 billion global media impressions; 2.3 billion in Europe (51%) +Campaign message reached half the world's population +#1 spot for AdWeek's "Top 5 Commercials of the Week" (June 20-27) +#2 Spot for AdAge's Viral Chart (7/1) +Top-tier online media coverage--BBC, Huffington Post, Mashable, BuzzFeed, etc. +Trended on Facebook (6/30-7/1) Knowledge/Consideration Goals +According to brand research, 81% of women 16-24 support Always in creating a movement to reclaim “like a girl” as an inspiring statement +99% positive/neutral social mentions +P&G/Always were lauded across all media; the campaign was popularly supported/endorsed by dozens of celebrities around the world Action/Business Impact Goals +Increased Twitter followers by 195.3% +Because of overwhelmingly positive consumer response, P&G plans to make #LikeAGirl a core equity-building component of the Always brand.

Execution

Our strategic approach centered around tangible data and an influencer/media strategy. RESEARCH: Leveraged insights/data from the research study to bolster campaign credibility, news value, content and messaging. HASHTAG: Introduced a social hashtag #LikeAGirl as a rallying cry so girls could let the world know the inspiring things they were doing “Like A Girl." VIDEO LAUNCH: Seeded video with influencers/bloggers before it was placed on YouTube to help spark viral word-of-mouth and fuel launch media coverage. An exclusive in AdAge announced the video. MEDIA OUTREACH: Leveraged a surge of female empowerment movements in outreach to media. Combined with the influencer seeding, the approach ensured robust coverage across traditional/social categories. CELEBRITIES - Engaged Vanessa Hudgens/Bella Thorne to post tweets on the campaign. These sparked additional tweets from Sarah Silverman, Tyler Oakley, Maria Shriver, Cher, Kristen Bell, Chelsea Clinton and Melinda Gates. REAL-TIME NEWS DESK: Monitored/engaged with #LikeAGirl conversations to amplify social sharing.

The Situation

In 2013, Always, the P&G feminine care brand was global category leader, but its biggest competitor was gaining traction by connecting with millennial girls in a more emotional way. Despite a 30-year commitment to empowering girls through puberty education, including a UN initiative, Always’ brand purpose wasn’t apparent to the new generation of consumers: the brand was still talking about pads. To secure its future, Always needed to better connect with the next generation of consumers. Historically, Always focused on confidence based on superior product performance; the opportunity was to build a more meaningful understanding of confidence.

The Strategy

We sought to inspire a movement to change "Like A Girl" from an insult to mean downright amazing. This idea was brought to life through a social experiment to show the impact the phrase had on society – especially on girls pre- and post-puberty. The centerpiece was a video that captured how people of all ages interpret the phrase produced by award-winning documentarian/director Lauren Greenfield. The interviews showed that somewhere between puberty and adulthood, women internalized the phrase to mean weakness and vanity, but also how some encouragement can help change girls’ perceptions of what it means to proudly do things like a girl. We built a media and influencer campaign around the video to empower women that "Like A Girl" was a meaningful statement to embrace. P&G charged us with with specific reach and sharing goals: • Drive 2MM video views • Garner 250 million media impressions