Objectives

While Bayer’s intimate healthcare brand Canesten is available in Brazil’s consumer market, openly discussing vaginal health is still a social taboo. And the root of this problem is a lack of education, stemming from myths perpetuated by Brazil’s recent abstinence-only sex education policy.

Canesten challenged us to create and roll out a new global brand purpose: to help women to set themselves free from the shame and discomfort caused by intimate infections. 

Our objective? To firmly establish this mindset within the next generation of first-time sufferers.

Welcome to Intensivão da PPK , the digital school of intimate health offering a five-week programme that educates young people on the topic of vaginal health in a fun and forthright way. 

Strategy

Our research found that 1 in 4 Brazilian women are ashamed to say the word ‘vagina’. But three quarters of women will experience thrush at least once in their life and 60% feel shame when they get it.  

In Brazil, vaginal infections are associated with being 'less clean', when, in fact, the exact opposite is the case. Many young people don’t know that infections can be caused by showering with soap two to three times a day during summer, leading to an imbalanced vagina PH. 

We wanted to help young people learn the truth about their vaginas and how to keep them healthy. How? By launching a shame-free school that turns vital knowledge of vaginal health into entertaining, fun and educational lessons that spoke to the audience on their level, in a place that they felt comfortable – TikTok. Here, we also knew that regardless of circumstances, anyone could access this education.

Our shame-free school has a curriculum that covers all topics relating to vaginal health. The nine interactive lessons and final exam were led by headteacher and pelvic physiotherapist Claudia Milan, body positive advocate Hana Khalil and psychologist and comedian Pequena Lo. They are all credible experts in their field – and bold, engaging and fun. 

We designed lessons which specifically targeted Brazilian-specific myths and taboos. For example, the fashion class focused on why wet swimwear could increase your chances of infection. In our media studies lesson, we addressed the alarming static that Brazil is the leading country for labiaplasty procedures worldwide, teaching our audience that ‘normal’ vaginas come in all shapes and sizes. 

Our cohort of example students were young, well-known faces on TikTok – famous for being outspoken, confident individuals. 

Intensivão da PPK was launched on TikTok in Brazil in February 2021 and ran for five weeks. The global version, called Vagina Academy, is now live in Italy and will launch in the UK later this year, followed by Australia via several social media platforms, such as Snapchat, Instagram and YouTube, to allow young people easy access to engaging class content and live streamed seminars.

Results 

Since its launch, the Intensivão da PPK TikTok channel has driven:

43M video views 

210K TikTok channel subscribers (equivalent to filling 17.5K real-world sized classrooms)

1 de-censorship of the word ‘vagina’ on TikTok (vagina health is now a welcomed topic on TikTok – a world-first – after we appealed and won ‘vagina’ de-censorship)

CONFIDENTIAL 

Our paid media drove the following results:

TopView video had 21.13 seconds average watch time per person (almost double the TikTok Brazil benchmark range of 11.24-14.24s)

Click-through rate of 19% (vs. TikTok Brazil benchmark of 17.5-18.1%)

Uplift in positive brand perception, with an increase of 5.2% of people rating Canesten’s contribution to helping reduce intimate health taboos as ‘High’

Testimonials

Sarah Shimmons, Global marketing director Smirnoff, Diageo 

‘The fact they use TikTok for those young consumers means it really puts them on their page, It felt like they were using the right type of content to really engage with them and remove that level of shame’

Mavesh Malik business growth manager JCDecaux 

‘ What a bold and brilliant way to tackle a really important, serious issue, at a time where it’s never been more critical’

Darain Faraz International brand marketing director for linkedin 

‘ When I first saw it, I absolutely loved it, it felt like they were creating a movement’