As the Strategic Partnerships and
Marketing Director, I am involved in executing several BHAGs – big
hairy audacious goals, that is! One of my BHAGs is developing a kick-ass
brand of our maxi-pad for SHE Rwanda along with my colleagues Julian and Gerardine.
Our first tool of our new brand identity
will be our packaging. We are working with Kool Girl Posse on our brand logo
and identity and they came up three concepts for us to test with girls and
women.
1.The first
concept communicated our belief in debunking taboos;
2.The second
concept communicated the uniqueness of reclaiming agro-waste and natural
materials to produce a quality product;
3.The third
concept communicated a key benefit linked to menstrual hygiene management.
I traveled to Rwanda in April and May to
present these concepts to my colleagues and then to several groups of girls and
women from rural and urban communities.
The concepts and designs also sparked a
spirited debate among the SHE team! Likewise, girls and young women responses
were also overwhelmingly astute and positive. It was surprising to learn which
design elements particularly resonated with girls and how they perceived our
product.
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| A student takes a closer look at each brand concepts |
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| The girls took our focus group session as seriously as an exam! |
One lesson that I learned from the girls - don't be afraid to be bold in color! All you have to do is look around you to discover bright colors are everywhere!
We also learned how greatly important the use of symbols and imagery for instruction and education. Our challenge is to find universally known symbols and imagery that will translate in many geographies.
Our updated concept will aim to achieve better clarity
about the product and its benefits, while also simplifying the information
needed for healthy menstrual hygiene. The most important thing we learned from
the girls and women is that our brand must speak to the girls’ desire to live
life normally – girls need assurance that menstruation should not break the
rhythm of their day to day lives.
Stay tuned to see how we continue to develop our new brand
identity for our maxi-pad and better yet, for the debut of our brand and
packaging!
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