What's your BHAG?

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.

A student takes a closer look at each brand concepts

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!

The Name Game - be careful what you call it!

Dear SHE Trailblazers, 

We are in the last mile of launching our industrial-scale production, which means that we are in the thick of designing a brand identity of our SHE pads here in Rwanda. While the team has finally decided on our brand (you'll have to wait for the official debut); here is some food for thought.

I and the entire SHE team have been engaging ourselves in determining a brand name for our menstrual pads. 

We tested a variety of our brand name ideas amongst our target consumers - rural schoolgirls - and it was amazing to witness their responses to our name ideas. I'm curious to hear what you would call our pads that were produced with such unique innovation, and no, BananaPads are not an option!

After testing our brand name, I came to notice the importance of brand naming while walking down the street in Kigali. I noticed a shop called the "One Stop Shop Centre." I have never seen a shop like this here and was curious enough to enter, especially because it looked way to small to carry all the things one may need.

When I entered the shop, I walked up and down the aisles and saw that this shop had nothing more in stock that a regular corner shop: from bread to milk to juice and toiletries.  I asked the owner why he called his store a "One Stop Shop Centre," since it does not have everything. He replied that it has "everything that you need', to which I replied, no it doesn't because I cannot buy a mattress from this shop!

My point is often times we just pick names, whether it's for a person or a product, with any consideration of how it will be interpreted by others and what type of impact it will have on the user or the person reading it.

I learned a few lessons, watch out for the names that pop up next.

Julian Ingabire

SHE Rwanda COO