The feminine hygiene sector is going through a period of intense growth fuelled by strong competition, product innovation and rising health awareness amongst women. By 2017, the global market is expected to be worth $15.2 billion (Global Industry Analysts). One brand aiming to capitalise on this growth is femfresh. Owned by Church & Dwight, it offers a range of intimate care products for women including wipes, body wash, deodorants and powders.

Traditionally, the brand had been associated with the problems normally experienced by older ladies. Growth had slowed and it had become stigmatised. By changing this perception and normalising use among the 18-35 age group, we could develop the future market for femfresh. Our Path to Purchase experience told us that this was an elusive target market and that to create real impact, an experiential event would work best. Our Location Ranking tool flagged up music festivals as perfect venues and our ROI Model highlighted they would deliver a positive financial outcome.

Music festival toilets are usually one of the worst aspects of the festival experience. We had the idea to create an exclusive 'femfresh VIPee area', luxury loos just for ladies at the hugely popular V Festival. Ladies of all ages could use our lovely VIPee loos, freshen up with a free femfresh sample, claim a bespoke Vajazzle Kit & a £1 coupon for Nair (another Church & Dwight brand). As well as the VIPee stand, we also had roaming sampling teams at both V Festival sites.

femfresh sales increased by 9.6% in the four weeks following the festival. Over 30,048 femfresh samples were distributed. 4,601 Vajazzle Kits were handed out. There were 9,360 loo visits. We captured the data of 1,863 people. As a result, of the women surveyed who had visited the stand, 80% disagreed or strongly disagreed that femfresh is only for people who have intimate hygiene problems. In addition, 80% agreed or strongly agreed that femfresh is an everyday product. Our femfresh Vajazzle Kit even picked up press coverage in the NME!

Shahla Rushworth, Group Brand Manager, said, 'smp immediately understood what we are trying to do with femfresh and shared our significant ambitions for the brand. They really got the consumer we were after and how we could make the brand relevant in their lives. In addition, the actual account management and execution was excellent. We have limited budgets but we are doing it again this year. That says it all.'