For the 15.5 million perimenopausal and menopausal women in the UK no individual experience is the same. But feeling ill-prepared, disempowered, and invisible to society is an almost universal experience.

For over 170 years, Boots has existed to look after their customer’s health. They’ve empathised, listened, and supported female customers through life’s most intimate moments, and strive to become the trusted authority on menopause.

This campaign sought to raise awareness that no women’s experience of menopause is the same. Many women know missing a period could be a symptom of menopause. Few know there are actually 48 symptoms, and only 51% of women can name three.

By educating women that menopause can be more than a missed period, Boots enabled women to see their seemingly unrelated symptoms as signs of menopause. Only then can they turn to Boots, the only UK retailer with solutions for all symptoms.

The campaign uses impactful double-page spreads to highlight menopausal preconceptions versus the true variety of symptoms many women experience.

On the left-hand side, the redacted text describes commonly referred to symptoms of menopause. Whereas on the right, the unredacted text reveals a personal account based on real experiences. The full print uncovers the truth behind the presumption, highlighting that menopause is personal and that symptoms experienced can vary significantly from person to person.

The work aimed to encourage open, frank and empowering conversations surrounding the symptoms and treatment of menopause – normalising the topic and the myriad of symptoms a woman might experience.

The double page spread ran in a number of publications, including OK!, New and Daily Express. It had an impressive total reach of 1.7 million people, and its effectiveness was recognised by Campaign Magazine - who awarded the campaign ‘Ad of the Day’.

This print campaign was one of six activations of a wider and longer-term strategy to position Boots as the health authority for menopause. To date, and taken together, these six campaign activations have driven significant engagement and impact.

For years Boots had been losing touch with their core audience of 40–64-year-old women, but since the first activation launched, nearly 18% more of this audience have returned to Boots (compared to total shoppers).