We landed on a key link between active women and blood – in sport, we do bleed. Small injuries cause bleeding, which is completely normal – just like periods. The campaign idea was to dramatize the thought that no blood should hold a woman back. We would get women talking about periods and in doing so, help them to keep active throughout their cycle.

YouTube is swamped with fitness and nutrition content; only arresting content would captivate our audience and direct them to content that would bring to life Live Fearless and shake consumer perception of clichéd feminine hygiene marketing. An informative film explaining the exercise insight alone wouldn’t achieve the stand-out we needed; we had to create something challenging and distinctive. The key thing women hate about category advertising is the blue liquid. We chose to break category convention and show real blood for the first time ever.

We created a provocative film ‘Blood’ showing women practicing sports. Each bleeds as a result of injury; the boxer has a bloody nose, the surfer has blood running down her face, the runner has scraped her knee. A ballerina peels back the tape used to protect her feet, exposing her bloodied toe. The women are pushing themselves hard, even after blood has been drawn. They don’t give up. A little blood doesn’t stop them... So why should their period?

The blood was red. Not blue. A first for the category – a realistic representation of blood.

The Blood film drove to a content hub, ‘Red.fit’, which housed a program of advice; the result of a 2 year partnership with St. Mary’s University, Twickenham and UCL.

The film was hosted on YouTube and Bodyform’s social media platforms over 2 months, and featured in cinema and OOH.

Consumer response was overwhelming. The campaign quickly gained traction, encouraging commentary and sharing amongst the target audience and beyond.

The objective was to achieve the highest online share of voice in the category. The month after launch, Bodyform’s share of voice online was 74% compared to only 5% previously. Online brand mentions spiked, with Bodyform completely overtaking Always. On an investment of £107,000 the campaign achieved a reach of 600 million and 13.8 million impressions. 94% of volume came from earned media.

Moreover, the campaign encouraged public discourse around periods and the stigma that surrounds them. It challenged notions that periods are something that we shouldn’t talk about, and it equipped women with information to help them keep active throughout the month. Bodyform will carry on breaking taboos with unique ideas that encourage women to Live Fearless.