According to the US Federal Trade Commission, advertisements must be truthful, cannot be deceptive or unfair, and must be evidence-based. In addition, the Food and Drug Administration advises that disease-related advertisements or communications be disease- or health condition-specific, enhance education, be clear and accurate, and contain a responsible public health.

The idea was simple: “Oops moments” happen in our daily lives all the time, but whether it’s getting into a fender-bender or even forgetting your taxes, you deal with it and move on. Why should we treat a birth control “oops moment” any differently?

The Perfectly Imperfect Emergency Contraception (EC) Campaign acknowledges imperfections, rather than stigmatizing them, via a range of media, we encourage our millennial audience to look at a birth control “oops moment” as a manageable moment in a “perfectly imperfect” life.

The Perfectly Imperfect EC Literacy campaign took many forms. Whether it was a print ad debunking popular myths about EC, an Instagram post, or a message from an MTV celebrity, being “perfectly imperfect” became a reason to be proud, not ashamed.

The College Tour

This fall, we partnered with MTV and HerCampus to pilot a “Perfectly Imperfect College Tour” across the nation. At each stop, Carly and Nessa from MTV’s Girl Code and women’s health expert Dr. Diana Ramos led Q&A forums to educate on emergency contraception, as well as encouraged students to share their #perfectlyimperfect stories in the Perfectly Imperfect Photobooth.

The Booth

At each campus, students lined up to share their “Perfectly Imperfect” stories and get their photos taken. Stories and photos were uploaded and shared in real-time via the @perfectlyimperfect Instagram account, one of the first Instagram accounts for a pharmaceutical brand. Carly and Nessa appear in a series of their own “Perfectly Imperfect” videos as well, featured alongside other stories at PerfectlyImperfectAndMe.com.

The Tour Continues

This spring, we’ll visit more campuses, and help thousands more celebrate their “Perfectly Imperfect” selves.

• 13% increase in sales from 2015 to 2016

• An average of over 80,000 new users to the website each month

Research to build our strategic foundation was multipronged:

• Millennials Trends and Insight Qualitative Deep Dive — to understand how women relate and connect with brands and their communities

• Quantitative market research was conducted to understand awareness and usage of Emergency Contraceptives (EC), and the current drivers and barriers to EC use overall. Research was also conducted to understand the health of the Plan B One-Step® as well as patient connection to the brand and competitors in the EC space to identity areas of greater opportunity

• Ethnographic research: sent women out to retail pharmacies to understand barriers (eg, emotional and logistical) at point of purchase

Situation

• Plan B One-Step® (PBOS) was not top of mind with our key target audience (young millennial women). While it could be a key product to help them in case of unprotected sex or birth control failure, many women didn’t see the brand as relevant to them. Those who did know the brand or had used the brand, felt there was shame/stigma associated with using PBOS. Much of the stigma and shame was due to misperceptions of how emergency contraception (EC) works (eg, abortion pill). Additionally, many women didn’t know that you could get PBOS over the counter without a prescription.

Objectives:

• Educate our millennial audience on EC and remove misperceptions

• Increase comfort, familiarity and relevance of PBOS by communicating that we all have perfectly imperfect moments in our lives

• Grow the market by addressing barriers to emergency contraception acceptance and use