Period Pain Getting You Down? JWT Shanghai Has an App for That!

Leveraging the insight that periods, while a pain, also bring women together, JWT Shanghai has created an augmented reality app that combines Chinese consumers’ love of technology, cute characters and selfies into a new brand platform for Unicharm’s Sofy “Pocket Magic” sanitary pads.

The campaign aims to help Sofy connect with 18-24 year old Chinese women and position "Pocket Magic", a new slim, pocket-sized sanitary pad that comes in fun, colorful packaging, as a fashionable and innovative brand. 

Chinese consumers who purchase "Pocket Magic" can use the app to scan the product, and unlock a set of interactive animations of Sofy’s cute and mischievous mascots, Su and Fei. The characters pop up in surprising ways to enhance your selfies, which can be shared with friends on Weibo or WeChat. Women can also use the calendar tool to set up reminders on their menstruation cycle, so they’re never caught without a pad again.

Sofy’s augmented reality app has turned sanitary pads, something most women hide in the handbags, into a source of entertainment and conversation. 

“Nobody in the segment was using mobile to engage with consumers, and we saw a unique opportunity to reach out and establish a more intimate connection,” says Eugene Chew, Chief Digital Officer at JWT Shanghai. 

“Pads are something all women buy, but not something they usually take out and play with. This is probably a first for the category.”

Over 2 million women visited the Pocket Magic website, and 280,000 downloaded the app, in the first month after the campaign launch in August. The women who have downloaded the app have used it, on average, more than 10 times, marking a brand new type of engagement with a sanitary pad.

They’re not just playing with the app – they’re also talking about the brand. The number of online brand mentions jumped 21% to 5.74 million after the app was launched.

“We wanted a campaign that went beyond functional benefits, and added an emotional layer to deepen connection between consumers and the brand. When JWT Shanghai came up with the idea for the app, we knew it would make a real mark with young women,” said Takahiro Imagawa, Director of Feminine Care Business Division at Unicharm.

The Sofy Pocket Magic App is available at Sofy’s site here and itunes. There’s also a demo video here.