Rise and Shine with Lil-Lets: Empowering Young Girls with Freedom during Their Period

Did you know that the biggest reason young girls choose tampons over pads is because they want to go swimming? Or that the thing they want most during their period isn’t mounds of chocolate or a hot water bottle, but just to be able to wear what they like?

It’s around insights like these that Distillery developed its latest campaign for feminine hygiene brand Lil-Lets. Its client was planning two key activities - a tampon sampling partnership with a popular fashion brand, and a messaging service called Lil-Lets Talk where young girls could send a message on WhatsApp to get advice on feminine hygiene from a real expert (not a chatbot).

Distillery's task? To build a social campaign around these activities and keep the buzz going. Specifically, it needed to increase awareness of Lil-Lets among under 16s and encourage them to consider trying Lil-Lets tampons. But there was a catch. Apart from making Lil-Lets more top of mind for young girls, we also needed to address some misconceptions around tampons in general.

Introducing the champion of easy, comfortable non-app tampons.

Lil-Lets’ non-applicator tampons are a game-changer for two key reasons: without a plastic applicator, they’re better for the environment and they’re more flexible and comfortable to wear. Distillery wanted to shout about how amazing this is, so decided to start a movement: The Non-App Life.

Knowing that its young audience lives on Instagram, Distillery took to Stories, creating a hero film that introduced what the non-app life was all about. The film showcased young girls living their best lives, unrestricted - enjoying total comfort and freedom on their period. Bright and airy visuals brought to life the positive tone that we aimed for with our creative direction of 'Rise and Shine'. At the end of the film, Distillery invited its audience to switch to Lil-Lets and join the movement, with its signature hashtag, #nonapplife.

Alongside this new manifesto, Distillery developed a series of social posts to address the other side of the equation: the myths and misconceptions around tampons. Using fun cartoon animations and lighthearted, approachable language, the 'Spilling the T' series broke down the common questions and concerns of its audience, and shared answers and helpful information.

Identifying and working with the right influencer partners

Distillery was speaking to a younger group than in previous Lil-Lets campaigns, and we were keen to find influencers who would be relatable to under-16s. On top of that, it wanted to echo the same honesty and emotional freedom of both the #nonapplife hero film and social post series. Distillery were looking for confident voices, girls who were outspoken, honest, and real, with a no-holds-barred attitude to the conversations Lil-Lets wanted to be part of.

Distillery's team identified a range of Instagram influencers aged from 19 - 22 years old, based in the UK - and most importantly, vocal about girls’ issues. In one collaboration, it worked with Olivia and Evie, two friends who host a podcast about intimate personal experiences, called 'Growing up and sometimes down'. In a 40-minute Instagram Live, they answered questions from their followers on common feminine hygiene misconceptions. The content was the perfect interactive companion for Lil-Lets’ social post series that tackled these questions as well.