CSR – Ideas for Social Impact

Cannes Lions 2019 Grand Prix in PR – The Tampon Book : A Book against Tampon Discrimination

The Big Idea

The social campaign to beat discriminating tax system
A German startup company “The Female Company” created and published ‘The Tampon Book’.
The book packed with 15 tampons as well as 46 pages of menstruation-related content within its cover.
The company targeted politicians and influencers to raise awareness on tax issues and the campaign went viral around social media.
The company is now making the impact sustainable through the petition, which gained more than 178,000 signatures, to eliminate luxury tax imposed on tampons.

YouTube Video – The Tampon Book

Background

Is tampon a necessity? Or a luxury?

This may sound like a stupid question. But in various countries, the common sense was not common – sanitary items have been taxed as luxury products. In Germany, especially, the sanitary items were taxed at 19 percent, while flowers, truffles, oil paintings, or books are rated at 7 percent.

Why is the tax on the sanitary items that high?

Let’s visit 1963 when Germany introduced “luxury law” on tampons. At the time, male politicians dominated the parliament. Only 36 of 535 members were women. And the tax law on tampons was established by male politicians, mostly, who were unlikely to possess enough knowledge in female sanitary products. As a result, the law has lasted more than decades.

19 percent tax on tampons, 7 percent tax on books?

Yes, books are taxed at 7 percent while tampons at 19. This is the point that two founders of The Female Company, Ann-Sophie Claus and Sinja Stadelmaier, focused and created their idea to speak up against the unfair tax system.

First, they gave a name for the VAT charged on women’s sanitary pads – “tampon tax.” Then they created a campaign as a protest against highly taxed feminine hygiene products that were classified as luxuries. How? By publishing a book with tampons inside it!

How the Idea developed

So, they created a “Tampon Book,” packed with 15 actual organic tampons. The book has 46 pages of funny and empowering stories and illustrations about menstruation. The books were sold for the exact same price as the tampons including 7% tax (€3.11) as books. In addition, the book helped promote a petition which urges the German parliament to discuss the abolition of the tampon tax.

Influencer marketing : Find the right target

The Female company adopted the influencer marketing for their outreach strategy. First, the company made a promo video that introduces the book. And they sent the book to 100 politicians and 100 female influencers. More than half of the people who received the book, especially female politicians, advocated the campaign through their social media and solicited the public to participate to the campaign. And the story went viral.

When it comes to influencers, are the oneswith high number of followers more likable and profitable for outreach?

Some studies say this doesn’t always make the case. One of the initial decision-to-make in viral marketing is to find a right set of initial adopters who can trigger the most wider reach through their network. And some studies say cooperating with too-much-popular influencers might not be the best marketing choice as it may lower the brand’s perceived uniqueness(Vierman et al., 2017).

In this regard, The Female Company made the right decision, the purpose-driven one. Their goal was specific – eliminate the unfair tax law levied on female sanitary products. Then they found the right groups of people to make it.

Result

The result? The first run sold out in two days. The second within a week.

The book quickly sold out. How much? The first run of 1,000 books were sold out in two days. Another 6,000 books flied off the shelves within a week after the campaign launch, and the company achieved the record of selling 10,000 Tampon Books(Vogue).

Their promo video on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram was viewed more than 10.5 million times. Around social media, the story got on the agenda of key influencers and the book became a political message.

Surprisingly, no budget for the media advertising was used. The idea, only, induced people to join the campaign. The power of idea made people to share content voluntarily and this engaging power finally led to a petition for a legal change.

Social Impact

The campaign went big

A petition on change.org to reduce the tax rate to 7 percent has gained 178,000 signatures (as of 29th August, 2019), which required the German Committee for Legal Affairs to formally debate the issue.

” We believe that The Tampon Book is a great example of modern communications. It combines creativity with the craft of public relations, and we hope this is also a callout to the craft industry of PR to work closer with the creative community, because when the two crafts go hand in hand, this is the type of magic that can be produced.”

– Michelle Hutton / PR Lions jury president & Managing director, Global Clients at Edelman

Insights

Clear problem identification : The Female Company targeted two problems and set its objectives clear – tax law revision and raise public awareness. As the problems are clearly identified, it is easier to set objectives and build strategies in a concerted manner.
Audience targeting : Based on two problems, they targeted two different groups – politicians and social media influencers. By sending them books with tax issues, they raised awareness from professional and public audiences on the needs for the tax revision.
The financial power of idea : No expenditure for marketing. A good idea can succeed without enormous budget.
Use of core competence : The company utilized their core competence – produce sanitary items – for solving social problems. When business core competence meets social needs and only if they are aligned closely, not only the idea becomes authentic but also attractive. Lots of brands miss this, but people can actually distinguish authentic brands at their first sight.
Power of authenticity : Moved by genuine idea, people – politicians, influencers, and the public – voluntarily shared the content and signed up for the petition.
Sustainable impact : Not only the brand created a worthy impact social but also sustainable. If the tax system is revised, it will affect millions persistently.

All of the work started from a thought or hope to beat unfair taxation on feminine hygiene products. Big changes were once a small idea.

Big changes were once a small idea

This blog shares the worthy idea that has made the world better. The idea can be as simple as “changing product design” or as big as “making a business model.” But in common, those ideas, whether simple or sophisticated, has resonated with many audiences, created positive actions and outcomes, and made a social impact.

@joszczepanska (from unsplash)

When public changes, so does the market. Recently, I’ve witnessed many brand such as Gucci, Louis Vuitton are launching retro-style games to attract millennial consumers. The shift in audience demographics, customer preferences directly lead into that in brand strategies.

Taking the example of millennial consumers, they are reported to be value-oriented; they are willing to contribute to make the world better than today; they are more likely to give their time and resources; they are more involved in cause than ever; they actively share news about causes or social issues they advocate.

Those preferences to choose companies with high morality, ethical standards, and social values have made a new standard for market competition.

What changes have been made?

Beyond the legal, economic, ethical responsibility, a new standard of responsibility – social responsibility – is required for companies more than ever.

Now we can see more and more companies are tapping into socially responsible activities strategically for brand communication. And Corporate Social Responsibility allows companies to leverage public supports and enact positive changes.

@fwbssy (from unsplash)

And this blog will focus on that — The intersection where Social Responsibility and Brand Communication cross

Great CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) activities or social campaigns start from a small idea. And idea gets bigger according to how it interacts with audiences, how it collaborates with partners, or how it spreads through social media. This blog will look into how an idea gets social — how an idea develops into bigger actions, creates audience engagement, and rolls out as a social movement.

What contents does this blog cover?

The main areas that this blog will focus on are:

Best practices of Social Entrepreneurship
Ideas from Cannes Lions
Successful social campaigns around digital media
Secrets of viral marketing / user-generated content
Ideas for customer engagement
CSR & social media trends
Does CSR activities really improve brand equity?
How people are engaged in social campaigns?
Key academic researches

Like an alchemist finding golden rules

I started off my career as a communication officer for an international non-profit organization. During the period, I was fascinated by public relations and communication and so interested in how brand campaigns interact with audiences. So I advanced my study through the graduate program of Strategic Brand Communication. But then, I had a pivotal change in my career which I didn’t expect; I had to work as a fundraising officer with a specialization in corporate partnership. While working in two different fields, I found out there are some points that things converge. At that time, I knew: this is the field to be explored. This blog starts with this idea. There is a area that communication(marketing), fundraising, social responsibility intersect and make powerful synergies. I decided to explore the verges that those fields cross and to find key principles for successful ideas, and this blog is a guide and record of my exploration.