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This is a campaign that didn’t drive sales.

A campaign that didn’t even include a product.

A campaign that had no instant ROI.

This is a campaign that empowered millions of girls around the world

How did Always do it?

Through a simple hashtag. 

Company Overview

Valuation: Unknown (owned by Proctor & Gamble)

Revenue: $546.5 million (Source)

Always is an American brand of female hygiene products.

Up until 2014, the brand was fairly bland and simple. They provided products that people used and that was essentially it. Yes, they made good sales and they had a good name for themselves but they were certainly nothing special.

Then in June 2014, they released a campaign. A campaign that would revolutionise the brand. A campaign that changed who 'Always' was. They were no longer just a bland maker of hygiene products... they were a brand that made women feel empowered.

The campaign in question?#LikeAGirl

Breaking Down The Strategy

So, how did they do it?How did Always change what it means to be #LikeAGirl?

It all started with this video:

Ads can often fall short of the mark. But this ad, this ad may honestly be the most perfect ad I've ever seen. 

If someone asked me to sit down and watch a 3-minute advertisement, I would laugh - absolutely no chance. Yet this ad, I've watched multiple times through (and it doesn't even apply to me necessarily).

Why was it such a gripping ad?

Because it wasn't an advertisement at all. Always weren't pushing a new launch or a new product. They were highlighting an issue within society, an issue that very few of us even knew existed, but a huge majority related to.

They didn't just stop with a gripping advert though, oh no. Always weren't just trying to pull in a few views; they were literally trying to change the world. 

Always was starting a movement. 

The ad was the first domino. It highlighted the issue to the world and pushed a new perception. The second domino was getting the campaign to take off on social media. 

Always started by making a heavy push across their personal socials. They added different aspects of being a girl in posts to allow all segments of their audience to relate.

They had "Swing like a girl" for the golfers, "Kick like a girl" for the footballers. Alongside some more general messages like "Girls aren't strong" and "Girls aren't brave" to make sure the message resonated with the whole of their audience.

The most important part of the campaign, however, was the hashtag - #LikeAGirl. The hashtag would take the campaign from a simple ad posted on social media to a campaign that the whole world could get behind.

It gave people (especially women) the chance to showcase their strengths, empower each other and make the campaign part of who they were. 

To say people utilised the hashtag would be an understatement, in fact it's still being used to this day:

The campaign was such a huge success that it became much more than just a campaign. It became the heart of the Always brand and has been running for the last 8 years now. 

Over those years, the campaign has gone from strength to strength. The brand has even begun collaborating with some of the biggest female superstars, as they continue to show girls that they should be proud of who they are. The prime example of this is their ad with US soccer star Alex Morgan:

Imagine...

An ad that turned into the core of what the brand is about.

An ad that turned into a global movement with megastars getting behind it.An ad that turned a hashtag into something that hundreds of girls feel a part of.

That's impact.

Now we know, the campaign was an amazing success. But what was in it for Always -  from a business perspective?

1. Deeper connection with consumers

Empowering your target audience is never a bad thing to do and Always did just that. They made girls proud to be girls, so how do you think that affected those girls' relationship with the brand? Of course, they were much more connected and felt aligned with the brand. They went from consumer to superfans - a priceless transition.2. Brand awareness As much as Always probably wouldn't admit that at the heart of this campaign was a monetary incentive, that is more than likely the truth. In this case, the #LikeAGirl campaign generated 85m global views on YouTube from 150+ countries. For Always, this was 85m people who now knew about Always but also knew what market Always was in.  A perfect combination.

3. Indirect shares & exposure

The video was almost unassociated with the brand. It had no products and minor branding. Therefore people were way more willing to share the campaign across socials. For Always, this led to a huge amount of reach and growth for their digital presence. People weren't meaning to promote the brand but it was an indirect effect of sharing the video.

4. Branding 

The most important benefit the campaign had for Always, was from a branding perspective. After the campaign when people thought of Always, they thought of empowering women. A word association jackpot from a marketing perspective and exactly how the brand want to be seen.

If at this point you are still doubting if the #LikeAGirl campaign was a success. Firstly, call your doctor and secondly just take a look at the overall results of the campaign:- Positive sentiment (of the campaign) reached 96% in just three months.

- Launch video was the 2nd most viral video globally.

- 1100+ earned-media placements in the first three months.

- 4.4+ billion media impressions in the first three months.

- Always Twitter followers tripled in the first three months.

- Always YouTube Channel subscribers grew 4339%.

- 177,000 #LikeAGirl tweets in the first three months, including many celebrities.

- Purchase intent grew more than 50%.

But the most important stat of all:

The brand took a term associated with weakness and negativity and turned it into a phrase to empower women all over the globe.

#LikeAGirl - one of the most successful hashtags a brand has ever used.

How To Implement It

If you want to make a change like Always did, you have to zoom out, like REALLY zoom out and find a way to address a global issue.

Think bigger than your company.

Think bigger than your industry.

What's a social issue that affects people globally?For example:Sports company: Can you address the gender pay gap in athletes?You could run a campaign around equality with the tagline "I'm an athlete" and have people of all genders playing their sport and saying it. Finish it off with them all together saying "and we deserve to get paid.... EQUALLY".

Water company: Could you address the lack of clean water around the world?You could show a juxtaposition of someone seen as upper-class drinking dirty water. Then show third-world countries with pure water and make a point of "if this isn't okay why is the opposite?"

It's all about widening your horizons and addressing a global issue. Not for sales, but because it's an issue your company cares about!

This has been a breakdown of Always' #LikeAGirl marketing strategy. I hope you have learned something and can implement a similar strategy into your business!

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I’ll see you next Sunday!