Page 52 - AdNews magazine Mar-Apr-May 2023

Special Australia
SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR WINNER
Special Australia won Social Media Campaign of the Year for ‘Cheer Bleeders’ for BONDS. Finalists: Host/Havas (‘Crime Interrupted’ for The Australian Federal Police), WiredCo. (‘Pizzas for Podiums’ for Pizza Hut Australia) and The Monkeys, part of Accenture Song (‘Empower Moves’ for UN Women Australia). Judges said: "This campaign demonstrated a clear client objec- tive and understanding of audi- ence, paired with performance." In 2020, BONDS entered into the period care category with the launch of their Bloody Comfy Period Undies (BCPU). In 2021, they realised they needed to move beyond the launch phase and fully cement themselves as leaders in the category.
Special Australia: “As a brand that’s all about making the 2 of 6 uncomfortable comfortable, our brief was to take on the outdated
conventions of period advertising and speak to our audience in a language they would understand- whilst promoting BCPU.
“For 21 days each month girls are these vibrant, active and energised superpowers - and then for 5-7 days, social norms teach them to retreat. This social taboo is holding girls back, with up to 20% of teenagers missing school from 1-7 days/month due to their period, and many expe- riencing teasing and shaming and exclusion from everyday activities.
“But, the new generation of ‘period apprentices’ - girls aged 13 - 18 – are pushing back. They know what’s what when it comes to men- struation and so are unafraid to share their experiences. We needed to celebrate this energy by demonstrating that menstruation is not a dirty word, and replacing fear and shame with comfort.
“We wanted to create an enter- taining way for our audience to
pep one another up while on their period. Something they could use as a megaphone to show they don’t follow the conventional rules around periods - they set the agenda. Knowing this group of teenagers live and breathe social media, our idea had to show up in their space and on their terms - whilst still being bold and unex- pected. Meet the Cheer Bleeders, a cheer squad we created for BONDS BCPU, that embedded itself into teenage girl culture via their social feeds.
“Full of attitude and energy, our ‘Cheer Bleeders’ inspired them to period their own way - while wearing the undies. Using the line, “Cheer through the bleed”, our seven unique Cheer Bleeders and their Blood Droplet Mascot cheered about all aspects of periods across Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, Facebook, Spotify and YouTube.”