Kotex and Ogilvy create digital world aiming to reinvent period education through gaming

Menstrual hygiene brand Kotex, together with Ogilvy, have launched “Period Planet”, a new educational campaign built around an immersive, web-based gaming experience to combat misinformation, stigmas and myths around female menstruation.

In the game, the player’s mission is to transform Period Planet from a dark lifeless moonscape where myths and misinformation have been left to run amok, into a lush, healthy planet as they embark on an immersive journey to learn more about puberty, the reproductive system, and period management. Upon completing the 4 levels of the game, players are rewarded with a downloadable version of their game avatar, free period products and encouraged to use period tracker to stay on top of their period.

The campaign has launched nationwide in Australia and is expected to be adopted across other APAC markets over the course of the year.

“Even today, girls are overwhelmed by periods because they are not informed or prepared for it. Menstrual health education is a critical enabler to support girls during their puberty. Girls and boys today are digital natives, Covid has accelerated digital education and gaming is gaining prominence. The shift in online learning during the pandemic inspired us to create this online world, reinventing period education and creating a fun, inclusive, gamified experience which anyone can play,” said Aparna Dubey, APAC Sector Lead Adult & Feminine Care.

Early research conducted with teachers since the launch in Australia has been excellent with 92% saying they would use Period Planet as a tool in their classrooms, whilst 95% said that they would recommend it to a colleague.

As part of its purpose to ensure that periods never stand in the way of any woman’s progress, Kotex had the ambition to build a scalable, cost-effective, long term owned platform to engage with a wide range of audiences. Ogilvy partnered with Kotex in APAC on end-to-end development, from defining the problem statement and formulating a brief, to defining the player experience journey and working with award-winning experience design studio North Kingdom on the build.

Sarah-Leith Izzard, Regional Executive Creative Director for Ogilvy Asia said: “We put a great deal of thought into developing an experience that highlighted both strong storytelling and craft, so it would immerse players into the game. The game is built on WebGI and is accessible on desktop or mobile regardless of connectivity speeds. And the entire game, from the design of avatars to language is gender-neutral so that boys are included in the learning experience.”

Katryna Mojica, President of Ogilvy Hong Kong and Regional Account Lead for Kotex, said: “We are very proud of this important work which showcases the best use of borderless creativity, innovating and creating across country borders, bringing in talent and capabilities that translate into world-class solutions for our clients. Above that, we are always looking to inspire the brands and people we work with so that we can make a far-reaching positive impact.”

To view the work and play the game, click here.

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Credits
Sarah-Leith Izzard – Regional Executive Creative Director
Soenar Santoso – Associate Creative Director
Alexandra Colgan – Senior Copywriter
Sherman Yeung – Business Director
Connie Ho – Senior Program Director
Katryna Mojica – Regional Account Lead
North Kingdom – Production Company