Before this year, I had never really thought about looking at the ingredient list on a Tampax box. Buying tampons and pads seemed to be a shameful chore that I had to go through every month. Usually, I shuffled to the “feminine care” in Target and picked up whatever I was used to, and shuffled out of the store with a shady paper bag in my hands.
For our curious gender counterparts, periods are, in fact, very uncomfortable. It is physically uncomfortable because cramps are no fun and bleeding is generally not a great feeling. It’s also uncomfortable to think about whether you’re leaving blood stains on your pants or your seats. It’s even worse when you really can’t say anything to anyone because women’s reproductive care is just nasty for everyday communication apparently.
But if it is not inherently obvious, it’s very uncomfortable for a blood-soaked fiber product to be stuck close to your private parts at all time.
In classic P&G fashion, Always, Tampax, and other brands have made claims like it’s soft, it’s dry, it’s absorbent for years. If you look at the feminine care aisle at Target, there are tens if not hundreds of product in similar packaging and make very similar claims. If you look at any feminine care commercials, they all feature the same happy lady jumping around (one exception would be Always’ like a girl campaign).
Yeah that woman you see on a tampon ad jumping around with a big smile? She’s for sure not on her period.
But what I am trying to get at is that existing big feminine care brands are all very similar. This is a category, according to Youngme Moon’s book Different, that has gone through some serious augmentation, where brands and product keep adding claims and benefits due to competition, that eventually there’s no way of differentiating. They are similar in functionality, in benefits, in packaging, communication, and everything else. Existing, established brands are trying everything just to take single-digit percentages of market share at a time.
And in comes Lola.
If you just look at Lola, it’s already different. In stores, its outer packaging refuses the conventional plastic cube of a component. It packs pads in a nice, thick bag, and tampons in a elegant transparent tube.
Inside, pads and tampons are all pure white inside and out. No blueish “core” in the middle, no flower patterns, no fragrance, nothing. Why? Because it is made of 100% organic cotton. On the outer packaging, it says, chlorine-free, no synthetic pesticides, dyes, or fragrances.
That’s when you stop and question what kinds of ridiculous things we’ve been using, and why we haven’t asked these questions earlier. Big tampon brands do not disclose their ingredient lists on packaging, but people have done tests to see what chemicals are in there. The results are concerning to say the least.
And then you again look at Lola’s pure and simple products, how can you not?
To further differentiate themselves, Lola adopted subscription boxes. If you don’t want to shop period stuff in public, you can choose what you need every month, and get it delivered to your door. But with that pretty packaging, I honestly prefer going to Target.
Lola also sells products for period cramps and sex life, and have put together a “first period kit” for mothers who have young daughters. They ship a box of various products and their instructions, as well as an introduction to the female body to guide girls through their body changes.`
That’s something I wish I had when I got my first period.
As far as marketing goes, Lola is the most active on Instagram, which is also where I first learned about the brand. The brand’s posts feature many stories and testimonies from women, as well as funny jokes and mood posts. It’s a collection of positive body image, period talk, and positive sexuality discussion. It’s messy, unlike the overall appeal of the brand. However, it feels real. Perhaps it is the testimonies at work, or perhaps it is just a fact that periods are messy.
Now we look at the Instagram accounts of Kotex and Tampax, They look great. Neat and clean, featuring pretty women of diverse backgrounds. But they are all happy and candid, just like their usual happy-during-period advertisement. Every photo seems like the perfect Instagram picture, captions are boring and generic. To me, it does not seem like they are authentic because, again, periods are terrible.
Hi brands, stop telling me that I should be happy, especially when I’m on my period. Thank you.
Of course, now that I am a big advocate for Lola, I might be completely biased. But if you tell me a year ago that I would be an advocate for a tampon brand, I would never have believed you. The single fact that I am a big fan of a brand in such a mature and crowded category says that Lola is doing something right.
And I think here’s why.
At the core of Lola is the statement “By Women For Women.” It signifies a brand that is built around its users and not its product. Everything about it is clean. It cares, and it gets me.
Yes, Always’ “Like a Girl” campaign is great, but no good marketing beats a comprehensive, integrated strategy where products, services, and communication are all designed with the customers in mind.
And if you ask me, but how does it feel when you use them?
Ladies, it’s 100% cotton, and it’s good cotton. It’s the most comfortable thing I’ve ever used in my life. Just like what Moon would say in her book, Lola is a disruption brand in the category because it strips away all those superfluous things that years of augmentation and competition have brought about. Lola returns to the very simple, and it is so incredibly refreshing. The first time I tried it on, I was amazed at how I could’ve lived without it for this long.
I remember thinking, “So this is what I’ve been missing.”
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