The marketing battleground in the Femcare category takes place when girls enter puberty. Once a brand decision is made it is extremely difficult to change it.

Given Always’ category dominance (70% Market Share), competitors only way in is to try to appeal to the young teens who are entering the category. We constantly need to protect this important strategic target (and their main influencers - moms) as it is the most susceptible to competitors attempts.

Always’ purpose is building feminine confidence both as a direct function of its products as well as on a higher-level by empowering girls during the sensitive puberty age.

Starting with the iconic “Like-A-Girl” campaign from a few years ago, Always’ aim is to go beyond simply raising awareness to the issue of teen girls’ decline in confidence and focus on “action” – ensuring that Always is recognized as taking credible steps to improve girls’ confidence.

Right around the age of 12 when brand choices are being formed in the category, a unique rite of passage also takes place – The Bat Mitzva, the Jewish coming of age ritual for girls.

This milestone is celebrated with meaningful gatherings and joyous parties which are planned in detail sometimes even years in advance.

But when Covid-19 hit, all the plans and preparations became futile. With no gatherings, no hugging and no celebrations allowed, a young teenage girl’s most significant moment in life was ruined.

As THE “Fempowerment” brand, we wanted to prove to young girls that while there are sometimes things we can’t control in life (like a virus out-break for example…), one should never give up.

The idea was to organize the first ever virtual Bat- Mitzvah, powered by Always! A completely virtual Bat-Mitzva party that would be way more exciting than the originally planned one!

Technology was rediscovered during the pandemic as a force which enables safe social engagement. What if we could harness its power to assist young girls in times of distress?

We will create a bigger, better and much more exciting celebration for every girl who missed her event due to the global pandemic, to bring back the optimism and self-confidence of young teen-age girls nationwide.

To make it a bigger than life national event it will feature the most prominent figures from all walks of life, making it a “must attend” event of all girls who missed their celebrations due to the coronavirus crisis, as well as their families and friends.

Despite catering to a specific audience Always' aim was to uplift the spirits of a larger population group, starting with the parents and all the way to the entire community who was in dire need of "feel good" Initiatives.

A promotional video built anticipation for the upcoming event as well as shared the Bat-Mitzvah invite details on social media (FB/IG).

We recruited top mass-media partners, the leading TV channel and website which further supported the event with branded content segments, PR and special behind the scenes interviews with mom & daughter duos who had a unique story related to their Bat-Mitzvah.

On April 22nd @ 6PM at their own living room, more than 1,400 girls who turned/will turn 12 between March 1st and May 31st, 2020 celebrated together their Bat-Mitzvah, enabled by Always.

Using a Kaltura video platform we were able to combine a private intimate personal event with a huge public, “never-seen before” Bat-Mitzva celebration.

The hottest acts put on a show just for the girls and even the president of Israel logged on to greet the girls!

Special Always home-delivered giftpacks surprised participants during the event.

1,400 Bat-Mitzvah girls celebrated (15% of all eligible girls!), each was joined on average by 30 friends and family members. The buzz around the event and the quality of the acts, drew tens of thousands additional teens. The event was featured on the main TV evening news.

Post initiative survey shows:

• 43% of women and 52% of teen girls are aware of the initiative and attribute it to Always ((indexing 124 vs. average on sponsorships).

As a result:

• Top Of Mind grew from 70% (December 2019) to 75% and even more impressive amongst teen girls from 66% to 79%, reversing a declining trend for the first time since Feb 2017!

• Unaided Brand Awareness amongst all women grew from 88% to 92% and amongst teens from 81% to 90%.

• “Always is a brand that understands me” reached highest levels ever indexing 127 vs. YAG.