In 2009, U by Kotex conducted a study that found that while most women claim to be knowledgeable about vaginal health, more than a third couldn’t dispel some basic myths.

With this shocking truth, U by Kotex dug deeper to discover that there was an overload of vagina-related misinformation and a general feeling of fear and discomfort when it came to girls and their vaginas.

As a brand dedicated to challenging accepted norms, U by Kotex knew that this cycle of misinformation needed to end.

The challenge? Break the cycle.

Our objective was to inspire a new generation of girls, comfortable with their periods and vaginal health.

But to inspire girls between the ages of 14-22 we had to be real. So instead of having the brand encourage girls to get involved, we had real girls kick-off our mission.

So we searched for girls active in female empowerment and vaginal health initiatives – they needed to be authentic. And what we found was four very different girls, ready to tell their stories and start ours.

By leveraging them in TV, we highlighted the misinformation that had been around for generations.

Then, we featured them in mini documentary films and started projects for each of them to lead. By setting up a girl-generated online forum, our content educated, empowered and inspired other girls to get involved.

In the first three months since launch, generationknow.com connected with over 1.6 million girls online and kicked off Generation Know.

Our initial launch period would span five months, from January to May 2013.

A key component of this launch was leveraging real girls, already active in female empowerment initiatives, to support our message. Not only would they become our lead voices, they’d provide us with their personal outlets to spread our message in a real way.

Kat, our badass blogger, posted videos on her YouTube channel about Generation Know. Amber submitted articles in Metro Newspaper and Seventeen Magazine related to our cause. Hillary-Anne dedicated an issue of her Zine to her involvement in the program. And Aline spread the word via her mentor groups in Girls for a Change.

These four girls would connect with their followers and spread our message in an authentic way. Not only would this bring credibility to our mission, but it would kick-off Generation Know in the most authentic way – for girls, by girls.

In the first three months, there have been over 1.6 million visits to generationknow.com

- Over 400,000 bracelets have been requested

- Over 260,000 girls have gotten the facts

- Over 98,000 girls have watched the documentary videos

- Over 87,000 girls are taking action by visiting our Project Pages

- We’ve seen a 200% increase in social mentions of U by Kotex

- Women’s groups and some schools have started using our Action Kits and Vajuzzles as educational tools.

And lastly, U by Kotex has seen a 17.8% sales increase in Q1 2013 vs. 2012.