Traditional period ads are either clinical, patronising or just totally unrealistic – “if only I didn’t have my period so I could go rollerblading or impress my boss or run a marathon.”

We needed to approach things differently and talk about periods in a way that really resonated with women.

It’s About Time tapped into a universal truth: there’s nothing worse than getting a period when you are unprepared. It is every girl’s worst fear.

From beach holidays, to festivals to that trip of a lifetime the campaign highlighted the most difficult and unwelcome times a period. The campaign also introduced the concept and benefits of a life with fewer periods.

With a brutally honest tone, the campaign smashed traditional taboos and created a platform for talking about the reality of periods openly and honestly.

Contemporary, authentic and sincere the campaign contradicted the traditional tone of women’s health communications.

We created a range of executions that spoke to women wherever they were – and wherever their periods were.

PPC and banner ads would target people searching for holidays online, and airport ads would engage them when they were actually travelling.

Specially targeted stickers featuring the It’s About Time speech bubble were placed in locations all over Europe where it’d be unfortunate for your period to arrive – anywhere from mucky toilets to halfway up a mountain.

A whole range of online content, from regular monthly blogs and polls to weekly social media posts, got women talking about periods openly and honestly, while our website (itisabouttime.com) helped them talk to their doctors about it too.

So far the results are strong:

- Audience uptake across France, Italy, Belgium, Poland, Netherlands

- The speech bubble sticker has been picked up by our audience, who have been creating their own nightmare scenarios and sharing them online

- By the end of May we project +19,000,000 reach (impressions), +190,000 engagements (likes, comments, shares) and +5,000,000 video views

- 28% average biweekly traffic increase

- Daily ~600 people are learning more about their periods and how to reduce them

- Earned media – Cosmopolitan, Yahoo Style, The Pool, Ads of the World, Lürzer's Archive and PRNewswire

- Thousands reading and engaging with our web content with a high average session time

- Bolstered Teva’s multi-million pound contraceptive treatments

- Smashed through period taboos across Europe