Women are uncomfortable with morning-after pill discussions and advertising them in Germany is illegal. So instead, we started a discussion around something women were not only willing to talk about, but something our research suggested might even increase sales if we became part of the conversation.

EllaOne research showed that women with a “modern-feminist attitude and strong self-esteem” were more likely to know about and use morning after pills. But introducing that topic in a real and authentic way required relevant and timely hook.

Several months earlier, a female reporter alleged that a male political figure in Germany had made sexist comments about her breasts. Blogger Anne Wizorek shared the story using hashtag #aufschrei (#outcry), encouraging women to share their own related stories. Thousands of women responded, resulting in cries for more rights, independence and empowerment. A movement was was born, along with an opportunity for ellaOne.

We launched a series of initiatives to ensure that ellaOne remained an authentic part of the modern-feminist discussion among 16-39 years olds (ellaOne’s target), including:

-An Instagram channel called “Bedside Stories,” sharing weekly modern feminism posts along with hashtags #ONLYIFIWANT and #BedsideStories.

-The first-ever pharmaceutical campaign on Snapchat: “Bedside Stories.”

-A related “Bedside Stories” post on Facebook, increasing page views six-fold.

- Re-designed/re-launched website, changing it from product to a fun, magazine-style format appealing to young women.

-Developing our own video content featuring celebrity DJ/Actress Giulia Siegel and timed its release with the sexually-charged Oktoberfest.

- Activating online influencers, including YouTube stars “LaurenCocoXO” and “barbieloveslipsticks” to share their own take on modern feminism and the morning-after pill.

In just four months the campaign became an overriding topic on the national agenda. The outpouring of conversation was so intense at times, it even shut down the server of popular popular blogger kleinstadtcarrie.

Tier 1: Sexual empowerment is part of the online conversation outside traditional feminist circles for the first time ever. We significantly broadened the discussion and social debate about the morning-after pill.

Tier 2: Four months after start of the campaign, the topic is part of the national public dialogue (media and political). The video focusing on Oktoberfest gained 98 million reach within 24 hours. Facebook fans increased four-fold within three months (about 400,000 regularly engaged facebook users). Website traffic has increased six-fold. We reached 735,000 views and 5,000 comments at YouTube. On Instagram we see 136,000 likes and more than 6,000 comments.

Tier 3: The market share of ellaOne increased to 67% (increase of 13 points), market share of client 96% with a 48% surge in sales.