125 million Indian women experience menopause each year. But low symptom recognition, social stigma, and fear mean over half won’t speak to their doctors about it. When they do, just 1% of India’s doctors offer Menopausal Hormone Treatment (MHT) and, even in debilitating cases, will typically only prescribe a three-month course, despite symptoms usually lasting 7-14 years .

With MHT in its portfolio, Abbott wanted to debunk widely held misconceptions about menopause and raise symptom awareness among women, families, and HCPs.

30 local interviews and a survey of 1,226 Indian women, daughters and husbands revealed deeper challenges: even when physical symptoms were known, menopause’s real-world impacts – on everyday life and mental well-being – were poorly recognized.

Ultimately, we had to break India’s menopause taboo – a tall order, not least because we needed to replicate the campaign subsequently in three very different countries (Brazil, China, and Mexico).

Primary audience: 45-65 yo women

Secondary: families and HCPs

Stigma demanded a concept that allowed for discreet discussion, so we couldn’t rely on social media campaigning alone. Traditional media pushes, meanwhile, risked replicating the dry, diagnostic information about menopause already publicly available – when what was missing from India’s discourse was its lived reality.

Our solution: Invite 70 women to share their heartfelt experiences of everyday menopausal life. Collated in a physical and digital book, The Next Chapter was menopause told by women, to women; something discreet to read in private and pass to friends/daughters; something frank and truthful enough to shatter the taboo.

Arranged into sections (e.g., relationships, beauty) reflecting our research cohort’s primary concerns, the book would be illustrated by a peri-menopausal Indian artist and supported by an online hub, 1,900+ menopause-clinic activations, assets (posters, brochures, etc.), and support material for HCPs – all deploying consistent design motifs.

Women don't recognize the symptoms of menopause, either because they think it's a "grandmotherly" thing, unpleasant to discuss, and needs to be dealt with in silence, or because they aren't able to connect their symptoms to the life stage. 50% of women aged 45-65 who have currently experienced menopause in the past 10 years had not consulted an HCP about their symptoms. This is the core insight we were working with, giving us a clear objective to educate women and HCPs while reducing the stigma of menopause.

With this, our strategy was clear:

GET women 45-50 who are unaware/scared by the symptoms and do not see the urgency to seek treatment, nor do they know whom to consult

TO not suffer in silence and instead stay in control of their health, body, and mind

BY educating them on how to recognize symptoms and empowering them not to fear the symptoms.

Portfolio reviews and interviews led us to Pooja Dhingra, a brilliant Delhi artist. Pooja’s cover exquisitely captured something with little precedent in art –the transformational beauty of menopause.

A woman in purple (international insignia of women’s rights) soars like a bird, liberated from her reproductive shackles. Echoing the symbolism buried in traditional Indian art, closer inspection reveals menopause’s dualities: Concealed in her lower section are the “hidden” torments women endure –weight gain, cramps, depression. In the upper portion, she surmounts these to reach confidently upwards for the unknown –for her own “next chapter” –through a tranquil sky of lightest blue.

Cover elements were incorporated into everything from chapter breakers to patterned endpapers, and the “flying bird” became the consistent motif used across campaign assets. Clever use of Abbott fonts (Mercury Text G1, Brandon Grotesque) afforded us amazing flexibility on brand protocols in all other design elements (colors, logo use, etc.)

The New Chapter’s launch (19 October 2022, marking World Menopause Day), led by Bollywood’s Lara Dutta, was attended by 30 top-tier journalists, 195 influencers and prominent KOLs. A paid campaign drove people to the digital hub.

The result was astonishing, sparking a boom in menopause conversations across India:

• 90mn+ impressions (Facebook/YouTube)

• 930mn earned media impressions

• 70,000+ book downloads

• 310,000 page views (digital hub)

• #MenopauseStories scored 18.8mn+ uses, trending #1 on Twitter for three hours!

Abbott’s campaigning had similar impact:

• Facebook engagement 6.5% (vs.1.9% average)

• LinkedIn: +320,000+ impressions

But the commercial results around Abbott’s MHT, “Femoston,” resonated deepest: Its market share among Indian MHT brands surged from 4.8% (May 2022; campaign pre-seeding) to 36.6% (February 2023). Industry analysts IQVIA now rank Femoston #1 among Indian MHTs – up from #4 a year ago.

Chinese, Brazilian, and Mexican (2024) editions coming soon.