YCN: Femfresh: Current Market

After debating with myself wether to do DECC or the Cath Kidston brief, I felt inspired with a concept for Femfresh. I didn't feel excited by any of the 2014 YCN briefs, but I knew I had to do one, and so Femfesh was the concept I felt most confident with, though I felt quite excited when I thought of my idea.

The core statement in the brief was 'convince young women to try Femfresh.' Which would mean that Femfresh wants to appeal to younger women, my age and younger (18-24). I personally feel that the most important aspect to the brief is 'It has a unique pH-balanced formula developed by experts to care for and look after intimate skin.' And this statement sparked a creative concept.

I thought perhaps looking at the 'ph' part of ph balanced could be made into the anacraynim 'perfect harmony', and that everything could be made visually symmetrical, to subtly communicate Femfresh as a product that would give a woman biological harmony.

The problem I have is that I have thought of a concept that I feel relatively confident to run with before researching into any of the current identity, campaigns, and previous ones, and what public opinion is. So I need to have a look at this:

My first reaction is that this is more than horrible. This advert is so boring and YAWN I just fell asleep. Even the hot pink colour didn't wake me up. The words 'wipes deodorant liners' turn me away from the product too, because of the association with them.

The problem that I think Femfresh have, especially being in the age range they wish to appeal within this brief, is that this looks like Bonmarche designed it, old, faded pink colour and dated aesthetic ensures that an older audience will inevitably buy into the Femfresh brand.

I personally feel that they have it so wrong, for so many reasons. This particular advert feels far too try hard, and ironically, by changing the word 'vagina' to 'froo froo' they have pointed directly to the word 'vagina'... The pink colour of the tag line 'love it' in hot pink is stereotypically female, though probably does not appeal to a younger audience, simply because it tries to appeal to a younger audience. All of these oxymorons are moronic, and the brand here does not understand neither appeal to younger or older women.

And finally, a young 18 year women jumping with glee doesn't solve the design problem, just hints at an exaggerated emotion that is not remotely realistic. Isn't the point that a woman shouldn't have to think about it? In the brief they state that women shouldn't feel embarrassed about using it, but by using any kind of word or euphemism suggesting 'vagina' will definitely make anyone think of an unclean body part.

The current packaging feels again very dated. The faded peach colour personally reminds me of 1980's interior decor for the toilet, which is the opposite of how the brand should want to look. The campaign could integrate how the packaging could be re-designed, giving everything a new look and tone.

My brief

Although I know the brief asks for the work to appeal to an 18-24 age range, I have decided to design the range of products for a slightly older age margin, 21-30. I feel that this age range of young women will rule out the majority of students and fresh out of school teenagers that will not start buying extra products for themselves in terms of hygiene until they get a bit older, and perhaps start dating properly and working full time.

The tone of voice and aesthetics will point to the Femfresh products being formulated for the female intimate area, but will not obviously point it out. No where will there be the word 'vagina' or any other words used to describe it. Instead, there will be a harmonic set of vector illustrations that will tell the audience all they need to know about the product; and that the product will create a perfect harmony in the intimate female area. Fresh brighter colours will be used so the branding will feel harmonic to look at, and won't make the branding look too old, neither too try hard.

Overall, I have the desire to make the brand understand women, and to respect that women are adults that care about their personal hygiene. This is the most important and difficult factor, due to the mistakes that the brand has previously and is currently making. It risks appealing to older women that 'need this product' or older teenagers, that the brand 'desperately tries to appeal to but fails'.

They want the brand to feel 'Sassy, confident, clever, credible', and I feel that this is what I will achieve.