CASE 52 / Libresse / Bodyform / Essity / 2017
Bloodnormal
A category can look radical simply by representing ordinary reality accurately.
AI-assisted research and analysis for the SNS Creative Fieldbook
Sources reviewed 2026-11-05
Campaign credits belong to the original creators. They did not write or endorse this analysis.
Credits: AMV BBDO London for Essity’s Libresse and Bodyform brands.
Recognition: 2019 One Show Creative Effectiveness Merit in the cited archive entry.
Launch / edition: 2017. Award years: 2019.
The problem. The idea. The experience.
Essity wanted to challenge shame and silence around menstruation in a category that routinely used blue liquid in product demonstrations.
How the idea came to life
The 2017 film used red liquid and showed ordinary period-related situations, including asking for and buying pads. The wider work extended scenes into real-world activity.
How it reached people
Digital and social video carried the campaign. Essity’s annual report also describes UK school sessions with the Self Esteem Team alongside the launch.
Supporting sources: Primary brand annual report → Primary award organization →
Read the data in context.
The numbers below describe different kinds of outcomes. Their date, scope and reporting source are part of the result.
- Reporting period
- 2017 reporting period
- Scope
- Campaign exposure, not unique reach or attitude change
- Evidence
- Brand annual-report figure
Essity’s 2017 report records more than 50 million social impressions. This is a reported exposure measure, not evidence that attitudes or sales changed by the same amount.
The creative mechanism.
Replace an inherited euphemism with a recognizable everyday truth
The category’s visual habit was the strategic opportunity
When every competitor uses an unrealistic convention, changing that convention can produce immediate distinction. The value comes from a truthful improvement in representation, not from novelty detached from the product.
Normality can be more useful than heroic inspiration
Everyday situations invite recognition without asking audiences to become exceptional. This can make a brand seem closer to actual life, especially in categories where people are used to sanitized demonstrations.
The product and the social argument were linked
The communication concerned an experience the product directly serves. That relevance helps avoid the feeling of a brand borrowing an unrelated cause for attention. It still requires the product and customer experience to support the claim.
The intended behavior loop
- 01Notice the unexpected color or scene
- 02Recognize an ordinary experience
- 03Discuss the category convention
- 04Remember the brand’s perspective
- 05Consider the brand in a relevant buying moment
Growth job: Challenge a category convention → increase relevance → strengthen brand distinctiveness. This is an interpretation of the mechanism, not an audited attribution model.
A direction to take into the room.
Original editorial interpretation and proposed adaptation. This is a proposed adaptation, not historical campaign execution or a forecast.
The transferable principle
Audit the euphemisms and unrealistic conventions in your category, then replace one with accurate, respectful representation.
Keep these boundaries
Do not assume controversy is evidence of progress or make health claims through imagery. Representation must remain appropriate to the audience, context and platform.
Turn the lesson into a test.
Illustrative adaptation, not a historical campaign fact
A small-team experiment
Test a truthful product demonstration against the category’s conventional, sanitized version.
Build the test
- Identify a convention customers say feels unrealistic.
- Create an accurate alternative with appropriate review.
- Use the same product message and call to action in both versions.
- Measure comprehension, perceived respect and correct brand recall.
Measure the right thing
Primary: accurate product understanding and relevance. Secondary: qualified interest and negative-feedback themes.
Know when to stop
Stop if realism confuses the product benefit, causes avoidable distress or relies on misleading claims.
How this reading fits your brief
Start with the useful part.
Best for: Challenge a category convention → increase relevance → strengthen brand distinctiveness
What to adapt: A category can look radical simply by representing ordinary reality accurately.
Prerequisites: Audience research; Sensitive-content review; Product accuracy; Media planning.
Smaller-team route: Test a truthful product demonstration against the category’s conventional, sanitized version.
Budget: Not established by the cited public sources. No cost-fit claim is made.
Trade-offs and evidence: Read the limits below before choosing a test. There is no guaranteed reach, sales lift or ROAS.
Questions for your next brief
- Which category convention makes people feel unseen?
- What would ordinary reality look like?
- Can we be more accurate without turning someone’s experience into spectacle?
Sources & further reading.
Brand and award-entry results are attributed claims, not independent causal audits. Source links open the original third-party pages.
- Essity 2017 report: Innovative and impactful marketing →Primary brand annual report · Supports: 2017 launch, social impressions and UK education activity.
- The One Show: bloodnormal, Creative Effectiveness →Primary award organization · Supports: Agency, campaign scenes, activation approach and 2019 award.
Independent educational analysis of external campaigns. These are not SNS client projects, endorsements or claims of involvement. Campaign facts and reported outcomes are attributed to their sources. Explanations, adaptations and test plans are original analysis and hypotheses, not proven causal findings.