This may come as a shock but I don’t think about tampons much. But when the designer of this blog shared a story her sister wrote about the marketing efforts of Seventh Generation, I became a lot more interested. The story illustrates the potential power of Marketing for Good and is well worth sharing. It starts with a website called Tamponification which sets the tone with this introductory paragraph:
Let’s not beat around the bush here. People still tend to pussyfoot around the “forbidden” subject of menstruation. Tampons and pads don’t tend to surface in conversation at cocktail parties or tailgates or even at PTA meetings as often as we hope they might. That can make it really tough to get people talking about choosing safer alternatives to conventional feminine care products. We’d like to change that, so we’ve opted to go beyond the flow…
The website provides a forum for women to pontificate on all issues related to menstruation which in and of itself is smart and forward-thinking. But what makes this effort really newsworthy is the tie in to homeless shelters. Turns out the lack of availability of feminine hygiene products at shelters is a real problem. So, Seventh Generation, a small Vermont-based company, decided to enlighten women about the issue and inspire them to help out. The Tamponification website made it easy for visitors to make virtual tampon donations with a simple click. The response was simply overwhelming. Here’s how the momentum grew according to Joann Klimkiewicz, Staff Writer for the Hartford Courant:
With little fanfare, this maker of environmentally-friendly laundry detergents, paper products and yes, tampons and pads, launched TamPontification last April. A “quiet effort,” says the company’s Chrystie Heimert, who helped develop the campaign, but one that generated strong support.
Site visitors trickled to a swell. With just a click and drag of a mouse, they made “virtual donations” to the state of their choice, the bill footed by Seventh Generation. That’s when this site dedicated to the Girl Flu went unexpectedly viral.
Bloggers linked to it. Girlfriends e-mailed each other about it. In just a few weeks, visits to the site skyrocketed. As did donations. To the tune of over half a million Red Cigars. (Compare that to the 5,000 clicks or so collected over the first five months).
“It’s completely exceeded anything we anticipated,” says Heimert. “Then again, that’s the beauty and the wonder of viral.” So, although Seventh Generation is regrouping, it’s not backing away from the cause.
As the campaign has generated so much buzz, it’s also gotten the attention of various retailers offering to partner with the company. While it works out those possibilities, Seventh Generation says it will continue its mission to link visitors to volunteer opportunities at homeless shelters in their communities and encourage customers to donate toiletries and hygiene products. (A volunteer section of the site also directs visitors to JustGive.org and Shelters.org.)
Response was so strong that Seventh Generation had to put it temporarily on hold while it met demand. Here’s what they now say on their website:
Thanks to the thousands of you who have visited this page to donate tampons and pads. We are moved by your overwhelming response to this initiative and are looking forward to distributing these much-needed products to shelters across North America in the coming months. We have received so many clicks in the past few weeks that we are temporarily suspending the click-to-donate action until we can get all of the product out to the shelters that need it. While you’re here, please sign up for our monthly newsletter, so that we can keep you posted about our donations program. In the meantime, please contribute your creative thoughts to our ‘tampontificate’ page and make plans to volunteer your time at a homeless shelter in your area. If you currently work at a shelter, please contact Seventh Generation to submit your shelter information and we will add you to our donations list. Thanks again to all!
Here’s to Seventh Generation for doing well by doing good especially in area few will touch let alone promote. In addition to attracting new customers, this effort has helped them generate positive momentum with their retailers, a critical factor for all brands especially small ones who usually are relegated to bottom shelf treatment. As far as Marketing for Good is concerned, this program is spot on.