YCN 2014 - femfresh
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The brief I have chosen is from YCN, this brief is femfresh. I have chosen this brief because I think it will be a challenge to come up with something that is original and fulfils the brief. Given that I am part of the target audience I feel that I can make informed decisions about my response throughout the brief.
The femfresh brief from YCN
My first thoughts on the brief is that it is quite vague in what it is asking for. Fred has run many studio sessions about how to dissect a brief and turn it into something more manageable for ourselves. I think that the best way to make this brief work for me is to re-write the brief in a way that I can begin to start thinking about a resolution.
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Re-written brief:
At the moment I have re-written the brief with one of my first ideas - to create an advertising campaign that uses information graphics to state the facts and figures about the brand. By re-writing the brief I have been able to identify the key points and begun to start brainstorming ideas for my resolution.
Key Points of the brief:
Having highlighted the key points of the brief I feel more confident approaching my brainstorm stage. The brief is very confusing as it addresses so many different points and tries to trick the designer, I think that the resolutions that will be very similar. I know that merging into the existing branding is important but I think the brand needs something completely different as it is clear that their current advertising and promotion is not working for the younger target audience.
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Initial Ideas:
I brainstormed some of my initial ideas which ranged from print to screen based resolutions. Some of my ideas are quite optimistic such as the video response but I think these fit in with the brand very well. Some of my ideas are more subtle and honest which is something I think I need to look into more than the direct response.
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A mock up draft:
I have the idea to use photography of typical scenes that would be seen in a womans bathroom or bedroom. I thought of the concept that femfresh is something to show off and be confident about. I mocked up a very rough draft of my bathroom with all of my products on display, within the line up is a bottle of femfresh, I thought that I could use a line of text, for example, 'have it on show' as a way to say it is nothing to be embarrassed about. The main concept behind this is to treat the product as something special and essential.
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After looking at the current femfresh branding it seems to be very direct and, in my personal opinion, it does not promote the image that the brand wants to. I think that the brand should focus on the facts and figures surrounding the product because, personally, I would engage more with the product if there were facts and figures to back it up. I think that one of my best ideas is including information graphics in a creative way that will appeal to women at the specific age backing up the product with hard facts.
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Print or Screen?
As I am working through other modules I am becoming more aware of the debate between print and web. The brief states that the design must work across a range of different media so I came up with a brainstorm of different responses for both print and web, with the intention to use both medias in my final response.
I have written down all of the possible print responses I could design for this brief. Some lend themselves to being both print and screen based (billboards) and others are primarily print based (packaging).
Social Media has become a driving force in society and it is clear that will continue to be for the foreseeable future. I think that including some form of social media link is very important to this brief. i also think that women being able to talk to other women going through the same issues can be incredibly soothing and helpful.
I presented my ideas at a progress crit and unfortunatley I was placed on a table with 5 boys. Though they are not my direct target audience I still was able to gather some interesting feedback from the ideas I presented. Joe told me that I should be bold and do something very different, for example change the packaging as it is not inviting at the moment. Some of my direct ideas were not welcomed, for example a TV advert, the boys thought this would drive the audience further away from the brand which is not something I want to do.
The feedback from the crit lead me to look into some of my ideas that worked through print and screen based media. I decided to take a closer look into my mailshot idea. I think this could be a great way to ensure that the audience read what I am trying to say as it will be a direct response but I will design it in a subtle way, so to avoid any embarrassment.
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Primary Research:
Now that I have an idea of a final resolution I want to gather some primary research from my target audience. I asked a group of 12 women between the age of 18-24 to answer a series of questions about the brand and my idea.
The Questions:
1. Do you use femfresh?
2. What are your opinions on the product?
3. Would you be embarrassed to buy femfresh?
4. Did you know that femfresh has been scientifically proven to be better for the vagina than other soaps?
5. Are you aware of the benefits of using femfresh?
6. Would you like to recieve a mailshot telling you about the product in an honest way?
7. Do you like the current appraoch that femfresh have taken to get you to use femfresh?
Results:
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1. No
2. It means you aren't clean
3. Yes
4. No
5. No
6. Yes
7. No, it is vulgar
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1. No
2. You have an infection
3. Yes
4. No
5. No.
6. Yes
7. No, it makes me more embarrassed
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1. No
2. Unhealthy vagina
3. No
4. No
5. Some
6. Yes
7. It's too funny to be taken seriously
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1. Yes
2. I have a clean and healthy vagina
3. No
4. Yes
5. Yes
6. Yes
7. No, the product is not marketed correctly
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1. No
2. Special wash for the vagina
3. No
4. No
5. Yes
6. Yes
7. Using Miranda Hart makes it very funny
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1. Yes
2. It's an essential of mine
3. No
4. Yes
5. Yes
6. Yes
7. Yes, I like it very much. It is relatable
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1. No
2. Pregnant ladies use it
3. No
4. Yes
5. No
6. Yes
7. It is inappropriate to older women
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1. No
2. It means you aren't clean
3. Yes
4. No
5. No
6. Yes
7. It's funny
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1. No
2. It is a product for grandmas
3. Yes
4. No
5. No
6. Probably
7. I haven't seen it
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1. Yes
2. I love it!
3. No
4. Yes
5. Yes
6. I already know it but I would like to know more
7. It could be more subtle
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1. No
2. I don't know what it is
3. I don't know
4. No
5. No
6. Maybe
7. I haven't seen it
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1. No
2. My mum uses it and it is embarrassing
3. Yes
4. Yes
5. Yes
6. No
7. I don't like the brand at all
The results from this small survey told me alot.
The majority of women said that they did not like the current branding and felt negativley towards the products. It is clear to me that women do not know enough about the product so they just ignore it. I personally didn't know anything about the product before reading the brief and I was shocked to hear some of the scientific facts about the brand. This is why I think that an informative mailshot would be the best solution to tell women about femfresh.
I think that sending the mailshot to women's homes is the best way as it is more certain that they will read it rather than walking past a stall in a shopping centre. I also think that by sending a physical mailshot women will be more inclined to read the information.
Now that I have settled on an idea I need to come up with some designs that work with it.
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Initial Sketches:
Concertina means that money can be saved on binding costs and also 2 booklets will fit onto one sheet of A3 stock.
As I have been drawing out my ideas I have been asking for feedback as I go, one person said that it would be nice to be able to try the product and decide for themselves if it works. I really liked the idea of this and decided to draw out some examples that would work with the concept.
Try and test:
Trial pack, concertina, sachets and diary.
Booklet will cost too much to reproduce. Concertina is much simpler.
Small bottle instead of sachets, more manageable and less hassle to carry around if the woman is travelling, though the envelope will have to be much more substantial and 100ml is too much product to give away for free and will outlast the 7 day trial.
To avoid femfresh having to pay a lot of money on the trial I thought about designing a freepost request form that women can send off to get a the trial pack. Though this will cost more money I have decided to include the product samples and diary within the original info pack simply because I do not think that women will request the pack by themselves.
Digital aspect for women on-the-go.
Website to submit all the reviews - links to existing femfresh site.
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Final Concept:
I have now decided to create a 7 day trial of femfresh Daily Intimate Wash (one of the most basic and core products femfresh make). I will include a small concertina to give the facts and figures and I will also include a small diary for women to track their trial progress. Alongside these print based responses I am going to design a mobile App that will mirror the pack and allow the target audience to keep track of the trial on-the-go.
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